Casablanca and Marrakech

Scroll to the bottom to see two photos of us that I have managed to attach there. I want them along the side--but have to figure out how to do that. I will keep trying and at least keep adding to the bottom. The two photos are Rob and me on the stern deck where we love to have our meals and Rob and me with Carla and Charlie Tolbert, our friends from Charlottesville, on deck as we leave Halifax. We had dinner last night and breakfast this morning with Charlie and Carla and both meals we four just sat and talked for an hour or more after the meal was over. We have a great time with them. We are obviously in port now, which is they only free time we have.
The four of us have just gotten back (last night in time for dinner) from Marrakesh where we spent one night. Charlie was the bus leader for the big bus, and Rob and I were on the small bus. The small bus was fantastic. It was small enough that we had bus-wide conversations that included us, the young couple who work in administration on the ship, and 14 students. Morgoan, a student who is a born entertainer, organized the games and well as keeping us laughing. We all played categories which, believe it or not, was hilarious and great fun. Then we played a card game in which half of us were citizens and half mafia, one was a sheriff (me) and one a nurse. Anyway the mafia won.
The drive to Marrakesh from Casablanca took about three hours. The countryside looked a lot like Southern Spain--like Mexico or New Mexico--arid with scrub brush, mostly hilly with mountains near Marrakesh. The farm houses were sometimes completely surrounded by trees and green (looking like an oasis. Some just had a little green or trees on one side or another and looked much less prosperous. I saw a place I thought was a ruin--no green and very run-down. Then I saw people and realized that they lived there. We saw Moroccan flags galore as we approached Marrakesh ad or guide proudly told us they meant that the King was in town. He says the King is very popular.
Our students, took seriously all they had been told about Moroccan culture and dressed appropriately. In Spain they were told to dress modestly for the Catholic majority (95%) and they wore lots of short shorts and tank tops and flip flops. Here they were admonished to cover themselves and always travel in groups, preferably with a male along. They did, long sleeves, long pants, no lavish jewelry, etc. The girls were told that they would mark themselves for harassment by men if they did not. They did exactly as was suggested, all of them. Rob made sure to look out after students anytime he has been out. Morocco has 98.25 Muslims and .5% Christan. They have a 50% overall literacy rate, with 80% illiteracy for females. People in the cities have a higher literacy rate than those living in the country. The literacy rate is improving--just a few years ago only 30% of the entire population could read and write. The farmers use what our guide called the-old-fashioned way--if it rains, the crops get water, if not, they are dry. The same farming methods that have been used for thousands of years are what they use today. Our guide says the King wants to improve literacy and many new schools have been built where before there were none. We were taken to see a new school where gardening is taught so that they poor children from the settlements could learn a marketable skill. Our guide pointed out that the countryside is used for agriculture.
We saw minarets and Mosques in every village and many is the towns of Casablanca and Marrakesh, which are big, modern cities. Our port here in Casablanca could easily be in Norfolk.
Security is tight around the ship everywhere we go. There is always a gate in ports where we have to show ID to get in and out of, we also have to show our ship ID and swipe our ship ID card to get off or come aboard. Two or thee ship security people make sure we sign in properly and they go through our bags and purses before we can go in from the gangway. Mostly they are looking for food products or liquids (especially alcohol for the students--but all of us are searched). We have to pour out the water from our water bottles before we can bring them aboard. Here in Casablanca we have two local police at the foot of our gangway at all times plus two police cars parked at our bow and one police car parked at our stern.The police cars all have two officers in them. We think we are being protected from terrorists. Our captain tells us that our ship has a high level of security in all ports. I am glad to have the protection and do not object to the inconvenience of being searched and showing ID.
More later.