Essouira

This weekend three of my friends and I traveled to a quaint little beach town called Essouira. It is in southern Morocco and is a hot spot for Moroccan's to vacation. We left after Arabic class on Friday and took a bus to Casablanca and then another bus to Essouira. We didn't get there until 10:30 at night and we walked around aimlessly attempting to find our riad. Eventually, after asking a few police officers and wandering a bit farther, we somehow stumbled upon Riad Dar El Pacha. The riad was adorable and had a room that fir the four of us. Lucy and I slept in a queen bed lofted up a set of stairs, while Caroline and Veronica slept in single beds in the bottom floor of the room. We hadn't eaten dinner, but none of us were particularly hungry so we all cuddled up in the queen bed and watched some episodes of Law and Order SVU.

The next morning we got up and began our long day of shopping. Essouira is an adorable little place with a small medina right on the water. It is not a place with any monumental touristy-sites, but it has a great beach and great shopping. We shopped the morning away and then walked around by the ocean for a while. We got some fried fish (their specialty), got some DELICIOUS gellato (legit best I've had in Morocco) and came back to our riad to hang out and watch a movie. The next morning we got up and took the bus back to Casa and then back to Rabat. Although it was a very long ride there and back, the trip was very worthwhile. Not only did I get to see an adorable little town that I had heard so much about, but I also got to spend one of my last weekends away with some of my best friends. I am starting to get really sad about leaving. I am obviously excited to see my family and friends back home but I love it here and my time here flew by way too fast. It took a little while to really feel at home and comfortable here but now that I feel that way I am not ready to go back to America! When we pulled into Rabat tonight my friends and all breathed a sigh of "thank god, we're home". It's funny how Rabat has actually become home for us. All in all, it was a great last weekend before the cramming for finals week begins.

On a side note - when I got home, the first question my sister asked me was "what about Hanukah?!" I told her that I was away so I didn't light the candles those nights but that I would be lighting tonight if she wanted to join me. She told me that of course she did, she wanted to light every night with me:)