The Weekenders

All last week, all of the volunteers were planning a weekend trip to the northern town of Chefchauoen which is nestled in the Riz Mountains. It is known for its beautiful landscapes and large waterfalls. We found out that it is not very easy for a group of 10-14 people with different work schedules to plan a simple trip. That combined with the fact that we are in a country where the transportation schedules are as inconsistent as you would expect in a 'developing country' makes for a lot of confusion.
We finally decided to just 'wing it' and figure out everything on our own. Because Lyall & I had to work relatively late on Friday we were the last ones to depart. Ronan came with us as well. Simon wanted to spend the weekend at home.
The three of us left the house around 7PM on Friday with a vague idea where the bus station was and no idea when and where the buses were running.
On arrival at the bus station, after a brief encounter between our taxi driver and a bus driver about the latter's lack of a yield at a questionable intersection, we found out that no buses were running to Chefchaouen or its closest neighbor, Tatouen until 5 in the morning.
That was not appealing to us. Then, we walked to the CTM bus station which is a fancier, more private bus company which was relatively close. Their best option at the time was a bus to Tatouen at 12:50AM. Thinking that it would make for a great adventure we quickly agreed to buy the tickets. That meant that we had roughly four hours to spend in the rain in South East Rabat which is less than exciting.
We spent the better part of that time in a restaurant called the 'Coq Taybar' where I had a fantastic rotisseried half-chicken and the others had mixed kebabs. We were the only customers which was eerie but charming.
Back at the bus station we filled the rest of our time playing blackjack with frustratingly tiny cards.
Finally, the bus arrived at 1:30AM and we were very excited to get on the bus and meet up with the others.
At first glance, the bus was very clean and it seemed like the ride would be very enjoyable. In retrospect, it was very enjoyably as we sped across the African countryside. However, the seats left no room for the legs and the young man in front of me decided to put his seat all the way back even though he was being obnoxious with his friends for most of the ride.
Needless to say, I did not sleep at all.
Upon arrival at Tetouan, we could not refrain from making jokes about the planet that Luke Skywalker hails from called Tatooine. They do, in fact, look very similar.
Anyways, we got a taxi to Chefchaouen and got to enjoy the mountain views as we sped around the roads at very high speeds in the rain, which seemed to follow us from Rabat. The driver made a few questionable passes on the left but I was too drained to care.
We got to Chefchaouen at 6AM.

Before we tried to contact any of the other volunteers we searched for a cafe where we could enjoy a nice coffee or hot chocolate. Because Chefchaouen is in the North, the majority of the locals speak Arabic and Spanish as opposed to Arabic and French. This was a problem because none of us are close to competent when it comes to Spanish. That is why Ronan and I ended up with glasses of hot milk instead of hot chocolate. I am not a fan of hot milk so I tried to put some sugar in it in hopes of creating some type of hybrid ice cream. That made it worse. We were forced to order a black coffee and use the milk to balance everything out. This worked quite well even though our waiter was laughing at us the entire time. Again, I was too tired to care.

After that small dose of energy we called the others and slowly made our way to their hotel where they had all just woken up after a good night's sleep. We found them in the small restaurant and shared their complimentary breakfast that the three of us had to pay for. The hotel was a beautiful building in the Medina and the roof offered a tremendous view of the rest of the town and the surrounding mountains. From there we could see rain clouds.
Our next step was to get a room in the same hotel which wasn't a problem.

Then, it took about an hour to round up everybody, the final tally was 12 people.
Because it was very foggy, we decided not to climb the large mountain that is very popular because we wanted a good view. We opted to hire a mini-bus that would take us down to the area near the waterfalls.
This is a very funny place because, as the bus pulls up, nearly a dozen men come rushing up to you offering to either be your guide to the falls or to sell you hashish or in some cases, both.
After a long debate we decided to hire a guide which turned out to be the best decision that I have ever made in my life, probably. Not that I made the decision, I initially did not think that a guide was necessary, but i severely regret ever dismissing the idea.
Moving on, as we set off on our trek (I didn't realize that it was going to be a 'trek' so I was poorly prepared. Also, it started to rain just as we set off for what turned out to be a six hour hike through the foresty mountains.
After 45 minutes we heard to the deep rumble that can only come from a fairly large waterfall. This was music to our ears as we were already very tired and a little wet. We paused for about five minutes to take artsy pictures and set off again at our guides request. This was around the time when a man in a leather jacket joined us. Nobody knew where he came from and the guide had never seen him before. He was just walking with us. He was in the front and we figured that he knew where he was going but a few times the guide had to steer us back in the correct direction. Actually, at the time we had no idea what was the right direction because sometimes we went pretty far from the river. After two hours we stopped under a rock formation that offered us cover from the rain which had become ridiculous. Those who had the foresight to bring lunches were biting into their Banana and Nutella sandwiches as I stared at them longingly.
The guide said the we only had 20 minutes to go until we reached the 'big waterfall.'
So, we set off once more with hopes of reaching the waterfall safely. At this point, everybody was soaked to the bone so there was no point in walking across the river via rocks and everybody just waded through. I was worried because I had brought my iPod which was in my pocket because I thought the hotel was kind of sketchy.
After an hour, we reached a pile of boulders in the path. The guide made his way up quite quickly as we summoned our strength for what was to be the last step into reaching the waterfall.

Upon arrival, everybody conceded that the absurd hike and the freezing rain was completely worth it.
Upon looking back over what I just wrote, I realized that this is far too long so I will summarize the rest of the trip a little more efficiently.
Anyways, a few brave souls decided to swim in the freezing water. That did not look fun but I might as well have because I was soaked anyway.
We trekked back in double time because we had no time to lose before it got dark. We, somehow, made it back to the hotel and I put on my best pajamas and softest 'jumper' as the Brits call it.
We had a fantastic dinner at a warm and comfortable restaurant. I had chicken kebabs.
After staying up far too late playing Go Fish we went to bed and woke up early to go to the beach town of Assila. We got there by way of Tatouen and then Tangier and finally we caught a 30 minute train to Assila. This was a very nice, picturesque beach town with beautiful murals in the medina. It was a fun and short visit. I think we will go back sometime for a proper beach weekend. We caught a train back to Rabat that evening and enjoyed a relaxing trip back home.
All told, I got about 4 hours of sleep from Friday morning until Sunday night but I don't regret going at all.

This week has been very tiring because I have class in the morning. I go home for lunch (remember the 45 minute commute) then I immediately go back for my Arabic lesson and then another English class in the evening. It is nice to have a routine but even better to have spontaneous weekend outings.
That said, we are all going to Marrakesh this weekend.

In other news, Simon moved out because his time with Projects Abroad is finished. However, he is staying in a hotel up the street which means he is still very much in contact with us no matter how much he claims to "'ate ze Americains"
More pictures are coming.