A Special Night

In the immortal words of The Four Seasons, “oh what a night!” Last night there was a presentation by our Turkish interport student Ayse Iseri about life in Turkey (and why Istanbul has been deleted from our itinerary), followed by a poetry reading, in English and Irish, by our interport lecturer Nuala Ni Dhomhnaill. What makes Semester at Sea special? Last night was a good example.

A bad but serviceable photo of our own Paul Muldoon

reading his English translation of one of Nuala's poems, while

she observes.

Settling In

I’m settling into a routine, which is much helped by the routine set by the ship itself. Breakfast is served from 7:00-8:30, lunch from 11:30 to 1:30, and dinner from 5:30-7:30. Lisa works in the library in the morning and I take over after lunch. I use my morning hours to meet with faculty and staff, work on presentations, troubleshoot whatever needs trouble-shot, catch up on email, etc. The morning hours are never wasted, it seems. Although Glazer Lounge, for faculty and staff only, does provide a quiet and pleasant escape in which to work, I prefer the pool deck. In the mornings there isn’t a lot going on there, and it’s shady, and there are great views of the sea. 

Afternoons in the library are busybusybusy. In addition to our regular habitués, there is a constant stream of students looking for information for their assignments, checking out reserve books (two-hours only), flipping through travel guides (must stay in the library) planning their adventures in our next port, printing papers, or just quietly reading. I have to say, I’ve not had this much fun working in a library in years!!!

Bunker Day!

Today was our “bunker day” where we stopped just outside Gibraltar to refuel.  It was very cool! 

We also picked up a few new passengers while in Morocco:  Josh White, Nuala Ni Dhomhnail, and Ayse Iseri.  Josh and Nuala are interport lecturers, and Ayse is an interport student.  Interport peeps get on the ship in one port and sail with us to another one, joining in the shipboard life and, more importantly, offering insights through seminars and presentations along the way.  Josh is an Assistant Professor of History at UVa and has written a book on piracy in the Mediterranean, a timely topic considering our location.  Nuala is an Irish poet who has lived for many years in Turkey.  (On one of the days that I stayed on the ship in Morocco I visited with Nuala in the library for a time.  What a delightful woman!)  And Aysa is a UVa graduate in Media Studies who is from Turkey and who’ll be getting us ready for what to expect when we arrive there.  What a pleasure it is to have these folks on board!

Rabat

Day four in Morocco and I'm feeling much better and ready to see some more sites, so I  headed with a group to Rabat, about an hour or so north of Casablanca.  Picking up the modern history of Rabat from Wikipedia, "The French invaded Morocco in 1912 and established a protectorate. The French administrator of Morocco, General Hubert Lyautey, decided to relocate the country's capital from Fez to Rabat. Among other factors, rebellious citizens had made Fez an unstable place. Sultan Moulay Youssef followed the decision of the French and moved his residence to Rabat. In 1913, Gen. Lyautey hired Henri Prost who designed the Ville Nouvelle (Rabat's modern quarter) as an administrative sector. When Morocco achieved independence in 1956, Mohammed V, the then King of Morocco, chose to have the capital remain at Rabat."  

Rabat is a beautiful seaside town, maybe a little resort-y even.  We began by visiting the King's palace but only spent a few minutes there before heading of to Chellah, a fascinating ruin city.  According to Wikipedia, "The Phoenicians and the Carthaginians, who founded several colonies in Morocco, probably inhabited the banks of the Bou Regreg. Chellah is the site of the ruins of the Roman town known as Sala Colonia, referred to as Sala by Ptolemy. Excavations show an important port city with ruined Roman architectural elements including a decumanus maximus or principal Roman way, a forum and a triumphal arch.

"The site was abandoned in 1154 in favour of nearby Salé. The Almohad dynasty used the ghost town as a necropolis. In the mid-14th century, a Merinid sultan, Abu l-Hasan, built monuments and the main gate, dated to 1339. These later Merinid additions included a mosque, a zawiya, and royal tombs, including that of Abu l-Hasan.  Many structures in Chellah/Sala Colonia were damaged by the 1755 Lisbon earthquake. The site has been converted to a garden and tourist venue."  We only spend 30 minutes there, but I could easily have spent a day.  Here are a few photos.

 Chellah is famous for the storks that nest among the ruins.

After Chellah we visited the mausoleum of King Mohammed V.  From Wikipedia:  "The Mausoleum of Mohammed V is a historical building located on the opposite side of the Hassan Tower on the Yacoub al-Mansour esplanade in Rabat, Morocco. It contains the tombs of the Moroccan king and his two sons, late King Hassan II and Prince Abdallah. The building is considered a masterpiece of modern Alaouite dynasty architecture, with its white silhouette, topped by a typical green tiled roof, green being the color of Islam. A reader of the Koran is often present, having his assigned seat. Its construction was completed in 1971. Hassan II was buried there following his death in 1999."

The mausoleum sits across a plaza from Hassan Tower, "the minaret of an incomplete mosque in Rabat, Morocco.  Begun in 1195, the tower was intended to be the largest minaret in the world along with the mosque, also intended to be the world's largest. In 1199, Sultan Yacoub al-Mansour died and construction on the mosque stopped. The tower only reached 44 m (140 ft), about half of its intended 86 m (260 ft) height. The rest of the mosque was also left incomplete, with only the beginnings of several walls and 200 columns being constructed. The tower, made of red sandstone, along with the remains of the mosque and the modern Mausoleum of Mohammed V, forms an important historical and tourist complex in Rabat.  Instead of stairs, the tower is ascended by ramps. The minaret's ramps would have allowed the muezzin to ride a horse to the top of the tower to issue the call to prayer."

Morocco, day 3

Much like yesterday...

Morocco, day 2

Today I wasn’t feeling very well so I decided not to go on the overnight trip to Marrakech.  It was fun staying on the ship was so quiet that I was able to get caught up on a lot of work.

Casablanca

Today was our first day in Morocco!  I got up early to see us pull into the port of Casablanca.  Each port has a Harbor Pilot, someone who is very familiar with the waters and geography of that particular harbor, and it’s that person who actually steers the ship in.  The Harbor Pilot will come out to meet the ship in a small boat then jump from the boat onto the ship, a rather dramatic sight to see I’m told, but I missed it this morning.  I was on the starboard side and he jumped on on the port side.  I’ll have other opportunities, though.

                                                       

It was a beautiful but chilly morning, with the Hassan II Mosque appearing out of the early morning mist.  Although I had done some research and knew that Casablanca was no longer the Casablanca of the 1942  movie, I was still surprised by the commercial port we pulled into, full of barges and cargo ships, with huge heavy cranes on shore to load and unload cargo.   After breakfast and a shower, we each one of us had to meet with immigration officials to get our passports stamped before getting off the ship.  And then, finally, we were set loose!  I went on a city orientation tour.  We met a bus in the port which then drove us around town pointing out various highlights, such as the King’s residence, a medina (old-town shopping district), and the Hassan II Mosque, which I found to be vast, beautiful, and incredibly moving to be in.  Below are some scenes from Morocco.

The Hassan II Mosque appears from out of the early morning mist.
 

I wasn't the only one who got up early to witness our arrival.

Captain Roman and the harbor pilot observe as the ship is gently nudged into place.
 

The king's residence in Casablanca (the official residence is in Rabat).
 

Hassan II Mosque
 

Our tour guide demonstrates the ritual cleansing in the washing room.