i ate camel meat

10 June 2008, 10:45am

Made it to Morocco! Katie, Caitlin and I just checked into Atlas Airport Hotel – a classy, classy place let me tell you. Actually, not a sarcastic remark. Good news: it’s nice. Bad news: we have to take a train to get to downtown Casablanca. Our flight to Bamako doesn’t leave until tomorrow night, so we have a day and a half to explore/beach it up here.
On the plane I sat next to a man from Cuba, on his way to meet up with his wife visiting family in Morocco. He’s a doctor, a karate competitor (once he was stabbed in a fight), and a born-again Christian. Nice. He told me that I had to try baklava and shwarma in Casablanca...are either of these Moroccan foods?! Needless to say, his stories and conversation made the 8 hour flight go by quickly.
More updates to come, once we actually get outside the hotel.


11 June 2008, 11:23am

We found the free wireless corner in our hotel! Still in Casablanca, planning to spend the day on the beach. Yesterday we took a walking tour of the Ancien Medine - the old city/marketplace area. We also visited the world's second largest mosque, right on the ocean. For dinner, we met up with an American friend of Caitlin's who took us to a small roadside restaurant where we ate CAMEL TAJIN! It was a clay bowl of camel meat in an oniony-tomatoey sauce with a fried egg on top, still boiling when it was served. We ate it with bread and our hands. (The owner offered us forks, but we declined.) It was absolutely delicious. Something else that's a great local specialty: sweet mint tea. (Haven't had the baklava or shwarma yet, but maybe I'll get it in today.)
Okay cool. I should pry myself away from this wifi and go see more of the city.