Spain/Morocco: Finally Some Down Time!
Time, that is one thing we sure haven’t had a lot of here in Rabat. I don’t even know where to begin, I mean this is the first time I’ve had a little down time to reflect on everything that’s been going on. The best way to describe it is like a whirl wind of culture shock, jet lag and car sickness. I cant believe how much we’ve jam packed in the last 2 days, it makes me unbeleivably excited for what’s to come. Tonight is our last night in Rabat, and tomorrow we head off to Marakech. And so far what we’ve heard is Marakech has even more hustle and bustle in the street, and more traffic…which I didn’t think was possible to top Rabat. Just the bus ride from Casa Blanca to Rabat had me in complete shock. There are no road rules here except, if you can go, go. I’ve already almost been hit by a car and have never seen so many cars in my life enter one single intersection at the same time. I could go on and on about all the things I’m experiencing, but that would take all night.
Did I mention I swam in the Atlanic ocean for the first time?! The weather is absolutely gorgeous and everyone we’ve met so far are just the nicest people. Since this is an Islamic country, certain things are going to take getting used too. The easiest way to put it is America just has different gender roles than an Islamic country. I love love love the languages spoken here and the “Moroccan way of life”. It’s crazy to think it’s only been two days and my lenses on the world are already changing. Our group is doing a good job at adapting to the culture. We’re learning how to walk in front of cars, order food off an entire French menu, how to tip, how to buy things, how the currency works and where to go when we have free time. Overall, everyone is definitely getting the hang of things around here.
We’ve had four meetings so far with very interesting people. We met the Moroccan peace corps yesterday and learned about their transistion from environmental issues to youth development. We also met with Industry and Commerce and was able to see their upcoming innovation strategies for Morocco. We then went to a Natural habitat and met with Professor Imad Cherkaoul, a professor that studies birdlife. He touched base on renewable energies and migration patterns with birds and made an interesting connection between the two. Today, we had our most intriguing meeting yet, we met with the Young Arab Policy Analysists, We had the oppertunity to talk to Moroccans our age and discuss policies in our countries. I think we could all agree that both sides learned a little more about their countries decision
Like I said, it’s only been two days and I already know this is going to be an amazing trip. We get to study during the day and talk to so many amazing people about their interests, then at night we get to submurge ourselves into the cultural scene and meet the locals. The food is tastey, the students are a blast, and our teachers are so helpful. I can’t wait to see what Marakech has in store for us!