It’s hard to believe it’s over. Our final week in Morocco was spent on an adventure from the trails of the High Atlas, along the Route of 1,000 Kasbahs, to the dunes of Erg Chebbi, through gorgeous Todra Gorge, over the Moroccan Alps at Ifrane, into the ancient medina of Fez and eventually to bustling Casablanca. This week of Student Directed Travel encapsulated much of the semester. We made new… Read More

We’re almost to the end! While we were in Marrakesh for a second time, some of us went back to the nice restaurant on the edge of the medina. Happy birthday to Tess, who turned 19 on the 22nd. Most unfortunately, a convenience store was discovered right by our hotel, so we had no choice but to get lots and lots of junk food. Omid went home a bit early,… Read More

While in Ait Ourir we were able to briefly observe a national level bocce competition (known as pétanque in French.) It’s popular and Morocco is a regular contender in international circles, winning silver at the 2018 world championships, and placing in the top ranks numerous times over 50 years in both men’s and women’s competition Our group didn’t compete, though we did try a few tosses and were surprisingly good… Read More

Howdy Folks, It’s Yung Perz on this beat (Omid). We’ve made some serious political gains out here in the streets of Ait Ourir. From shaking hands with the pacha (senator) and discussing the issues with our president’s economic/foreign policy to meeting with the Vice President of the city council and discussing Moroccan public health issues, it’s fair to say we are striving to prosper in Morocco. All jokes aside: We… Read More

Situated in a unique location, Air Ourir is only a 45 minute drive from Marrakech, the bustling shopping capital of Morocco, but drive 10 minutes from the city center and you’ll find yourself in the countryside, the landscape dotted with farms. On Monday, we had the opportunity to visit several of these farms. We saw an olive plantation, a mint farm, and a potato farm. However, the farm we spent… Read More

Written By Beverly Oujda was fairly quiet in comparison to Rabat. Our contact Abdo was incredible. He introduced us to many organizations; some were local, others were organizations found in every major Moroccan city. It was so interesting to learn about the statuses, issues, and statistics regarding refugees and immigrants in Morocco from these organizations who took the time to sit with us and explain their missions. On November 1st,… Read More

Written By Meagan salam from Rabat! We’ve been settling into life in Morocco with our host families and learning Darija, the local Arabic dialect. The entire group has fallen in love with our amazing teacher Khalid, who has displayed an impressive level of patience as well as skill and talent as a teacher. He is funny and kind and a fantastic human being. We’ve managed to learn bits and pieces… Read More

After trekking through the treacherous olive fields and weathering the daunting paved and unpaved roads of the Camino, we arrived in Cordoba. The light at the end of our tunnel, our flower in a dried up flower bed, our Harry to our very lonely Sally. We had found our salvation. We were saved. Dramatic sighs of relief exchanged and many cups of Joe drank, we pressed on, running blindly through… Read More

Picture this: Granada, Spain, September 2019. We walked the long, arduous path up to the historic Alhambra Castle. Shan shrieked with excitement; he was overjoyed, for this was his childhood dream. The architecture was miles beyond our comprehension, but we admired the intricacy of design as our guide explained the cultural and power shifts that lead to such a diverse range of décor. We walked across the grounds listening to… Read More

We arrived in Malaga on the 12th and spent the first few days doing orientation. After wrapping up orientation today we’ve had a chance to explore the city a little bit on our own and will have even more freedom to do that in the coming week. Tomorrow we leave our airbnb bright and early and will start Spanish classes at the language school and will spend the night with… Read More

Dear Salaam Students, In a few short days we will gather at JFK airport to embark on our three-month journey of adventure, discovery and personal growth. We’ll start in Spain, learning Spanish and exploring the rich texture and fascinating history of Andalusia before crossing the Mediterranean Sea to North Africa. The bulk of our semester will be spent in Morocco, where we’ll explore ancient medinas, learn about traditional and modern… Read More

Written By Eliana 3 months, 30 cities, 300 inside jokes and 3,000 laughs later we finally have come to the end of our Carpe Semester. These three months have gone by so fast I feel like I didn’t have a chance to fully express my gratitude to all of the places we have been and to all of you. I thought I would use this blog to give my final… Read More

Written By Sheldon & Kate Salaam aleikoum! Y hola, guapos, While you’re out there somewhere flying over the Atlantic in an aluminum tube, we’re back in Malaga at Antonio Banderas’s sipping beverages and gazing at the alpenglow on the Alcazaba. Okay, not quite at Antonio’s, but a couple of buildings over, and we’re gazing at computer screens writing blog posts and presentation evals, but still, I think you’d agree, it’s… Read More

Written By Kayla Hey everyone! It’s Kayla coming at you! I get to tell ya´ll all about our few short, exciting days in Granada! To start, real quick I wanted to mention our Secret Easter Bunny exchange. We planned a little bit before Easter a secret santa type game where we all drew names and had to make that person an Easter basket and write a nice note to them.… Read More

Written By Brandis Hola Amigos! Brandis here. Last time you heard from us it was during our big week of Student Directed Travel. This week we got to spend our time in the beautiful coastal city of Málaga, Spain, where we lived in homestays, had Spanish lessons, and participated in various cultural activities during the week-long celebration of Semana Santa. We started off this week meeting our host families and… Read More

Written By Clemente 38 hours of travel and 5 travel days later, the Salaam carpe diem group has completed our week long SDT (Student Directed Travel). Our week started off with a trip to the Sahara, led and organized by our fearless captain Geoff. After a 13 hour bus ride to the Sahara, we arrived to the hostel where it was so late that we were thrown into cars to… Read More

Written By Tori Our group gazed eagerly at the ocean as we arrived to the city of Essauoria. We loved the mountains, but it was nice to smell the crisp air of the beach and know we could rest these next couple days. Almost immediately after we settled into our hostel, the group discussed dinner options. Sheldon often suggests the best restaurants; it is considered to be his super power.… Read More

Written By Vanesia Salaam! Welcome back to our blog, we have Vanesia on the mic today representing the Salaam group. We started off our week relaxing at Chez Yahia in Aghbalou and watching American movies. We then headed out to Amizmiz where we started our three-day trekking experience, and if I could explain what the week looked like in alphabetical order this is how I would put it: A –… Read More

Written By Gina Picture this ten Americans arrive in small Moroccan village: As they settle in Geoff, Eliana, Clemente, and Brandis begin a game of gin. Kayla becomes best friends with the little kids. Vanesia finds a way to get more apricot jam at tea time. Tori takes in mountain views while savoring a Coke Zero. Kate becomes friends with local women and begins baking bread and Sheldon as always… Read More

Happy Birthday Kayla!   [ezcol_1half][/ezcol_1half][ezcol_1half_end][/ezcol_1half_end]  … Read More