The first 24 hours or so of traveling to Morocco were some of the most stressful hours of my life. Traveling from O’Hare to New York is obviously not that stressful, but having just left my family and not knowing exactly when I would be seeing them next made that leg of the trip difficult.
I found my way around JFK and went to my terminal and got through security which actually was not as stressful as I thought it would be. So there’s that. Walking through the international terminal was really cool because I got to hear a bunch of different languages. I found my gate easily and sat across from a man and his son. They were speaking Arabic and I thought I would eavesdrop and test out my skills.
I was pleased that my 3 years of Arabic education really paid off! I understood 3 words. One per year right? That is okay right? Now that I was truly confident in my skills, I was no longer nervous. Joke. The knots in my stomach only increased with my insufficient knowledge of the language.
We boarded the plane, and I was happy to find that it was not full. I had a window seat and the man who was originally next to me decided to move over and sit in an empty row so that I could stretch out. The announcements began in Arabic, then thankfully in English and then in French. I started to settle down a bit because I knew I was in for a long journey.
We pulled out of our gate and waited on the runway. Then we continued to wait on the runway. I looked at my watch nervously, trying to calculate the amount of time the flight would take to Casablanca and if I would make it on time to my connecting flight to Agadir. We waited for 3 hours on that runway because of a torrential rainstorm.
Finally we made it into the air and they served us lasagna. Since I can’t eat when I am nervous, I ate almost nothing. The flight was not bad at all and we landed and I made my way into the Casablanca airport. Since there are not very many directional signs, I had to ask where I was going next. I went to a desk that dealt with transferring flights. I waited in line for about 10 minutes, and when I got to the front of the line, they told me to run to my gate. I sprinted down a dark hallway and then another and it seemed that I was in the wrong place. Finally I saw a sign and two desk workers. I asked them about my flight to Agadir, and she gave me an unfortunate look and said, “Oh, you just missed your flight.”
I walked back to the transit desk sweating and waited another 5 minutes in line. I told them I missed the flight and the girl promptly said, “You should have just gone straight to the terminal earlier.” This really annoyed me because the gate on my original ticket printed in New York was not the same as the one that was printed when I waited in line for those ten minutes, so either way, I would have been probably missed the flight.
Fortunately there was another flight leaving that day, but I just had to wait for about 8 more hours in the airport. After not sleeping much, I about fell asleep about 12 different times but then jolted awake in a panic worried that someone would steal my things. My family had taught me safety precautions well!
It was really cool to see everyone walk through the airport because they were all wearing such different clothing. I had dressed conservatively, wearing long sleeves and pants because I did not know what to expect in a Muslim country. I was surprised to find both men and women in shorts and t-shirts as well as extremely conservatively dressed people. I was happy that I fit in. Well, except for the fact that I speak no French and limited Arabic.
Finally, the time for my flight to Agadir arrived and I made it on time. The flight was only about 45 minutes long which shocked me. I exited the plane and was extremely thankful that I had arrived safely and so had my luggage, and that there were an abundant amount of palm trees. My friend Kristen who I am teaching with for the year met me at the airport with her mom and my Arabic professor’s brother. We drove home to the apartment that I would be living in for the next year and I was able to settle in.
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