The group I eat lunch with was giving me a hard time earlier this week because I haven't been anywhere in Morocco other than Casablanca and Rabat. I decided it was time to rectify that situation. Friday, right after school Gail, Courtney and I took a train to Fes, the cultural center of Morocco. It was so refreshing to get away, and Fes itself is just more spread out and cleaner than Casa. They traffic is lighter; there were not nearly as many honking horns. 
The medina, a walled city, is the oldest and largest still working medina, next to Cairo. While there are 1.5 million people in Fes, half a million live within the old medina. It is a labyrinth of streets, without a tour guide I would have been hopelessly lost. There are 9,600 streets! Some of them were incredibly narrow. It was amazing to see that they still practice handicrafts in the same ways that have for centuries. To the right is a picture of the tanneries. It is the oldest tannery in the world. They give you mint when you first enter because there is a pretty strong smell. They use pigeon poop with limestone in the first stage (the white barrels), hence the smell. I didn't think it was too bad, I actually didn't use my mint. They use the same colors for two weeks, right now reds but then in a week or so they will switch to different colors in the barrels.The whole trip was great. We saw so many neat places and I was really pleased with the photos, I think the pictures almost took themselves because the colors were so amazing.
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