Morocco. 4 days in.

It has been 4 days since my arrival in Morocco.  I flew Royal Air Maroc, in what is so far, the sketchiest airplane I have ever ridden in.  It makes me nervous for the rest of the trip.  I arrived in that classic, disheveled manner that everyone does after more than 24 hours traveling.  I had flown 4 hours to Montreal, spent 5 hours on a layover there and then flew another 7 hours to Casablanca.  I arrived at 10:30 a.m. and by the time I got through customs and arrivals, it was 12:00 p.m.  When I arrived at the luggage carousel, there were just suitcases strewn all over the floor.  I looked around wondering what to do, and noticed an airport employee taking bags off of the carousel and heaving them onto the floor.  People were stepping over the bags to find theirs.  Eventually, after wandering a bit, I spotted my bag, and managed to pull it from a heap.  While I had been waiting in lines and searching for my bag, I met 2 people from Australia and we figured out our hotels were close together and we rode together to the hotel.  It was a scorching 35 degrees, and the humidity was so thick that I knew this was going to be a huge adjustment for my body.

On Day 1 in Casablanca, I met Vicky who would be sharing a room with me for the Morocco tour I booked through Intrepid.  She guided me through the Medina and the Old Medina, where we saw some neat Art Deco Theatres and buildings and then we went to the Mosque Hassan II.  Which is known to be both the 3rd and 6th largest mosque, depending on who you ask.  The colors and mosaics were amazing. Right as you arrive at the mosque, there were hoards of people around the rocks overlooking the ocean.  As we got closer, I could see that people were diving off the ledge into the garbage filled ocean, over top of these huge rocks, as bystanders cheered them on and watched.  When we asked about it later, we were told, that when the nice beaches are far away and you can't afford to travel to them, you make do with what you have.

 We then met with our tour group to kick off the trip that evening.  I am travelling with Intrepid along with 14 other people.  I will keep posting as wifi is available.