Day 7 - Sunrise in the Sahara

Early in the morning, once again, we mounted the camels to view the sunrise. We literally got the feel of the Sahara when several people, especially Rachael, got dragged down a 40 foot sand dune by one of the our berber guides.

After departing the desert, we headed to Maison Gouareg (the home of the "Blue Men People"). The Blue Men were named so because they would rub a great deal of indigo on their skin, in order to protect them from the sun and diseases (while they attacked caravans in the desert!) The house was a basically a big shop full of beautiful antique accessories, home decor, clothing, lanterns, etc...
Haggling was at an all time high today, as Hannah and Suna were able to bring down a "golden" ring from 200 to 5 Dirhams. Jocelyn showed her wild side by buying two daggers while others stuck to rugs and jewelry. Several of the other girls were able to cut down the prices from numbers of 300 to 150 and below.
Leaving most of our Dirhams at the Blue Men shop we headed of to the Rissani Market to do a little exploring. Looking like tourists with our cameras in hand, we set into the market. While wandering through the market, a lovely little spice counter caught our eye. A vendor behind the spice stand couldn't help but notice Alexis and Kerry as out-of-place Americans, and proceeded to snap some pictures of them on his cell phone.
After several purchases of curry spice and mint tea we continued our sally. Further in, we stopped to take some snap shots of donkeys, which were being sold for about $120 USD as transporters for local vendors. Alexis (being the animal person that she is) bonded with a small calf.
As we entered the sheep market, we were immediately dismayed at the sight of one of the lambs being tied up for transport. We took some cuter snap-shots and set out for some lunch.
At the Hotel Kasbah Ashaa, Natasha was greeted by the hotel cat and then quickly bonded. They sat together for the entire lunch, as Natasha snuck it tidbits of food.
After lunch, we headed off to our larger-than-life sand castle, the Kasaban Hotel Chergui. After eyeing the pool from afar, a couple of students decided to take a quick dip in the freezing water. After a refreshing leap into the pool, students relaxed by sleeping, listening to music, working on their journals, and then sleeping some more.
Now, we’re off to a group critique, and then dinner at the hotel.

Jocelyn and Suna