After the scarves, we continued to walk around and casually shop. Along the way as well as on the tour earlier, young boys would come up to us and put their hand out. They usually had two coins and asked if we had any change. I thought they wanted me to make change for the money they had in their hand, but they didn’t seem to understand what I was saying. After a few of these encounters, I became exasperated and said, “Quieres change? He then began to speak French to me, and I replied in Spanish. It was quite funny. We also passed by another group singing, which was apparently some kind of wedding procession? I just got the impression that the people here like to sing in the streets which is pretty cool. After Chefchauen, we took the bus to Tetuán. The landscape on the drive was so incredibly beautiful. I have never been able to see so much land at one time. The mountains, valleys and little villages in between were gorgeous. Oh-not to mention the clouds that were touching the tips of the mountains. It was so expansive. We arrived in Tetuán for lunch and ate at this big restaurant with some entertainers in front of us. I won’t really talk about this too much, because it just seemed a little too touristy for me and I wasn’t feeling the vibe of the place. We ate a salad and chicken, which were both good. For dessert we had the mint tea again, which I drank with less hesitation. We then had a walking tour of Tetuán with our guide who pretty much knows everyone in the city. The place was amazing-a maze of markets and shops tucked into corners. We saw all the shops where the wedding dressed are custom made as well as where the women rent these beautiful belt-type things to wear during the wedding ceremonies that last a few days. We also saw electronic shops that were selling tvs and cameras that looked like they were from the ‘90s. It was all very interesting. Once a man passed me and brushed up against my shoulder, I looked down, and saw he was carrying a chicken by the feet…and it was alive! I am sorry that I didn’t take any pictures of our tour-but I was just so caught up in looking at everything. Some of the food stands looked good-like the ones with dried fruit and nuts, while others looked questionable with whole animals and such. We ended our tour at an apothecary shop; I didn’t even know those exist anymore! The owner showed us various items such as spices for foods and remedies for snoring, mosquito bites and lotions. I bought a tube of ‘magic’ lipstick that is green, but when put on your lips, turns colors. Woah!
Our next, and final, city was Tangier, where we would finally have the ‘fantasy’ show. We checked into our hotel, which looked really nice from the lobby. First impressions can be deceiving though, and our room turned out to be…uh…not so great. I don’t want to sound like a hotel snob, but it just wasn’t very clean and felt damp for some reason. Ok, not to dwell, it was only one night. We had some free time, then went outside for the beginning of the show. It began with a few men on horses with fire and shooting guns. Afterwards, we proceeded inside to have dinner and listen to the music. A few people performed including a magician, a man who balanced candles on his head, a belly dancer, and some gymnast kids. It was a little “circusy” for my liking, but interesting still. The food was excellent-bread, couscous, chicken and tea again for dessert ☺ We met some new girls from another program and have seen them quite a few times afterwards!
Monday morning, we ate breakfast at the hotel, which again was bread ☺ We hopped on the buses again and went to the ocean to look out at the view. We drove by a really expensive area with homes really close to the water. The, we finally got to ride the camels. It was a fun experience-they are kind of awkward when they stand up and sit down. Finally, we walked through the caves of Hercules which has a nice picture window to the ocean. Afterwards, we headed back to Ceuta, through customs, back on the ferry and home to Sevilla. I was glad to be back in familiar territory, but did have a good time observing everything and experiencing a really different culture.
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