A Few Words of Reflection...

So...now that I have been back in the States for a little over a month and have had some time to reflect on the trip and experience as a whole I thought I would write a few words...
First that I feel so lucky to have shared this amazing time throughout the semester and in the country with my classmates and professors who led us. I was apprehensive coming into the class a little late when everyone had already been thinking about the trip and talking with each other about it but that quickly faded and gave way to my next concern which was: like 2 out of the 15 kids had ever been outside of the country (not including canada) and none had been to I suppose you could call a "developing country"...Having been to Nicaragua when I was 15 and Ghana and Haiti since I felt like I might be a slightly different page going into the trip. Yet, again any concern I had was met with a sigh of relief when we finally got there, I was only twice extremely put off by the actions or words spoken by anyone the whole time. Not only that but I felt I had come into the trip with too much of what I thought I knew about developing countries and was surprised myself with the way the people interacted with each other and us. Morocco changed my whole perspective on Muslims and Muslim cultures, I learned a lot on the trip and wouldn't change a thing about it-not the bone chilling rain, not the miserable sleepless plane rides, not our slightly neurotic guide, not the fact that I lost our tri-pod before we got to Morocco, not the fact that we were almost stranded at night with no idea where we were and no way to communicate with anyone...nothing.

Day 6

Today was not the greatest. Tired, long drive from Sefrou to Chefchaoen and along the way we had about an hour delay because of flooding. A bus was swept off the road and flipped over so we had to wait for that to be cleared up before we could pass. Then, we stopped for lunch (at 4) in the mountains and had a political discussion with a local farmer and his brother who spoke English to translate….no comment on that. Had to leave the room to refrain myself from losing it. Anyway, after that we continued on to Chefchaoen-total driving for the day: approximately 6 hours. Walked around a little bit and bought some goodies for people and then basically went to bed in the hostel there.
Not a lot other than that to say about today, I am still reflecting on the conversations we had and what went on…Just felt as though I had the same conversation before and had beaten the subject to death. I was happy for the people on the trip to be able to her differencing opinions but I had no interest in discussion things that I feel so strongly about with people who no offense can only see what goes on in the eyes of the media and not what goes on behind the curtain of American politics.

Day 5

Woke up at 8 today to the curtains being drawn back in our new host families house-lovely. These people know how to get Americans out of bed let me tell you what, last family had a cow bell they rang so I’m assuming they have to deal with this issue quite a bit…haha. Anyway, another long day but another amazing one none the less. Went to what could be considered a Moroccan style YMCA this morning and could have been the coldest and most wet I have ever been-none of my clothes are dry (maybe a shirt or two now that it’s the end of the day) but oh well I managed. Another bummer was that I think I got some sort of rash on my hands from the Hammam last night, but after a trip to the Pharmacy and 2 dollars later I received satisfaction from some hand cream. Know that feeling when you get poison ivy and you first put calamine lotion on-yeah. Orgasmic.
Other than those two things today went really well. After visiting the youth center and learning about the cultural differences between rural and urban Morocco we went to the Artisana which is a place where different types of artists practice their craft. We learned about traditional Moroccan button making (or I tried and failed miserably) and sculpting. By this time I eventually warmed up and dried out, just for the sun to go away and the rain to come back. Not wanting to get hypothermia I decided I would go to an elementary school with the two elementary education majors and Jon to do some filming instead of walk around another Madina (market). However I did miss out on getting some much needed shoes seeing as mine are completely busted out-minor details.
After the school we learned how to write in classic cursive style Arabic which was pretty much impossible but we tried. I learned my name which was about it, pretty big deal seeing as my name consist of a whole 3 letter but whatevs.
Annnnd finally we came back here where I am now typing away to our host families house to have dinner and chill for the night. The dinner was amazing, and I felt a lot better about our connection with the family, we were joking around with them and it felt a lot less forced than last night. We got to have some meaningful conversations about Moroccan culture and similarities and differences within each of our societies. Also, hanging out today and being able to talk to the son who is more-less our age was great. Buuuut I am exhausted again and we are leaving tomorrow morning bright and early to got to Chefchaoen and the middle Atlas mountains so I’m going to get some seriously needed sleep. Peace and Love.

Hmm hmm, hm hmmmm…interesting day. Rained all day, second day in a row. Apparently it’s extremely uncommon for it to be raining so much this time of year but that’s global warming for you I guess. A little upset at myself for coming so unprepared clothing wise, but like I said-uncommon weather for this time of year.
This morning we woke up early, around 7 to meet up with the rest of the group at 8. Then, we packed up the bus and left Rabat for the city of Fes. On the way out we drove by a shanty town on the outskirts of Rabat which I was highly against-not because seeing these living conditions is not important but because we stopped the bus-took pictures and drove off. Honestly it made me sick, seeing it is one thing but that really doesn’t send the right message in my mind nor give people the incentive to do something about it. In my mind it was only slightly different than looking up a picture online of the same thing…I dunno, I have mixed feelings about it.
Anyway, after that we drove about 4 hours to Fes (still raining) and walked around the Madina there. The city of Fes used to be the capital and has about 1 million people living there. Inside the walled Madina, there are 400,000 people and essentially the way life runs inside has not changed in hundreds of years. No cars are allowed inside and the streets are anywhere from the size of half a regular street in the states to half a side walk in the states. Really a crazy experience but worth every soaking wet moment.
Wet and soggy we drove another 45 min. to Sefrou, a smaller town where we are staying with another host family-again Jon Matt and I. We got there around 7:30 and dropped our bags off at the house first meeting the family obviously. What’s different about this host family however is that they have never had Americans stay with them and it shows. Haha. A little awkward but we got through it. After meeting and chatting for a little while we were put on a taxi and sent off into the city to a Hammam (bath house) which we had no idea where it was-and the family spoke so little English we had no idea what was going on…eventually we found the place and after waiting for 10 min. the rest of the group arrived and we took what I would say was a Sauna/bath/massage. Amazing.
However, leaving we were yet again put on a taxi and sent off into the city hoping that we would end up outside the host family’s house….We didn’t. The guide gave the taxi driver the wrong address…Anyway, 45 min. later we got ahold of someone who knew the Moroccan in Sefrou, our guide, and we eventually got back to the house. Holy shit it was scary but we figured it out-mostly due to us somehow staying as calm as possible and just not wandering around trying to figure out where we were. So, now I am in bed writing on a microsoft word document until I can post tomorrow online and am fading fast because of the amazing drug I like to call Benadryl….Yay! Goodnight, goodluck and goobye. Tomorrow is a new day, hopefully a little better than today in terms of weather and unnecessary complications.

Day 3

Weeeelll then. Long day. Wet, tired, sore but couldn't be happier to be here. Today we woke up around 7:30 and ate breakfast with our host family, then we walked to meet up with the rest of the group. We left Rabat and went to Sale` (No, not the animal and economical exchange, both cities) to talk to some Moroccan students about the media's influence on our opinion of Morocco and vis-versa. We met a guy there also who helped make the documentary Crossing Boarders and has coached us about what is acceptable in terms of filming people etc...Everyone has been so amazingly open minded it has blown me away-nothing like any of the other places i have been. Not one person has judged us as americans, they simply are curious as to what we think about different political issue's and understand that not all americans feel the same way that our govn't does. The conversation did get a little heated when 911 came up but it wasn't anything that was too extreme, just a touchy subject.

After that we drove back toward Rabat stopping at some ancient Roman ruins called Chellah. To see parts of buildings and walls from thousands of years ago still standing was truly remarkable, gave a crazy feeling of walking into the past. Leaving there we stopped one last time before Rabat at the Maousoleum, which is a mosque and shrine like thing for the previous 2 kings (Mohamed the 4th and 5th). Interesting little tid-bit...it's illegal to speak ill of the king and can get you put in jail...Also illegal to try and convert any Moroccan to any religion other than Islam.

We ate lunch in Rabat with our host families, and was probably the single most delicious meal I have had in my life. Chicken meatball like things with spices and traditional Moroccan bread. Found out that the son of the host family is on the national moroccan volleyball team, unfortunately his next game is on friday and we leave then.

Other than that, we walked around with different moroccan students in the afternoon checking out the Madina or market in Rabat. Other than the fact that it poured the whole time and I decided to wear sandals it was a great time. We got to talk more politics and just gain more of an understanding of how society works here in morocco. Its very reserved and there is almost no contact between woman and men. not even holding hands in public is acceptable...Looked for gifts for people in the market but couldn't take money out of the atm so i gotta wait until we go to Fes tomorrow.

At night we talked with some peace-core volunteers and a couple people from whats call Full Brite (organization out of the us. congress) about their work in Morocco and how we can continue our interest in cultural exchange beyond what we are doing now...over-all kinda a boring talk but was good in terms of finding something other than the peace core i might be interested in after graduating...Now, Jon and Matt and I are chilling back at the host family brainstorming ideas for the documentary...I love hearing about how much they have already shifted their views on life in general and how they both will come out of this changed completely.

Glad to be here and super excited for the rest of the trip...Feeling very privileged to be apart of this experience, its been too long since Ive had something like this to bring me back to reality...which america is not.

Day 2

Sooo-Today we left from Spain and took a ferry across to Morocco(after a 3 hour delay due to bad weather) A long day with a lot of traveling. Bus, waiting, ferry, waiting, bus, bus bus...Highlight of the day is most definatly riding camels on the beach-pretty epic. Other than that we spent time in Asilah walking around and checking out the murals that are painted on the walls all over the city. Apparently famous artists come every year and paint new murals and then the next year everything is white washed and new murals are painted. Got offered hash at least 5 times while we were there. haha. Really nice to see how people interact with each other in this society. Everyone is very reserved and couples dont even hold hands really, very different from being in haiti or ghana or nicaragua.

It is a lot more wealthy here (relatively speaking) compared to haiti for example. I was expecting more poverty but the house we are staying at now has wifi and a tv. I think that was the biggest shock to me so far. We also got a chance to talk to a couple students when we ate lunch/dinner which was awesome, getting to talk to someone our age was a great way to better understand the people...I am excited to do more of this because I have really felt like I got rid of some stero-types I had toward Islamic people.

Staying at a house in Rabat with a family now. Had dinner with a couple other American's staying here from Penn State and noooow I am ready for bed. wo-woo.

Day 1

Well, traveling is over-finally. Our day started yesterday (fri) at 10:30 when we left champlain on a bus to boston. Flying out of boston we took British airways and forgot how much I hate flying over the ocean, didn't sleep at all but whatever, too excited anyway to sleep. After a short lay-over in Heathrow we took a plane to Malaga Spain, from there we ate food and took another 2 hour bus ride to Tarifa which is where we are now. Here we are staying in a hostel which could be a 3 star hotel is seems. Always love expecting to be living in a way i never do at first going on these types of trips haha. Anyway, a guide was supposed to take us to some Roman Ruins but the weather here is horribly rainy and cold so we skipped it and just had him give us a talk about it which was good because we got to film it for use in our documentary...(not saying much else about that because I am feeling very nervous with our lack of equipment and preparation-but I think we'll turn out alright.

Definitely excited to be traveling with a group though, first time since Ghana and I'm curious to see how it plays out. I really have no issue's with any of the kids of the trip which is awesome, but I do see how it could change possibly. Not many of the kids have been on an experience like this and I am really curious to see how it plays out for them. I hope that they realize and find the same things I have when doing things like this....For me this is more to expand my knowledge of the difference within third world countries-especially an Islamic nation. Although poverty exists in all third world countries because of the muslim faith and five pillars those on the bottom level of the economic scale are provided for much more so than in non-Islamic nations which is interesting and I'm looking forward to seeing how each differs.

Other than that, just really excited to be out of VT and Burlington and to be doing something I love with people I like being with...Going to rest now and then go out later for some food and drank....tomorrow morning we leave at 8 from the hostel to go take a ferry across the 10 miles of the straight of Gibraltar to Morocco.