Please keep in mind the exchange rate from dollars ($) to dhiram (dh) is like 1 to 8.25. Also, the time difference is 4 hours from EST.
So we took a train from the Casablanca airport at 8:00 AM and paid premium price (250 dh or only about $28) to be in first class for both the train from the airport to Casablanca Central and then for the next train from Casablanca out to Fez. We had our first ripping-off experience when porters took our bags to the train. They literally only carried them from the bottom of a set of three stairs to the top of the stairs. Then, when they asked us for tips, we just gave them a bunch of coins, which we later figured out were 5 dh and 10 dh coins aka waaay too much.
Our first train ride was short (<30 mins) and went without a hitch. When we got to Casablanca Central Station, we switched trains to our Fez train and continued on our way. In this train, we had private carts that sat 6 people. Although the tickets had the girls in one room and us boys in another, we just all sat in one. Most of us slept on the 5 hour ride but there were two highlights of the train ride. Alice's feet were swollen from traveling for two days straight so she decided to elevate them by sitting upside down in her chair. This elicited many strange stares from Moroccans. The second highlight was that there was a snack cart on the train like in Harry Potter. They didn't have chocolate frogs, but they had pringles which I bought.
When we got to Fez, we disembarked, walked out the station, and found a cab. Begin hustling experience number 2. We needed two cabs but unsure of typical rates, we were tricked into paying 50 dh for each cab. When we got to our hotel which was only four minutes away, we tipped them an additional 10 dh. The concierge, our new best friend, later informed us that our cab ride should have been no more than like 6 dh for each car and we should not have tipped the drivers.
We checked in and then went to a creperie nearby for lunch. The french fries in Morocco so far are DELICIOUS. After lunch, we had an hour before our meeting with Professor Mary Jean Green and her husband Ron, so we went to the rooftop terrace to look out and have a drink from the bar. Drinking is not acceptable in Muslim culture but many hotels serve alcohol because it's obviously an easy way to make money from tourists. We split two bottles of wine between the 8 of us before meeting with our professors. When 5 o'clock rolled around, over some mint tea, Lla MJ (pronounced la-la em jay) and Si Ron (see dawn) laid out the week for us and gave us some more general safety information.
For dinner, we walked up the street from our hotel to another restaurant and had some delicious pizza and chawambras (like gyros/sandwiches). I'm getting much better at deciphering French menus, but Arabic still looks to me like drawings done by an ADD child. After dinner, which ended just at 9, we came home. I coined the term "Knife o'clock," which derives from being told to be home by about 9 o'clock because after dark "the only people out are those who are looking for trouble and carrying knives" (Lla MJ). We went to the roof top bar, split some more cheap wine, and bonded as a trip. Ariel was feeling under the weather so she didn't come to dinner or hang out after but we hope she starts feeling better. I went to bed at 11.
So we took a train from the Casablanca airport at 8:00 AM and paid premium price (250 dh or only about $28) to be in first class for both the train from the airport to Casablanca Central and then for the next train from Casablanca out to Fez. We had our first ripping-off experience when porters took our bags to the train. They literally only carried them from the bottom of a set of three stairs to the top of the stairs. Then, when they asked us for tips, we just gave them a bunch of coins, which we later figured out were 5 dh and 10 dh coins aka waaay too much.
Our first train ride was short (<30 mins) and went without a hitch. When we got to Casablanca Central Station, we switched trains to our Fez train and continued on our way. In this train, we had private carts that sat 6 people. Although the tickets had the girls in one room and us boys in another, we just all sat in one. Most of us slept on the 5 hour ride but there were two highlights of the train ride. Alice's feet were swollen from traveling for two days straight so she decided to elevate them by sitting upside down in her chair. This elicited many strange stares from Moroccans. The second highlight was that there was a snack cart on the train like in Harry Potter. They didn't have chocolate frogs, but they had pringles which I bought.
When we got to Fez, we disembarked, walked out the station, and found a cab. Begin hustling experience number 2. We needed two cabs but unsure of typical rates, we were tricked into paying 50 dh for each cab. When we got to our hotel which was only four minutes away, we tipped them an additional 10 dh. The concierge, our new best friend, later informed us that our cab ride should have been no more than like 6 dh for each car and we should not have tipped the drivers.
We checked in and then went to a creperie nearby for lunch. The french fries in Morocco so far are DELICIOUS. After lunch, we had an hour before our meeting with Professor Mary Jean Green and her husband Ron, so we went to the rooftop terrace to look out and have a drink from the bar. Drinking is not acceptable in Muslim culture but many hotels serve alcohol because it's obviously an easy way to make money from tourists. We split two bottles of wine between the 8 of us before meeting with our professors. When 5 o'clock rolled around, over some mint tea, Lla MJ (pronounced la-la em jay) and Si Ron (see dawn) laid out the week for us and gave us some more general safety information.
For dinner, we walked up the street from our hotel to another restaurant and had some delicious pizza and chawambras (like gyros/sandwiches). I'm getting much better at deciphering French menus, but Arabic still looks to me like drawings done by an ADD child. After dinner, which ended just at 9, we came home. I coined the term "Knife o'clock," which derives from being told to be home by about 9 o'clock because after dark "the only people out are those who are looking for trouble and carrying knives" (Lla MJ). We went to the roof top bar, split some more cheap wine, and bonded as a trip. Ariel was feeling under the weather so she didn't come to dinner or hang out after but we hope she starts feeling better. I went to bed at 11.
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