Travel Diary from Morocco

WASHINGTON D.C. GLOBAL SYMPOSIUM

     Prior to the International Field Experience in Morocco in March 2023, I was able to attend the Global Symposium in Washington D.C. with the other Fulbright Teachers for Global Classrooms and my school's vice principal. This was a phenomenal few days of learning, sharing, networking, and building relationships. This was particularly important to make sure our administrators knew the work and effort involved in the program, and to encourage them to consider evaluating the global competency of our schools, teachers, and students.

 March 7, 2023

    The next day, we started with some amazing presenters who told us about Morocco's complex history and systems of education in Morocco. We also had a security briefing to remind us of some basic precautions to take when traveling to another country. We met some of the host teachers who had lunch with us, then we were all off to our host cities. 

     I boarded a train to Rabat with a few other Fulbrighters and a couple staff members from MACECE (Ikram and Meryem) as they were heading that way too.  We were grateful for their company and knowledge to make sure we ended up in the right location!

March 7, 2023 (Continued)

     My host teacher, Loubna, greeted us at the train station in Rabat, got us settled into our hotel (very near the train station) then took us to music practice where Andalusian Chorus singers were rehearsing. While I couldn't understand the words, music is a universal language and I was thoroughly enraptured. I also started to understand that mint tea and cookies would be served almost everywhere we went. Perhaps this should be adopted in the United States!😀 Loubna helped us find a location to exchange money, where luckily the exchange rate is fairly simple to convert as $1 U.S. dollar is approximately 10 Moroccan Dirhams. We also had dinner with Loubna's family at their home and were able to see some of the preparation that goes into making tagine. What a welcoming introduction to Rabat, and what beautiful evening!

March 8-10, 2023

     The next couple of days would be spent at Loubna's school where she worked during the day, the American Language Center where she worked several evenings, and several other public and private schools to observe educational practices at numerous educational institutions. While I was clearly a visitor to the schools with my light skin, hair, and eyes, and taller than average height, the students all made me feel welcome and responded to my teaching and questions with such respect and politeness. I was surprised that the older students all wanted to take a selfie with me, and even the ones without cell phones would borrow other people's devices or have me take a selfie of us with my own device. 

     Loubna also took us to many historic sights in Rabat, like the Hassan Tower and the Kasbah, helped us haggle and get the best prices at the medina (where I bought my students a hand carved chess/checkers set and some silver Amazigh tazrzit earrings), brought us to outstanding restaurants, took us to culturally relevant and community building events (like the community Hammam discussed in the reflection of my guiding questions), and patiently answered our many questions about culture, education, and the amazing people of Morocco.

March 11, 2023

On this day, Jennifer, Salimatou, and I took an early morning train from Rabat to meet up with Alicia and her host teacher in Fes, Morocco. Without the help of a local guide who was friends with Alicia's host teacher, we would have been entirely turned around and lost in the medina! They took us for a quick breakfast, then we walked around looking at spices, metals, pottery, clothing, shoes, trinkets, soaps, oils, herbs, tea, glassware, leather products, food, etc. We stopped by the tannery and were given sprigs of mint to use as a "Moroccan gas mask" since there was an overpowering smell of wet animal hides. Goat skins were drying out in the sun and as we looked down from an overlook, giant vats of various colors were attended to by the workers...some in wading boots and some not with different size animal hides being submersed or hanging. It was a fascinating experience.

After we were shopped out, we had a deliciious lunch in a beautiful riad complete with tea and cookies overlooking Fes from a high terrace.  

March 12-16, 2023

   When the rest of the cohort joined us in Rabat, it seemed impossible that a week had gone by so quickly. Luckily, I would see Loubna again later in the week when we scheduled to go shopping with her again and had a networking opportunity at the MACECE building.

     A whirlwind of more educational and cultural institutions and experiences began that second week. This was an amazing opportunity to get perspectives from all of the American teachers experiencing things together and hearing about how things were done in their host cities. I valued this collaboration and sharing so much! Together, we were able to visit the Rabat American School, Mohamed VI Institute for Quranic Readings and Studies, the Royal Institute of Amazigh Culture (IRCAM), Colegio Español, and an organization for the education of girls in Morocco. We also visited Ecole Normale Supérieure (ENS) – Mohamed V University, where we heard from amazing students training to become teachers in Morocco, and Shannon and I were able to present information and strategies to them. We also had well-prepared and knowledgable presenters and participated in a Moroccan cooking class (where Alicia and I made our own vegetarian tagine). We heard local musicians, had great discussions, and I honestly cannot say enough about the incredible MACECE staff who organized transportation and the excellent food throughout our time together in Rabat!

March 17-19, 2023

     For the last couple of days in Morocco, we travelled back to Casablanca and were able to explore, and hear from more incredible and knowledgable presenters about culture, history and education and participate in a networking event with Moroccans around the Casablanca area. 

     We visited and had a tour of the Hassan II Mosque (which is the largest functioning Mosque in Africa). The intricate designs and architecture took your breath away! What an amazing combination of art, science, tradition, and religion.

     We also participated in an outstanding pottery class which was given in French and translated by Meryem and Shannon. Unfortunately we couldn't take our final clay products with us as they needed to dry and be fired in a kiln, which we didn't have time for. 

     We also ate more delicious Moroccan food and went on an historical tour of habous and city center Casablanca.

     I thought that two weeks would be ample time to learn and experience another country, but it is quite clear that we still have so much to learn and explore. I am so grateful for this experience to share with my students and the staff at my school, and I feel like I have a much better understanding of another location, culture, and education system, but it is clear that deep understanding of Morocco and its history and complexity cannot be achieved in such sort a time frame. I hope that I get the chance to return someday to continue understanding this special country, and I hope that I'll be able to visit my host teacher and the incredible people who make the country so special. I look forward to continuing the connection with my current and future students!