Little on Ifrane

A little bit about Ifrane 

Living in an area like Ifrane, it is hard to tell that one is in a country that is still developing. Ifrane, Morocco is known as “little Switzerland” because of its unique European atmosphere which is emitted through the pointed uniformed rooftops, beautiful parks, and towering pine trees. Over the weekends and the holiday seasons, the city is engulfed with tour buses and flashing lights from the cameras of the visitors.

What one has to understand most about this city is that it holds the prestigious Al Akhawayn University that holds students from the elite class of Moroccan society that makes up only 5%. Therefore, the hierarchy of this city starts from- of course- the royal family of which every city and town in Morocco belongs to, then the power of this particular University dominates. All the nearby local businesses mainly try to target their two largest consumers; the tourists and the students of AUI. In addition, with some research on the zoning laws of Ifrane done through a research paper I had to write for a Business Writing Class as an exchange student here at AUI, I have come to find that the zoning laws of this city is very strict, for no large franchises are able to be established here.

Ifrane proudly makes an effort to maintain their city image as a non commercialized area with a more local feel. Ifrane, I have to admit, does a very well job keeping the city look as “natural” as it can to emphasize the mountainous beauty that the city provides. 

Once again I reiterate just how blessed 

I am to have experienced such beauty  of Morocco. 

First Snow of the Year...in Africa!

Ifrane became a Winter Wonderland...

The pond in front of Aguelmam. So beautiful!

Last Friday was the start of a big snow storm that accumulated in the city of Ifrane for the entire weekend. Classes were cancelled as the snow kept building up inch by inch. It was the first big snow I have had this year and it was very surprising to have it in Africa. Back home, in Massachusetts where I live, my mom had told me it has not really snowed that much yet at this point. 

My building, Building 34.

What took me by surprise more than anything else is that all the bulldozers and the snow clearing services were sponsored directly by AUI, where the school sent out a mass email saying that they were clearing the roads for the students and the faculty to get in and out of the campus. When conditions got very severe, they organized two convoys where they were clearing out paths for a line of cars to get from campus to the center of town. However, I think that system did not work at all because of the extreme amount of snow we ended up getting.

When I asked the students about this particular weather, many have told me that they have never seen such a big snow storm in Ifrane, ever.

With the snow, one would expect everyone to be inside in the comfort of their warm, cozy rooms. However, here at AUI and around the city, there were many students and people alike taking advantage of the beauty of a white covered city. This may be a little dorky, but everywhere I went, the effect of the white on the trees and the snow covered ground made me think of the scene in the Narnia Chronicles of The Lion The Witch and the Wardrobe, when in the beginning the whole land of Narnia is covered in snow during the rule of the White Witch (I know, dorky.) But in all seriousness,  this is what the city looked like to me. It is absolutely beautiful. I, myself, took advantage of the whole weekend and spent almost ever minute of it outdoors, taking pictures of the new perspective that the snow gave for Ifrane.

I do have to say, however, it is absolutely FREEZING. I definitely regret not bringing a winter coat, so I have been borrowing a friend's for about a week now. (Thank you, Simo!) I also went to the marche yesterday and bought myself a new pair of rain boots for 65MAD, 3 pairs of long socks, and long underwear, which I definitely recommend!

This weekend, it truly showed me the real beauty of Ifrane, and just why this city is attractive to tourists from within the country as well as abroad. I feel truly blessed to be here.

Please excuse us for our explicit language;) 

One on Me

I knew something was missing...

Right off the plane on my first day in Morocco

“Morocco? What’s in Morocco?” was the reaction I received from numerous people when I confessed the location in which I would study abroad. I knew from the very beginning that I wanted to go on an exchange program, which is one of the main reasons why I chose to go to Bentley University, but my initial plan was to study abroad in Italy because of my experience traveling there during my freshman year of high school. But as decision time came closer and closer, there were endless options and choices of the potential places that I could go! It was just pure excitement in the fact that I could choose anywhere in the world to spend four months of my life, engulfing myself in the culture.

So about a week before final decision had to be made, I woke up with the desire to get out of my comfort zone and to go somewhere radical, where not many people would choose to go. So out of all the places on the list of programs, I figured Morocco would be the place to be since: one, the last person that did an exchange from Bentley to Morocco was close to a decade ago and two, there wasn’t much information on what Morocco was currently like, even on the web or through people. So that is how I made my choice.

Although it may be cliché, this adventure to this beautiful country has been a life changing one. During my time here, I have learned what it is like to be part of Morocco’s elite class- which is unavoidable since I have spent the four months studying at the prestigious Al Akhawayn University of which Morocco’s small minority of middle and upper class families send their kids to college, but at the same time, I have also been able to experience the heartache and the hopelessness of the majority lower class of Morocco. I have learned that illiteracy is a reality in which over half of the Moroccan population cannot read or write, and in addition, education is so corrupt that even those who seek for higher education cannot get it because they are unable to afford the demands of the educators that are not paid up to par.

Through such an experience, I have changed my major from Finance to Marketing in hopes that with the knowledge and the skills I acquire, I could help this country, as well as similar countries, to take small steps and small measures in hopes of furthering development and self sustainability. I have come to grow a love for the country of Morocco because although people do not have much, I have never met so many generous people that are willing to give and give with nothing in return. I have traveled to many places in Morocco, and everywhere I go, there are people that are willing to help you even beyond what you ask of them, and they are just so ready to open their homes to complete strangers just to get the knowledge of diversity and differences. Especially coming from a place like America where it puts more emphasis on the individual and his American dream, it has definitely been an eye opening experience to know people that are more about the family and the well being of others rather than just the individual alone. In a country such as this, I have learned that Morocco’s true beautify comes from the people that live within it.  

My next 5 year plan is to really get all the knowledge and the resources I need in order to help places like Morocco to really be able to show their true beauty and to help its people to make further advancements in their livelihood to become self sustainable citizens of the world.

2 weeks left, and enjoying every last minute of it.

...and Morocco was the answer. 

Moroccan Football

On Moroccan Football

After the first few days in Morocco, it was an unfamiliar transition from hearing names like Tom Brady and Eli Manning to hearing the names Christiano Ronaldo and Lionel Messi. Morocco is a country where soccer is not only a sport, but rather a lifestyle. Everywhere I go, I see kids and adults alike playing soccer, not only with a ball but with coke cans, water bottles, rocks, and even lighters; just about anything they can get their feet on. As my time here in Morocco progressed, I slowly caught myself dribbling a rock on the way to class or kicking a water bottle back and forth with a couple friends. The love of this sport in this country is so ubiquitous that it is contagious.

Christiano Ronaldo vs. Lionel Messi

From being so exposed to soccer by being in Morocco, I have noticed that most people watch two types of soccer, Moroccan soccer and Spanish Soccer. When talking about Spanish Soccer, two big teams come to mind: FC Barcelona and Real Madrid. Whenever I watch these games, which seems to be about every week, the two players that stick out the most to me, and I am sure every other soccer enthusiast, is Christiano Ronaldo, striker for Real Madrid, and Lionel Messi, forward for FC Barcelona. When watching these two players, it is almost hypnotizing to see their flawless plays, their incredible endurance and-how could I ever forget- their unfailing ball control. It is hard to compare the two players because they are both so good in different ways for they have very unique playing styles.

To get further information on how they are different from one another, I asked a Moroccan friend, a soccer enthusiast who has been watching soccer all his life, about the differences between the two players. First off, he tells me that Messi has played for Barcelona his entire career whereas Ronaldo has played for several different teams including Lisbon and Manchester United. Messi is the type of player where he plays very well in tight spaces and is able to control and dribble the ball in a very smart way when there is less room for him to move. On the other hand, Ronaldo is incredible in wider spaces and is known for his unfailing aim when it comes to long shots. He also describes to me that Messi is more of a team player whereas Ronaldo is more of an individualist. Additionally he comments that Ronaldo has unbelievable endurance, “He can play a whole 90 minutes without getting tired or injured. He’s almost super human.”

Although my friend’s point of view may be somewhat biased, it is very hard to doubt that some of his comments are correct when watching the two players battling it out on the field. They are very different from each other, for sure. But what both players have in common is their sense of confidence and their smart plays which contributes to making both teams powerhouse forces in the soccer world.

First week in Morocco and watching the Real Madrid vs Barcelona game with some new friends!

Asilah: Alhamdullilah

The only words out of my mouth was: Alhamdullilah 

For my first official weekend, a group of eleven of us went on a trip about three and a half hours north of Ifrane to a beach city called Asilah. It was the most beautiful little beach that had a feel similar to the Salisbury Beach in Massachusetts with a mix of Providence Town down at the Cape; just replace the rainbow flags with Moroccan cultural rugs and beautiful woven scarves.

The journey to Asilah was such an experience in itself! I guess the best way to describe it is an "adventurous rush"... literally. We were running late since Eli and myself had class on Friday until 4:45 but we were trying to beat the final 6pm train in Meknes. But we ended up missing that train since the cab ride to the city took about an hour and a half. Thus we ended up settling on the 1:30 am train to our final destination.

Meknes

To kill the 6 hour we had under our belts, we explored the city to find this little sandwich shop around a busy corner leading to the medina, where our group of eleven herded in to have dinner.They made some of the best sandwiches with every type of meat you could imagine: beef, lamb, chicken, and liver. The best part about this restaurant however was that it had the most delicious smoothies, freshly made with all organic fruits! I ended up getting the beef wrap with olives, peppers, onions, and other vegetables with an avocado and almond smoothie (which is my favorite smoothie here thus far).

After dinner, everyone was pretty exhausted from the traveling and all the good foods, so we made our way to the train station to purchase our tickets and wait out the last three hours before our departure on the platform. However, Tim and I figured since we were in Meknes for the first time we should explore the city until the train came. What I noticed about Meknes was that it was a city that's more subside than Boston but had a feel more like Cambridge, or in Korea, the less busy "gol mok" areas of Seoul: It was small with many residences, and at the same time, it was pretty industrialized, just like the shops along the streets of Allston or Dae Jyun. As we explored, we found awesome graffiti along the walls as well as a strategically established sports bar with a turf soccer field inside and a large projection screen on the other side for customers to watch major soccer games. As Tim and I were scavenging out a place to ralkin, we ran into some weird encounters. We walked down this very quite road where it looked like a bunch of residences and apartments on both sides. As we continued down this quite road, there was a Moroccan sitting on a stoop that shouted out to us and abruptly came towards us. Although Tim knew French fluently, which is useful when trying to speak to most of the Moroccans who could speak French as well, but the man could only speak Arabic. Therefore, we couldn't quite make out what he was trying to say to us. The only word Tim could make out was voleur, "theif", and the very bizarre and alarming strangling noise that he made with the strangling gesture he made with his hands on his neck. Yes, it was terrifying. So we just thanked him, turned around, and bolted towards the way we came from, laughing at this ridiculous situation.

As we were giving up on the idea of finding a decent spot, we came across this perfect little island of a "park" where we found benches and a perfect set of steps that were facing away the main road. It was very relaxing but yet there was an underlying feeling of excitement all at the same time.

Meknes is a small city filled with local businesses and lots of restaurants. It reminded me of a bigger version of Azrou but not as quite scenic. We ate dinner at this really good sandwich restaurant where they sold a variety of cold cuts, hot meats, and smoothies! I ended up getting a hot beef wrap with olives, spices, and other vegetables that I couldn't really tell what it was, with french fries on the side and an avocado smoothie with almonds in it. It was sooooo good. Afterwards, a friend and I just broke off from the rest of the group and went to explore around the town with about two hours to kill. Walking around made me realize just how small Meknes was, but it was filled with some cool bars and places to eat. We came across an awesome sports bar with a projection screen that was up for the customers to enjoy the soccer game that was playing and they had a turf soccer field that was caged so that people could enjoy a game of soccer. Next to the field was a blow up climbing course and a stage that performers could entertain the customers and kids could play on the course. It was such a neat set up. On the walls were some awesome graffiti that were legit works of art.

Meknes to Asilah

The train ride was the most crazy experience. A person might figure that a 1:30am train wouldn't have that many travelers but it was quite the contrary. There were so many people on the train that it almost impossible to find a seat. While our group was helplessly searching, Tim and I finally came upon a compartment where five guys were sitting as they were ralkining. It looked a little sketchy at first so we moved on to try to find another place to sit. The others, mind you there were eleven of us,  finally settled on another small, seat-less compartment toward the back of the train, but Tim and I went to the nearly empty compartment with the five guys. Turns out, they were all from Tangiers, and traveling back home. As we talked to them (or attempted to since I didn't know much Arabic, but Tim knows French so it was quite useful haha) and what I noticed most about these guys were how generous they were to each other; unlike our western culture, especially the New England culture of individuality and self advancement it was quite eye opening to see that in the Moroccan culture, there is a sense of togetherness and family-like giving among the people. It got me thinking that although social security and health care is almost nonexistent here, it really has the people rely on their family and friends even more which unites the people together so much deeper. Of course, this isn't the only example on which I base my assumption on, but so far, everyone I have over and over again proved it to be true.

As the last hour of this train ride approached, our group finally reunited again as they came into our empty compartment and we settled in, and just laid across the train floor, compacted like sardines, and slept until we reached Asilah.

Asilah

Around 4:30am was when we arrived in Asilah and the train station, to our great surprised, was right along the coast of the beautiful Atlantic Ocean. We literally ran towards the beach when we arrived with the most beautiful stars above us and the cool, salty ocean waves splashed right in front of us. We felt so free and a sense of relief being in the open after that long, suffocating and exhausting train ride over.

We felt that it was too later, or too early rather, to get a hostel or a place to stay, so we ended up sleeping the remaining hours till dawn right on the beach. Of course, I couldn't help but to go for a swim, so Max the German and I took off running into the freezing water. It felt really refreshing really after being so close with so many bodies for hours on end.

The next morning, we woke up to the BEAUTIFUL sunrise right over the beach. The sand, you will notice, is very soft and thinner than the sand on the east coast of the US. It was so nice to wake up to the hot sun and as I looked around, there were the others still deep asleep on their sandy beds. It was the most unbelievable feeling. After we gathered ourselves and enjoyed the view, we finally walked over inside the city itself. As we walked down the beach strip, it reminded me of the beach strip on Hamption Beach in Massachusetts, the area of the boardwalk where there are many souvenir shops, food stands, restaurants and apartment houses. The only difference is that it was more desolated and a little older. The only words I could think of to describe this was "alhamdulah" ("thanks be to God" in Arabic).

As we ventured around the small beach town, we had to wait for Reda's friend, Tariq, because he had hooked us up with a house in town to stay. The only problem was we couldn't contact him right away so we went on to explore a little more. All around town we noticed there were very impressive graffiti on the walls and over the roofs hung the most intricately designed rugs and tapestries. On the doorways of some of the shops, scarves and silver jewelry decorated the entrance, and the shop keepers dressed in their Moroccan traditional clothing and hats welcomed us to take a look at his merchandises as we walked by.

After a while, Tariq finally called and he lead us to this beautiful door on the side of one of the buildings. The set up of the town of Asilah is engulfed around a wall and inside of it is like a maze. The buildings are so close to one another that the little alleyways are only wide enough to fit two people at a time. Around the buildings had the most beautiful and intricate doors that lead you into a house or an apartment and the shops were a "hole" in the wall. When we finally reached the house we were staying at, the beautiful door lead us into the most well furnished, magnificent house that gave off an Arabian Night feel to it. It had arced doorways and thick columns, and the design on the ceilings were outlined in gold lining and elaborate colors. Every bathroom had a shower, and there was one in particular with two shower heads! We lucked out to say the least. The best part was that between 11 of us, it cost us 100 dirhams each! I felt so blessed and the long trip definitely seemed worth the head ache.

For a few hours we just hung out in our mansion, ralkined, and hung out in this beautiful greenhouse area in the back. Afterwards, at around 3ish, we went set off to go to the beach.

The only way we could get there was by car, so we ended up getting this huge van, with a big compartment in the back with seating benches around it, where the eleven of us piled in. The ride there was pretty ridiculous first off because we got to ralkin with the driver and two, the roads were so bumpy that it was quite funny to see everyone bouncing around in their seats.

When we arrived at this beautiful beach right below a few mountainous hill where the beach stretched out really far and there were restaurant tent areas along the back of the beach. We set up on our spot and the rest of the day was filled with laying out on the hot, soft sanded beach, swimming in the cool, salty water, and playing ball games like soccer and football. Eventually, we set off to explore the beach a little bit more and that is when Tariq told us that there was a cave that we could go to that was about a half a mile down. So we followed him and we realized it was impossible to get there because of the high tide, so instead, we decided to climb over a mountainous hill to get to it. The climb was so exhilarating! It was hard because we were bear foot and there were lots of rocks, thorns, and glass, but exciting at the same time because of the adrenaline rush from the possibility that if we lost our balance, we could be in deep shit. It was such a thrilling climb. Eventually, when we reached the area that the cave was in, Tariq  pointed down and told us we could scale down the side of the mountain to get a closer look. So of course I and a few others started our descent with Tariq in the lead. We were practically crab walking on our hands and legs down to the cave. It was kind of scary, I'm not going to lie, but it wasn't too bad. When we reached it, we were able to see the big opening in the rocks to this dark cave where the waves were crashing into it. It was quite a rewarding feeling to get there.

The climb back up was also a challenge in itself, since it was literally a rock climb without a harness. But to our relief, the climb up was easier than the climb down. By the end of this adventure, it was nearly 5 PM, so we stayed a few more hours, finished off  with a satisfying sea food meal at one of the side restaurants where I got delicious fresh fish grilled right in front of me. I, of course, at it the Moroccan way, with just my hands (A lot easier than with a utensil, I got to say.) Tim, Nic and I finished off our beach day with an awesome gave to football as the sun set and afterwards, we headed back to our beautiful abode.

Once we got back to the house, we all had our last night fiesta until the next morning where we had to pack up early and head home on our long journey back (which was also an experience of its own where Tim and I had to sit in the aisle, and at one point, we just put our feet out the door of the moving train in order to have some room to sit. Tim was laying down beside the bathroom where people were going in and out and it smelled absolutely awful, but I guess we can laugh about it now! Oh, and our grand taxi ride back from Meknes to Ifrane broke down for like 5 minutes until thankfully the driver was able to start it up again)

Anyways..It was definitely a trip that I will always remember and a great way to start off this amazing abroad experience. 

Recap: First Moments in Morocco

Week Three... and it's still impossible to keep up with this blog. I've given up trying to promise myself I'll write everything down at once, so I'll write what I can.

But I can tell you this much...Every minute and every day here in Morocco has been such an adventure that today was the first day I actually caught up on all of my sleep.. I woke up at 6PM! 

So here it goes. 

I am currently sitting on my desk, here at Al Akhawayn U which is located in a town called Ifrane, that has a very European Holiday feel, which is unlike any other place in Morocco.I have a pile of almonds piled to the right of me and a tall carton of strawberry yogurt on my left as I wrote in my kick ass journal Andrea gave me before I left for abroad. 

From the moment I stepped on Moroccan soil, I have been having the most unbelievable experiences and the pivotal point is that it has only been week three. So let me start from the VERY beginning.

The ride from Fez airport to Ifrane was the scariest experience of my life: Moroccan driving. Enough said. I will let you figure that one on your own, you'll need the experience. Other than the scary driving, the landscape and the atmosphere was one to keep me from falling asleep after the 24 hour travel time I had until prior. Everywhere I looked was brown, except these green leaf trees that were peculiar being vegetated in this desert-brown environment. As we continued, I could see these "apartment" buildings- which may be too luxurious of a word to describe these buildings- but as I looked closer, there were sure signs of civilization indicated by loads of laundries hung to be dried. It was quite a culturally different thing to see.

Yes, we were driving on the left lane, and No, it is not a one way road.

These buildings looked pretty broken down, but there were laundry hanging in the window

I knew that we were getting close to our final destination when the towns crept up being more and more civilized and inhabited As we drove by this one town called Imouzer, which can be described as a sad looking town was such narrow roads that it would be more appropriate to call them allies than roads, we came to a stop caused by heavy two way traffic. We stopped by this one small alleyway where a dark Moroccan man was drinking water out of a faucet that ran through a cold water spring. I immediately grabbed my camera and took a picture, and when the man saw me do this, he grinned at me the friendliest grin and came over to offer us a sip of his water from his freshly filled water bottle. It was the coldest and freshest water I have had since my departure- I was pretty thirsty at this point. This was the first true sign of how welcoming and generous the Moroccan people were through and wide.

Town of Imouzer

After thanking the man, the car got to moving again and by then, I was too exhausted to try to push myself to stay awake, so I dozed off to sleep. 

The man with the fresh water:)

When I awoke, I woke up to a language that I have never heard before in my life. As I looked out, I saw the friendly gate of Al Akhawayn University and a security guard with a friendly smile asking us to see our passports. Once they checked our IDs, we drove into the driveway of the school and it opened up to this beautiful circle with a giant golden globe placed in the center. Along the sidewalks surrounded this beautiful and freshly cut rosemary bush, where I later made a habit of grazing my hands along its soft leaves so that my hands would smell of rosemary for a good hour or so. The pointed roofs of all the buildings were a unified burgundy color and the shape in itself was so unique to the city of Ifrane because the pointed rooftops were to prevent the snow from piling on top. In cities such as Fez, Asilah and Casablanca it is more common to see flat rooftops. 

Sign at the front gate

The Circle in the front of the campus with the Globe.

We pulled into Building 38, which had the main desk for Housing where we received our cash wallets (student IDs), room keys, and hand book, and finally, finally got into our rooms to rest for the very first night in Morocco.............

....is what I should have said, but I was too excited to call it a day. So this is what really happened. This moment is quite important because I met some of the key characters that were able to make all of my adventures a reality. 

So after we received out welcome home packages, the drive was driving us to our rooms when all of the sudden, two tall guys with sun-darkened skin and surprisingly modern clothes stopped us and introduced themselves as our student ambassadors. A goofy looking kid, who we later call Dweeb- and I his Dweeba- with black rimmed glasses over his wide, gum showing smile, introduced himself as Marouane in a lispy Moroccan accent, and the other introduced himself as Reda. 

Marouane on the left, Reda on the right. 

Reda deserves a whole page for his introduction. As I looked over, he was this tall, conservative looking kid with black rimmed glasses, a little smaller than Marouane's, with a cool gaze and a crooked smile. He ends up being our go-to man for hooking us up with the best Moroccan experiences. Reda has the best connections on and outside the campus because he just has his hands in every aspect of the school, including being president of the interfaith alliance club and exec board of the extreme sports club, along with a few other clubs that I don't really know about yet. He provides the most convenient fun anywhere, at anytime. You'll learn to love him as I continue my story. 

They tell us to drop off our stuff in our rooms and meet them after so that we can go into the marche (the market), which I had mentioned I wanted to do during our introductions. We set out right away and headed for the marche which is a good mile and a half to about two mile walk down the road from the university. As we walked, I noticed a lot of people on the streets and tourists, mostly Moroccans, that were exploring the town with their cameras. I learned that lots of Moroccans from all over the country come to Ifrane for vacation. 

We walked by this big park with a round pond in the center with sidewalks and benches around and along its radius. There were trees everywhere and a path that lead towards the main part of the town. We eventually passed this one bar, the closet bar within a five minute walking distance from the school called Aguelmam, which the students here call Aggies. It was a pleasant surprise to find out that kids at AUI do drink and party, even though it is law in Morocco that alcohol is not to be served to the people since Moroccans are not allowed to drink by law because of their Muslim faith. However, as Marouane told us from the very beginning, that in Morocco, laws were made to be broken. This abides to be true to some extend as my time here progresses. 

I have noticed that Moroccan culture is very gravitated towards religion and the laws implemented are heavily influenced by religion as well. The students, although they do and like the same things most teenagers in the US like, I have noticed that their attitudes and their mannerisms towards the party and college scene is more "in the dark" and behind closed doors than the ever exposed college culture of the US. But quite contrarily, I have come to find that really, anything goes in Morocco. It's quite hard to explain it in plain words so you'll see what I mean as I continue on my story.

At the marche, as I posted earlier, we had our first Moroccan dinner with the tajine kefta, Moroccan salad, and tea with mint leaves (and extra extra sugar) which the boys ordered for us. It was delicious and definitely a culturally welcoming meal. When we got back, it was nearly nine but we continued to hang out afterwards where we got to meet Simo. All of us became good friends quite fast. 

Marche

Advice: Get there at least a few days earlier. I was so lucky to have been here about a week earlier before everyone else moved in because right off the bat, I got to meet some awesome Moroccan kids who I became very close to since they were my first friends here in Morocco. I am so blessed to have met them. 

For the next week or so before Orientation started, I explored the city of Ifrane a little, got to know the campus, and got closer to most of the student ambassadors. Along with Reda, Dweeb, and Simo, I became really close friends with this awesome girl named Boutayna, who reminded me a little of Andrea from home, with long wavy hair that was died half blonde at the bottom (she rockeddd it). She is one of the craziest and coolest girls I know, very down to earth and now I call her one of my best friends here at AUI. 

KJ, Me and Boutayna

Along with Boutayna, I met KJ, who also become very close to Boutayna and I who is from New York. KJ is also a very down to earth girl that just has the biggest smile on her face every time I see her. She knows how to have a good time as well but at the same time brings balance to Boutayna and I, being the most responsible one of the three. KJ and I just got along so well right from the start, and we always joke that we always catch each other during our goofy, clumsy moments, either when I spill tea as I miss my mouth or misphrase the saying " haters gonna hate, ballers gonna ball" to "haters gonna hate, balls gonna roll"..which made sense just the same and later becomes our constant inside joke to every situation imaginable. 

Extended Pirates Group!

Our group slowly grew bigger and bigger as more and more exchange students started to move in. You'll eventually meet the rest of the crew (we named ourselves the Pirates haha) But more on the people later. It's  nearly 4 am and I have to wake up in an hour to work out with the extreme sports club (I'll get to it). GOOD NIGHT!

Classes

CONFESSION I've been having trouble motivating myself to just sit and write this blog for some time now, so I have a lot of making up to do since SOOO much has happened!

First Week of Classes

Classes had started two weeks ago so I'm still getting into the groove of things but so far, from what I can tell, it is not too different from what classes are like at Bentley University. I would say the average class size is about 25 more or less, except my Marketing Consumer Behavior class is HUGE. I'm not sure if that's normal or not but it's not too bad. Most of my professors are non-Moroccan (I couldn't think of a better word... international???) except my Arabic professor, of course, who's absolutely BOSS. I am in beginning Arabic and I am in LOVE with this class. It is so much fun because it is so interactive and writing Arabic is such an art with different sounds with different parts of the character. My Arabic Professor doesn't know how to speak English much, but he does the best he can explaining the Arabic words with short English phrases or with hand gestures. Like I said, it's one of the few classes I wouldn't be falling asleep through.

In general, the professors are very strict with attendance even though we are allowed, I think, 3 unexcused absences. But my Arabic professor, for example, really takes attendance seriously because it's only a 50 minute class three times a week, and we cover a lot in each class.

My schedule is very nice actually. I only have one class Monday, Wednesday, Friday at 3:40pm until 4:30, on Tuesdays I have three classes, and on Thursdays, which is my only tough day, I have four classes but it's split up very nicely with a three hour break in between my second and third class of the day.

ADVICE: try not to take any Friday classes.
If you do, take them earlier rather than later because you'd want to leave for your weekend travels as soon as possible. REMEMBER: The last train from Meknes ends at 6PM. The next train leaves at 1:30AM. 

To Make Phone Calls!!!

I'm writing a short blog on making phone calls from here to the US and vice versa...

Moroc to US

+001 then the telephone number plus the area code!

US to Moroc

+212 then the telephone number

Another good way to make calls is buying credit on your Skype account and you can make phone calls to anywhere in the world! If you have an iPhone then you can use Skype as well with WiFi.

If you don't want to get a separate phone here and you have an iPhone, you can jailbreak your phone either in the States or in Morocco for really cheap and then use a sim card just like you would when you buy a phone here.

As for me, I just purchased a separate phone here for about 200dh and am buying points on my sim card as I need it. I'm thinking about getting my iPhone jail broken but the extra phone seems to be working just fine.

Ask the student ambassadors if you have any questions because they are literally LIFESAVERS.

Good luck!

Amy

Al Akhawayn- Two Brothers

Saturday, August 25, 2012

Welcome to Al Akhawayn Universtiy

Today is day two of the International Student Orientation which had started yesterday and is supposed to go on for four days. Oof. It's quite similar to what you might expect any orientation is like back in the States. We started with the course selections where the school took our preregistered courses and put together the "first draft" of the schedule. We were able to add or drop courses according to what we wanted, and once it was finalized, we were officially registered as students at the University. The whole process was very long since we couldn't just register online, and instead had to fill in a form by hand and bring it in to get it approved every time we wanted changes. Al Akhawayn is such a modernized school compared to most places in Morocco that I forget that the technology is sometimes not as advanced as it is back home.

Al Akhawayn does a very good job with their student ambassador system where students at the University comes a week early to help the international students settle in and help them become familiarized with the school and the area as well. I was very lucky to have become really good friends with the student ambassadors that I met here. They are so willing to help with whatever we need and are happy to show us around the places that we want to travel.

The student ambassadors also organize fun events that the new students can participate in such as a karaoke night, which was very fun, and a couscous lunch at the center of town. They also organized all of the events during orientation such as teaching the international students how to take the grand taxis and cabs from the city of Azrou back to campus.

Major credit and thanks to all the 

Al Akhawayn student ambassadors!!

History of Al Akhawayn University

I guess one of the relatively more interesting things we learned during orientation is the history of the school itself. In 1995, under the rule of the Royal decree of Hassam II, there was a major oil spill in the Atlantic Ocean. So Morocco asked Saudi Arabia for assistance, thus Saudi gave Morocco a huge sum of money to try to clean up the oil spill. However, the oil spill never became a hazard for it was taken care of by natural means. Therefore, Hassam II decided to use the money to build a university, called Al Akhawayn, which means Two Brothers in honor of the Kings of Morocco and Saudi Arabia, King Hassam II and King Fahd respectively. This school puts emphasis on cultural differences and diversity.

The campus is known to be one of the most beautiful in the world and it is known as one of the top schools in Africa. Al Akhawayn has the biggest library in all of Morocco with a large variety of books and sources. Currently, I am sitting outside in front of the library, in a roman theater stage area that is built right next to the mosque. It is absolutely peaceful here and so beautiful.

The most fascinating thing about this University is that almost all the students and faculty are multilingual. Most know french, colloquial Arabic, classical Arabic, and English. It is so apparent to me that most of these students are driven to do well in both their academic lives as well as their social lives as well. They understand the hierarchy in Morocco and what it means to be grouped in the smallest percentage of being in the middle/upper class, in which most of these students are. Most are very well-learned and are driven to learn more and strive to get good grades. By speaking to the students here, I can tell that they are very ambitious.

Every day I feel more and more blessed to be able to study at a University like this one.

First 24 Hours

SOOOO HOTTTTTTT. As soon as I stepped foot outside of the airport it was as if I was stepping into an oven.  

Region

The region of Morocco I am in is located more towards the center of the country and it is mountainous. Unlike New England, there are no oceans around, therefore, the weather tends to get very hot but there isn't much humidity (which I like). The town of Ifrane is located about an hour outside of the major city of Fez and the landscape has a desert feel to it, but it is unique in a way that there is a lot of vegetation. There are rows of this certain type of tree, I have yet to ask what kind they are, that are grown in a very uniform way, as well as pine trees that are along the side of the road.

As we continue towards Ifrane, the houses that are around us appears somewhat run-down,  but there are lines of laundry hanging from them which signals that they are a home. As many would expect, I do see women and men dressed in the traditional robes and the scarves around the women's heads. These scarve-pieces are very beautiful, some with a lot of color in and designs. I met a girl today telling me that when a woman comes of age, they can choose to practice their religion by wearing the scarves around their heads and wear long dresses. I need to do more research on this and what exactly it represents, but so far this is what I have.




Ifrane

As we entered Ifrane, the feel went from desert to more of a European town. It had a lot of green and the buildings looked more clean and well kept. There were more people in modern clothes that I noticed in this town where women did wear shorts and a t-shirt as well as jeans and a nice top. Men dressed a lot like how the men in the states dress, with khaki shorts and a graphic t-shirt, polo, or button downs. The feel to this town is very modernized and I got the sense that people in this area were very used to foreign exchange students coming to their town.


The People

So far, everyone I met here are super friendly and very hospitable. Many seemed to be very open to different cultures and always gave a friendly smile or nod back whenever I made eye contact. As soon as we arrived on campus, we were greeted by our two student ambassadors named Reda and Marouane. They were, to my very surprise, just like any modern teenager living in the States. They like all the same things that we college students like back in the States, and they know all the popular music as well, even the throwbacks! Right from the start we were very comfortable with each other and were joking around just like I do back home. They took us into town where the market, called the marche (this is in French), is where we got out cell phones to use with the sim cards as well as our power converters and foooooood! The food was DELICIOUS. Reda and Marouane ordered the dishes for us and we ended up getting a very famous dish called Tijine Kefta, which is meatballs with eggs and tomatoes, as well as a salad that was topped with mayonnaise and tuna. We also had roasted chicken with rice and french fries! After the main meal, we finished with a sweet tea with mint leaves. The tea was VERY VERY sweet. Reda and Marouane told us that Moroccans love sweet foods therefore they add a lot of sugar to all of their meals. For me, it was a little too sweet, but I enjoyed it nevertheless. Oh and the bread. YUM...!! More on the food later though.

Tajine Kefta (Meatballs, Eggs, and Tomato Sauce)

Salad with Corn, Cheese, Lettus, olives, cucumbers, carrots, potatoes, mayonnaise, and olives.

Sweet tea with Mint Leaves

Night Life

Surprisingly, the night life here isn't that much different than it is from the States. Except for the fact that Moroccan nightlife goes for much longer! Things don't usually start till about midnight and it ends around dawn. In towns such as Azrou, all their shops and restaurants remain open until very very late, or should I say early?, in the morning. There is a bar that is within walking distance from the University called Aguelmam that students here go to on the weekends, or for causal drinks. We had the opportunity to watch the big soccer game between Barcelona and Real Madrid at Aguelmam where we were able to get drinks and food, just like the bars/pubs in the states. It was such a great experience. 

More on this later as well, it only has been about 4 days. ;)

Flying to Africa

It's been a little over 24 hours since I've arrived in Morocco and so many things have happened already that had exceeded way beyond my expectations!

First though, I need to tell you about my experience flying over to Morocco. 

My flight literary went like this: 6:05pm flight from Logan to Madrid, 9:00am flight (EU time) from Madrid to Paris, then 1:00pm flight (EU time) From Paris to Fez, Morocco.

Starting off in the wrong foot:

NEVER BOOK THROUGH ONETRAVEL.COM TRAVEL AGENCY!

In the beginning I ran into some minor problems... well, it would have been major problems actually if it weren't thankfully fixed right away. I got to Logan at around 2:30pm for my 6pm flight and went to check in my bags. When the check-in lady was checking for my ticket, she had told me to hold on one second because she had to check something. She was gone for a good 20minutes, and when she came back, she had told me that my travel agency, onetravel.com, which happened to be fraudulent, had cancelled my flight through their end; I had checked the day of to see if my flight was still booked and online it said it was. Thankfully, she said that this has happened before through their site and therefore, was able to fix my problem rather quickly. 

CHECK WITH BANK BEFORE GIVING OUT ANY CARD INFO!

Just when I thought I had everything under control, I received a phone call from an anonymous New York number saying that my debit card was deactivated and I needed to give them information in order to reactivate it. So I hung up right away to make sure that was correct and, again thankfully, I thought twice to call my bank before I started giving out such confidential information. When I called the bank and told them the situation, they told me that my debit card, according to their records, was fine and ready to be used. They told me that it was a good thing that I checked with them and thanked me for sharing such information. So I gave them that anonymous number so that they could check for any suspicious activity, and they said that that number may very possibly be fraudulent as well. 

...yes. That was how I started the first few minutes of my trip. 

LESSON LEARNED: GET TO THE AIRPORT AT LEAST 3 HOURS AHEAD OF TIME!

People I met traveling:

Gabby

The rest of the trip, fortunately, was smooth sailing from then on. I met a couple of great people that had helped me through the process. On my way from Logan to Madrid, coincidentally I ended up sitting next to a girl from Babson that is studying abroad in Spain as well. We were able to talk about our schools as well as what we were to expect while studying abroad that really got me thinking about what I really want to get out of this whole experience. She was also, very ironically, interested in the type of work that I want to do after I graduate. I am thinking about being a marketing major and with it, work with non-profits to help people that are in need to make a sustainable living for themselves. She and I got to talking about different types of companies out there and she really got in interested about the Grameen banks and what the founder, Muhammad Yunus, represents. I want to work in a field that really helps the small people be able to develop and prosper. It was such a pleasure to meet her. We even had lunch together afterwards in Paris before we went off on our separate flights! 

RIOT. That is the one word that can describe what it was like on the flight before it even took off from Paris to Fez. The flight was delayed over 2 hours because there were many handicapped people taking that flight, so the flight attendants and workers had to help them on one by one which caused such a delay. Because of this, people on the flight were not happy so they started to complain to the flight attendants and soon it grew and became a huge fight among the people on the flight! It was scary at first since I couldn't understand what they were saying! But thankfully, a man that was sitting right next to me named Mikhail explained to me the whole situation and kept talking to me about different things in Morocco to keep my mind off the chaos that was going on in the plane. 

Makhail

Makhail is a Moroccan who's family lives in the city of Meknes. He, however, lives in Paris where he works in a very fancy hotel. (I cant recall the name of the hotel.) He suggested places that I should go and things to eat, and even offered me to have dinner with his family once I get to Fez. I have yet to call him but I'm still debating whether it is safe to do so or not. But once we arrived in Fez, he helped me with my bags and exchanging of the money. I even got to meet his family which consisted of his father, his brother, and his 10 year old niece. They seemed very friendly. My ride which was coming from AUI (the school) was late, so he even helped me look for my driver and when we couldn't find him initially, he let me borrow his brother's phone. He was very helpful and I was so thankful to have met him. I am thinking about giving him a call tomorrow, just to thank him at the very least. 

Morocco .... is unbelievably and truly a beautiful place with such beautiful hearted people. (so far!)

OH! And I got to go into the cockpit of the plane that went from Paris to Fez! 
The pilot thought it was very strange and interesting that I chose to study abroad in Morocco when all the others want to leave the country and study in the states. So he invited me into the cockpit to meet his co-pilot and we talked about the cultural differences between Morocco and US (which I will get to in later posts), as well as about flying a plane. haha It was such an amazing experience.