School, The Mediterranean and Life Abroad

The following email accounts the initial arrival in Morocco, the school and traveling to Tetouan in the North.


Enjoy!

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Hello everyone from a very rainy Morocco (I bless the rains down in Africaaaa!)

Since I last wrote, these past few weeks have been extremely crazy in respect to school and traveling! Al Akhawayn University keeps me very busy with schoolwork; however, the professors here are extremely knowledgeable, so it’s worth it. My two Economic Development classes are really interesting, the professor for my Economic Development in the Middle East and North Africa has worked all over the Middle East and for organizations such as the World Bank and United Nations Development Program as well a few Non-Governmental Organizations. Needless to say, he’s my hero. As well, I’ve joined 3 clubs; The Horseback Riding club, The Explorers Club and Courant d’art (a club that gives cooking lessons and does music related stuff).

The school also hosts tons of events on campus because the school is located in a fairly remote part of Morocco and the city it is in….has next to nothing to do. Last week, they had a local Berber music group come and play, it was amazing!

Music group (The picture is kinda blurry, but the guys were spinning their drums on the ground..):

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The School’s Library (I pretty much live here…and spend a lot of time staring at the ceiling…)

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The Mosque on campus at night:

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My weekends have been spent traveling across Morocco. The first weekend I went with some other International students to Tetouan in the North to visit the Mediterranean! It was absolutely incredible! We stayed at a beautiful Riad in the center of the Medina/old part of the city. It was over 400 years old and had beautiful tile work everywhere. It had an incredible view of the city from the Terrace on the roof and was encircled by Mosques. It was amazing to hear the call to prayer echoing from all around us.

The Mediterranean:

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And on the Mediterranean, we had a very Mediterranean lunch:

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These are the Rif Mountains in Northern Morocco:

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Rug Shop in Tetouan:

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Random Moroccan City on the way back from Teouan:

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This was taken on the way back from Tetouan in a Grand Taxi:

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There are 2 kinds of Taxis in Morocco, there are the Grand Taxis (old Mercedes Benz) they can hold up to 6 people (2 in the front seat and 4 in the back) and they travel between cities. As well, there are Petit Taxis that only hold 3 people and they only operate within city limits. Traveling in Grand Taxis is always an adventure, you’re never really sure what will happen….there have been times when we thought we were going to get hit…But, they’re professionals….

The following weekend I travelled to Fez with some other exchange students. We arrived late Friday night around F’Toor time, when Muslims break the fast during Ramadan; it’s also the time when everything closes. This proved to be a slight problem for us because we had not made reservations for any hotel. As well, it was pouring and my feet were soaked, foolishly I had forgotten a change of socks or clothes for that matter, so, we ended up at a café and had a F’Toor meal that consisted of Mint Tea, Harira and bread. While there, we randomly picked a hotel located in Nouvelle Ville, the new part of the city. After F’Toor, the taxis started running again and we asked the driver to take us to our “Budget” hotel, yet he took us to the 5 star hotel in the area, luckily we were in walking distance of our actual hotel and we made it there safely. As usual, my friend was offered camels for “all the pretty girls”. After reaching our hotel, we decided to go down to the Medina, or the old part of Fez, it was incredible. It was like something out of a storybook, or off of Aladdin. It had tons of narrow passages, covered bazaars, little stores that sell everything and donkeys with carts were everywhere.

Medina (during the day….)

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Donkey and cart:

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I loved the Fez Medina so much, we went back the next day. We spent most of the day at Muhammed’s Café, actually, I don’t know the actual name, but the guy that owns it is named Muhammed.

Noos Noos (Coffee with Milk):

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Noos Noos, like Mint tea, is amazing. Generally, I don’t drink coffee, but Noos Noos, with lots of sugar (because, everything they drink here is really really sweet) is incredible.

Fez is widely known for its excellent leather goods, so we visited the Tanneries (and I bought a bag):

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As well, they have amazing pottery:

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Fez from a café:

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