Today we went to the medina with a guide. The medina is part of the old city, which was founded in 1070 by the Almoravids and is a UNESCO World Heritage Site.

Ayoub was our guide (he is amazing, fun, and super insightful). While it all seems like winding streets of chaos, the old medina is strategically designed, with each neighborhood following a similar design. There is a man who is below ground stoking a fire with sawdust, 24 hours a day, 7 days a week, and the community runs on this fire. It heats the oven for the bakery, which is communal and everyone brings their dough to the bakery to be baked into bread (or khobz) that is served with every meal. It also heats the water at the community bath house (hammam) where everyone goes to get clean, catch up, and share the hot goss (or spill the tea, which is more fitting for our Moroccan journey).

Djemaa el-Fna square is a big focal point for the community at night. It brings people together—food, shopping, and entertainment in the square; from the snake charmers, to storytellers, to musicians. Thousands of people from all over Morocco and the world gather every night to witness the alluring spectacle that takes place in the square.

We had a quieter afternoon exploring Jardin Majorelle, the former gardens of Yves St. Laurent. It is filled with a vibrant crimson blue and contrasting vibrant yellow—perfect for exploring and for photoshoots.

Lastly, since it was the final of the Africa World Cup, we went to a place in the new city to watch the game. What first seemed a bit random and like an abandoned carnival and massive multistory cafe/wedding venue complex, quickly turned into massive multistory cafe and carnival complex filled with Moroccans cheering and shouting at the big final match against Algeria and Senegal. We filled our bellies with crepes and cheered on whatever team we felt inspired to. Algeria won 1-0, and to celebrate, we all hit up the carnival (let’s be real, a lot of us aren’t soccer fans, so we hit up the carnival before the game ended because carnivals are FUN).

There were 2 rides that we weren’t too big to ride, the bumper cars and a boat thing. We rode them all and bumped up with many Moroccan children and families before returning to our hostel for a group meeting on the roof under the stars.

— Morocco 2019