Adventures in Casablanca

Apologies again for the delay in posting. However I just finished my last regular week of classes so you can expect slightly more frequent posting from now on.

Two weekends ago, now, my friends and I decided to head to Casablanca for the day. Your mind is probably wondering to scenes from the classic black-and-white film, but don’t let it. Casablanca is very much a large industrial city. In fact when we first got off the train we had no idea we were 50 yards from the ocean there was so much smog. People often make the comparison that Rabat is like Washington D.C while Casablanca is like New York City. I can definitely see that comparison (within reason, of course). Once we got off of the train we headed out to find the Hassan II Mosque, one of the only mosques in Morocco non-Muslims are allowed inside. We were given directions and not until we were a mere 100 yards away did the Mosque appear behind the smog.

The mosque was incredible. And we didn’t even go inside (it was closed to visitors at the time we were there). Every doorway, arch, and fountain was the epitome of Moroccan design and architecture.

Shortly after touring the Mosque we realized we were quickly getting hungry and knew Casablanca would be the place for a good non-Moroccan meal (not that I don’t love Moroccan food, we just needed a little break). Our friends who had been in Casablanca the weekend before went to Rick’s Café, the touristy café modeled after the Movie set, and described a fig and goat cheese salad. We had to go. We figured Rick’s was enough of a tourist destination that taxi’s drivers would recognize the name and know where to take us. No such luck. After multiple confusing conversations and being directed in various different directions, we talked to a man on the street who seemed to know what we were talking about. He put us in a cab and told the driver what we were looking for.  We had an interested conversation with the driver about the wealth disparity in Casablanca (and all of Morocco) and how he thinks it will be significantly better in a few years since the King is working on improving the roads and transportation (I tried to ask why, but the language barrier seemed to get in the way). He dropped us off and pointed in the direction of the restaurant, saying it was just ahead. We walked around for a while with no restaurant in site, and then asked for directions only to get puzzled faces in return. Just as we were about to give up, one man with a prominent mustache seemed to know exactly where to go. He led us around the block to “Rex Bar”.

Still craving the fig and goat cheese salad, we decided to look up the address at a nearby Internet café. When we explained to the man at the Internet café what we were looking for, he let us use his computer for free, then lead us to another taxi and talked to the driver about the directions we found. Then, finally, we made it to Rick’s Café, a few blocks away from Hassan II Mosque. Oh well, it was worth it.

 

Rick’s Café was touristy and far from authentic-Morocco, but we were ok with that for this one meal. As we were leaving the restaurant, we were greeted by the man from the Internet café, who told us we took forever to eat. He must have hopped in a cab behind us and waited outside the café the entire hour+ we were eating.

We continued with our un-authentic Moroccan experience by spending the rest of our afternoon at Morocco Mall, Casablanca’s large commercial mall. The experience was extremely overwhelming- I would even say culture shocking. The entire time we walked around the mall I felt confused about my whereabouts. Going from seeing only medina souk shops to a mall filled with bright and flashy designer shops was a big change. However, I was reminded slightly of my location when the call to prayer came on over the loudspeaker. Quickly exhausted by the mall, we enjoyed some frozen yogurt, and then went for a walk along the water (again, hardly visible due to the smog).

Overall, we decided we were glad we made the trip to Casablanca- it is so close, we would have felt silly never going. But we were also glad we only went for the day. I know there is a lot more to be seen in Casablanca that we didn’t see, and we definitely made the choice to use our trip as a chance to experience some of the Western luxuries we miss, but that is fine with me.