Monday, June 1, 2015

Morocco Summer 2015: Second week

14 comments:

  1. The second week of the trip was fantastic, just as the first was. By now we were all completely used to being in class, and could speak more fluently as a result. During the week, I dedicated a good amount of time to hanging out with locals. They were able to show me cool stuff that I would never have seen otherwise. Some ways around, some good hole-in-the-wall spots to eat. Friday, Youssef and a few girls and I headed to do a quick tour of Casablanca. Little did I know, it has the nicest mall I have ever been in. But malls are in the US everywhere, so let me talk about the other spots instead.
    This weekend we went as a GSU group to Meknes, Volubilis, and Fes. Meknes was a quick tour with some pretty sights and interesting history. But Volubilis was insaaaaanely gorgeous. It's ancient Roman ruins amid a hilly, beautiful area betwern Meknes and Fes. It dates back to 25BC, which isn't even comprehensible to someone whose home country's history is shady when we look any earlier than 1492. The ruins were a humble reminder that we are insignificant beings in comparison to time and space. Fes was gorgeous as well. Actually, everything in Morocco has been. It is insanely packed in relation to available walking space, but really fun to squeak through. The good and not-so'-good smells contradict each other in a pleasing, unique manner. Morocco is an adventure, folks. Live it if you have even the slightest chance.Jeremy Busbee

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  2. This past week in Morocco has been an amazing experience. I saw more of the historical side of the country and it was more beautiful than I could have imagined. My favorite place I saw this week was the Mosque in Casablanca. This was the most beautiful and intricate building I have seen. The details of the craftsmanship was astonishing and I was surprised to find out that the whole building only took six years to build.
    I also really enjoyed the weekend trip to Fes, Meknes, and Volubilis. The cities were amazing and I loved learning and seeing all the history. Everything so far has been so gorgeous and the food as exceeded my expectations. Class has been really good and I feel like I have learned so much in only two weeks.

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  3. The second week of being in Morocco has been an extension of the adventure I began the first week. This week we continued our classes and, on Friday, we took our midterm. It was more difficult than I expected, but my grade turned out alright. My main concern is speaking the language and using it to make my way around town and speak with the ladies who work the school's kitchen and also our maids, Keltum and Kabira, at the house. God bless them all, they are always so busy but also so kind to all of us. From what I've experienced, Moroccans are very hospitable and welcoming.
    This Friday, I went to Casablanca where I toured the Hassan mosque, the beach area, and the mall. The mosque was my favorite part of that day trip. It was gorgeous! Over the weekend, we went to Meknes and Fes where we toured the Old Medinas. I liked seeing the historical side of Morocco very much.

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  4. I can't believe we are starting week 3! I feel like I still have so much to see and learn! Over this next week I plan to do a lot more shopping and exploring.
    Last week I felt so bad for everyone getting sick and having to miss the activities, because the zoo and museum were a lot of fun! I hope that at some point we can go back to the zoo and spend more time because I feel like I missed a lot. But I got a great picture of the elephants!
    Friday was my favorite day though! I loved going to Casablanca with the small group, everything was so pretty and refreshing there! The Hassan II Mosque was the most beautiful thing I've ever seen with the ocean behind it!
    Our weekend trip was a lot of fun! Meknes was great and I loved the Roman ruins in Volubilis. I did a lot of shopping in Fes also and we had a great tour guide! I wish we had more time though. Over all I think this weekend was a great success!

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  5. The second week flew by to me. It's crazy that we have been in this beautiful country for 2 weeks! This weekend was definitely one for the books. Friday, we all had our midterms at Qalam. I'm proud of myself for the grade I got because I have never seen this language before and my teacher has faith in me that I will do well at the final presentation two weeks from now. I'm very nervous, but these next couple weeks will be full throttle studying for me.

    Saturday, we left early in the morning for Meknes where we saw the large water reservoir that I was amazed by. It was honestly so beautiful and the pictures turned out really well. It was difficult to hear the tour guide and he was very aggressive with his English, but I enjoyed the tour nonetheless. We stopped at Volubilis where it was extremely hot and the walk seemed endless, but the ruins were really cool to see. I appreciated that out tour guide had a sense of humor especially at the ruin of the brothel. We were all sweaty and exhausted after the tour at Volubilis, but Youssef and Si Mohammed kept us going and laughing.

    Our day in Sunday started at Fes and we toured all the historical parts of the city. My favorite part was the panoramic view of the city. That was amazing. We stopped at a pottery studio and were able to see the artists at work. The skill and craftsmanship is incredible to see as well as the finished product. I was honestly designing my home during the tour. Of course, Si Mohammed came in the clutch and bartered for my plate that I wanted and I couldn't thank him anymore. He has honestly become my favorite teacher at Qalam cause he keeps these trips fun and hysterical. His joke at the mosque where he moved everyone's shoes and hid some really had me laughing. We were all about to blame the old guy that was sitting at the door cause he was laughing as if that's was the highlight of his day to mess with the tourists. As well as visiting the pottery studio, we stopped at a tannery and that process was very interesting to me. It didn't smell as bad as I thought it would have, but it did have a stench to it.

    Along with our adventures, I spoke to Chris and I'm happy to hear that he's doing well and still doing a lot with his summer regardless of the fact he had to leave us in Morocco early.

    Let's see what this weekend brings... Hopefully, my stomach will settle down before then...

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  6. This second week of the trip has been amazing. we have gotten more settled in to the swing of things here and I am loving it. This past week we went to the zoo with our classes at the school. Classes are going good and I have learned so much because they push speaking and reading so heavily here. I have found more restaurants here and have purchased so many things for dirt cheap. We also went to the archeology museum this past week with the school and saw many ancient artifacts from many different periods. The coolest were the old Islamic coins from around the 12th century.

    This weekend we visited the cities of Meknes and Fez. We saw many different old souks and madrasas. We toured around the old madinas, ate some amazing food, and had many amazing experiences. we got to see a tannary where the leather making method dates back to around the 11th century, I got a camel leather wallet there, and saw how they make pottery and mosaics. This weekend was amazing and this trip just keeps getting better and better. I cannot wait to see what this week and next have in store. We only have 2 more weeks left and I am not looking forward to going home.
    Until next time....ma'a salama.

    -Brennan Patrick

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  7. My second week in Morocco has been amazing. A part of me feels like I haven’t left the country mainly because I’ve gotten so use to everything here. Besides the food difference I feel like I’m home. I absolutely loved Fez and Meknes and I’m even more excited to visit Tangier this weekend. Although it was really hot in Volubilis I really enjoyed walking up the trail and looking at the Roman ruins. The ruins were absolutely beautiful and I’m glad we finished the tour instead of turning around and heading back early. I enjoyed learning the background history on certain areas inside the city. The best part about last week was visiting the medina in Fez and seeing just how big it really is. I wish I could have stopped and saw the snake charmers but that just gives me another reason to visit there again. And I also can’t wait to use the pottery I brought either.

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  8. My second week in Morocco was a blur. Everyday was jam packed with new experiences and adventures that time just seemed to fly by. I can't believe that I'm already beginning my third week here. So far, I've really enjoyed my class. My teacher is hilarious and really kind which makes learning the language a bit easier.
    This week has been awesome because I got to spend more time with a Moroccan family. I along with a few other classmates were invited to our friends home on Friday for lunch to enjoy homemade couscous. It was some of the most delicious food I've ever had. Later that day I went on my first boat ride on the river between Rabat and Sale. I got a new perspective of the city. Everything was so beautiful on the water.

    I also really enjoyed my weekend trip to Meknes, Volubilis, and Fes. All three cities were gorgeous. Meknes really impressed me with its beautiful architecture. The gates to the different buildings were all so impressive. The history of Volubilis was really awesome to see first hand and the view of the country side was amazing, and Fes blew me away when I got to see a panoramic view of the Medina. When I had the chance to look and see the true size of the city I was in a state of awe. It was so huge but one couldn't tell because of how narrow the streets are. I also really liked Fes because of the pottery and leather they make there. I love how they've stuck to centuries old traditions to produce these handmade products. I have a lot of respect for that.

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  9. Ive had a very interesting experience this last week. I have found a few great friends here in Morocco and I have had the time if my life. I haven't smiled this much in the longest time. I greatly enjoyed the archaeological museum in Rabat which was the one I so badly wished to visit. It was really impressive despite it's small size. Volubulis was a dream come true for an anthropology major it was amazing. I loved Fez and the tannery. This whole week has been one for the books. I always heard of the hospitality of the people of Morocco but I didn't believe it. I have made some friends for a lifetime. God I will miss this place.
    Brandon Alexander

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  10. The second week went by really fast like after Monday it seemed to be Friday but honestly I feel as though the group has become closer and closer! At first everyone were a little distant and now it seems as though every one has there own personal jokes and even keywords that'll make everyone laugh. I'm not only having fun but I'm learning new things such as how to pour the Moroccan tea and how it shouldn't be at the top of the tea glass but kinda in the middle. I had the opportunity to eat a true traditional meal at a Moroccan family's house and I really got a deeper look into the culture which I found to be quite amazing. What threw me off was that the family didn't eat with us and I thought it was rude until my professor told me that they wanted to make sure that we get all the good pieces of meat before the family gets to have any and trust me it was plenty of food! I also got to learn more about calligraphy and I can't honestly say I'm getting better at it. Also, I got the chance to go to another city in Morocco called Fez and that was truly an eye opener for me because a lot of the customs were a bit different from Rabat especially the Arabic dialect I learned that they speak Arabic but in a more older modern dialect from all the other cities in Rabat, if you ever have the chance to go to Fez I would definitely recommend it because there are alot of historic sites there such as the oldest university in the world and the holy mosque where people travel from all over the world to get their prayers answered, and also the huge madina that anyone could get lost in Lastly, I got a chance to see and find out more about pottery and how it's handmade and if there is a pattern the person who is doing the patterns have to have an amazing memory to keep the pattern going and were not just speaking about a pot and that's all no were speaking about walls in the mosque, walls in the museums, etc. could you imagine how much time that would take to complete a whole wall with the same pattern over and over again? My respect definitely goes to the men who do all the hard work to keep Moroccos walls and mosques simply amazing to see!

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  11. It's the second week in morocco and I can't believe how amazing it has been! This week we went to see Meknes and Fez and both were equally cool. I was a little sick when we went to Meknes from overheating but I still managed to have a wonderful time. In fez on this past Sunday we saw the oldest university in the world! It's amazing! It was so beautiful and the artwork was unbelievable. In fez we saw the tannery where they make the leather bags and other things of that nature. Some people are ready to go home but I could just stay here forever! Mawazine is also going on this week. We have to be aware of where we are during this festival but it is still quite easy to navigate the city. Today we did the calligraphy workshop and one of the teachers drew me a picture so beautiful and he wasn't even trying! I was so jealous but I found out it takes years and years of practice to be able to do it. On Friday, we are going to Casablanca and I am so excited! The longer I stay the more beautiful it gets!

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  12. week Two: Electric boogaloo. This week has been decent, I've been sick, I've been insulted and I've left my wallet in a cab. yet somehow through all this my attitude has only be mildly dampened. I can only attribute this to the country itself and the support of everyone in the program especially Kilgore, Busby , Brennen, and Brandon. these guys have literally kept my spirits up while keeping me full of spirits. okay now that that's out of the way the full weeks report, or at least the weekends. the week went by fairly quickly sadly, with excursions and other activities. the calligraphy workshops are by far my favorites as far as the extra curricular's go. During the weekend we all visited the imperial city and learned many interesting facts about this fortress of a city. the most amazing to me is that it could be self sufficient for ten years of prolonged siege, water food everything. After that it was on to volubilis, while I know I probably spelled it incorrectly, this is just an amazing testament to mans ability to build cities that last centuries after they were used. giant arches, temples, workshops, and even some of the mosaics have survived times wrath to bring us into the ancient past. My first impression of Fez was, well, underwhelming. I woke up after half the bus had exited and was immediately hit by a Strong scent fish. This smell has never sat well with me, even more so when I don't see anyone selling fish. That minor mishap was quickly dismissed as we toured and walked around. while walking that night Bree had over heard two guys talk about and proceed to follow Elmo and Carmen. It's always funny to see these peoples reaction's when they're found out and they notice the group was much bigger than they expected. The market has been the tightest fit yet for me. so many people, so little room. I couldn't imagine so many people stuffed into such small places. Then it was up to an over look of the tannery. It was built in the 14th century if I recall correctly. the smell was bad so thankfully it wasn't too hot. The leather was a good quality but I feel like the prices were a bit to high because of the size of the group.
    -Eric McLendon

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  13. Week two was great. We have definitely gotten used to the routine and we are learning quite a lot and our midterms went better than expected. This weekend we went to meknes and fez. I definitely loved seeing the sights. My only regret is that we didn't have more free time to explore for ourselves. Well this has been week two see y'all later!

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  14. Week 2 entry can be found here:
    http://blackhippieinmorocco.tumblr.com/post/120537800076/week-2-since-ive-been-here-in-africa-for-3

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