Oh the places you'll go....

From the sleepy town of Medford Oregon; along the coast to the waters of the San Francisco Bay; Across the Atlantic to Paris (Bonjour); and into the sky once more to the coastal city of Rabat, Morocco. What a journey this has been, and to think it's only just begun! I said goodbye to parents with teary eyes in Medford, kissed my love one last kiss in San Francisco, navigated treacherous lines of travelers in the Paris airport, and nearly hit at least a dozen pedestrians on my first taxi ride in Morocco. I can honestly say it's been one hell of a trip thus far.

I was able to look out and see the Mediterranean sea and the straight of Gibraltar from my airplane and then the firsts coastlines of Morocco which we followed to our descent in Rabat. Rabat appeared to me with boxy spanish looking buildings crowded together slowly turning into dirt roads and colorful half standing houses with lines of laundry strung from them. I made my way through the tiny airport out into the sunshine to meet my AMIDEAST representative and our driver. As we drove through the countryside toward the city of Rabat we passed women covered in headscarves squatting in a field, crowds of youngsters playing soccer,a man (with a huge cigar in his mouth) woman and baby on a tiny motorcycle, and roadside fruit sellers. The city became more compact and busy as we passed a mosque and a palace that we were still passing nearly 5 minutes later!

Finally we arrived at the hotel and I was escorted to my room by a kind Moroccan man who turned the tv on to a scratchy Moroccan soap opera for me before he left. I was alone for only a few moments before others in the program knocked on my door and we headed out to explore and eat. After some wandering, forcing myself to run in front of moving cars (or else you'll never get across), and clearly looking like tourists we settled for some pizza. I enjoyed a nice meal with new friends before wandering back to the hotel through the transformed night version of Rabat with neon signs and groups of singing boys. Finally at 10:05 pm after nearly 24 hours of traveling suffering a bit of culture shock, I am ready to surrender to the sleep man.

Also I forgot to not use the tap water for brushing and just went right ahead and brushed, here's to hoping my body accepts the water!

:)