Salad People

My weekends in Morocco are getting longer and longer. Last week's weekend began on Thursday evening. 11 of us hearty Projects Abroad volunteers set off for the Sahara Desert via the imperial city of Meknes. The plan was to take the 7 o'clock train to Meknes and then catch the night bus South to Rissani, a small town at the tip of the Desert. We realized that it was going to be one of those weekends when our train from Rabat was delayed twice and didn't leave until 9 o'clock.
We realized that we were not going to make the bus that night and made the decision to spend the night in Meknes and take the night bus on Friday and arrive in the desert on Saturday morning. We called our guide, Omar, and updated him with our plans. "No problem" said he; we could start our three day trek on Saturday and sacrifice a day of work.
With our ample time at the Gare de Rabat, we booked a comfortable hotel in Meknes and planned to check out the ruins of the Roman outpost called Volubilis.
We crammed into two taxis the next day and experienced G-forces as we hurtled around the hilly countryside outside of Meknes. Volubilis was completely worth the scary car ride. There were fantastic stairs, arches and columns. There were well-preserved mosaics on the floors of many of the buildings. Somebody said that Volubilis was where the Romans would capture the lions and tigers and bears that were used in the Gladiator fights at the Colosseum in Rome. I didn't question this claim for the sake of its awesomeness.
We spent a few hours basking in historical glory.
After a while, our drivers got impatient and we headed back into town via the picturesque mountain village of Moulay Idris. Getting into the taxi I proceeded to close the door on my own thumb and say a lot of dirty words. I got over that quickly though, so don't worry too much.
That night, Friday, we had time to kill before our bus so we went to a very sketchy bar. All the women there were not trying very hard, if at all, to hide the fact that they were prostitutes.
I forgot to mention earlier that my stomach was feeling very wobbly throughout this entire trip. Once we got on the bus, I had a feeling that I was going to need the toilet very soon. The drivers were very accomodating as they pulled over at the next gas station to let me use the facilities. I felt awkward as I was the only one getting off of the bus. However, I received a standing ovation as I stepped back on the bus.
After that speed bump, I began to improve and I managed to get a few minutes of sleep on our 9 minute journey to the South West corner of Morocco.
We arrived as the sun was coming up. The town was decorated more than the towns in Morocco usually are and we learned that the King was going to be visiting for a few days. Yes, Morocco is run by a king. Mohammad VI is not only a figurehead; he runs the show.(more on him late)
We were so tired that we accepted the first person we saw's offer for breakfast. Normally, we are quite wary of people who invite you to their restaurant/house but we were to weary/hungry to say no.
After the typical Moroccan breakfast of bread and tea (of which I did not indulge for the sake of my stomach) we met up with Omar's brother, Mohammad. We hopped in his big off-road vehicle and set off for the golden dunes of Erg Chebbi. (wikipedia it)
...To Be Continued
(sorry, It's time for ice cream)

Tomorrow, I will be taking a day trip to Fez to watch a World Cup qualifying match between Morocco and Cameroon. Morocco has no chance to qualify but i think they will be trying to save some face as they can still make the African Cup of Nations.