Trip to Morocco

I highly recommend that if you just did one trip out of Spain while you are here, you go to Morocco. It is such a gorgeous country. I went to Tangier, Morocco with my friend for a weekend, and we wished we could have stayed longer. The people were so kind, the weather was perfect (we went at the beginning of May), and the views were stunning.

Language Barriers

The things that make it different from Spain, Madrid specifically, is of course the language. In our experience, everyone mainly spoke Arabic or French. After being in Spain for so long I am used to hearing other languages other than English, however Spanish I know enough to get by. Arabic and French, I know nothing.

It can be quite jarring going to a country where you don’t know the language. At. All. There’s a lot of gaping at others, trying to figure out where to even go next. There were moments of struggle to communicate, but for the most part people in Tangier are quite impressive with the number of languages they know. 

Our Spanish actually came more in handy than our English did. Usually, when I’ve visited other countries, specifically in Europe, the neutral language has been English. That’s part of what was so intriguing about going out of Europe for a bit. English wasn’t necessarily everyone’s “go to” language. Therefore, having Spanish up our sleeves was a great asset.

Have the Mint Tea, but Maybe Have Cash

On our last day in Tangier, my friend and I went to a cafe for some classic Moroccan mint tea. We went to a cafe called Café Hafa which was lovely. We had our mint tea with a view of the beautiful sea. 

When it was time to head back to our hotel in order to check out and head to the airport, we asked for the check. When we asked to pay with a card, the server shook his head no. 

That’s another thing to know about Tangier and maybe Morocco in general, they don’t always take cards. It’s not like Madrid where you can go to any cafe or fruit stand even, buy one thing for 1 or 2 euros, and tap your card. We didn’t realize that and had even struggled with getting money out of their ATMs. Their ATMs don’t always work with international cards. Mine eventually worked at Attijariwafa Bank which is an international bank. However, I would suggest having money on your Spain debit card (I have Santander) because that worked with more ATMs than my personal US debit card.

So, unfortunately, our last stop on the trip before heading back to Madrid, we found ourselves in a situation where we had no cash… and needed it.

We had taken cash out earlier in the trip but because it was the end of our trip, we had nothing left. My friend tried to pay in dollars or euros (because that had worked for us earlier that weekend), but he just laughed at us.

We were lucky because we had someone from Tangier that we knew, so I called her. She ended up on the phone with the server to try to assist us in finding an ATM. While they were on the phone, the other workers were trying to help and started trying to discuss with me in Spanish because they knew that better than English.

Eventually, they explained where the ATM was and it was about a 20 minute walk so one of them offered to drive me to the ATM. While my friend waited at the cafe, I was driven to an ATM where I was able to get some Dirhams out (thankfully my card worked unlike other times) and successfully pay for our tea.

I had never experienced anything like it. Never have I had someone offer to drive me to get money to pay them when it was me who made the mistake. And I didn’t feel nervous getting in a car with this stranger because one could tell it was a genuine request.

The person who drove me also spoke Spanish better than English, so I conversed with them in Spanish as well. I even tried to tip at the end for driving me and they wouldn’t take it. 

All in all, the moral of the story is Spanish and cash come in handy on a trip to Tangier.

Other Things To Do

If you are planning to go to Tangier, here are some things I recommend doing:

• A camel ride
• Cap Spartel
• Cave of Hercules
• 
• Having couscous (or just try all the food because it is delicious)
• 
• Getting mint tea (we had it every single day if not multiple times a day)
• Walking around Medina (the old town). It was my favorite part.
• 

Moroccan Hospitality

A lot of people cautioned me about Morocco in terms of safety, especially for women. I will say it is important to be careful and aware of your surroundings, which isn’t that different from when you are going somewhere new (no matter where). There are a lot more men that try to talk to you when you are just walking on the street. You do want to make sure your clothing is a little more conservative in order to be respectful but also to avoid comments. We made sure to not be walking out and about too late at night or when there weren’t many people around.

Even so, I met some of the friendliest people on this trip and everyone was so welcoming. I had heard Moroccans were known for greeting their visitors with grace and warmth, but I never expected to feel so welcome. Every store and restaurant we went into we were greeted with a hospitality and kindness that I have never quite experienced. I highly recommend this place and country to anyone looking to experience different cultures and step out of their comfort zone.