Goodbyes and the Green, White, and Blue of Chefchaouen

To Hajiba, my host mom,

Thank you for being so sweet and patient with our slow Google Translate conversations. The food that you made for us each day was literally better than any restaurant that I have tried in Morocco. I truly will miss your laugh and I really did feel like your daughter while I stayed at your home! I promise I will be back to visit you someday and know that I will love you always!

Your Daughter,

Lillian Z

I woke up this morning dreading the fact that we are leaving our homestay. After I slowly got ready, I gave Habjia a gift I prepared; it included a Purdue mug and some American snacks, a drawing that I made of her and a bouquet of flowers. The flowers were symbolic because there were 5 roses of different colors representing each of us; Hajiba was the pink flower in the middle surrounded by Ashley, Ariana, Edith and I. I didn’t think I was going to cry, but when we had to get on the bus, I saw Hajiba starting to tear up and so did I. Then, I have her a super long hug; she was very warm and I could feel the love radiating off of her. And thus we started our long travel day to Tanjer.

A depiction of my homestay family with Hajiba being the center rose!

On the way we stopped at Chefchaouen which is a city well known for its blue buildings. Once we got to our destination, we were given an hour to eat the lunch that we brought from our homestays. We had to purchase a drink from a cafe so we can sit and eat our food in the shade. Afterwards, our tour guide Abdul took us around the Medina and explained to us what green, white and blue meant in the city. Green, he said, represents the drug tourism that dominated the city fifteen years prior where everyone came to buy and smoke weed. He stated that the original color of the buildings were white which symbolized purity and peace, used to keep the houses cool and prevented ants from digging up their homes. Currently, some buildings are painted blue in order to remind people to get rid of their negativity as it represents denying the existance of a god. After our tour, we were given an hour to shop around the Medina and finally we went back to the bus for a two hour ride to Tanger.

Me, Andrea, Joseline, Mia and Paulette at a cafe in the Medina

Picture of me in Chefchaouen (It's super beautiful!!!)

We finally arrived at our hotel called Tanjah Flandria around 8:00pm. This time I am rooming with Viviana and after we put our luggage into our room, a group of us decided to go anIndian restaurant called Sarayah Food for dinner. This was the first time I ever tried Indian food and I got the butter chicken and it was very delicious, I would recommend! By the time we finished dinner it was around 11:00pm, so I went back to the hotel to shower and went to bed. 

A group of us at a DELICIOUS Indian restaurant

Now that we are finally in Tanjier, it makes me realize how close we are to the end of our trip. Thinking about the fact that we have already left our homestays and will be leaving Morocco in a few days feels bittersweet, but I will try to make the most out of my remaining time here!

Signing off,

Lillian Z