Week 7: Remoting in Rabat

Eid al-Adha, Exploring The Blue City & Chasing Waterfalls

Monday, September 12: Moroccan Holiday

Monday was Eid al-Adha, one of the two biggest Muslim holidays of the year. Everything was shut down while families celebrated together sice Remote Year knew navigating the city would be tough, they arranged transportation ahead of time for those who wanted to go into the co-working space. Since I was just leaving my weekend in Salé, I planned to work from home. As we walked to Rabat we witnessed the holiday traditions in action. Eid al-Adha is also known as the “Sacrifice Feast” so we were hit with the sights, smells and sounds of recently slaughtered (and now grilling) meat. There were huge grills every few blocks covered in various animal parts, skin hanging on laundry lines to sun dry and excited kids awaiting mealtime.

My favorite thing I learned about the day is that when the meat is sacrificed, it’s divided into 3 parts- 1 part for the family, 1 for friends & neighbors and 1 for the poor. It’s a day about appreciating what you have and sharing it with others and while it was a bit shocking to see, it was pretty incredible to be able to get a glimpse into their special day.

Tuesday & Wednesday, September 13-14

Spent about 12 hours at 7AY Tuesday and worked from home Wednesday. A lot of places were still closed for the holiday so food was wherever was open so basically all that happened was….

Thursday, September 15: The Blue City

We spent Thursday exploring Chefchaouen, a beautiful city in Morocco’s Rif Mountains. Rooted in Jewish traditions, the city is painted blue as a reminder of God’s power, similar to the tradition of weaving tekhelel thread into prayer shawls. The tradition lives on in literally every nook and cranny of the city. From ground to sky, you’re surrounded by the calm and beauty of all blue everything and I’m pretty sure it’s similar to what my heaven will look like.

We walked through the medina and came across a rug weaving shop, beauty product store with every scent and spice you can imagine, a communal clothes washing area where the women looked like they were having the best time, kids with so much warmth and personality and signs of the holiday still lingering.

That night we had dinner at Restaurant Aladdin. As if the magical name wasn’t enough, it also overlooked the main plaza & Kasbah. Chefchaouen was a whole new Morocco. A dazzling place I never knew for sure.

Friday, September 16: Chasing Waterfalls

Friday was adventure day. We were on a mission to see waterfalls so our Careem driver dropped us off at what we though was the starting point to our hike. Unfortunately, after asking around we realized we were in the wrong spot by about 9 km. Luckily we found Achaf, an incredibly kind, twenty something year-old local who only spoke Arabic but was willing to help. Only one minute into our conversation via Google Translate and it was clear he was determined to get us where we needed to go. As he worked on arranging a taxi, Google Translate went a bit haywire so he walked us to the only nearby café where he knew there was a French speaking man who might be able to help. Steve’s French was enough for them to communicate and Achaf went to go find taxis. I sat in this café surrounded by a whole slew of languages I couldn’t understand, knowing it was a bit of a leap of faith but sure enough Achaf returned in a white taxi. He told us it would be 100 Dirham to get to the hiking spot and we hopped in. As white taxis do, we picked up and dropped off a few people along the way, but successfully ended up at the tourist spot.

After all encounters with Moroccan men I had had cat-calling me and trying to mislead me in various medinas up until that point, Achaf single-handedly turned around my perspective of the Moroccan community. Previously I had only seen mischievous coordination between people, but he showed me the true kindness and generosity of the Moroccan culture and the power in their value of community. He wanted nothing from us, he just wanted to ensure 2 tourists experienced his beautiful country safely so he used his community for good. After we arrived, Achaf insisted on continuing with us but we thanked him profusely for his help and began our adventure.

We hiked about 40 minutes to the beautiful God’s Bridge then back to the starting point and on to a 2 hour hike to Cascades d’Akchour. It was a beautiful trek through the woods, over streams and passing lovely cafés and even some cornfields. Hiking in the Moroccan sun is pretty hot so by the time we made it, we were ready to swim. We went in and it was FREEZING. Even the Lake Superior swimming Steve admitted it was cold but we braved the water and swam under the waterfall and it was awesome. Our leap of faith day was a success.

Saturday, September 17: Royal Palace & Riad Dinner

Saturday was Steve’s last day in Rabat so we fit it in a little more exploring of Rabat. We strolled through the palace grounds and had some afternoon Moroccan tea. For dinner, we walked down an alley in the medina, knocked on the castle-like door of Le Ziryab and were led into a beautiful courtyard with live music and Moroccan deliciousness.

Sunday, September 18

Steve’s flight was early Sunday morning and while we tried to book our Remote Year recommended Careem drivers, the app failed to work and a driver didn’t show up. With no one around that early on a Sunday, we stood on the corner in the dark at 6am unsure of what to do. The data on my phone of course stopped working at that moment so I had to run upstairs to my apartment every time to try to find another Careem and google other options. Eventually walking to the train station was decided as the best option so Steve went for it. Luckily, he was able to convince a blue taxi (who isn’t allowed to go to the airport, hence the dilemma) to take him but it was stressful and expensive. I felt helpless not being able to get him to the airport or know he would make his flight. After an amazing week with Steve, a ridiculously positive human who always makes me feel at home and whose French speaking skills made the week pretty effortless, Sunday morning was a big reminder that I was still in Morocco, a country that while it’s unbelievably colorful, beautiful and unique, it’s really tough to navigate, requires a ton of patience and is not somewhere to let your guard down.

It wasn’t a fun feeling, but the best way to do Remote Year is to power through those moments. Knowing I only had 6 days left in Morocco, I just focused on working all day and got ready for my last week in Rabat!