50 shades of blue - I'm writing from a gorgeous rooftopterrace

Today it has been 29 days since I left home. That means it's time for an update! Because my new friends are asking for a story in English, and my old friends mostly understand that too, I'm switching to English :)

As you recall, my plan was to spend 2 weeks in a workcamp in Larache - Morocco, and 2 weeks in another workcamp in Casablanca. Before leaving I felt quite nervous, since my last visit to Morocco hit me with a decent cultureshock (and this feeling continued during the flight). I was unsure about basically everything - from which clothes to wear and how to behave to the locals to a totally unfamiliair language and currency.

Day 1: Tanger.
I spent my first day in Tanger, together with one of the other volunteers, who was already waiting for me. Together we faced the Maroccan crowd waiting for us. I felt prepared (or actually weaponed) with my clothes covering knees and shoulders, and my 5 euro 'wedding'ring from C&A to scare of men. I felt like every man wanted to talk, and there was never a good answer.

Day 2 - 14: Larache
On day 2 I met the rest of the group of 18 volunteers. The represented countries were Spain, French, Italy, Taiwan and of course Morocco and NL ;) In the beginning an uneasy feeling prevailed. I didn't know the daily schedule yet, I lived among strangers and I was struggling with the language (a beautiful mix of Spanish, French, English and Darija was spoken).

But soon enough our daily rhythm developed (we began to have a daily coffee at 8am in the same restaurant, and still every day again they served us the wrong thing and tried to charge us more than they should; and every day we swore to never come there again; and every day we returned; the dinnertime started to change from 1am to a 'normal' Maroccon time - 11pm; we formed cookinggroups of three), and we got to know each other better (that happens in incredibly fast if you're together 24/7!). Although I seem to be somewhat allergic for daily rhythm at home, I loved it here. There was a LOT of waiting involved. Now I know that was not just because we were with 18, but it's an important part of Moroccon daily life. Most of the time we didn't know what we were even waiting for ;) Acceptance & patience are keywords here.

At a certain point I figured they should have called it a 'relaxcamp' instead, because the workingpart took only 1 hour a day. We spent the rest of the day having siestas, or you could find us at the beach, reading, having coffees, walking around, seeing beautiful sunsets, playing cards and pingpong, cooking our food... A few nights we got invited for a party at the childrencenter where we cleaned the garden. I was amazed by their musicality, dancing and singing. From the day they are born the children here are involved in festivities, because birth is celebrated in abundance. Abundance (or exuberance) is actually another keyword in the Maroccon culture: it's a world of difference with the Dutch (or European?) culture, where the 'doe maar normaal, dan doe je al gek genoeg'-mentality still is a real thing. I think Dutch or European people in general seem to be more quiet and modest.

Day 14 - 17: Rabat
Still remembering the feeling that I lived with a bunch of strangers two weeks ago, I had to say goodbye to my dearest friends today. Seven of us left for Rabat. Some people call it boring and too small, I call it peaceful & cozy. The people are great. One of the girls of the group lives there, as turns out later I will go back to visit her in Rabat for 3 times more. Some things are hard to leave behind ;) She and her friends took me out for lunch, diner and dancing to African music. We went to a little artisanal village where they sell the most beautiful furniture and home decorations. I promised myself to return here once I settle somewhere and my wallet allows me to ship my future furniture to my new home.

Day 17 - 27: Casablanca
Workcamp number 2! I'm ready. There is one important difference with the other camp: I'm staying with a hostfamily. They are the sweetest people and although the communication is slow (because I lack good French or Darija) I'm having the best time with them. I feel very lucky I get to stay at their place :). In my bedroom are also 3 Spanish girls and together with a French mom and daughter and a few Maroccan guys we formed the environmental volunteergroup. This meant basically cleaning the garden and planting new plants in a schoolyard. Our afternoon trips were to the Maroccan mall, the beach (Bouznika was perfect!!), of course the medina, the hamam and the mosque Hassan. On my 26th birthday we had a final party as well, where I had to give a speech (fantastic surprise, not! ;)). But luckily he many times people sang for me and the nightly couscous and very funny birthdaycake on the beach made up for it!

Day 27+: Chefchaouen
The blue pearl. 50 shades of blue. It's sooo beautiful, feels just like paradise. And so I decided to stay here for a few days. The 3 Spanish girls came with me and they just left. Bitches of Chaouen, thank you for the good times we had :) - the same goes for my Larachegroup <3

Some final notes:

Until this moment it has been hard for me to create a complete image about the Maroccon culture. I am very intrigued by it. While walking in the streets you'll never think that the way the girls dress and dance in the nightclubs is sexier and more sensual as we ever will. There's drinking and smoking, just like at home. Then there's the beach and cafe-issue: some places are not recommended to go to. Some beaches and cafes are safe and there won't be any problems whatsoever; but on some beaches as a lady in bikini you'll feel surrounded and harrassed by swarms of men, and I use the term 'men-cafe' to refer to the many cafes occupied by just men and where you'll feel really uncomfortable sitting as a woman. There is no way (for me at least) to see a difference between the places. I spoke to an Italien guy at a party who has been living in Marocco for the last 2 years. After I explained him my difficulties with grasping the culture (thinking it would just take some time to overcome them) I asked him what he thought. His answer was very clear. 'I've been here for 2 years and after a while I stopped trying to understand'. So, some part of it will always be a mystery to me.

There are some things I've learned though:
- Spending time with family & friends is woven into daily life.
- Just like cooking and eating. The food is delicious, for me there is no other country with better food. Mssemen, rfissa, couscous, tajine (kefta is my favorite) and the countless number of spices they use.... Mmmm!
- Friday is a special day in Marocco, on which some people don't go to work, there is an extra prayer and everybody eats couscous.
- Pooring and drinking tea 'the Maroccan way' is not about tea. It's about friendship, peace and hospitality. There is no way you leave a house without drinking a few cups of tea.
- They same goes for the pastries they serve everywhere and all the time. Eat, eat! Another cookie? 'No thank you, I'm fine' does not exist.
- The people are superwelcoming, helpful and overprotective to us. But once it comes to planning or schedules, there is a big chance you're on your own.
- A few times people told me 'You are a Maroccan!' and without joking, I'm starting to feel like one. Not because of my looks or religion but I just love this country.

Very rarely it happens to me that I suddenly see myself from far away. And one night, sitting in the hostfamily's house which was not my own, with people I just met and in this strange country, I saw myself sitting there. And I was smiling and happy.

The near future is still hazy, I live day by day since plans here exist to change ;) But what's on my current planning until my Holland-bff's come to visit: Rabat (yes, you probably already guessed it ;) - Casablanca (to say goodbye to my hostfamily) - Imlil (to climb mountain Tjoubkal, for which we practised today with a beautiful and very sweaty 4-hour hike to de waterfalls of Ackhour) and Marrakech.

I promise I will use all my power in the world to try and write more often, because a lot of beautiful things are happening and I don't want you to miss it ;)