Meknes and more!

First of all, I left my cell phone in a grand taxi after an hour of scrambling around the Roman Ruins of Voloubilis. So new phone number: 212 55 25 49 98. I'm an idiot but luckily, losing your phone in Morocco is not a big deal since it costs about $25 to replace the whole shebang and i dont have to worry about dealing with Verizon.

Second of all, I just uploaded more pictures. Go here http://www.flickr.com/photos/34951439@N04/ and view the February set. For those of you who dont get flickr or dont have time, i included some in this post.

My side of the room:

All of this snow has since melted but this was the first blue sky i saw in 8 days and had to take a picture out of my window. All of the buildings on campus are in this style. And yes, this is Morocco.

This past weekend, I went with a group of exchanges to Meknes. It is about the same size as Fes and an hour north of Ifrane. I love Meknes. This gate below opened into the Imperial City of King Moulay Ismail a long time ago. Now the gate doesnt open but has a beautiful Plaza on the other side. We spent Saturday wandering around the Meknes medina which is more modern than the Fes medina but still as confusing. We also visited the Moseleum of Moulay Ismail. He reigned over Morocco from Meknes and therefore built himself an incredible place to be buried. I am pretty sure it is the most beautiful building I have ever stood in. This picture doesn't even come close to doing it justice. We then walked to an ancient irrigation basin, Agdal Basin. We hit it at twighlight. Absolutely beautiful. After a long night at a sketchy bar in the Ville Nouvelle of Meknes, we got an early start, complete with a 4 Dh fresh squeezed orange juice and some harsha (a delicious breakfast treat made from seminola grain). This orange juice was so good and so cheap! i love Morocco. We then hopped in some grand taxis to go to Moulay Idriss, the holiest city in Morocco. It houses the Mosoleum of Moulay Idriss and is perfectly wedged into the mountains. This town is soooo beautiful and overlooks rolling green hills of olive trees and beautiful countryside. From Moulay Idriss, we hopped in some more grand taxis over to Volubilis. The oldest Roman ruins in Morocco. For a mere charge of 10 Dh, you are welcome to crawl all over these ruins. They are still in amazing shape and it was so nice to just have an hour to wander and pretend to be a Roman in Morocco, pressing olives, eating olives, sitting and pondering life in a beautiful place...

Standing inside the Forum

We drove back into Meknes where we wandered around the medina some more. The medina is suprisingly incredibly organized. All of the produce is in one section, the clothing, even a "Home Depot" section! While wandering the produce section, we passed some of the most beautiful tomatoes I have ever seen. The vendor gave it to me for free and after a quick rinse, I took a huge, juicy bite. It was the perfect afternoon snack (along with the macaroon that I picked up in the baker/pastery section).

Spring break is the next week and we have 12 days of break. My classes are starting to pick up, just as the weather is getting really beautiful. Go figure. I will end the post with a picture I took of an imperial gate as we were leaving Meknes for Ifrane, the worst part of the whole weekend. We hit the gate at the time of day it was meant to be appreciated.
The mercedes in the picture are the grandtaxis we ride everywhere. Alex Labby: you and the WET-mobile would have the good life in Morocco, driving through the mountains with two people in the passenger seat and four packed in the back. Put on some Celine Dion and you might even get a 2 Dh tip. Ok. I will try to post over break but no promises. The plan is to go into Marrakech and ride a camel and then become a beach bum, Jimi Hendrix and Cat Stevens style in Essouira and Agadir. My love to all. I miss you so much.