I'm not exactly partial to the cliché of the life changing study abroad experience, but it is undeniable that my experiences abroad have had a major impact on me. Never did I imagine that the trip through Southern Morocco two weeks ago would give me so much. SIT's emphasis on experiential learning made for a week that had me saying "I'm alive. I'm so alive!"
The trip covered a large span of Morocco's southern territory and I was amazed at the variety in landscape; we passed through mountains, desert, oases, and coastal beaches. We set out early on a Sunday morning on a small tourist bus. About two hours out of Rabat, we were surrounded by little, vintage Renault cars painted in wild colors and littered by bumper sticker advertisements. Thousands of these cars followed us on the first half of our trip. We all stopped in the same forest to see the famous Barbary Mackack monkeys. The cars were packed with French twenty somethings living like nomads, camping in and touring Africa, delivering school supplies to children along the way. It was incredible driving through the Atlas mountains in the middle of a line of rainbow Renaults with chic french gens sticking their heads out the windows, letting their hair fly in the wind.
Our first stop was in Azrou, a town named for its large volcanic rock outcrop. We were definitely not in Rabat anymore. During the half hour we walked around before lunch we noticed differences in dialect and daily life. We even saw donkeys used to transport goods from one end of the town to the other. Visiting Azrou was a good introduction to the Berbers. Berbers have recently fought for greater recognition as Morocco's indigenous inhabitants. One reform made after the February 20th Movement was the addition of Tamzagiht, a Berber dialect, as an official Moroccan language.
We spent our first night in Midelt, a town riddled with controversy. Midelt recently suffered from corrupt local government. After February 20th, King Mohammed VI transferred much of his power (more on that another day) to the popularly elected Prime Minister Abdeililah Benkirane, the leader of the Islamist Party for Justice and Development. After Benkirane's election, the King chose to receive him in Midelt rather than at his palace in Rabat. We discussed the potential political symbolism of the King's choice in my French for Journalism class. Perhaps the King was trying to make a connection between Midelt's past corruption and the new government or he could have been making a statement that the new government is not important enough to merit recognition in Rabat.
The next day was a real highlight. We slept in the Sahara! On the drive to the desert I was just becoming accustomed to the dry, arid land, the roads lined with sun dried kasbahs and ksours, when our bus would whip around a corner and an oasis of tall, emerald palms would emerge ahead. We made a short visit to an association in the desert town of Merzouga that provides literacy and vocational education for girls and women. Then we drove into the desert in 4x4 land rovers. The peace and solitude of the Saharan dunes made me feel as if the whole day was just a mirage. We drove deep into the desert before trading four wheel drive for sure footed camels. As the sun began to set we dismounted, raced each other up a dune, and tried to comprehend what felt like an impossibility. It was just us. Dune after dune, as far as the eye could see, there was nothing, but our breath, our thoughts, our quiet conversations. As soon as the sun disappeared from the horizon we rode our camels to the camp site, complete with richly colored Berber textiles and a tajine dinner. After dinner we sat around a campfire and enjoyed a performance of Gnawa music, derived from the movement of slaves from Sub Saharan Africa through Morocco to Europe. It was as if some spirit took over our group; we loosened up, dancing and playing drums with abandon. I felt like Bardot in "et dieu créa la femme". We are still unsure why, but unfortunately, Eboni and I were violently ill all night. We had been sick the night before as well. So we missed out on morning desert activities like sand boarding, but we were able to see the sunrise from camel back as we left for the nearest clinic at six in the morning. Despite the illness, I still felt like I was able to fully enjoy the Sahara experience.
One of my favorite experiences on the trip was staying the night at Association Tishka, a girl's dormitory in Ouarzazette, known as Hollywood's go to desert location. Tishka enables girls from far away provinces to attend school. The girls, ages 17 to 20, pay a small, symbolic amount and are given a second home where they are given all the resources to succeed. The founder and director, Mohammed, gave us a tour. He was so charismatic and welcoming; within 45 minutes I felt that Tishka was my second home too! At dinner each journalist sat at a table with ten Tishka girls. Mohammed asked one of the girls, the president of the Tishka Club, responsible for helping maintain a home like atmosphere, to give a welcome speech. She spoke in very good English. Then Mohammed asked for one of the journalists to give a similar speech. I jumped up and spoke in French; it was a very multilingual dinner. Mohammed joked with us all and told the journalists that it was a tradition for visiting American students to sing a song for the girls. Our group tries not to be shy so we picked Smash Mouth's "All Star" and dove right in! I think we were pretty good; we may need to create a MOJ chorus in the future. We got along so well with the girls; they were very outgoing and had clear intellectual curiosity. We exchanged questions and, after dinner, many dances. Interestingly, the songs the girls sang were all related to pregnancy and marriage. I asked the girls at my table what they wanted to do after graduating from University and they all expressed interest in looking for jobs. They made it clear, though, that if they were to get married they would no longer work. I explained that I wanted to work and have a family one day, but they felt that a woman should spend all her time raising her children "to ensure they are on the right path." Louis was quite popular with the girls; it was as if Justin Bieber had come to visit. The girls screamed and crowded around him, swooning when he blew them a kiss. We had a fascinating cultural exchange and really felt integrated into the Tishka community!
The next day we had lunch in the beautiful Todra Gorge before moving on to Marrakech. Our time was too short in the well known city and I'll have to go back. I did get to spend some time in the famous Jemaa el-Fnaa Square, shocked at the monkeys in dresses, snake charmers, and story tellers. Marrakech seemed much more modern and Western to me than any other city I've visited yet, which is probably an impact of tourism. It was also Shalea's birthday so we were able to give her a small celebration!
Our final day was spent in beautiful Essouaira, a resort town on the Atlantic. It reminded me of home on the other side of the Atlantic; the water is just a little bit more turquoise! We visited an Argan oil cooperative, Marjana. Argan trees cover the region and, as we were able to see, goats love to climb them. Only women work in the cooperatives, producing oil that is popular for both cooking and beauty use. It was fascinating to see and participate in the oil production process. Then we ate lunch at Chez Sam, which has been visited by the likes of Jimi Hendrix. After our meal we visited a local artist's gallery. He and his German wife were so hospitable, inviting all of us up to their apartment for tea and answering all of our questions. I really enjoyed the diversity in his work, but Vemo, our art student in residence, was very displeased. She feels an artist should have one distinct style. We ended the day with a soccer game and a well deserved dinner. On the way to dinner our quiet driver, Yousef, lit up our bus with flashing, color changing party lights. What a surprise! We danced all the way to and from dinner, the twelve of us in our tiny bus.
So I have done the trip very little justice, just poorly describing the day to day events and offering very little analysis. I hope you will believe me, though, it was truly incredible and there is still sand in my sneakers to prove it.
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