So much has happened in the last 5 days…I’ll have to go back and fill in the blanks for Chefchaouen and whatever else I missed. We came home from Chefchaouen on Thursday night – it was a long, hot ride for those in the mini-bus because the driver was very stingey with the AC. But we all survived and Chefchaouen was well worth the time spent in the BFB (easy for me to say since I was riding in the luxurious SUV).
Friday we took Dani’s mini-bus to Rabat to see the tomb of Mohammed V and the Hassan II Tower, and do some power-shopping at the pottery cooperative. I didn’t take any photos at the pottery cooperative this time, but I posted some the last time we were there. There are some photos from our last trip to the tomb here, and a few new ones below…
After we came home and ate a late lunch, we conned Dani into taking us to Fantasia, which is an Arab horseback riding / shooting extravaganza. We arrived just as the horses were heading out to the field, so they were all excited and literally chomping at the bit. Our friend’s nephews have Fantasia horses so we found them and were able to take photos of the horses and get all of our questions answered.
The object of Fantasia is for a team of horses and riders to gallop down the field and simultaneously shoot their guns at the end. There are also carnival rides (Rule #753 – No carnival rides in Morocco), food vendors, and great people-watching opportunities. One of the problems we’ve faced on this trip is that we are the people being watched. There aren’t a whole lot of tourists in Mohammedia, and especially not at Fantasia, AND there are a ton of young boys. It was a little creepy. Even more creepy was when Aliya said, “Mom, there’s a dirty man singing and dancing next to me.” Literally, this guy had not taken a bath for YEARS…I would never say something bad about someone in disadvantaged circumstances, but he was really, really, really dirty. His gig was to sing, dance, and play the drum next to you until you gave him money to go away. I’m considering that as my retirement plan.
I’ve been to Fantasia several times and I do not remember it being quite so dirty. I’ve never been afraid of a little dirt, but this may be the most disgusting gaggle of feet I’ve ever seen.
Saturday morning the Jobinoffems left for the airport around 7:30 a.m. and the rest of us slept until Ben came back from the airport at 10:30. It was an exhausting week. I don’t think we did anything Saturday except that I worked and Ben and Elizabeth took the kids to the beach.
Sunday was the day of the weekly souk, and we found out that a family we know from the Boston area was visiting their Moroccan family near the souk, so we made our way to their house and had some mint tea. After that we went to the souk, which was what Marc guest-blogged about last week. It was extremely chaotic but we did get a photo of Elizabeth with a cow’s head so it was all worthwhile.
