Day 1 Casablanca

After landing, when you have traveled so often, your first instinct is always to hit the ground running. After getting off the plane, it was odd to just wait and take a moment. Getting through customs and getting what shocked me was how similar everything was. The air reminded me of getting out near Kakinada in India. The newly developed roads with the construction of the concrete houses along the way into the city. The red dirt, or in my mother tongue, Erra maṭṭi. I’ve rarely ever seen it outside of that region, so seeing it here just brought a sense of familiarity. Going outside and not speaking the local language was definitely a challenge that brought back more memories. Even finding things like water or ordering food was tough. That was honestly the only thing that met my expectations! Beyond that, the first day here hasn’t been so jarring as I thought it would be. It was exhilarating to be here for the first time, and I can’t wait for the rest of it!

Today we also visited the Hassan II mosque, and where to begin. The entrance is a sprawling courtyard where people are moving in and around the complex. The central spire rises against the sky, making the building almost look like a painting. Every wall was covered either with gorgeous tile work or hand-engraved with beautiful patterns. It’s hard to put into perspective the sheer amount of artistry and talent being put on display. As a woodworker myself, you could see the skill that went into the interior, every fine carving that from a distance ended up looking like machine precision. And the craziest thing was that all of this was built in only 6 years. Every day, 24/7, in shifts of 3 over 10,000 artisans worked to build this mosque. It truly goes to show the power of modern human artists that we can still build wonders like this today. I can’t wait to see all the other architectural sites here and see what more we can build.