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, we visited the border of Algeria and ended up go-karting. It was so fun and none of us were expecting something like that to just be there at the border, but there it was in all its glory. We suited up and looked like washed-up Ghostbusters when we didn’t have the helmets on.
We left for Marrakesh at dawn and arrived at night (13 hour train ride). Marrakesh was nice and chaotic. Our hotel was near the main square and medina, and we spent most of our time walking around. We toured a tannery, which had many intense and unexpected smells. Some of us visited Shan’s incredibly kind friend Youssef, who sat us down for tea in his little shop, and then we said farewell and went out for dinner. The following morning, we loaded our bags into a van and headed to the tiny village of Asflala.
Asflala was fantastic. The air was fresh, and the weather was great. Our hosts were warm and gracious and gave us so much bread and tea every day. We went hiking up and around the mountains almost every day we were there. The view from the mountaintops were incredible. We went to a traditional wedding for a few hours (we didn’t stay for the whole thing, as weddings there last till 7 in the morning) and visited a womens’ co-op that made products from wool and recycled materials like plastic bags. We also played games and soccer with the local kids, which was really fun. We went out and observed the sheep being herded on multiple occasions. Get this: the sheep had long tails! We were surprised every time we looked at them, as if the tails were just some sort of optical illusion, but the tails were still there every time we looked. We left on the morning of the 9th after a night of cous-cous and singing.
Till next blog,
Beverly
