My cousins and I booked a holiday together before I even got into the country. They travel all the time so we had to find a place they hadn't been. I think it came down to Scandinavia or Morocco in the end, but they ended up booking New Years up there, so Morocco it was!
I enjoyed Marrakech, but not for the reasons I thought.
I'd done Italy for 2 weeks completely on my own, and in some parts of Florence I'd get catcalls for wearing lipstick - you deal with it.
I was woefully unprepared for Marrakech. I feel like I need to preface this by saying that the place was gorgeous. And being able to spend time with my cousins was awesome. But the trip will always be dampened a little for me because of the way I was treated by a minority of the population.
It annoyed me even more because my cousins grew up in Saudi Arabia, and we made sure that we were dressing conservatively and being respectful, doubly so if we were entering places which required more respect. And still, some of the things I had yelled at me across the street or when we were wandering through the Souks were just disgusting.
When we were walking through the Souks, I had a shopkeeper grab my arm and try and get me to come into his shop - I politely but firmly asked him to let me go. And he mimicked me and laughed in my face. One of my cousins had to drag me away, more angry than I can ever remember being in my life. We went everywhere together the whole time just because it was safe that way.
So it was a strange one for me.
There was so much beauty tarnished by people not treating each other with respsect. I'll refrain from turning this into a feminist rant, because it's not the place, but just the lack of respect people have for each other in some places was really highlighted to me.
On a much lighter note, we made a trip out to the waterfalls, walked through the Jardin Majorelle, and got to know each other. Here's some highlights.
I enjoyed Marrakech, but not for the reasons I thought.
I'd done Italy for 2 weeks completely on my own, and in some parts of Florence I'd get catcalls for wearing lipstick - you deal with it.
I was woefully unprepared for Marrakech. I feel like I need to preface this by saying that the place was gorgeous. And being able to spend time with my cousins was awesome. But the trip will always be dampened a little for me because of the way I was treated by a minority of the population.
It annoyed me even more because my cousins grew up in Saudi Arabia, and we made sure that we were dressing conservatively and being respectful, doubly so if we were entering places which required more respect. And still, some of the things I had yelled at me across the street or when we were wandering through the Souks were just disgusting.
When we were walking through the Souks, I had a shopkeeper grab my arm and try and get me to come into his shop - I politely but firmly asked him to let me go. And he mimicked me and laughed in my face. One of my cousins had to drag me away, more angry than I can ever remember being in my life. We went everywhere together the whole time just because it was safe that way.
So it was a strange one for me.
There was so much beauty tarnished by people not treating each other with respsect. I'll refrain from turning this into a feminist rant, because it's not the place, but just the lack of respect people have for each other in some places was really highlighted to me.
On a much lighter note, we made a trip out to the waterfalls, walked through the Jardin Majorelle, and got to know each other. Here's some highlights.
(we made this at a cooking class at the Riad we stayed in)
(Our driver got pulled over for speeding and spent AN ENTIRE HOUR trying to get out of a ticket while we just sat in the car)
