Royal Air Maroc

Casablanca airport (Aeroport Mohammed V)

Landing in Morocco at Casablanca's Mohammed V airport on a Royal Air Maroc flight from New York. Here, some 30 miles from the Atlantic Ocean and downtown Casablanca, you are actually arriving at a former US Air Force Base. Back in the 1950s, before Moroccan Independence, the country was technically part of NATO under the French. Today, this history of American-Moroccan cooperation is still well known in Morocco but few Americans know that Morocco was the first country, in 1777, to recognize American independence.

-What other country recognized American independence early?

Moroccans often call Casablanca their "Los Angeles." It is a big modern city of 3.5 million people, stretching along the Atlantic for nearly 20 miles. Casablanca is not the exotic locale that many people think of; it is the financial and industrial capital of Morocco.

-What image does "Casablanca" bring up to you? Where does that image come from?