Today was amazing. Hands down, flat out, awesome day. We
woke up early and left the hotel for a guided tour of Casablanca. Our tour
guide was so funny and shared some really obscure but fun history about the
city and its various cultural influences. We saw the palace of the king, walked
through the administrative square, and went to some of the small street
markets. The highlight of the morning for me was the olive market. It was olive
nirvana, I swear. The owner let us taste some olives, which were so flavorful
and fresh. I was really surprised that he let our whole group of students
sample the olives, assumedly knowing we wouldn’t buy anything. It was yet
another example of the generosity of Moroccans.
Next we traveled to another part of the city to see the
Hassan II mosque. I cannot appropriately describe this building/masterpiece in
words. Seriously, you will all just have to go there yourself. It is an
absolutely magnificent structure and I had to pause inside for a moment to
appreciate its reverence. Although the mosque was obviously built for Islamic
worship purposes, it was easy for me to be silent and feel close to God in the
space. It was truly a place of worship. It made me homesick for camp. I cannot wait to be there with everyone.
Afterward, we had a nice, relaxing lunch in Ain Diab, the “beachfront
property” of Casablanca. I loved the mixed bag of Western and Moroccan culture
that was very obvious there. A few other students, our coordinator Daniel,
professor Jennet, and I had lunch a small restaurant near the ocean. The back of
the restaurant was an open air patio with trees growing in the room for shade.
It was a lovely, comfortable, and enjoyable meal speaking with Daniel and
Jennet about their various travels and hilarious mishaps. And the food was delicious, as is all the food in Morocco
apparently. I even ordered my own meal in French! Score one for my pathetic
language skills.
The rest of the day was spent traveling to Meknes and
settling in to our apartment… which is AWESOME. I am so grateful for the accommodations
ISA has supplied for us. But really, it’s so swanky. My roommates and I bonded
quickly and had dinner together, then went to explore the city of Meknes. It is
way different from what I was
expecting. For some reason my brain was thinking rural-type town setting and
this is more comparable to downtown Pittsburgh or Cleveland. Our apartment is
right in the action of the city, and you can hear the sounds of commerce and
nightlife constantly. It will definitely take some getting used to on my part,
especially because of my absolutely pathetic sense of direction. I’m just going
to put money on it now and learn how to say “Help me, I’m lost!” in French,
Arabic, and maybe Swahili just to be safe. Let’s be real, I probably should
just learn it in every language.
For now, I need to get some serious sleep. My body is still adjusting
to all these changes, and it is ready to quit for the next eight hours.
Tomorrow will be more orientation and then our first day of placements. AHH!
Bonne nuit.
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