I had an amazing time on excursion week. I learned so much about myself as well as the Moroccan culture. We first went to Fez and the weather was extremely hot! The architecture of the city was beautiful and a hand full of history. Walking through the medina, seeing ruins of history and learning about it was an experience I won't forget. It felt like a privledge standing in front of the oldest and first university that was built. Azrou was also a great city. I won't forget the people. Meeting the Berbers and walking through their homes was a cultural experience on how welcoming and artistically built these people were. Our guide in Azrou was one of the most generous people I have ever met in my entire life. It is rare to find someone who will invite you to lunch and dinner to their house and cook outstanding meals, introduce us to his family, and tour us around the city leaving us with a beautiful experience and thoughts on the city Azrou. Marrakech was a city different from the others. It had an amazing night life. The woman in Marrakech amazed me. It was the first city I've seen tons of girls on motorcycles! The market was my favorite. I've definitely experienced shopping in a whole different aspect which I thought was a nice cultural experience to remember. Overall the excursion taught me to appreciate what I have. I've also learned to take my experience home not only to share how much fun I had but the Moroccan experience I've had.
-Michelle Moises
We went to Fez, Marrakech and a Berber village during this last week. It was great. In Fez we stayed in this gigantic house, got to wander the city and see a tannery. It was cool. Then we went to a Berber village which was also fun. There was also a tree that we saw on our way to Azrou that was from the ninth century. It was really big. We also fed these monkeys peanuts while we were there. Finally we stopped in Marrakech which I will just have to talk about later bedcause there was so much. -Trevor Elder
We then headed to Azrou and Ifrane. Located on the tops of Atlas Mountains, the air was a lot cooler and the scenery was a out of a fairytale. The beauty of Morocco's wilderness is all located with the semi- nomatic Berber natives of Morocco. We were welcomed by many of the warm Moroccans of Azrou, and experienced Morocco.
Although at first I was sad to leave my host family, it was so enriching to see how diverse Morocco is culturally and geographically. The medina in Fez is much more complex than Rabat with twisted narrow streets full of people and donkeys. Azrou is a very small, quiet town with access to all kinds of natural beauty, though the day we visited the falls was the day it was redirected to water crops. Marrakech is a tourist city much more so, and has the most vibrant night life I have seen anywhere with its huge open air market and performers. Although living in a host family seems like the part of this experience with the most value for me, the excursion was important in demonstrating what a large and varied country Morocco really is.
-Inness Wragg
Excursion has been amazing! We have done so many things, I don't know where to begin. The Ryad in Few was beautiful and I had so much fun on our hike yesterday. We saw some camels and then there was a huge rainstorm on our drive back to Marrakech, how unexpected!
-Amy Taylor
One of my favourite things we did on excursion was going to the tanneries. First of all I have never been to a tannery, so I was very excited. I remember walking through the small alleys and basically being amazed by the amount of people outside in the piercing heat and working their hearts out. Another thing that amazed me was how many donkeys there were, that was the basic means of transportation through Fez since the alleys are so closed in and narrow. We stopped by this booth that was selling mint leaves, so we would have something to smell during our visit to the tannery (it’s said to smell awful). The entrance of the tannery was where they sold their leather shoes, pockets, wallets, purses etc. Once you go up the stairs to the roof, it was just incredible. The level slightly lower than we were on, had the leather stretched out. It was spread from multiple roofs, making an outer square, and in the inside there were multiple circles in the bottom that had various colored water to dye the leather. In each circle there was either a man with a large amount of leather or two men working on the leather together. The water came up to their waist. It was probably the coolest thing I have ever seen. Every person had a specific task in there and I completely admired their stamina and dedication.
- Sundus
In our last week we visited Marrakech. This is the busiest city in Morocco. Very adapted for the tourists. We saw many foreign faces other then our own. Here we drove for an hour for our hike to a beautiful waterfall. After the hike we experienced our first Moroccan downpour. I guess we bring the Seattle rain wherever we go!
Excursion was the busiest week I have ever had in my life, other than finals. The schedule was jammed packed with so many exciting things to do. On the way to Azrou we stopped by a Berber village that was within 2 miles of one of the King’s palaces. When the van cut onto a little dirt road, I had no idea where we were going, but I was still curious. When I stepped out of the van, I thought to myself that there was no way that people, families, actually lived there. The roofs were made out of pop cans and other miscellaneous items. Then I looked around and all I saw were women. Their greetings to us were so heartfelt, in my mind I thought that it would be so disrespectful to just stop and take a tour of their village. After the tour was over I had a feeling like no other. I had experienced people having pure happiness that money and material things didn’t buy them. It made me wonder about the people who have so many things that only make them happy for a moment.
- Lacresha Lowery
Excursion week was great. I loved the hike, it was cool. It wasn’t hard. Sometimes I still can’t believe I am in Morocco. The mansion we stayed in in Fez was amazing. I loved it. I want to come over one day with my family. The city I loved the most was Marrakech because it reminded me of New York. It was so busy and it had a great night life. Too bad we only had one full night in Marrakech. I can’t wait to see the next days I’m staying in Morocco I don’t want to think of leaving.
- Rebecca Reyes
Though this marks the end of "excursion" and the end of week two in Morocco, there is still much to be marked upon. In this past week of five days, I boarded in a mansion hidden in the alleyways of Fez, observed a local tannery, touched a ninth century tree, fed peanuts to monkies of the deep forest, felt the foreign embrace of the Azrou people, followed a small hike through High-Atlas waterfalls and am still looking up to the weeks ahead! It has been fun with everyone from Fez to Ifrane and Azrou to Marrakech
-Jim McGowan
For the last week we will be doing a lot of community service in our host city of Rabat.
2 comments:
So great to hear from you all. Being a plant person, I was vrey interested to hear about the ninth century tree.
It's wonderful to hear how you have been so generously recieved evreywhere.
It must be hard to put into words everything you are experiencing but you are doing a great job.
I've been doing a little reading and looking at pictures online of the places you've been - WOW! Azrou looks so beautiful.
Again, say "hello and thank you" to your from your Seattle families.
One World Now – and Forever!
When I heard that a delegation of OWN students was experiencing Morocco, I wanted to convey my best wishes to each and every one of you. I’m delighted to read in your blog posts that you are experiencing new people and places, and loving every minute of it. You’ll be better citizens as a result of these experiences, of that I am certain! The more we understand each other, the less likely we will want to harm each other.
From time to time I have the opportunity to visit other nations as your representative in Congress. These experiences help me do a better job representing you, because the interaction with other people and cultures increases my understanding and appreciation for the global diversity that shapes our world.
Soak up all the culture you possibly can and make every minute of every day count, because these global experiences are priceless. I know you’ll do a great job representing Seattle and America to all the people you are meeting. I’ve learned that with email, the new friends we make overseas can easily become lifelong friends, so don’t forget to exchange email addresses---- and don’t forget to eat your vegetables!
Peace,
Jim
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