From Bozeman to Fes/Fez.

I have now traveled internationally by air.
It was a...learning experience. The flight from Denver to Frankfurt was... interesting. The amenities were very nice, such as 2 meals, warm towelettes, a screen in the seat in front of me with various TV shows and movies. The leg room, however, was not. I am not built to fly for extended periods of time. I am certain the seats were narrower, and leg room smaller, than that of regular flights. Needless to say, it was not incredibly pleasant.
My traveling partner and I had hoped to explore Frankfurt, but had a hard enough time navigating the airport, and so sat outside gate B30 for about 9.5 hours. Nothing exciting happened...although if we had wanted to, we could have gotten severely hammered off all the alcohol they sell there. Alas, we sat and slept, and read.
The plane to Casablanca... was amazing. It was only about 1/3 full, and the seats were big, and the leg room was larger. I zonked out about 5 minutes into the flight, only to be awoken for a meal, which was actually quite good. Afterwards, I slept more... only this time I woke up to something much less pleasant- loud, obnoxious, French children.
The only good thing about being awake was that I could see the Spain coastline in the Middle of the night, all lit up, while simultaneously seeing the stars, and the African coastline.
Arriving in Casablanca at 1 in the morning was very nerve-racking. Luckily, the customs men were very nice, and we were just waved through baggage checking. The worst part was walking through the sitting area, being stared at.We had to wait for 5 hours before the train would arrive to take us to Casa train station to get on the train to Fes. Let's just say I would have felt more comfortable at a bus station at midnight. That airport is... janky.
Finally 6 rolled around and we hopped on a train that took us to the other station. Unfortunately, the sun hadn't risen, and there was a mass fog covering the city, so we didn't get to see much of it. The train to Fes, however, had some of the most beautiful countryside I have ever seen. We moved from the beach areas to the mountainous region, and the change in landscape was amazing. Unfortunately, I kept falling asleep, even with my camera in hand, and may have missed something.
Riding out of Casablanca was beautifully horrendous. The land next to the track was covered in small, makeshift houses, with garbage and trash scattered everywhere. The living conditions I can only imagine as near 3rd world, with small **** piled together, made out of metal scraps, blankets and other various materials. Having only seen such things in pictures, I was fascinated. That life is unimaginable for me, so I was entranced at what life may entail for these people. I was reminded that this world was not that much different from life back home when I saw a man peeing outside on a wall.
It was also nice to see morning life in Morocco. It was before 8, and yet there was a large group of men playing basketball, people waiting at other bus stations, walking along the streets to work, driving their cars to unknown destinations. (it should be noted, driving in Morocco is fantastically crazy. The real only rule is stay on your side of the road most of the time.) Life is just....life. So far, while things have been different, I haven't experienced much culture shock.
We arrived in Fes, greeted by some people from the University, and ate a meal at a nearby restaurant. Sitting outside, eating our meal, I was reminded of Seattle. The vibe was just similar.
The drive from Fes to Ifrane was crazy fun. I am in love with traffic here. It's like playing chicken all the time. We drove up the mountain, and the weather was unusually warm, so there wasn't any snow, and you could almost see the mountains in the distance. The King's Palace is across town from the University, and from the glimpse we got, seems quite impressive.
Campus itself is beautiful with fairly small buildings, all of a similar design, plopped on a hillside. There are trees everywhere... and with the sunshine we've been experiencing, it's been quite easy to adjust.
So far, so good. We'll see what happens when classes begin.