I made it to Morocco! 

I’ll try my best to give a quick overview...

Sunday:

I arrived at my host family after hours of sleepless travel. There is a host mother, Houda, and father, Aziz. They have three children (one son Amine, 19. And two girls Sarah, 13. Fardous, 7). They were all kind and greeted me well. There is another volunteer staying here, Dan, who is from London.

Even though it is Ramadan they do not expect me to observe it as a foreigner and brought me mint tea, dates, and sweets as a sign of hospitality. Their apartment/home is within a community between Salé and Salé el Jadida (New Sale). It is about 30 minutes drive outside Rabat, Morocco’s capital. Sale and Rabat are considered “twin cities” bridging a river that for hundreds of years was an accessible port from the Atlantic (Thousands of years for Salé actually, as it was founded in antiquity by the Phoenicians).  

After arriving I went to the market with my host mom and Dan. First we entered what looked a supermarket that could be found in the US, or more likely the UK, because its options were more reasonably limited. But then we headed to the souk in Salé el Jadida. This definitely had more interesting sights...and smells.  The upper level had clothing, rugs, and books. While the downstairs had many bread-making booths, fish stalls, fruit, hanging carcasses at the butchers, and bins of olives. Just to name a few.

Houda picked up some bread and pastries from a stall and told the woman in Arabic who Dan and I were and why we were here. Then she smiled at me and handed me a hard sugary pastry. I accepted and thanked her but slightly hesitated before taking a bite, as I read it was looked down upon for foreigners to eat in public during Ramadan. I bit down and turned away from the booth back into the center of the narrow market aisle. Here I was met with what I can only assume was a lamb carcass, its testicles at eye level. Needless to say, it was quite difficult to finish the sweet given to me out of kindness. In fact, I didn’t. I dropped it on the ground as stealthfully as possible.  In the souk, the adhan, or call to prayer, could be heard. We were in center of the market, when I looked through a door opening and saw at least 60 men kneeled on their prayer mats. In the souk if really hit me that I was going to be living in a completely different culture.

We ate a lovely Moroccan dinner after sundown and I thought my long travel day was coming to an end.  Then, Dan asks our host parents if Rabat is bustling at night. They said, "Yes of course, lets go look!" So, surviving on fumes, I leave for Rabat at 10:30pm with the whole family. During Ramadan everyone here stays up late to eat and socialize long after sundown (you can hear children playing in the streets past 1am) and kind of nap during the day (For those who have lived with or near me, you know that this part will not be difficult for me to transition to haha). In Rabat, we went to a Moroccan Arts Association festival which had booths of beautiful craftsmanship. Here we also listened (and took pictures--they gave me the mic and a hat!) with a traditional Moroccan band. And, of course, drank more mint tea.

Monday:

Less exciting so I promise this Monday will actually be a quick overview. I had orientation in Rabat. The other volunteers were nice. I’m sure I’ll be seeing more of them in Rabat and traveling around Morocco! 

Tuesday:

My first day working at Association Alghad in Salé el Jadida, right across from the souk I visited on Sunday.  There are three small rooms, one is a nursery and then two classrooms. Here Dan and I were really thrown into it. I had a class of 8 to 20 year olds, with two mothers who stayed to learn English as well. Dan had a class with smaller kids. My group of over 20 people all were at different proficiency levels and I had no real lesson plan, because I didn’t know I would need one. Classic. Yet, surprisingly I got along ok for the first day. But, left feeling a little overwhelmed knowing I will have to create lesson plans for such a diverse group of students everyday. If anyone has any suggestions, PLEASE let me know. Thanks!

Here's a blurry picture of the class room with my students and some of Dan's

Then, to relieve the stress of the day Dan and my host brother, Amine, and I went into Rabat to walk around. Amine took us around to some beautiful places that probably would have taken Dan and I a full day to figure out the location of. Below is the walled old city section of Rabat called Oudayas. 

Lastly, I just finished a really delicious and balanced home-cooked meal (but not so balanced dessert) to break the fast pictured below! 

Missing everyone at home already! Please feel free to text, email, or facebook message me because I have wifi in my homestay :)

Erica