Marrakesh Day 1

Saturday

The day began with a 4 hour excursion from Ouerzazate through the High Atlas Mountains, and when I say High I mean HIGH. We were working on our Arabic, but the roads were so windy that we decided to stop because all of us on the bus were beginning to feel queeezy. We stopped at a roadside stop, and it is amazing that even in remote areas Coca Cola is even there. We finally got to Marrakesh, and it was hot. We checked in to our rooms, Luis was my roommate, but there was only one small bed to share, so Sherrie let us switch with her because she had a king size bed that can be split into two different twins. So we moved to our second room, then I went into the bathroom to change into my swim shorts for the pool, when the incident happened. I went to get out of the bathroom, when the door would not open. After many, MANY attempts by me and 4 other people I realized I was stuck, so we called the hotel reception desk. After an hour in the bathroom waiting for help, the sound of a flash flood thurnderstorm outside, and my self diagnosed claustorphia I suddenly experienced for the first time in my life, a hotel worker came. They could not open the door from the front, so they unhinged the window, and I crawled out that way….[see video for the full effect]. I decided to chill out in the hotel for a few hours after that, then got ready to go to dinner for Younis’s bday.

We left the hotel around 9pm, looking swankified and ready to have a night on the town. There is something different about Marrakesh, then the other places we have been and you can just tell by a drive through the city. The lights, the hustle and bustle, the excitement its all here. Women were not as covered up, in fact many were looking like they were heading for a club in Hollywood. Families were out late, motorcycles everywhere, and even passed an open air rock concert. We got to the restaurant and it was definitely a vegas style NICE restaurant. It looked like a ryad, with dark candle lit ambience and music bumping, and a pond with stones you can walk on in the middle. As we began to order, belly dancers came out and rocked the house. I was not expecting it, and they were fabulous. They had a good 30 minute set danced with a few of the guys in the group, and were out. Our food came, and it was nice to not eat tagin and couscous for a bit. After a three hour dinner of jokes, laughter, and chillen, a few people decided to head back to the hotel, while the others decided to stay at the restaurent had a live band in the back and it looked bumping. 10 of us stayed, and it got really loud and great. The band was LEGIT playing western/Jamaican/ throw back/ and Arabic music. I was dancing like a maniac, and Kim was my partner getting crazy with it. Everyone was enjoying themselves, as well as happy for the surprise of this random nightclub that we stumbled upon. As the night went on Gnaoan percussionists came out, and were in sync with the band, by then we were starting to have a really good night, and with the Gnaoan percussionists…belly dancers came out got on top of the bar stand and starting dancing with fire works in their hand. IT WAS INSAAAAAAANCE!!! It was a sensory experience I will always remember. The lights came on around 2 30 and the music stopped we gathered together to begin to leave when we heard a loud thumping. We heard that there was a night club, and we decided to check it out for a few minutes, we went in the back entrance because it was a part of the restaurant and as we headed down the stairs and into another dance hall. The walls were lcd screens with purple raindrops, black lights everywhere, music crazy. So many people, we were there for 2 hours and I am not even going to justify it with words and have the experience in my head and heart. We got home about 5 am, and passed out.