Morocco

I could not imagine a more different place. It's all so completely different! The ride from Rabat to Marrakesh was interesting, I'll post pictures later of it but the land was so completely empty. There was dirt, dead grass, sheep, and the Atlantic ocean and mountains in the distance. There were rocks piled up and a few palm trees here and there. No houses really, not even fences to keep the sheep from wondering off into the road. The biggest difference was reaching Marrakesh. Everything is red. The other cities aren't red like this one, this one is known as the entrance into the Sahara and the red city, I didn't take it quite so literally until actually reaching it. We soon found out host families and walked to their house. On the walk, we encountered cat calls, stray cats and dogs, and donkeys walking on the streets with carts. The sidewalks are all tile and stone and everything is walled in. The houses all have thick red fences with gates of interesting colors and designs. The red fences lead to red houses. We walked up to the apartment and found our room. My host family is wonderful, I have a host sister who speaks english very well, a brother who speaks some english, and parents who are wonderful. the family also has a maid who lives there with them. Currently a cousin of theirs is staying with them for a few days. The first day we learned some dariga ( Moroccan Arabic) and then got to attempt to use it at a party we later attended.