Week 4: Chefchaouen & Host Family #2

After two years of waiting, I was finally able to visit Chefchaouen, the Blue Pearl of Morocco! In the spring of 2020 while I was studying abroad in France, I had plans to visit this little city in the mountains, however it never happened due to COVID-19. When coming to Morocco I had two things on my bucket list: go to Chefchaouen and ride a camel (stay tuned for the camel, it will happen).

I am happy to report that Chefchaouen fully lived up to, and dare I say, exceeded the big expectations that I had. Driving up to the city is a gorgeous view as it is surrounded by the beautiful Atlas Mountains. You go around a curve in the road and you get the first view of the blue city nestled among tall peaks. In the city, the walls and the doors are all painted various shades of blue. To start off the day we spent time wandering around taking in the beautiful views. Every little side street turned into something unexpected and beautiful to look at. At breakfast we learned that Chefchaouen is known for its goat cheese and is also the cannabis capital of Morocco. They also have a lot of oranges, lots of opportunities for freshly pressed orange juice.

Chaouen (as the locals call it) has lots of little waterfalls and a main river that comes into the city from the mountains. We spent time putting our feet in the very cold fresh mountain water as well as drank some water from the source (maybe not the smartest choice since we very well could have gotten sick from this but so far so good). We visited this city with the country coordinator, Mohammed, and about 20 of his family members. Most of them had been here before, however, it was still great to watch them all have fun, take photos, and joke around with them.

After Chefchaouen, we all went and visit Tanger, the city in the very north of Morocco. From the coast we could see Spain. It is also where the Atlantic and Mediterranean Sea meet up. I have been told that there is an actual line you can see from where the different waters meet. Sadly, we weren’t able to walk down to the coast to see it because it was getting too late in the day.

On Wednesday we had to say goodbye to the family, and we travelled back to Meknes from Ksar el-Kebir (read more about our time there in my previous blog post). I spent about a day and a half relaxing and spending time with my host family and then on Friday it was time to move on to the next family. This family is outside of Midelt, which is in the Atlas Mountains. This is a Berber (the people indigenous to Morocco) region, therefore the family speaks Amazigh. In this family, Sanders, the other IFYE, and I are staying together. This has been very nice because there were some initial surprises that we had to navigate together. First, the house does not have Wi-Fi. To post this and call my family we walk over to the big refrigerator warehouse the family owns for apple storage. This family also only has a traditional, or squatting toilet, and let’s just say that has taken some trial and error. There is also no shower, we shower using buckets. However, with adjustments we have been able to make it all work out.

Apple production is the main type of agriculture in the region. This family has two orchards, one near the house and another farther away more in the mountains. This house has been a revolving door with different family members coming and going. With the kids on vacation from school, they come here and go to the pool, play soccer, and hang out. We have taught them UNO and Jenga and they love playing together and with us. While there is a severe language barrier, between google translate and hand movements we have been able to make things work.

It has been nice being out in the rural part of Morocco because we have been able to spend a lot more time outside than compared to Meknes. We can walk to park, a pool, the refrigerator where we do some work every morning, and a mini market to buy water and snacks. It has also been much cooler than Meknes, in the mid-90s instead of the mid-100s. We get to watch the sunset, feel the wind, and hear wildlife, all of which did not happen in Meknes. As Massin, the 26-year-old son, told us it is living the simple life which has its charms.