The twin cities: Rabat-Sale June 1-2

Tarik made us a quick breakfast in the morning and drove us to the train station before he had to go to work. We took second class from Casa to Rabat and it was a bad idea since it was really stuffy, hot, and crowded. By the time we got off the train in Rabat, we felt DISGUSTING.

We didn't see our friend waiting for us, and we weren't positive if we were even at the right station in the city, so we tried to use the phone. Luckily for us, our friend showed up right behind us as we were calling them. Yassine had brought Farid and another friend with him, and since Yassine was busy getting ready for his first screening of his documentary, he sent us in a taxi to Farid's house. It was in the old part of the city, at the crossing of Rabat's river and the ocean. It was founded by pirates - basically all of the Muslims who were kicked out of Spain came and claimed the area. Anyway, the house was amazing. It was pretty big and had a gorgeous terrace with an overshelming view of the ocean and Rabat's twin city: Sale.

Megan and I went to wander along the river for a while to try to get a feel for the city. The shopowners are much less pushy here. Well, we grabbed some delicious crepes for dinner and headed back to meet Farid so we could all go see Yassine's documentary. People started taking pictures of us right as we walked in. Apparently, it was a big deal with lots of press... and we were slimy, un-showered, and casually dressed. Unfortunately, they wanted "an international perspective" and interviewed us to be aired on the news in Morocco. So, if you see a pasty white girl talking about the disparities between the tourists and the local people in the town of Ifrain, you'll know how I spent my time in Rabat. Ha. ;)

Anyway, we met a bunch of Yassine's friends and all decided to go to Rachid's house where we ended up just chatting quite a bit and having 13 people eating veggie tagine (cooked by the men of course) around a small table. We talked a bit more, and then Yassine, Eunice, Hamza, Rachid, Abdel, Farid, and another friend all walked us back across town to Farid's house where we ended up staying that night.

In the morning, we slept in pretty late, but Farid still bought us some traditional bread from the market and made us some yummy mint tea for breakfast. Then, we went out to visit the Mozoleum, the big Mosque; and the roman ruins at Chellah. The ruins were crazy - this huge labrynth of old bricks, beautiful flowers, and almost a jungle-like atmosphere. It seemed even more so because they had these huge nests full of nasty giant birds cackling away the whole time. After walking all over town, Megan and I decided to take a taxi back to Farid's in the old part of town. That was an adventure and a half to explain to the driver who only spoke arabic and broken french since it is so far north it is not on the map.

We returned, hung out on the terrace, talked with Farid's flatmates a bit, and then found out Yassine would finally be coming to meet us. When he arrived, the guys proposed that we go see some local dance performance. No big deal, right? Well, we forgot Yassine was a photographer and Farid was a journalist. So, we had to sign in as the press, walk down a red carpet (again dressed like bums) and hear questions like "pardon me, but have you met the ambassador?" Apparently it wasn't just some small dance show, it was symbolising some kind of partnership between Europe and Morocco, with the president, ambassador, etc. Whoops. The guys snapped some pics after mingling a bit and decided they would rather take naps than watch traditional European dance, so we ducked out the back door.

The guys wanted us to make them dinner, but we didn't know what we'd be able to find there, so they agreed to make dinner and we would make them traditional american dessert: cookies. :) We spent quite a while walking through the market picking up everything we would need and eventually made it home to start cooking. We spent maybe an hour preparing, and then the whole group of like 7 of us decided to have dinner by candlelight on the terrace since the view of the lights reflecting on the ocean was just amazing. I think it was after midnight by the time we finished eating and cleaning, so we all went to bed pretty soon after.