Casablanca is hot. So far I've seen only the airport and the train station, but I've got a while to kill before my train to Fes and I have free WiFi so I'm makin' it count.
The flight from Madrid to Casablanca was terrible. First, we were delayed for over an hour. Second, every single crying baby in Spain also had a ticket for this flight. Thirdly, despite copious amounts of anti-motion sickness medication, I got sick. I don't know if every one has had this experience, but I have never gotten sick while traveling without having dozens of complete strangers try to help me. It's kind of awesome. I started shaking really really bad and couldn't stop, so the lady next to me helped me off the plane and the guy on the other side of me carried all of my bags. I kept telling them I was OK but they insisted on getting me to passport control.
Airport officials generally don't take so well to me. I should say, I am frequently "randomly" selected for additional screening (which, in Tel Aviv, meant a strip search and a lot of yelling about bombs, the dangers of travelling with any one who might be Arab, and my tattoos.) I think I have a deep bias against all airport employees because of a few bad experiences and that's really not fair. Every one in the Casablanca airport was super friendly, let me stumble through my questions in Arabic, answered them once in Arabic and once in English. I am way too late to make the check-in time at my Hostel in Fes (it's not until 9pm but the train won't arrive until after 10) so I get to play the always fun "let's find an alternate hotel in an unfamiliar city where I don't speak the language and I really really really can't afford to just go anywhere" game. Which, since the cash I have now is literally all of the money I will have until I can get my new debit card shipped from Seattle (probably 2 weeks) is not really a game I enjoy playing right now. Lesson for you: Have a back-up plan. If your hostel or other accommodations ends up not working, know a few alternative options. Luckily the staff at the hostel mentioned two hotels nearby with late check-in and reasonable prices, so I suppose I'm not totally out of alternatives.
Well the internet is going to leave me soon I just want to say this: The IPE office at UW rocks. I had a total freak out when my tuition posted strangely and then went away and I thought I was going to have to come up with a ton of money to give to the school in Morocco on Monday, but they explained everything to me and calmed me right down. The lesson here is that it's good to know who to contact when you're having trouble while abroad. Thanks IPE staff!
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