Week #2 The Learning Continues

Monday March 26, 2012  We had round table discussions with all four of Mrs. Massaq's classes.  One thing that I find that I really like about the Moroccan students is that they are not afraid to talk about religion or politics.  We have seen multiple examples of the tolerance and flexibility of the Moroccan culture, and the hospitality has been second to none. More students expressed the same concerns that all Muslims were being judged by the actions of just a few.  I will be having that conversation with my students when I return home.  I am also hoping to help find host families for a pair of YES scholarship http://www.yesprograms.org/ winners for the 2012-2013 school year. In my humble opinion, nothing helps to tear down stereotypes and build positive relationships than direct person to person interaction.

In the evening, we went on a drive in the mountains with Mr. and Mrs. Massaq.  This provided us on a different perspective as we were able to gaze out over Benimellal and see the whole area.  The mountain roads were very similar to some of the winding roads that can be found in the mountains of Wyoming and Colorado.  During our drive, we encountered many people walking, and riding mules.  I kept thinking about how their life must be very different than my own, and in many ways, more difficult.

54 km from Benimellal

 On our quest we were hoping to see that goats that climb into trees.  This is as close as we got:

Mrs. Massaq showed us the almonds in the almond trees and how to pick them.

Harvesting almonds

Almonds in the trees

Large trucks on narrow roads

Midway through our drive we saw a large lake, Bin el-oudine.  We have been told about the drought that Morocco is experiencing this year, and I am guessing that people that live near the lake may not suffer as much from the drought.

The lake

Little boat...big lake

If you look at a big map of Morocco, the lake is just a bit south of Benimellal.

Motto: God, King, and Country

Small rural schoolhouse

Tuesday March 27, 2012

We had round table discussions with the private school students in the morning and presentations.  The classes with seniors were obviously working hard preparing for the upcoming baccalaureate exams in June.  We were treated to a wide array of presentations on the culture of morocco, music, marriage customs, Jews and Christians in Morocco just to name a few.  The students seemed so well prepared and so confident.  I think I would have been very nervous making those kinds of presentations in a language other than my primary language.

Wednesday March 28, 2012

We were treated to more presentations and got another healthy dose of politics and religion.  There was even a really good discussion on equality and women's rights in one class.  We learned that women are way tougher than men, and that if men had to give birth, they would hate their sons.  After lunch I got to try my hand at sports photography.  The 10th graders were challenging the 11th graders in a soccer match.  Our fearless leader Kristin Laboe was allowed to join them.  Ms. Laboe even scored two goals during the match.

I enjoyed taking the pictures and must have gone through three rolls of film with my black and white camera.

Mrs. Rosa and I went back to class with Mrs. Massaq while Kristin finished up her soccer match with the private school all stars.  We sat in on two really good presentations on pollution and on global warming.  Again I was really impressed with the English proficiency of Mrs. Massaq's students.

We were all a little sad to be leaving Benimellal.  Mr. and Mrs. Massaq treated us to a lovely going away dinner on our final evening in the city.

amazing!             ya salam             يا سلام