First day in Meknes

Another train ride! Yay! Our very short stay in Rabat was nice as a little refresher post New Year's Eve, but it's hard to move around every day. We stayed in Meknes for two nights, so we were able to wash clothes, settle in, and see the city more in-depth.

The first day in Meknes we arrived at our riad well before it was ready for us. We wandered around, had lunch on a rooftop, and read our guide books for tips on what to do the next day. After we checked into our riad and dropped off our bags, I walked around with Jon, Stefi, Ashlae, and Erin. Our intent was to find a cafe with wifi so we could all check in back home, but we met a Berber artisan who makes metal crafts decorated with silver thread. We went into his shop and he showed us how he makes each piece, firing the metal twice, scouring it, polishing it, and shaping the final piece. I bought a bracelet and ring from him for an incredible price and then he invited us to sit in a back room filled with killim rugs. We sat around and he made each of us a cup of mint tea (everyone here calls it Moroccan whiskey or scotch. It is LOADED with sugar!) He was so kind and taught us the history of each of the four types of killims. I promise to go into more detail in future posts about all the intricacies that make Morocco Morocco, but for now I'm just posting an overview of my visit to catch up on this blog! He asked us to sign a book he keeps as a record of all of the students that come through his shop. He has learned English thanks to students from the nearby university coming through, so we left a note of thanks for his hospitality.

We ate dinner in someone's home that doubles as their family restaurant. The riad roof was leaking when we got back and mattresses got wet and had to be shuffled around. It was quite the ordeal! Someone had been hosing off the roof earlier in the day and forgot to turn the water off, so the terrace flooded. The riad was truly authentic with no heat and drafty windows. I shook the entire night and didn't sleep a wink. More on that in the next post...