Welcome to Taroudant!

Entering my "school away from school" host city has been a whirlwind! Leaving the hustle and bustle of the modern capitol city of Rabat and relocating to a smaller, more traditional Moroccan city required just a tiny bit of adjustment.

Streets!

Had to include this one after my first post, in case you were wondering. First off, there are very few sidewalks. Just a giant school fish consisting of cars, trucks, bicycles, pedestrians, motor bikes, kutchi (horse carriages) and donkeys who seamlessly know who's turn is next and navigates the streets of Taroudant without a hitch. Everyone knows which way everyone is going without any reservation (for the most part). Cars are able to pass pedestrians and bicyclists with inches to spare. I will most likely be the one to create a kink in this effortless stream. I don't have the Moroccan intuition of knowing whose turn happens to be next as I can not find a consistent pattern. I just hope I don't screw it up too badly!

History

The amazing history! The old part of Rabat lies within the walls of the Medina. And it is so incredibly beautiful. In the sixteenth century, the Saadi dynasty briefly used Taroudant as a capital before moving to Marrakesh. Marrakesh was built modeled off of Taroudant, therefore making Taroudant the "Grandmother of Marrakesh". The old walls surround historic streets, homes and shops. We are lucky enough to stay in the mansion of the former Governor of Taroudant. He had a few wives, so the mansion consists of many, many rooms. As you enter the mansion, now converted hotel, you can just feel and breathe in the history. Beautiful tile work, arches, ceilings, furniture etc, etc. Everything is gorgeous! My room(s) consists of a traditional Moroccan parlor, a bedroom and a bathroom. I truly felt like one of the Governors wives when I entered my suite. Downside - no wifi. There is apparently usually wifi there so I asked and the concierge and he said most likely tomorrow. Asked again the next day. "hopefully tomorrow". And again the next, "hopefully tomorrow...". Then he brought us a platter of oranges, which I am convinced was a bribe to stop asking about the status of wifi. Makes difficult to blog and communicate with the outside world. The people who run the hotel are definitely comical, hard to navigate their version of customer service vs ours. But just this tiny portion has been a learning experience and story in its own, so I am grateful for it. No wifi is totally trade off for staying in such an amazing historic building.

Maybe I should take this as a sign to unplug and enjoy the rest of the week... P.S. I was able to upload this post at a nearby cafe if you were wondering!