| I brush a drop of sweat from my forehead and take a good look at Casablanca. The modern, industrial city is a sea of white. My eyes are greeted with the sight of uniform buildings in various stages of fading from bright white to a dismal gray, likely from the relentless, scorching sun. They are all covered with numerous satellite dishes that look out of place in this African city. Western brand names like Hitachi, Sanyo, McDonalds and Nescafe are mixed in with the Arabic and French signs positioned all over the city. I come to the end of a palm lined street and see a stop sign. It’s written in Arabic, but the tell tale red and white octagon allows me to interpret the backwards writing.
Morocco is a country of startling scenery, friendly people, delicious cuisine and intriguing history. A Muslim country in North Africa, Morocco has a diverse range of landscapes, imperial cities and cultural traditions. A visit to this country can take you back in time hundreds of years, tempt your taste buds and bring you to the edge of the Sahara. All you need is a sense of adventure, and the desire to see something new and inspiring.
I hop into one of Casablanca’s many taxis and hold my breath as we make our way down the busy, overcrowded four-lane road. A flash of yellow draws my attention to the left hand side, where I see United Nations Square. We pass a beach and I notice the brown sand littered with garbage and the dirty, almost brown ocean water. Regardless, Moroccans occupy the entire area and frolic in the rough ocean. I observe the absence of any females or tourists and do not stop. I did not come to Morocco for a beach holiday.
The mosque of Hassan II sits farther down the coastline on a rocky promontory extending over the ocean. The enormous mosque, which took almost 1,500 workers thirteen years to complete, was built for the 60th birthday of Hassan II, a former King of Morocco. The size and elaborateness of the building is overwhelming.
A single 200 meter minaret reaches toward the sky, and although it is primarily white marble, a band of blue and green tiles are wrapped around the pinnacle. It takes me ten minutes just to walk around the perimeter of the mosque, stopping only once to inspect a water fountain backed by more exquisite blue and green tiles. Even the floor surrounding the enormous holy building is made of marble. At the entrance, tourists stoop to take off their shoes and scramble to cover their shoulders and knees before they can enter. |
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| Opened in1993 and built by a nonmuslim Frenchman, the mosque of Hassan II has room for over 100,000 worshippers; its minaret reaches 172 meters into the air and dominates the skyline of Casablanca. It is the largest mosque outside of Mecca. | | |
