Morocco

Long overdue entry, I apologize to all my readers I've kept waiting (hopefully you exist)! Morocco was easily the most interesting and adventurous trip I've ever taken. It's amazing how crossing just 20 mi. over the Straight of Gibraltar brings you to another world. Overall, the trip was a great learning experience and adventure and really gave me a new-found appreciation for my life in Spain and the U.S. This is how the trip went:

First, I flew from Barcelona to Tangier to meet up with my two roommates who would be my companions on this journey. They had left a few days before me, traveling through Andalucia (Southern Spain) before taking a ferry to Tangier. Before they left, we arranged a meeting point "Atlas Restaurant at La Petit Socco" and agreed to meet at 10:30PM once my flight got in. So, I left around 9:00PM from Barcelona on a Royal Air Moroccan flight to Tangier. The flight was only 2 hours but they still served us a full meal of Moroccan food that was really good. We landed in Tangier on time and customs only took a few minutes. After customs, I rounded the corner to about 100 Moroccans waiting for friends/relatives. Not knowing any Arabic or French, I needed to find a taxi. There was no information desk, so I had to ask a few different people until I found a security guard who pointed me in the right direction and told me it would be 15 euros (luckily Julien, my French roommate here in Barcelona, taught me the French numbers before I left). **Side note: Morocco's primary language is Arabic, but most people speak French as well, as the French have a long history meddling in Morocco.**
Once I got in a taxi, the taxi driver drove a few feet and then was waved down my a police officer standing in the middle of the road. After talking back and forth for a few moments, the police officer finally let the taxi driver go on. The taxi driver (who was able to speak to me in Spanish) then told me that the police officer wanted the driver to bring him a sandwich on his way back to the airport. Of course, why not.
Then we continued on away from the airport and stopped at a store briefly so he could go in and order the sandwich. Looking out of the cab, I realized that I was clearly not in Spain anymore. There was a police officer standing at every intersection (we passed about 20 on our way to the city) so that "people don't try to rob you" in the words of the cab driver. Already feeling a bit uneasy, I really wanted to meet up with my friends.
I told the cab driver where I wanted to meet them and he told me that the cab wouldn't fit on the streets that lead to Petit Socco (small market/plaza) since it is in the city's "medina", or, old part. Instead, he would take me to Grand Socco. When we arrived he pointed to the entrance to the medina and said that was the way to Petit Socco, but that he wouldn't advise walking their at this time of night. Instead, he pointed me to a hotel and told me to get a room and meet my friends in the morning. I checked in to the hotel, which was literally a roach motel (but what can you expect for 7euro a night?), left my stuff, and went to find an internet cafe. After walking around the city for about 30 min looking for internet, I realized that there was absolutely no way I could blend in. I realized that it was quite a new feeling for me. I finally found an internet cafe and was able to get up w/ my friends via Skype. We were able to rendezvous at a spot very close to my hotel. They had already found a hotel and we agreed on a meeting point for the next morning.
The next morning, we got up and found a tea room to have a small breakfast. I really needed to use the bathroom and discovered the squatter toilet. I'll spare you the details, but it involves squatting, a spicket, and a bucket. I was glad I brought hand sanitizer. After breakfast, we took a short trip around the city before catching an afternoon bus to our next destination, Chefchaouen.