morocco.

My World Economy class took a field trip to Morocco for 5 days to study the economics of a rapidly developing country. Immediately I noticed the juxtaposition of old and new within the city – the airport we landed at in Tangier was brand new and gorgeous, but the cars in the parking lot were pretty beaten up.

We started our adventure in Tangier, which is in the northern part of Morocco. Morocco is only 14 km (or roughly 10 miles) away from Spain, so many Moroccans migrate up to Tangier and wait around for the perfect opportunity to sneak into Spain.

Our first stop was a women’s center in Tangier called Darna. Even though Morocco is a fairly liberal Muslim country, women still have a difficult time living without the support of her family or a husband. Darna offers classes on computers, sewing, and French so women can enter the workforce. We ate lunch at Darna and met a few English-speaking Moroccan students who hung out with us for a few days. They were all really great and open to our questions about their culture and habits.

The view of Tangier from the roof of Darna

The view from the casbah in Tangier

Lauren, Jess, and I with Paul, our program director/professor at the casbah

Lauren, me, and Jess at the lighthouse to watch the sunset

After spending Wednesday night at a hotel in Tangier, we headed to our next location, Rabat – the capital of Morocco. On our way there, we made a few sightseeing stops. First up – the camels. We’re driving along, and all of a sudden our driver pulls of onto the side of the road. We look out the window and see an enormous stretch of beach and, a few Moroccan guys, and some camels. Yep – we took turns and rode camels along the beach. Sidenote – camels smell AWFUL and getting on/off is incredibly scary.

Camel riding!

My World Economy class pet

After the camels, we got back on the road and drove to Asilah. Asilah is a quiet, quaint little beach town that is a major tourist destination. We only spent a little bit of time there, but the view was gorgeous and the pastries were delicious.

The view while walking through the town of Asilah

The ocean view of Asilah

The town of Asilah

After Asilah, we headed to Rabat. In Rabat, we stayed with a Moroccan host family. We were in groups of three, and each family had at least one English speaker. Our family was fantastic, and Fatima, our 17-year old host sister, spoke perfect English. They were so nice and welcoming, and the food was amazing.

Fatima, me, Lauren and Jess chatting after dinner

Where we slept. Most Moroccan families have a room like this where guests stay

The main room of our house

On Friday afternoon, we visited a local Moroccan school in a bad part of Rabat. The school served the slum neighborhoods, which are full of poor immigrants who build shacks that may have electricity but no running water or indoor plumbing. The children are generally under-educated, and this school was started by a group of men who wanted to help this population. After they showed us around the school, they took us into one of their homes for some Moroccan pastries and a little dancing.

Lisa, me, Lauren and Jess at our Moroccan party

The hosts dressed Kamel up in traditional Moroccan wedding garb

One of our hosts - this guy could not stop singing!

On Saturday, we left Rabat for a smaller town called Chefchaouen. En route to Chefchaouen, we stopped in a tiny village and spoke with Mohammed about the growing industry in Morocco. Plants such as lavender and other medicinal herbs grow wild in Morocco, so small villages are learning how to use this to their advantage and make a profit.

Hiking around the hills of the village

We finally made it to Chefchaouen and spent the night there. We did some shopping in the markets, and then headed home Sunday morning. It was a great trip – I loved Morocco, but coming back to Madrid made me appreciate the Western world and it’s modern amenities a little bit more!

The view of Chefchaouen from the roof of our hotel, where our room was