Trekking through Morocco

I wish I had time to put up some pictures, but we have limited time to share this one computer so I will just tell you a little about our four day cultural excursion through Morocco.

People

Throughout the villages, we met some nice people. We were serenaded by a folk band playing bongo drums.  They were all such pleasant people and fabulous with their instruments.  They taught us some traditional Berber song responses and dances and they even let us attempt to drum along with them (let me just say, it is not my thing-I couldn't keep a beat)!  The majority of the people living in the countryside are Berber people, the indigenous people of Morocco, some of them live in small villages while others are nomads with a permanent home only about three months of the year.  Education is a huge issue in these villages and amongst the nomads and their families - there is a huge lack of availability and/or transportation to schools, it is quite sad.  But, nonetheless, all of the people we met seemed so happy and carefree, all they needed was to play their music and they would have a smile on their face.

Places

Our travels included many stops as well as many interesting roads.  We drove up very narrow, curving roads on the side of mountains that were a bit scary at first, then just a bit bumpy...that may be an understatement.  It was quite the adventure!  We visited a few different Kasbahs along the way.  They are old castles from hundreds of years ago, surrounded by a wall.  On the outside, they just look like mud houses with a few designs on the top, but on the inside of the one, there was beautiful tiling and woodwork and even silk from China lining the walls of the bedroom.  We visited the Ksar (fortified village) where Gladiator and Prince of Persia were filmed.  While it looks ancient, 7 families are still living inside the walls.  In the villages, houses are made out of mud and are much less elaborate than the Kasbahs and many people will live in the same village their entire life without seeing any other area of Morocco.  We also visited gorges, huge, beautiful gorges.  We were able to get out of the van and walk through them along the river which was a nice stretch since we were on the bus for 4+ hours a day. Finally, we visited the Erg Chebbi Dunes which were just phenomenal.  The sand was reddish tan in perfect mounds, it almost looked fake.  The sky was bright blue and the sun was beating down on us as we rode our camels to the camp.  It was a great time in the desert for the night sitting around the campfire and gazing at the vast amount of stars.

Food

Food cannot be forgotten about.  In Morocco, basically all you eat is tagine, couscous, and tea, lots and lots of tea! In the beginning, it all tastes amazing...but after a week of the same thing at every meal, you get a bit sick of it. Tagine and couscous are full of vegetables, chicken, and many different spices that all seem to taste the same after a while haha but I will probably be craving it in a week or so.  The tea, on the other hand, might be my new addiction, it is a wonderful mixture of green tea, mint leaves, and sugar (many times way too much sugar!).  I learned how to make the tea in Fes, so when I get home make sure you come to have some Moroccan tea with me and my new tea pot :) Other foods include bread, and pancake type things, and Malawi-another pancake type thing haha - so lots of carbs! But it is okay, it was all delicious, even when I got sick of it, and I will miss it dearly when I get back home.

So there is a quick blurb of my 4 day cultural excursion last week.  We were able to see so much of Morocco that we would have never seen otherwise.  Only 5% of Morocco is made up of cities, like those we were staying in.  The other 95% is made up of desert, mountains, forests, and small villages - some of the most wonderful sights are in these parts of Morocco and I am so happy that I was able to see them!

Now we are back in Egypt after 15+ hours on trains and planes and buses.  We are spending this weekend in Luxor visiting the Valley of the Kings and the Valley of the Queens as well as sailing down the Nile and walking along the Avenue of Sphinxes.  After this, we are headed to Alexandria, where I may have time to write another entry or add a few pictures, then Sharm el Sheikh, Cairo, and home.  Time is flying by!  Sorry for any bits and pieces, or thoughts with abrupt stops, I will be sure to elaborate when I get home!

With love,
Lauren

P.S. I hope you are all enjoying the snow at home...can't say I'm jealous ;)

From City to Village

Yesterday was the best day so far - We went to a small village about an half hour out of the Medina between Marrakesh and Safi .  It had a completely different feel than the city of Marrakesh, one that I really, really loved.

Katera (I am not sure of the spelling) is a small mining town, the silver mines closed down 20 years ago but the families who established their homes stayed.  Rabha, one of Dr. Helfman's MEPI (Middle Eastern Partnership Initiative) students, lives with her husband, who is a police officer, in the village.  She is originally from Fes but moved to Katera four months ago.  She is truly an amazing women.  Her civic engagement project is to get women and girls of the village to work and make a life for themselves.  She explained that girls only go to school until 8th grade and then they sit at home with nothing to do just waiting for a husband.  Most of them are illiterate and the only hospital they have in the town is one for childbirth.  With the help of the community, she started a club that has girls sew traditional outfits, make crafts like vases and little jewelery boxes, and learn to read and write. They are also hoping to be able to offer medical assistance eventually - they had their first two cases recently.  We got to meet the whole community, everyone was so welcoming and wanted to take pictures of us and with us.  We also were able to visit the building of the organization and see the women and girls in action.  Not only did we visit, but we also helped plant trees and paint metal bars that will eventually be swing sets - they are creating a playground for the children.  I met a wonderful girl named Maryam she is 18 and works on making many of the beautiful crafts (I bought one from her).  She was so kind and showed Hanna and I around even helped us try on some of the traditional dresses, it was fun :)  Rabha made us a traditional Moroccan lunch - it was soooo delicious!  There were three different kinds of tangines which are dishes of cooked vegetables and sometimes have chicken in them and the one even had cooked grapes yum!  There was couscous and salads and this yummy herb mixture that tasted fabulous on bread.  After lunch and painting and exploring we went back to Rabha's house for tea and deserts (she spent a whole day preparing, until 1am and woke up at 4am the day we met her...crazy!).  There was also a band there with crazy music, dancing, and yelling, it was so fun!  I would love to help Rabha when we get home by helping the ladies' sell their crafts in the US.

I was going to post two videos but they are taking too long to upload so I'll put them on asap.

Love,
Lauren

Small Pieces of the Big Picture

Hello All!
I am currently in a riad in Marrakesh, Morocco.  It is the most beautiful place I have ever stayed.  It is so relaxing and gorgeous! The owner got his inspiration from palaces around Morocco and other riads around here. The city is also a beautiful place.  There are a lot of people, locals and tourists, in the Medina - the old city.  Today we went shopping in the souks and I made my first purchase in Morocco, a beautiful tea pot!

 Before we arrived in Marrakesh, we were in Casablanca for a night, and before that Cairo.  In Cairo we spent a day visiting the great pyramids of Giza and the Sphinx.  It was quite amazing.  We all rode camels around the pyramids and even got to go in one of them!

 Those pictures are of my camel, Casanova :), the second pyramid, and the Sphinx.

Here is a peak of the riad that we are staying at:

 
More to come later  (I am hogging the computer)!



With love,
Lauren






  

Packing

Annnnd we're off to JFK in the morning! My bags are all packed and I am very excited for tomorrow's departure. I will try my best to post pictures and videos on here while I am oversees so you can all get a taste of what I am up to during the month of January. Cairo, here I come! See you all in February :)