May 7th, 2015 | Uncategorized
As classes ended and coaching slowed down we saw an opportunity to travel to a place none of us had ever dreamed of experiencing. Fellow scholars, Ashley, Christine, Kelsey and myself spontaneously decided we were going to Africa. We booked our flights and four days later we were leaving for Morocco! We boarded the plane to Marrakech not really knowing what to expect other than we booked an overnight trip to the Sahara Desert where we would ride camels and camp over night. We arrived to Marrakech after dark and we took a taxi to our hostel. Well, as far as the taxi could take us, then we were led by foot to our hostel. People always asked us if it was a culture shock moving to Ireland and I never felt it really was, of course there are a lot of differences, but nothing too dramatic. I felt a dramatic culture shock as we followed our hostel guide to our hostel. Once we got inside the hostel was big and filled with lots of travellers. We were immediately presented with tea, which reminded me of Irish hospitality. We took a long but majestic and beautiful journey to the Sahara desert the next day. The scenery was not what I expected Africa to look like. We could see snow covered mountaintops and the different textures and kind of mountains everywhere was breathtaking. After two days travel we arrived to the desert where we rode on camelback to our campsite. We spent the night under the stars and a full moon. Our local guides shared food and music as we enjoyed the serenity of the vast desert around us. When we were back in Marrakech we ventured through the maze of markets. Spice markets, clothes, food, jewelry, everything you could think of. It was amazing to experience such a different culture but also realize how similar we still are.
