Morocco, my overall impression

alright, so i spent a full week in morocco with my parents spending time in marrakesh, tinghir, the todra gorge, the sahara desert, and casablanca. due to the large number of places and morocco/africa being entirely new to me, i have decided to first give my overall thoughts on the trip, and then write my individual blogs by city which i usually do.
plus, this can give you a small taste while it potentially takes me a couple days to get everything else written up.

but anyways.
this was my very first time in morocco, and in all of africa for that matter, and i have to say i was not disappointed.
to start, i finally got more stamps in my passport! love the european union because of the euro, hate it because it means i don't get stamps every time i switch countries. but i digress.

we spent most of our time hanging out with locals and letting them show us what moroccan culture was really like. we had the opportunity to meet some of the kindest most generous people, willing to take us in, feed us, and generally welcome us into their culture. oh, and drink tea at every possible moment.
we traveled by plane, by train, by bus, by cab (where often 6 passengers was normal in what i personally believed should be a 5 person car).
there are two kinds of people i had the chance to meet, the arabs and the bereber people.
they are very family oriented, and it is perfectly normal for thirty year old men to still live at home, helping to take care of the family. also, it is a much more male oriented-society. and by that i mean that i met only one woman the entire time i was there (and she was the mother of our host and didn't speak any french or english). sure i saw plenty of women, but when we were actually spending time with people, the women were never really around. i also learned that men may have up to four wives, though they must consult earlier wives before marrying more women.
as far as languages go, the arabs begin school in arab, and then begin learning french. the bereber people start with bereber and arab (bereber is not a written language really) and then move onto french. we spoke french with many people. for the most part, the people we met who spoke any english had learned it from being around tourists enough. but i found it interesting that there were often french phrases thrown in instead of the english equilavent (par exemple, for example or sable instead of sand).
the oranges and tomatoes in morocco are amazing. no joke. oh and the rest of the food too.
the markets are incredibly colorful.
there is great attention to detail.
almost everything is incredibly inexpensive compared to what i am used to.
you really can't plan all that much in advance.
shower when you can, and enjoy hot water when it's available (or you know about it).
cats are everywhere. seriously, everywhere.
somehow all the locals know to ask us for ibuprofen. you got pain? we got your solution :)
appreciate western toilets. and toilet paper. you won't find them everywhere. you will also get charged to use public toilets, even if you have to squat and are not provided with toilet paper.
every village has a mosque. and even if the village looks pretty run down, the mosque looks like it's in pretty tip top shape.
tourists may not enter the mosques (there is one in casablanca for that purpose).
one week, over seven hundred pictures, and tons of new experiences.