Morocco Trip Map

Flight 1: Monday, 3/13- St Louis to Atlanta  Departs: 11:40 AM Arrives: 2:15PM Flight Time: 1 hr 35 min. Layover: 2hrs 7min Flight 2: Monday, 3/13 Atlanta to Paris Departs:  4:22 PM Arrives: Tuesday 3/14- 6:00AM Flight Time: 8 hrs 38 min Layover: 4hrs 20 mins Flight 3: Tuesday, 3/14 Paris (France) to Rabat (Morocco) Departs:…

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THE HAMMAM

In preparation for our in-country trip to Taza, my travel buddy, Kari, and I complied a list of experiences to include in our Taza itinerary.  On the top of Kari’s list was a trip to the hammam or public bath house.    Not being accustomed to public bathing and nudity, I was a bit apprehensive…

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Brain Drain

One of the lessons we observed Mohamed, our host teacher, presenting was on “Brian Drain.”  Brain drain can be defined as, the emigration of highly trained or intelligent people from a particular country. Mohamed challenged his English language learners to identify push and pull factors impacting brain drain. This lesson was apart of the national…

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Attending a Mountainside Wedding

An essential feature of all cultures, is that they change.  Along with cultural change comes a  shift in cultural identity.  Are Americans any more or less American because we longer use a horse and carriage?  While traveling in Morocco, I often heard references to “traditional” Moroccan practices and “modern” Moroccan practices.  Morocco is on a fast…

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To hijab or not to hijab, that is a question for young women of Morocco…

Kari and I witnessed a lively debate between students on their interpretation of hijab wearing.  The general idea, is that prior to puberty young girls do not wear the hijab.  After puberty young girls have a choice. When women get older and/or married the general cultural expectation is to wear the hijab. The students we…

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So this elephant walks into a village. . .

Elephant I use this classic fable to help my students understand perspective.  The moral of the story is that no one person has a complete understanding or whole truth on a particular topic or issue.  You only understand your truth or your reality.  When you view a person, topic or culture from a single narrative…

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Trek the Tazekka

Protecting Natural Resources: One observation about Morocco is the nation’s efforts to conserve both its cultural and natural resources.  On Sunday, March 19, we visited Tazekka National Park in the Middle Atlas Mountains.  The park was created in 1950 and has expanded to 120km preserving forests of cork, holm oak, canyons, caves, waterfalls and rural…

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Asia, Morocco is singing to you!

Before I left for Morocco, I had students hold up signs asking questions for the people I meet. One of my students,Asia, asked, “Will you sing me your favorite song?” At the Abi Al Ghafari High School in Rabat, I met the gifted and brave Noure who sang Asia a Cold Play song. Noure’s big…

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U.S. Embassy, Rabat

Today I got to spend a little time back on U.S. soil when we visited the U.S. embassy!  We met with Rebecca, the Regional English Language Officer and Tom the U.S.A.I.D Education Office Director.  Both Tom and Rebecca help develop educational programs to support US interests in Morocco.  One such program is the English Access…

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