Day 6: Excursion to Marrakesh

For the weekend trip, the group took a trip to Marrakesh, one of the main cities for tourists in Morocco. The adventure began with the train ride there, where the lack of air conditioning and sufficient seating areas gave us a true taste of local Moroccan travel. After arriving, we checked into our hostel and headed out to the Jemaa el-Fnaa; a large, crowded public square with merchants and entertainers. There we tried freshly blended juice and snails and listened to the various drum circles around the square, before heading back to the hostel to sleep.

 

The next day we had planned an outing with a local tour guide to venture into the Sahara to a city called Ouarzazate. On our way there we stopped at several overlooks to see views of the desert, coincidentally running into a Michigan MBA on our way who borrowed our Michigan flag for a few photos (go blue!). When we were just outside of Ouarzazate, we stopped for a camel ride through the rocky desert.

After the camel ride we had a delicious lunch of salad, kefta (or traditional Moroccan meat skewers), and assorted fruits. Refreshed and ready to go, we began the trek through the UNESCO World Heritage site, a small village called Ksar of Ait-Ben-Haddou. The village was constructed 400 years ago, made of earthen clay and surrounded my a fortified wall.  After climbing to the top of the Ksar (pictured below), we stopped in one home for some traditional Moroccan mint tea. Finally, we toured a museum of cinema in Ouarzazate, seeing the set of the many movies and shows shot in this area (notably including Game of Thrones).

The next day, our last in Marrekesh, Allison and I decided to check out a hammam, or traditional Moroccan bath house turned spa, while the rest of the group explored the sites in the city. Hammams historically functioned as the main form of bathing in Moroccan communities, and are now a popular way for both locals and tourists to clean off and relax. The experience started in a steam room, during which time we were washed with black soap. Then we were scrubbed with a roughly textured hammam mitt to exfoliate layers of dead skin. After our skin was scrubbed, we were covered in a rose mask and left to soak. Finally, after the hammam was done we had a relaxing massage. This was a highlight of the trip for both Allison and I, and an excellent way to beat the soaring desert temperatures. Pictured below is where we settled down post-hammam for some juice.

-Eva Koester

Day 1: Trip to Casablanca

Right before we left for Morocco, our volunteer coordinator let us know we would have Monday off due to a national holiday. It turns out, the country would be celebrating Independence Day for Western Sahara on our first full day in the country. Though this set us back a day, in terms of getting started volunteering, it gave us an extra day to explore Morocco. Knowing this, we decided we’d take a train from Rabat to Casablanca, just one hour away, and spend the day exploring a famous Moroccan city.
Monday morning, we ate a simple Moroccan breakfast of bread and mint tea and headed to the train station. With only a short train delay, we arrived in Casablanca before noon. At this point, we had a few things in mind that we wanted to see, starting with the royal palace. We grabbed a few taxis to fit all 7 of us and the driver with the best English among the three took it upon himself to suggest that he give us a day tour of Casablanca for 20 bucks a pop. In short, we passed. Instead, we got off the at the palace and grabbed some food at a small but very nice Moroccan restaurant with all the Moroccan favorites. We found this just by a quick google maps search, but the food turned out great and a picture of Tom Cruise eating at the same location was displayed on the wall. Now he’ll surely be replaced by the seven of us.
After taking a short two-hour lunch break, we realized we’d come to the area to see the palace, so we proceeded down the street. We then asked a guard how to see more of the palace than just the outside walls, to which he told us we could not. At this point, we were running out of time in the city already, so we made our way to the famous Hassan II Mosque. After Pippen got his token “touching the top of the minaret” picture, we moved closer to Mosque and looked at how to get in. Since Jason is the only one with fluent French, he found out for us that we had about 15 minutes before the last ticket was sold to get into the mosque, when it closed at 4. Thankfully we made it because the inside was incredible. We received a tour and learned a bit about its history. One impressive fact is that this mosque is the 3rd biggest in the world, holding 25 thousand people.
Once the tour was over, we headed over to Rick’s café, famous for being depicted in the old American classic Casablanca, which none of us have seen. We arrived a bit before it opened so we explored the old Medina and came back at 6:30. This was certainly worth the trip for the great setting and food, but we’ll hopefully be sticking to cheaper, less tourist-centric places for a while. Once we were finished, we headed back to train and made it back around 11. We had a fun time in Casablanca, though we may have spent a majority of the time eating. Either way, the mosque was worth the trip in itself, just to see how beautiful it was and learn about it in a cultural and historical context.

-Zachary Cavazos

Day 2: First Day of Volunteering

Today was the first official day of our EGL VA adventure! We had been learning about our assignments for a few days prior, but I was still both nervous and excited to meet the class. I was unsure about my English teaching skills, but I was determined to make an impact and I hoped to truly help the students.

I was placed in The Ahil Slaoul Association / Rihab in Sale, which is the neighboring city to Rabat. It is a lower income area where families typically do not have the funds to pay for a summer education, so the association offers free classes to children of all ages in a variety of different languages. I was partnered with two other EGLs to teach English to students from 6 to 16 years old, but their proficiency varied greatly so we divided the class into two groups. I chose to lead the younger students from 6 to 10 years old who know very little English. I had limited childcare experience (beyond my high-school babysitting days), no teaching background, and zero French or Arabic knowledge. I was not only going to be teaching the students English, but they would be teaching me an immense amount as well.

I started off the class with simple ABC’s and 123’s, which they seemed to enjoy and also learn quickly. The students were making progress and were both excited and eager to learn. It was only the first day of class, but I think I was able to make a small dent in their English. I saw their pronunciation improve, but also their confidence in speaking grow throughout the class. It was the first time I had ever been responsible for teaching a group of children, and seeing their continuous improvement and getting numerous hugs after class was an absolutely wonderful experience.

-Allison Ward

Day 0: Morocco Predeparture Reflections

In the past 36 hours I have given my final presentation to senior management for my internship, had a heartfelt goodbye with my team, moved out of my apartment in Columbus, packed my bags for Morocco, and enjoyed a few hours of time with my family before leaving for the airport. I am currently filled with emotions of anticipation and gratitude for yet another opportunity to volunteer abroad with EGL and make a meaningful impact to the lives of underprivileged children in another country. As a group we are hoping to make our impact lasting. So in hopes of doing that I have been trying to learn some phrases of the official languages. I am also very excited to see and explore the beautiful country and indulge in Morocco’s unique culture.

Well it’s almost time to go. Let’s just hope I didn’t forget anything back home!

بسلامة
(Bye!)

-Christopher Hudson, a very excited traveller!