So it's been a month since I have written my last blog entry and, to say the least, lots has happened. However, first I will try and recap my trip to Morocco before starting in with my adventures in and around Amman.
To say the least, Casablanca is very different from the rest of Morocco, it is a much more urban, European, and modern city than the remainder. It has a very nice (new, costly, and controversial, as well) tram that runs through the centre of the city and some of the main suburbs. It is somewhat more expensive than the city buses (6 vs 4 Dirham - 0.82 vs 0.55 CAD). For me it was most definitely worth it as the buses were always stuck in traffic, overly cramped, and did not have as clear a route.
One major issues during my time in the city was my lack of wifi. The "false advertising" of many (many, many) restaurants and cafes which advertised that they had wifi, only for you to find out that either they did not or it was "temporarily" out of service. After wandering downtown for a good while, I finally came upon a quite nice cafe that did actually offer wifi (they even directed me upstairs where the wifi actually exists). The crucial need for the Internet was primarily because rather than staying at a hostel - the choice wasn't spectacular, costs weren't considerably cheap, and I wanted to try all types of accommodation - I had booked a room in a personal home via Airbnb. However, I still needed the details of how to get to her apartment and for that I needed wifi! After finally having a shawarma and sweet mint tea - apparently a weird combo, according to the look I got from the waiter - and getting a last email, I set off for the more residential area.
I managed to stuff myself and pack into a tiny (Peugeot?) petit taxi and make myself relatively understood, we set off in the right direction. We managed to understand each other enough to make it to the right block, but I decided to hop out and find my way down the smaller streets on foot - to get a better feel for the area and to not waste time/money in a cab. Might I mention, I was in a rather quiet area in the evening so it was a little less comforting than in busier areas during the day. In any case, I found the apartment building (photo of the front, quite handy) after walking to and fro a few times. As I was quite tuckered, we had a brief discussion about ourselves and then I made myself at home and went to sleep! Despite a lack of Internet and no breakfast, it was quite a nice change to have access to a kitchen and washing machine!
The main site that I took the time to see and admire was the - also controversial, new, and expensive - Hassan II Mosque. Although I missed the interior tour (set times for non-muslims), I took a good chunk of time to admire it from the outside including entertaining the stray cats. I was also tired and slightly under-the-weather so it was much more tempting to sit down outside in the sun than wander around inside trying to admire more architectural endeavours. It is a very impressive complex (it is several buildings, an open plaza, and a seawall) that provided a nice relaxation spot, good people watching, and neat designs.
Although being renown for its name and the associated movie - plus all that I missed - Casablanca is not as great as other cities throughout Morocco. The market is overpriced, less authentic and has a limited selection; the city is modern and crowded; and there is a greater disparity in wealth between the rich and the poor. Nevertheless, there is an energy that I hadn't found elsewhere - even in Marrakech - that was quite nice to be around. On my last night in the city, I sat on the centre square bench (despite being tired and needing to pack), which turned out to be quite interesting. After sitting down alone (small benches), a girl sat down next to me and seemed to be somewhat upset. I think, but am not sure, that I guy was following her and she wanted to rid herself of him (remember, security in numbers for women in Morocco). I sort of figured this as there was a guy kind of circling around our bench. Eventually, I asked if she was alright and she said yes. Then she was texting and eventually a guy showed up and she headed off. So it seemed like a closed affair, at least in the immediate situation.
I thought my company had ended for the evening, as it was already more than I had planned. Then someone came asking for money, but dealing with it as well as I do with sale people (despite my empathy for the homeless, and animals), a guy came over to tell him to leave me alone (and then give him a coin or two when he understood him), asked if he could sit down. We ended up having quite an in depth and lengthy chat (a hour or so) about a variety of topics, but in the end I realized it was like many conspiracy theorist thoughts - the Illuminati, God's existence, and quite a number of other topics. To say the least, he had his ideas in place and had done quite a bit of reading and research. It was an interesting conversation, but I was thankful I could honestly say I was leaving the next day and that I had to go home to pack. It didn't help I was rather chilled and in need of a bathroom.
The next morning, I packed my stuff once again, but this time in preparation for air travel (carry-on and checked luggage restrictions, versus carrying preferences). I waddled once more to the tram for a smooth ride to the train station - there is a very clear view of the slums on the way through the city - where I bought a ticket from the electronic machine and waited for the impending train (40 minute ride to the airport). It wasn't the most comfortable ride as I ended up standing with my pack on, it was easier than trying to place it and not whack people with it. Although not being completely sardine-packed, it was a definitely crowded and the ridiculous amount of luggage per person made the compartment quite stuffed.
Once we arrived at the airport, things were relatively straightforward despite not being allowed to check-in online beforehand due to my departure country. The only hold up was when passport control did not want to grant me permission to leave as I was not holding a visa for Jordan. As soon as I spoke with the manager and told him - with a decent amount of confidence and conviction - that I could acquire a visa on arrival, he cleared me and signed my form.
The flight to Cairo was uneventful and seemed rather short, despite a flying time of around five hours. The overnight stay in the airport was not particularly enjoyable, but it was the alternative to arriving in Jordan in the wee hours. After getting a small bottle of red wine, I found a spot in the warm, but busy hallway (the other was freezing) and settled in for a rather unrestful night. I can definitely say that I received a good number of stares from the wine, but I just tucked my ear buds in further and pulled my toque over my eyes and went back to sleep for an hour. Slightly demoralizing, I found another section that I had not found on my wanderings that had benches sans bars, which I could have laid down on. Upon boarding, I definitely stood out as one of the foreigners. The others being Asian tourists destined for Petra; apparently, that is a common event, tourists flying into Jordan only to see Petra, and maybe Wadi Rum. Once again an uneventful flight, but at least both flights fed me! One of the few times I've been homesick (others I've wanted to be elsewhere, but not necessarily homesick) was when we landed in Cairo and I realized we could be anywhere, including Ottawa.
My goal this week - outside of study, eat, workout, sleep, repeat - is to catch up on my blog posts: an overview of Spain & Morocco, an introduction to Amman, a review of Tel Aviv, and an update to life in Jordan. Here's hoping that within the next week or so, I will have caught you all up to my adventures and misadventures so far!
-Alex
To say the least, Casablanca is very different from the rest of Morocco, it is a much more urban, European, and modern city than the remainder. It has a very nice (new, costly, and controversial, as well) tram that runs through the centre of the city and some of the main suburbs. It is somewhat more expensive than the city buses (6 vs 4 Dirham - 0.82 vs 0.55 CAD). For me it was most definitely worth it as the buses were always stuck in traffic, overly cramped, and did not have as clear a route.
One major issues during my time in the city was my lack of wifi. The "false advertising" of many (many, many) restaurants and cafes which advertised that they had wifi, only for you to find out that either they did not or it was "temporarily" out of service. After wandering downtown for a good while, I finally came upon a quite nice cafe that did actually offer wifi (they even directed me upstairs where the wifi actually exists). The crucial need for the Internet was primarily because rather than staying at a hostel - the choice wasn't spectacular, costs weren't considerably cheap, and I wanted to try all types of accommodation - I had booked a room in a personal home via Airbnb. However, I still needed the details of how to get to her apartment and for that I needed wifi! After finally having a shawarma and sweet mint tea - apparently a weird combo, according to the look I got from the waiter - and getting a last email, I set off for the more residential area.
I managed to stuff myself and pack into a tiny (Peugeot?) petit taxi and make myself relatively understood, we set off in the right direction. We managed to understand each other enough to make it to the right block, but I decided to hop out and find my way down the smaller streets on foot - to get a better feel for the area and to not waste time/money in a cab. Might I mention, I was in a rather quiet area in the evening so it was a little less comforting than in busier areas during the day. In any case, I found the apartment building (photo of the front, quite handy) after walking to and fro a few times. As I was quite tuckered, we had a brief discussion about ourselves and then I made myself at home and went to sleep! Despite a lack of Internet and no breakfast, it was quite a nice change to have access to a kitchen and washing machine!
The main site that I took the time to see and admire was the - also controversial, new, and expensive - Hassan II Mosque. Although I missed the interior tour (set times for non-muslims), I took a good chunk of time to admire it from the outside including entertaining the stray cats. I was also tired and slightly under-the-weather so it was much more tempting to sit down outside in the sun than wander around inside trying to admire more architectural endeavours. It is a very impressive complex (it is several buildings, an open plaza, and a seawall) that provided a nice relaxation spot, good people watching, and neat designs.
Although being renown for its name and the associated movie - plus all that I missed - Casablanca is not as great as other cities throughout Morocco. The market is overpriced, less authentic and has a limited selection; the city is modern and crowded; and there is a greater disparity in wealth between the rich and the poor. Nevertheless, there is an energy that I hadn't found elsewhere - even in Marrakech - that was quite nice to be around. On my last night in the city, I sat on the centre square bench (despite being tired and needing to pack), which turned out to be quite interesting. After sitting down alone (small benches), a girl sat down next to me and seemed to be somewhat upset. I think, but am not sure, that I guy was following her and she wanted to rid herself of him (remember, security in numbers for women in Morocco). I sort of figured this as there was a guy kind of circling around our bench. Eventually, I asked if she was alright and she said yes. Then she was texting and eventually a guy showed up and she headed off. So it seemed like a closed affair, at least in the immediate situation.
I thought my company had ended for the evening, as it was already more than I had planned. Then someone came asking for money, but dealing with it as well as I do with sale people (despite my empathy for the homeless, and animals), a guy came over to tell him to leave me alone (and then give him a coin or two when he understood him), asked if he could sit down. We ended up having quite an in depth and lengthy chat (a hour or so) about a variety of topics, but in the end I realized it was like many conspiracy theorist thoughts - the Illuminati, God's existence, and quite a number of other topics. To say the least, he had his ideas in place and had done quite a bit of reading and research. It was an interesting conversation, but I was thankful I could honestly say I was leaving the next day and that I had to go home to pack. It didn't help I was rather chilled and in need of a bathroom.
The next morning, I packed my stuff once again, but this time in preparation for air travel (carry-on and checked luggage restrictions, versus carrying preferences). I waddled once more to the tram for a smooth ride to the train station - there is a very clear view of the slums on the way through the city - where I bought a ticket from the electronic machine and waited for the impending train (40 minute ride to the airport). It wasn't the most comfortable ride as I ended up standing with my pack on, it was easier than trying to place it and not whack people with it. Although not being completely sardine-packed, it was a definitely crowded and the ridiculous amount of luggage per person made the compartment quite stuffed.
Once we arrived at the airport, things were relatively straightforward despite not being allowed to check-in online beforehand due to my departure country. The only hold up was when passport control did not want to grant me permission to leave as I was not holding a visa for Jordan. As soon as I spoke with the manager and told him - with a decent amount of confidence and conviction - that I could acquire a visa on arrival, he cleared me and signed my form.
The flight to Cairo was uneventful and seemed rather short, despite a flying time of around five hours. The overnight stay in the airport was not particularly enjoyable, but it was the alternative to arriving in Jordan in the wee hours. After getting a small bottle of red wine, I found a spot in the warm, but busy hallway (the other was freezing) and settled in for a rather unrestful night. I can definitely say that I received a good number of stares from the wine, but I just tucked my ear buds in further and pulled my toque over my eyes and went back to sleep for an hour. Slightly demoralizing, I found another section that I had not found on my wanderings that had benches sans bars, which I could have laid down on. Upon boarding, I definitely stood out as one of the foreigners. The others being Asian tourists destined for Petra; apparently, that is a common event, tourists flying into Jordan only to see Petra, and maybe Wadi Rum. Once again an uneventful flight, but at least both flights fed me! One of the few times I've been homesick (others I've wanted to be elsewhere, but not necessarily homesick) was when we landed in Cairo and I realized we could be anywhere, including Ottawa.
My goal this week - outside of study, eat, workout, sleep, repeat - is to catch up on my blog posts: an overview of Spain & Morocco, an introduction to Amman, a review of Tel Aviv, and an update to life in Jordan. Here's hoping that within the next week or so, I will have caught you all up to my adventures and misadventures so far!
-Alex
Tiny elevators make for squishy travelers.
My room in the apart.
At Hassan II Mosque
Outside view of the tram and a station.
The modern and swanky tram!
The central train station
The ride to the airport.
My lovely bottle of wine!
Sitting & waiting overnight in Cairo airport.
