As Time Goes By

So I have just returned from great weekend in Casablanca. It was a great time for all of the BU students to let loose and get to know each other as we navigated Moroccan trains, taxis, and Casablancan life in general.
We left on Friday afternoon and made it to the Train Station for the 14:00 train. We made it and were on our way before we realized we had left Rabat! At the beginning of our trip, we were all excited to get out of Rabat for a bit, the Medina and family life was getting a little intense.

We arrived in Casablanca, and thanks to the help of a trusty iPhone, we located our hotel. We stayed in Hotel Central, in the Medina of Casa, close to pretty much everything we wanted to be close too.

That night, after an adventure around Casablanca to find a grocery store, we headed to Rick’s Cafe Americain for Dinner. Yes, if you’re wondering, this is the Rick’s Cafe from the movie Casablanca. While the movie wasn’t filmed in Casablanca, or even remotely about Morocco, an American moved to Casablanca and opened the restaurant. It is designed almost exactly like the movie. As it is one of my favorite movies, the dinner was a very enjoyable experience. The piano player played “As Time Goes By” at least three times, and we were served three courses of delicious four star meals. This and a bottle of wine was a big splurge for us, though at 650 Durhams, it was under 100 dollars for all of us. That night we went to a Spanish-style Tapas Bar and had drinks and danced a bit at the club. It was a really fun first night in Casablanca. It felt pretty unreal that we had only been in Casa a half day.

The following day we woke up, I woke a little sick, but excited to go see Casablanca! We left the hotel after a delicious breakfast of bread, butter, jam and coffee (a traditional daily Moroccan breakfast) and we headed over to the Hassan II Mosque. This Mosque, just a fifteen-minute walk from Hotel Central, is hard to describe in words. My pictures don’t even show its full scope. It is HUGE, our tour guide said that you could fit Saint Peters Basilica inside of the main prayer hall. It is the largest Mosque in Africa, and the third largest in the world. It was completed in 2004, and was a monument dedicated to King Hassan II who died in 1999.
It really is beautiful, though the Mosque is new, the zellig (traditional Moroccan tiling) on the Mosque is from traditional Moroccan artisans and made in the traditional way, just on an overwhelming scale. It can fit 25,000 people in the main prayer hall and on important holidays in Ramadan, over 100,000 people attend the Mosque each day.
After our tour of the Mosque, I returned to the hotel to eat and take a well-needed nap. After a good rest, the rest of the BU kids and I headed over to Ain Diab, which is the popular nightlife part of Casablanca. It is right on the beach and is in a really beautiful location. We went to a couple of bars/restaurants and ended the night on a sweet terrace overlooking the Atlantic. The night ended on a bit of a sour note however as we discovered why Moroccans dislike Casablanca and the men in Casablanca. A couple of the girls in our group had split off from the main group and then they were followed by some creepy Moroccan guys. It was pretty upsetting but then as the girls met up with us, the guys let off when they saw Sean and I with them. It is pretty funny that how Moroccan guys back off as soon as they see us with the girls—though I am pretty threatening, all 5’9” of me.

We headed back to Rabat the next day, all of us looking forward to Rabat and the place where we all feel at home. We had a great train ride back, (I got a copy of the Economist in English!) and we arrived in Rabat to clean streets, nice people, and another busy Medina.

Overall, Casa is alright. I am happy I went and saw it, Rick’s was INCREDIBLE, and the rest of the city was fun. It was just pretty dirty, dusty, and the people were a bit iffy. Not the best place in Morocco, but an experience nonetheless.

Ma’a Salaama

Arabic Word of the Day:
حشومة
(hashuuma)
Shame-commonly used in morocco to describe shameful actions.

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