Willy willy willy! (omg in Morocco)

Thursday was a fun day. Our class went on a field trip to the Medina (the old city of Fes). I was not sure how it would turn out because on our last field trip to the post office, the students complained about how tired they were and how much they had to walk. This time, even though they were walking most of the day and the students did comment that they were tired and hungry, there was nobody that complained or whined about the fact. We split up into two groups and my supervising teacher took eight students and I took the other eight. The tour guide that led us through the city was very kind and told us a lot of very interesting information about the city, Islam, and other aspects of the Moroccan culture. We saw an old university/ current mosque, a preschool that teaches the Qur’an to 3-5 year olds, a bakery, the largest tanneries in the city, and a library. After this, we ate lunch and then walked the streets and allowed the students to stop and shop a little while. There is a man who sells things for a really good price and is recommended among the foreigners. We took the students to his shop and they all thought he was so funny.

                The only time I really got upset during the field trip was not because of the students. Rather, it was at the people in the streets. It is common in Morocco for men to make comments at women in the streets and especially in the medina for people to be fairly rude. All our students had name tags and my teacher had put a phone number on them for students to call in case they got lost. At one point, one of my students got pulled aside by two men, who started laughing at his name tag. Later, one of the girls got some minor comments from a man on the street. This was definitely a mild comment compared to many, but it made me very upset. I felt like a protective mother and wanted to turn and talk harshly to the man, but I didn’t know the language and knew that punching him would have been incredibly inappropriate, so all I could do was tell the students to keep walking.

                After the trip, the students all seemed to be in a very joyous mood. One of the girls that was in my group said something like, “Miss, thank you for taking us to the Medina. I had a really good time. I liked being in your group. Are you coming back to teach next year?” All I could say was “God willing” in Moroccan Arabic. I think she took that to mean ‘yes,’ because she responded by saying “Oh, good.” We shall see where the Lord leads. While it has definitely been a challenge living here the last 2 months, I am beginning to feel more comfortable and am truly falling more and more in love with the country. This is definitely a country that burdens my heart with all kinds of prayers that are constantly sent up to my heavenly father. 

            Thursday night, the high school had a poetry night. Many high schoolers came and  presented some poems they had written. Some of these poems were quite remarkable... others were very interesting. It was interesting to see how different the high school is from the elementary school. I do not think I would have enjoyed high school here, as a teacher, or a student. The social dynamics are very interesting. Anyways, so the school seems to be going through a poetry craze, because in the elementary school students and teachers have been coming into classes to interrupt the class for a 'poetry break.' It's fun to here different students and teachers recite various poems they have memorized.

             So Tuesday we had a holiday, Thursday we had a field trip and on top of that, Friday we had a half day. After school on Friday, the high school had a soccer competition and the teachers had a lunch and then a meeting about students with ADD/ ADHD. It was hard to concentrate when I really wanted to watch the game and most of what was said I have heard numerous times before. However, it still had some good reminders to keep in mind when teaching any student.

             After this meeting, I came over to the house of a couple friends and ate dinner. We watched 'the Holiday,' which was a better movie than I expected and had some other people over as well. The real adventure came when we were in the middle of baking cookies and fixing dinner and we were running out of gas, so one of us stayed to try to finish baking the cookies and the other two of us walked over to a friends house, with a pot of beans and a pot of popcorn to use their stove. On the way back, we stopped at a Hanut to pick up some things and I'm pretty sure the store keeper thought we were crazy, but it was definitely a fun adventure.

             Today, I went to the medina again and bought a few more gifts for family and friends and spent a lovely day with friends here. I have been so blessed with people here who have loved on me, taken care of me, fed me, clothed me, bargained for me, and just been my friends. God sends his blessings through so many people and I am soooo grateful.

Willy, willy, willy... this post was long!! sorry about that. =)