We are taking a little break from reality this weekend and took a trip to the resort town of Saidia on the Mediterranean coast. Here we stayed at an all inclusive resort and I felt very out of my element, which is weird because you would think sandy beaches and sunshine would remind me of home. This was definitely the "tourist" experience, and something that I would typically avoid while traveling, but this definitely provided some perspective on my Morocco experience.
Looking around at the Europeans sunbathing on the lounge chairs spattering the beaches I felt the love-hate feeling that I typically feel towards large crowds of tourists in Hawaii. Tourists are vital to the economy of Hawaii and the industry creates many jobs throughout the state that many of my family members and friends rely on and for that reason I love tourists. However, I always felt that tourists are only interested in the superficial elements of Hawaii and do not care about the realities of life and not about anything but the carefully crafted presentation that we deliver of hula dancers, surf lessons, and postcard worthy photo shoots.
Tourism is the biggest money maker of the Moroccan economy and with a beautifully crafted experience it's no wonder why resort life in Saidia is so popular among the European tourists and many of my American companions were loving it as well. However, although the beaches of the Mediterranean are a cool site to see, this to me wasn't the real Morocco and I'm excited to see what Fes has in store for us. I'm looking forward to the homestay and getting to see the real day to day life of Moroccans rather than the "tourist experience."
Camel Rides on the Beach
Dana, Donna, and myself sat here with our cocktails and had interesting conversations on Social Studies teachings in Connecticut and Hawaii. I shared with them a bit about the Hawaiian monarchy and the culture of Hawaii that we learn about in our schools instead of the additional US History classes. Lessons about ahupua'a's and ali'i; Queen Liliuokalani and King Kamehameha; and the accurate parts of Lilo and Stitch. It was a lovely way to our only evening here, but like I said this glorious evening was a nice break from reality, I'm looking forward to exploring to Oujda, then heading off to Fes.
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