Week 8: Remoting in Rabat
Relishing My Final Rabat Days
Monday, September 19: Catch Up & Syrian Goodness
After a busy week of side trips, Monday was mostly about catching up on work and stories. Remotes were all over Morocco that previous weekend so a few of us went to Yamal Asham for a fantastic dinner full of Syrian deliciousness. It’s pretty similar to Lebanese food so we crushed a ton of hummus, falafel and chicken shawarma plus a mint/lemon slushie.
Tuesday, September 20: Chellah, Sushi & Ice Cream
With it being my last week, it was time to start hitting the key Rabat landmarks that were left on my list. I started with Chellah, a ridiculously old & beautiful city of ruins. It was originally settled by the Phoenicians until the Romans took control in AD 40. The city was later abandoned in 1154, but in the 14th century a sultan built a necropolis on top of the Roman site and surrounded it with the towers, a defensive wall & mosque. It’s just a crazy combination of cultures and architecture and I couldn’t get enough.
I then headed to 7AY to get in a full work day and ended my day with a nice, refreshing solo sushi dinner at my favorite Rabat sushi place, Yoka Sushi, just blocks from my apartment and ice cream with my friend, Sonia. We popped over to grab a quick dessert and ended up there for hours and it was lovely.
Wednesday, September 21: Hamaam & Cafe-ing
Per the recommendation of one of our Remote Year city managers, Kim, Jenna & I headed about 20 min away from our neighborhood to go to a traditional Moroccan hammam called Le Rivage in Harhoura. We walked in and no one spoke a word of English, but before we knew it we had paid, were told to strip and we each had a woman assigned to us who would scrub us down. We sat on mats in a giant shower room while they used an argan oil paste to moisturize your skin, exfoliated us with special gloves and then literally poured buckets of warm water over our heads to finish the cleanse. Our skin was exceptionally soft and we all actually felt lighter they scrubbed so much off. Hammam= success.
I decided to explore Agdal a bit more and worked from a few cafes that day. It was really refreshing to be out & about for one of my last days in Rabat!
Thursday, September 22: Surfing, 7AY Goodbye & Sendoff Dinner
On a mission to not leave Rabat without surfing, Lucy, Karissa & I finally made it to Oudayas Surf Club first thing in the morning. We headed to Plage de Rabat for surf lessons and I got up on my first try! It was my first time surfing in 5 years so I was pretty pumped. As we popped up on our boards and rode the waves toward shore, we were literally surfing toward the Kasbah. I was surfing in Africa overlooking a fortress from the 12th century. It was unreal.
After surfing, I headed in to the workspace to crank out a bunch of work. It was my last time at 7AY and I was pretty nostalgic about leaving my tent office. It was so comfy and inspiring. Morocco really was a special experience and I was feeling pretty sentimental the last time I walked out of our magical co-working space. I miss it already.
Friday, September 23: Au Revoir Rabat
As I headed to Copenhagen for a week to visit friends, Friday marked my first day out of Africa in 4 weeks and it was definitely a bit of a shock. We realized we were in a bubble in Rabat and on high alert and all of a sudden there were choices everywhere and we could fully relax. We had a layover in Paris so I grabbed some wine and the world’s softest macaroons and soaked in a bit of heaven before boarding the next plane.
