Day 7: Casa and Kids!

After spending the early morning packing and preparing for travel, we gathered in the training center library at 10:00am for our big moment: an interview with the reporter from L'Economiste, the Moroccan Economist newspaper. We bravely plunged into the interview sans Rita, with Rachel translating Arabic and Marisa translating French. The reporter would sometimes start a question in French and, randomly and without warning, would slide into Arabic while still looking at Marisa as though she should be able to understand him. Never a dull moment! We look forward to getting a copy of the article...and being FAMOUS.

Our bus was unexpectedly delayed, so we had time to walk up the street and have a lovely, relaxed lunch. We found a little restaurant and after almost accidentally ordering six whole chickens, were treated to a very tasty lunch for about $3. Can't beat that! After lunch we loaded our luggage onto the bus and headed out for the roughly two hour trip to downtown Rabat.

Traipsing through the alleys of Rabat.

Cute kids near the restaurant.

Afi and Mark making friends.

Marisa, Veronika, Asumi, the restaurant owner, small child, Julia, Meaghan, and Afi at lunch!

Upon arrival in Rabat, we headed up the six flights of stairs that took us to the headquarters of Sister Cities Africa, which happened to be one of Rita's former employers. They were wonderfully welcoming and started by giving us a tour of their office. Then we settled in to listen to a short presentation about the organization and their work. When we visited, they were in the throes of the final planning of the first regional conference for Sister Cities Africa, which would occur the next day. Rita, Afi and Brian attended on Friday morning, and Afi will go into that a little bit more during her guest blog post.

Mr. Mazoz talking about the organization.

Sister Cities Africa is supported by a grant from the Gates Foundation (one of 24 cities that got the money to implement projects in health, sanitation, and water), as well as a MEPI grant from the State Department. They encourage people-to-people diplomacy that aims to create and strengthen North-South and South-South partnerships, featuring social mediation programs implemented in hopes of decreasing violence and confrontation.

The Morocco office has initiated a program to train 90 respected members of fifteen poor neighborhoods, giving them the skills necessary to provide mediation within families, schools, and greater society. They have also worked to equip a neighborhood hospital in one of the poorest neighborhoods in Casablanca (famous for suicide bombers in 2003 and 2007) with the supplies necessary to provide adequate health care for local community members. They also hope to promote cultural exchange by providing locals the opportunity to travel to Casablanca's sister city (Chicago) and have some residents from Chicago come here. They create cultural centers in poor/under-served areas including libraries, computer labs, art space, theaters, sewing workshops, sports fields, etc. They also provide blog/journalism training for kids living in poor areas, encourage youth to take care of environment and community, and organize cultural, educational and social activities Educational support activities attempt to reduce drop out and academic failure, and support to improve quality of life for children in some of the neediest communities in Casablanca.

Learning a lot about Sister Cities programming.

The goal of Sister Cities International is really to put a face on foreign countries and encourage dialogue and collaboration. As Mr. Mazoz, the director, noted, at times it seems that many countries have to have a disaster to be known to the American people. Most people know nothing about Casablanca, Morocco outside of the movie. Then, the suicide bombers put it back on the map. Sister Cities reminds us that we have to talk about the good as well as the bad and present all sides. Nothing replaces real human interaction.

Brian modelling the brochure.

At the end of the meeting we watched a short video about an organization called IDMAJ, which means "integration". This organization works with Sister Cities to help run programs in a community center, with the goal of integrating people from different neighborhoods in Casablanca. While watching, two quotes really spoke to me: "We don't tell them what to do, we show them what to do," and "We want them to dream, but at the same time we want to give them the hope and opportunity to make that dream come true." Luckily, after the meeting, we were able to go out to the center to see this philosophy in action.

So lovely and welcoming!

We pulled up to the center just after dark, driving through slums and city streets to get there. We were led around by one of the Sister Cities staff members and were greeted by children at every turn. We started with a tour, visiting the sports facilities, music rooms, art studios, and classrooms. Our tour ended in the "cafeterium" or cafeteria with a stage. The audience was full of students, some of whom performed for us: drumming, singing, rapping, and dancing. The evening even featured Mark, Afi and Sophia jumping up on stage for a hilarious rendition of Justin Bieber's "Baby"....only to be drowned out by the tweens in the audience. It was amazing. Afterwards we had a question and answer session in which we got to hear about the students’ hopes and dreams, sometimes in Arabic, sometimes in flawless English. The students learn English in the center, along with art, music, technology, and sports. They were universally positive about their teachers (who were quite obviously doing an incredible job) and spoke very highly of the center. When asked why they liked it, they said it gave them a place to go, learn, and have fun instead of being on the streets. It was wonderful to get to spend some time with kids instead of adults and see just how much of an impact this non-formal education setting has made on the lives of countless students in Casablanca.

The community center.

Such a good motto.

Drum group.

Rachel introducing us.

Students and their English teachers (in the brown hijab).

Singing in French.

This shy girl had a lovely voice (and killer English).

Singing in Arabic.

These four rocked the J.Biebs.

And so did these three...

Awesome rapping skills.

And some break dancing.

ADORABLE.

Not to toot our own horn or anything...but we take a damn good group picture.

He wants to grow up to be an English teacher. In shaa'Allah one day he will!

Just one of the boys.

Hanging out with kids before we head out.

Air.

One of the girls from the center made this amazing cake with her mom. OH MAN it was so good. 

After a wonderful time at the center (and lots photos!) we boarded the bus again and were whisked off to the MTA Tennis Academy, our absolutely stunning home outside Casablanca. We also made a quick stop at the Hasan II Mosque ( the largest mosque in the world after Mecca) on the way.  Wonderful dinner filled our bellies and everyone fell asleep in our warm rooms (after hot showers) with dreams of gyms and heated swimming pools dancing in our heads.

Night at the Hasan II Mosque.

DUH-LICIOUS.

Gym

Heated swimming pool

Sameera and Brian looking cute in front of a mosaic.

Hands down, without doubt, the best picture of the king I saw in Morocco.

Day 4: Seeing the Sights of Rabat!

Sunday was another great day of sightseeing in Rabat. We started the morning at a leisurely pace, eating breakfast and sunning until Rita called with directions. Then we headed out for a long walk that led us past some of the consulates from around the world and the UN building. They were all beautiful buildings behind lovely walls that were often covered in flowers. The sun was shining, it was cool, and though the walk was long no one was complaining. Soon enough we heard beeping and turned around to find Rita and Amine pulling up in their car.

The Moroccan flag waving as we headed out of the training complex on our adventure.

Looking down the road outside of the training center where we are staying.

Everyone was much more excited for Pizza Hut in Arabic than for the UN Building.

Amine offered to take a few of us in the car with him while the rest completed the walk, and Jane, Sophia, Kana and I took him up on it. We got to the restaurant early, made our reservations, and spent some time walking around observing and talking before everyone else arrived. Once they got there we made our way back to the restaurant where we had a delicious late lunch (I had white olive and lemon chicken that had been slow cooked in a tajine and fantastically spiced vegetables. I ate an olive for the first time...do not love.). Once lunch was finished we walked up and hopped on the tram that took us down to the waterfront. We started at one of the more famous historical sites in Rabat, the Mausoleum of Mohammed V, where the current king's father and grandfather are buried. There is the remains of an old mosque (Hassan Tower) nearby and everything was so beautiful as it caught the slowly dying light of approaching evening. The stones warmed up to a beautiful orange color...I loved it. The mausoleum itself actually reminded me a lot of the Taj Mahal inside, with intricately carved marble and a beautiful dome ceiling. It was great. There was a bit of a commotion at the beginning with guards closing off an entrance and Amine suspected that the king was coming, but sadly we did not see him. After taking some hilarious photos of team members on columns, we were off to our next destination: PIRATE TOWN.

Catching up on the news in Arabic.

Mmmm, lunch! This picture is making me so hungry right now.

Mike, Kana and Sameera on the tram.

Hassan Tower, as viewed through the walls of the old mosque.

Stunning carvings in the stone.

Told you he was in a boy band. (Mark)

Jane getting centered.

Although it sounds like an awesome mini-golf course, Pirate Town is actually home to some of the most expensive homes in Rabat. On a small hilly peninsula overlooking the harbor, it was home to...you guessed it...pirates in the old days. We walked and walked through the town and eventually stopped at a lovely little restaurant overlooking the water where we indulged in the best mint tea I've had since arriving (with huge, full mint leaves on top) and tasty Moroccan pastries. As we left to walk through the town some more, the headache I had been nursing all day worsened greatly, and I started to feel really sick. While the rest of the group bought postcards, I sat down, popped some pain medication and chugged water. I think a big part of it was dehydration. When it is so cool you don't think about constantly rehydrating like you would if you were sweating, but Morocco is fairly dry during the day and we had been doing a LOT of walking around.

That is Pirate Town.

My favorite mode of transportation!

Afi, Jane, Sophia, Rachel, Kana, Asumi, Veronika and Marisa

Cheers! Best mint tea we have had yet...and I am fast becoming an expert in Moroccan mint tea.

Moonrise over Pirate Town

Rita and I ended up taking a cab back to the car while the rest of the team walked the ends of the earth through the souk (market) and over the river to Sale (sahLAY). Just after Rita and I picked up the car and returned to the hotel we got a call that the group was going to eat at the waterfront in Sale and since I was feeling better by that point we headed out. When we arrived at the pretty little waterfront with boats bobbing along, we found a place to eat (based on outdoor heaters that turned out were not functioning...) and had a very tasty dinner. By that point everyone was EXHAUSTED, so we headed home soon after (some in Rita's car, some by tram and taxi) and called it a night.

I can't believe we leave in less than a week! Time has been flying by and it has all been so incredibly interesting. I think I can speak for the whole team when I say that we are having a wonderful time and learning an incredible amount about this beautiful country. So happy to have the opportunity to do so!

Day 3: Sightseeing and Internet Woes

Hi everyone! Just to let you all know, we are having some super annoying internet issues here, which is why our blogs are coming all at once out of no where! Hopefully we can get it a little more under control and be able to update more in depth soon.

Yesterday we spend the day doing some sightseeing, and relaxing. After sleeping and having a delicious brunch, we met up with Rita and went out walking. The weather was GORGEOUS, cool with warm sun, so it was a pleasure. After walking for a while we stopped in at a little cafe and had lovely fruit juices, coffee, and incredible pastries. So delicious.

Sameera looking like a model.

Afi, Asumi and Veronika.

Meaghan, Marisa, and Mark in Morocco. (Children`s book pending)

After we finished we hopped in some taxis and headed down to the Chellah, a beautiful old castle just outside the old city in Rabat. It was gorgeous, ancient, and full of storks.

Group pic in front of the castle.

Posing with our new Moroccan friends.

Jumping for joy to be in Morocco!

A tamer group shot. That tree really wanted to be in it.

Moonrise with storks and castle ruins.

After the castle we met up with Rachel and headed into the old city where we got "Chwarma" for dinner, along with babaganouge, hummus, and other deliciousness. Then we came back home, were the internet wasn't working at all, which encouraged us to have fun with each other instead. It was like olden days (pre 1996). We played games late into the night and just generally had a raucous good time.

Now we are off to explore some more, so have a lovely day and we'll be back soon!

B'ssalama!