the chief of kif in the rif

If there was a word synonymous for stuttering to describe the way my fingers are hesitating to type across my keyboard I would be so interested to know it and insert it ^. But I don't know that word and unfortunately that is what my fingers are doing. It must be because I am refusing to acknowledge that I just took my last weekend trip in Morocco for the semester. Truly saddening.

I left Friday afternoon on a "climatised" bus, hamdullilah, for Chefchaouen, a town in the Rif mountains known for its blue medina, beautiful craftsmanship and hashish. Have I mentioned that it is unGodly hot here? I think I have but I'm not satisfied with no one else suffering as much as I am here so I like to include how hot it is here as much as I possibly can. It was a delightful retreat to cooler weather and a beautiful medina. We arrived and settled ourselves in to our hostel but not even seconds after we had arrived were Moroccans trying to sell us hashish. Even the hostel attendant was pushing drugs...so naturally we bought a little. We went to dinner at a hilarious restaurant/cafe situated on the terrace of a pottery shop. They didn't have a menu and I am pretty sure it was because their prices were a little high, so no one could see beforehand and decide to eat elsewhere. Needless to say, four of our seven orders were incorrect. And throughout our entire dinner, a table of 19/20/21 year old boys were blasting Rihanna and System of a Down on a cell phone. The prevalence is absolutely mind blowing of the lack of personal space or common courtesy consciousness here. I'm never even mad about it because I've found that I'm shoving into people and not saying sorry just like a Moroccan now too, but it still just highlights the differences between our cultures.

Saturday morning we rose early to get a start on our hike to the "شلال " (shillal//waterfalls). When I packed, I was under the impression that the hike was just 45 minutes or so, but that turned out to be how long it took to get to the first, uncool, amateur waterfall. So I hiked for three hours each way in sandals, thank goodness I didn't fall. I am actually quite shocked I didn't...sometimes I manage to fall when I am planted on all fours. The tiring hike gave bountiful rewards. The waterfall was absolutely breathtaking. I hadn't imagined it would be so majestic. After hiking for so long in the heat we were all really anxious to cool off in the water, but when I say that the water was cold, I don't just mean like Brita that's been sitting in the fridge cold, I mean personal trainer ice bucket cold. We braced the water with care, easing ourselves in little by little, losing feeling in first our feet then thighs and always the worst, our stomachs. With bravery we went under the water and made our way out to the waterfall but halfway there I could feel my lungs having difficulty breathing and I could hardly even tell my body to keep swimming. But we made it and it was beautiful to look out at the nature from underneath a waterfall.

The hike took almost the whole day but we were able to get back into Chefchaouen by 5:00 to shower, walk around and have dinner. Chefchaouen was really beautiful. I have really come to appreciate nature since I've been in Morocco. I love Rabat for reasons other than beauty, cleanliness, and concrete. Breathing fresh air without a hint of burning trash or seeing wildlife growing without Bounty and Twix wrappers tangled in with the stems is really nice.

Can you fathom this beauty firsthand?

My extremely beautiful group of friends.







Now, this week has been a blur. I have had term papers due and the last class of the semester on Wednesday. I took my first final this morning and have three more to go. I just went out with Naima and Abdullah and they helped me get three pairs of banana slippers for free which is so nice. Mawazine starts tomorrow and we are all really excited!!