Maze of Marrakech
By Annum Soomro, Foster Undergraduate who participated in an exchange with Copenhagen Business School (CBS).
As a last hurrah trip before returning home for Christmas, I reunited with fellow huskies in the city of Marrakech.
We were greeted at our Riad with open arms, mint tea and sweet treats. Just a few blocks away, the Maze of Marrakech awaited us – full of vibrant colors, historical sights and rushed sounds of conversations in Arabic. I thought I knew markets but then I went to Jemaa El Fna, the endless maze of markets in Central Medina! I learned very quickly that when in a Moroccan Market – one must haggle with the merchants, get high on the fragrances of spices, savor on an msammen (flatbread with honey) and always choose a tuk-tuk as preferred mode of transportation.
On our second day, we took a day trip out to the Atlas Mountains and it was absolutely breathtaking. We hiked through the waterfalls, ate delicious kefta tajine by the mountains, visited a traditional Berber house and tried our hand at camel riding. We had hoped for warmer weather but ironically enough, we saw snow for the first time in Morocco. In the little time we had left, we tried to see the most we possibly could. We visited the Ben Youssef Madrasa (Islamic College) from the mid-15th century, admired the arches and geometric tilework at the Royal Saadian Tombs, gasped at the sheer size of the Bahia Palace from the 1500s and posed in front of the bright blue walls in the Majorelle Gardens.
As my first time in Africa, I got to see how Morocco offered such a unique culture influenced by both African roots and Middle Eastern culture. It was amazing getting to experience a new city with familiar faces and at the end of the trip, we left having inhaled one too many kebabs skewers, empty wallets from buying unreasonable amount of souvenirs all while making wonderful memories in Marrakech!
