Fez Home Stays

We are all now staying with Host Families in Fez. For the most part, they have been going well. We do have internet at the school that we are studying Arabic at. The school is called INLAC. We had our first lesson this morning and we now know how to greet people in Arabic and ask a few general questions. This afternoon, we will be touring Fez! Should be fun to finally see this huge city!

Roman ruins

C'est Heather!
This morning we had a great breakfast at the hotel and then headed out on a little adventure to a museum filled with Roman artifacts! They were a preview of what we were going to see later today! We left Rabat after running around trying to get stamps and exchange our money for smaller dirhams! We headed for Meknes, but on the way we stopped at Volubilis (spelling might be wrong) but it is the sight of the Roman Ruins just North of Meknes! We had an archaeologist who was our guide and he took us around the site pointing things out and telling us stories and information about what we were seeing! The site was in a fascinating location in the foothills of the Middle Atlas Mountain range! Even though it rained on us, we all had a great time exploring the ruins and seeing the storks! Yes they have stork nests! Don't worry, a lot of us got pictures! :) Anyways, we were in the ruins for about an hour and then it started to pour as we were leaving! We all ran to the bus and took off for the holy city, Moulay Idriss, which was located not too far from the ruins! (We could actually see the city from the ruins!) Moulay Idriss was the first Saltan of the first major dynasty in Morocco! He was responsible for a large part of the spread of Islam in Morocco! He was a very wise man and was an imam! An imam is a elderly or learned man or woman who leads prayers in the mosque, but has no more religious authority than any other Muslim! In the Hassan II Mosque we saw in Casablanca, the imam has a special elevated chair that they sit in to lead the prayers! After we got to this city, we climbed a ton of stairs to get to a view that Omar, our guide, said we couldn't miss! He took us to a place where we could see a panorama of the city! It was absolutely beautiful! We got to take pictures and then went and found a great place to eat Kefta. Kefta is a Moroccan hamburger that cannot be compared to the American hamburger! The bread is great that they serve it in and the meat is just delicious! We then took the bus to Meknes where we are now! We have a really nice hotel with a pool and a balcony overlooking the pool! C'est bon!(It's good!) A group of us went swimming tonight for a little while and had a great time! Then we had a delicious spaghetti supper and are now having a bit of free time before bed! Tomorrow we will be heading to Fes! Homestays begin Sunday night! Should be interesting!
Note: Internet is not super reliable here in Morocco, so if you don't always hear from someone, don't panic! We may not have access or internet that works well! Being that we are doing homestays this week, it will probably be very hard for us to have internet access this week! Don't fret though, cyber cafes will be accessible at some point and I'm sure most students, like myself will make an effort to update our lovely friends and family in the States!
We love you all and are having a great time! :)

Thursday, May 26: Rabat

This is Claire writing...

It was another busy day in Morocco for us!  We started with a very rare opportunity: we got to meet the United States Ambassador to Morocco, Sam Kaplan.  As a University of Minnesota alumnus, he was generous enough to give us at least a twenty minute audience while he explained a bit of the political and diplomatic situation here in Morocco.  We also heard from a political officer about Moroccan history and politics, as well as about careers in the foreign service.  We weren't allowed to bring our cameras into the embassy, but don't worry, we got an official picture with the ambassador!
Next, our AMAZING guide Omar brought us to the mausoleum of three Moroccan nobles: Hassan II (the previous king), his brother, and the national hero: Mohammed V.  It was gorgeous beyond words.  Full dress guards sat on Appaloosas outside the complex, and the inside was very ornate in the symmetrical style that is so popular here.  The domed ceiling was breathtaking, made of cedar painted in egg yolk and saffron, and gold.
After the tomb, we went again to the medina (old city) for lunch.  We ate in a restaurant that Omar knew well, and we got HUGE, delicious servings of couscous for a few dollars.  The couscous here is handmade and so wonderfully light.
We went from the medina to the Casbah (fort) Oudiah, which was beautifully painted in white and blue (symbolizing purity and water).  We enjoyed mint tea and little cakes next to a lush garden for a break.
After class today, we had the opportunity to hear from a Morris student (Sarah Ranney) who is just finishing a year of study here in Rabat, before we meet our host families...ON SUNDAY!  We are all very excited - and a tad nervous - about this week-long stay.  It will be amazing to be immersed in family life in the medina of this historic city.
We're off to Meknes tomorrow - can't wait to let you all know how wonderful that is!

Note to my family and Mike: love you all, and sorry I can't be in touch more!  I will try to get you guys whenever possible ;)

C'est (this is) Melinda!

Today we went to the Hassan II mosque in Casablanca, traveled to Rabat, and had many adventures there. The mosque was BEAUTIFUL, with a wood roof that opened up, a connected bathhouse, and beautiful beautiful hand carved designs everywhere.

Some (6) of our group, myself included got stuck in an elevator, what an adventure! After that, we all went to dinner (delicious again) and traveled to the medina (a market area) for some shopping. Two got separated from the group, but they made it back to the hotel, safe and sound.

Now it is free time for all of us, a demain (see you tomorrow)

-M

Nous Voila! (Here we are!)

Our plane didn't leave NY on time, we ended up sitting on the plane for 3 hours waiting to depart! Our flight took about 7 hours and we arrived in Casablanca at 9:30am local time here in Morocco! Food on the plane was GREAT! Our tour guide, Omar, met us at the airport! He is the same tour guide that Sarah (our fearless leader) had on her first trip to Morocco! :) Checked into the Hotel Suisse and had lunch here which was absolutely fantastic...it came in three courses: a salad of fresh veggies, eggs, cheeses and olives; second course was chicken and meat skewers/kabobs with cooked veggies, shrimp and rice; the last course was the BEST, it was fresh fruit bowl composed of apples, kiwi, banana and oranges! We are being careful not to eat any produce that hasn't been peeled or boiled! After lunch we went on a tour of Casablanca! We drove along the coast and stopped at a Saint's, or marabout's tomb, located within a mosque! This is a sacred place along the beach that tourists rarely stop at because they don't know about it! We purchased candles that women blessed us with and sang to us in a blessing! The candles were taken and will be lit and placed near the tomb of the Saint! We cannot enter because we are not Muslim. Women go there to drink from the sea and be blessed in order to conceive a child. These women receive what is known as baraka, which is a form of a holy blessing.  Afterwards, our tour took us to the governmental center of Casablanca! It was very beautiful! We're about to have our first session of class/lecture! Then we'll be eating supper! We have an opportunity to go to the beach and go swimming if we would like tonight as well!
Just a reminder that we are 6 hours ahead of MN or the central time zone! :)