Blessings to you all. I will never forget you.
OinM
Thursday, September 8, 2016
The Return of the Globetrotter
Early, way early, that Saturday morning, we all met downstairs at the Tulip dragging our luggage behind us and carrying a sack breakfast onto our bus to the airport. Farewell Rabat-Sale Airport. Farewell Morocco. Farewell new friends.
It's a Wrap!
We returned to Rabat and ate dinner in the Tulip's restaurant. This was the last of the teacher tour. In the morning, we had debriefing meetings with the entire cohort who had returned from their distant host schools that day. Friday morning, my thoughts fixed on the trip home.
The cohort looked a little fatigued that morning but satisfied the entire project had been what they were hoping for. We shared encounters we had had at our host schools. Some pictures were taken and we talked about how we would use the intellectual capital we had gained for the betterment of our students when we returned. "You're family is probably ready for you to be home aren't they Carl?" I was asked. "Yes, they are", I replied.
The cohort looked a little fatigued that morning but satisfied the entire project had been what they were hoping for. We shared encounters we had had at our host schools. Some pictures were taken and we talked about how we would use the intellectual capital we had gained for the betterment of our students when we returned. "You're family is probably ready for you to be home aren't they Carl?" I was asked. "Yes, they are", I replied.
The Blue City
Since we didn't have to travel from a great distance on Thursday to get back to home sweet Golden Tulip Farah Hotel, the Marrakech marauders, led by fearless Houria and our van driver set off for Chefchaouen, in the north of Morocco. It was dark when we left town and as the sun emerged and fog burned off, the scenery became progressively green as we rode north on winding two lane highways.
We stopped off for breakfast at a bakery, which resembled our donut shops, and ate French pastries with juice and some strong coffee. We made another stop in the country at a gas station with a scenic view out back.
We stopped off for breakfast at a bakery, which resembled our donut shops, and ate French pastries with juice and some strong coffee. We made another stop in the country at a gas station with a scenic view out back.
We made another stop in the country at a gas station with a scenic view out back.
We rode past small towns with children walking to school. We saw shepherds and goat herders tending their livestock. We passed women carrying children on their backs.
Chefchaouen was the most beautiful place we visited on our tour. If I ever return, I hope to just spend two or three days there shopping, dining and taking in the city from the Kasbah or the top of the mountain overlooking the city. The group went sightseeing, took pictures, shopped and toured the picturesque Kasbah.
Unbelievable end of a dream trip.
OinM
Good-bye Larbi Doghmi High School
Wednesday turned out to be our last day with Abdellatif and the students at Larbi Doghmi High School. We rode to school with our host teacher and had some good class periods during which we told stories about home life and answered questions students had written down on previous days. Todd was feeling well enough to enjoy himself again.
When the 2-hour teacher lunch break began at Noon, Abdellatif took us to his home where his wife had prepared a huge platter of couscous with stewed vegetables and beef on top of it. As I recall, it was the only meal we drank water that wasn't bottled. Abdellatif had a water filter.
We chatted about Moroccan television shows. Table conversation meandered from how amazing the platter of food looked and tasted to the best strategy to get the beef on top of the couscous to fall to our side of the platter so we could claim it for our own. Abdellatif told us a story about when he was a boy and his parents would ask how he got all the meat to fall to his side of the family couscous platter. It was a good laugh.
Dessert in a Moroccan home is generally some very good fruit and this meal was no exception. Some of the homes we visited had platters of pastries in a variety of shapes and flavors. They are excellent with a glass of hot Moroccan mint tea. Our hosts were kind and kept the food flowing until we said the word Abdellatif taught us: Safi! (saw-fee) Enough! Stop! No more! We tried. It wasn't always successful. I will never forget the hospitality extended to us during the time we spent in Moroccan homes. I tell my students "If you get a chance to travel to Morocco one day, jump on it with both feet!"
We returned to school that afternoon and frantically passed out what was left of our stock of USA/Morocco plastic bracelets, and U.S. quarters with Oklahoma on the back. The bracelets were so popular that on Monday we had kids following us into the teacher's break room, which was off limits to students without expressed permission from the staff. We waved good-bye to several classrooms as we passed by and there were students standing on chairs and cheering us as we departed. We felt like it had been a successful cultural and academic exchange.
A Rabat Tuesday
By Tuesday morning, Todd had taken ill. All us local TGC folks felt terrible for him and Abdellatif made the call for me to stay at the hotel just in case so we played hookey that day. The silver lining was we were able to use that time to rest and that would get Todd onto the road to recovery giving us strength for the home stretch of the adventure.
After catching up on some e-mails and napping a little, I walked down the street and picked up a couple of souvenirs to bring home. A student had asked for Moroccan food so I acquired a bag of couscous and found some interesting hot pepper sauce for our cabinet. Simple things which would be reminders of the time in Morocco.
Evening rolled around and dinner time arrived. I decided to walk over to a very nice below ground plaza and pick up dinner for both of us at a nice restaurant with dining under the stars. I waited for the order and looked around at the families, young people, parents and business types. 'Except for the languages, it could have been downtown Tulsa. The waiter finally brought the two sandwiches and an "egg burger" in a paper bag. I carried the meal back and dropped Todd's chicken sandwich off with him before eating, and turning in for the night. It had been a restful day and Todd was fighting off his cough.
Tough day on the trail but improving by the minute!
OinM
After catching up on some e-mails and napping a little, I walked down the street and picked up a couple of souvenirs to bring home. A student had asked for Moroccan food so I acquired a bag of couscous and found some interesting hot pepper sauce for our cabinet. Simple things which would be reminders of the time in Morocco.
Evening rolled around and dinner time arrived. I decided to walk over to a very nice below ground plaza and pick up dinner for both of us at a nice restaurant with dining under the stars. I waited for the order and looked around at the families, young people, parents and business types. 'Except for the languages, it could have been downtown Tulsa. The waiter finally brought the two sandwiches and an "egg burger" in a paper bag. I carried the meal back and dropped Todd's chicken sandwich off with him before eating, and turning in for the night. It had been a restful day and Todd was fighting off his cough.
Tough day on the trail but improving by the minute!
OinM
Back to School
Monday mornings at Larbi Doghmi High School mean students and staff gather in the courtyard for the raising of the Moroccan flag and singing of the Moroccan National Song. The student driven and enacted activities start the school week on a proud note of patriotism and unity of the student body. It was evident many were proud for us to see this informal ceremony with students lined up out of respect.
Students smiled and greeted us enthusiastically again. We got to visit classes that morning and then after some time in the break room we presented slideshows about our lives in America and our schools. In attendance were our host teacher, some faculty members their students and a handful of parents. It was another good chance for us to share our love for teaching high school students and give them an understanding of what life is like in the U.S.. At this meeting, we distributed some souvenirs and local tourism literature.
One of the highlights for every student we encountered was the fact we were native English speakers and we delivered the only pure English commentary they have heard. Todd and I were getting better and better at friendly banter which was entertaining for the classes we were visiting throughout the experience. We spent a short time in the break room and students were sent to take us to another class to observe and introduce ourselves to.
Abdellatif took us back to the hotel after school and we met other members of our cohort, placed in Rabat-Sale for dinner at Coq Magic, which turned out to be a frequent dining spot during that second week of the field work. Bad news was, Todd was not feeling very well and the night air was a little chilly.
Feeling like locals by now.
OinM
Students smiled and greeted us enthusiastically again. We got to visit classes that morning and then after some time in the break room we presented slideshows about our lives in America and our schools. In attendance were our host teacher, some faculty members their students and a handful of parents. It was another good chance for us to share our love for teaching high school students and give them an understanding of what life is like in the U.S.. At this meeting, we distributed some souvenirs and local tourism literature.
One of the highlights for every student we encountered was the fact we were native English speakers and we delivered the only pure English commentary they have heard. Todd and I were getting better and better at friendly banter which was entertaining for the classes we were visiting throughout the experience. We spent a short time in the break room and students were sent to take us to another class to observe and introduce ourselves to.
Abdellatif took us back to the hotel after school and we met other members of our cohort, placed in Rabat-Sale for dinner at Coq Magic, which turned out to be a frequent dining spot during that second week of the field work. Bad news was, Todd was not feeling very well and the night air was a little chilly.
Feeling like locals by now.
OinM
The Marrakech Express
Saturday night we decided the Sunday train ride to Marrakech was a go! Todd stood in line when we got back to Rabat and picked up tickets for the next morning. We walked back to the hotel, hopeful we would see another important city in Morocco's history and some desert terrain. We rose Sunday to another gorgeous day. A holy day for Moroccans. This particular holy day had some extra intrigue we were unaware of until we reached the train station platform.
We had been on the platform for about half an hour and our train had not pulled into the station yet. There were several 20 something year olds climbing down the steep plateaued ledges that rose on the opposite sides of the track. It seemed odd and we weren't the only ones who noticed. A German Shepherd was gated into a stair well nearby to keep people from entering the side of the track we were on. The watchdog was barking at the men climbing down the far wall but no train station personnel paid any attention.
The trains which were arriving, from both directions, were filled with young men. As they poured out onto the platform, they formed up into groups, yelled some things about Maroc in unison, waved Moroccan flags and them proceeded in fluid motion up the stairways and into the station. We speculated on what the commotion was and even though we ascertained it had nothing to do with us, we walked to the far end of the platform to wait without intruding on the festivities.
We discussed going back to the hotel and canceling the journey to Marrakech but after about 15 more minutes waiting, our train finally arrived, full of men, shouting waving flags and climbing the steps. Maybe it was a soccer game? Some kind of independence day? We had no idea and spent the only few moments of the trip we weren't entirely comfortable keeping a low profile and refraining from taking photographs. We ran down the platform, trying to find the car we belonged in and boarded the train in time to enjoy about a 4 hour train ride on the Marrakech Express.
I get home and my Dad sends me this link of a Crosby, Stills, Nash & Young video at Farm Aid:
The Marrakech Express
We arrived in Marrakech and went to meet some other TGC fellows who were traveling that day. We waited in a hotel lobby and exchanged some currency while we waited for them to return from shopping on the Square. When they arrived, it was lunch time so we all walked over to a high end hotel restaurant which serves many good Moroccan dishes. The train delay left us a little shorter on time than we had hoped but after lunch we walked to Jemaa El Fnaa Square.
Jemaa El Fnaa has food vendors, hotels, businesses, snake charmers, monkey keepers and curious visitors. For 20 Dirhams, one can have a photo made holding a non-poisonous snake or charming a venomous snake. If primates are your thing, a photo with a monkey can be purchased. We had to go before the food cart vendors began to fill the square that evening. There were six of us riding to the train station. We were about to make another cultural discovery.
UN Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon had made a speech about Morocco. In his remarks, he had stated Western Sahara was not a part of Morocco. Loyal Moroccans had taken to the trains and rode to Rabat to meet in protest of the inflammatory statements. Four million Moroccans had traveled to Rabat just to protest the Secretary-General's idea that Morocco wasn't a sovereign state, entitled to all it's lands to the south. Yeah, that's what the trainloads of men that morning had been about.
Problem at that point was the trains had been running behind all day. When would be passengers in the Marrakech Train Station found out they weren't traveling that evening due to the schedule being now hours behind, they didn't take the news without waving fists and shouting at railroad employees to express their displeasure. Houria Kherdi, host teacher for another TGC teaching team thought quickly and arranged a bus back to Rabat. We would arrive late in the evening but we would be back at our hotel and ready for school the next day.
Great thing about the group we were traveling with was we all understood flexibility is a key to happiness during international travel. The bus rumbled through lots of traffic until we were outside the city and safely back to Rabat. We had been witness to an impressive moment in Moroccan life. Of 34 million citizens, 4 million had traveled, protest and were now trying to get home, just like us.
We had been on the platform for about half an hour and our train had not pulled into the station yet. There were several 20 something year olds climbing down the steep plateaued ledges that rose on the opposite sides of the track. It seemed odd and we weren't the only ones who noticed. A German Shepherd was gated into a stair well nearby to keep people from entering the side of the track we were on. The watchdog was barking at the men climbing down the far wall but no train station personnel paid any attention.
The trains which were arriving, from both directions, were filled with young men. As they poured out onto the platform, they formed up into groups, yelled some things about Maroc in unison, waved Moroccan flags and them proceeded in fluid motion up the stairways and into the station. We speculated on what the commotion was and even though we ascertained it had nothing to do with us, we walked to the far end of the platform to wait without intruding on the festivities.
We discussed going back to the hotel and canceling the journey to Marrakech but after about 15 more minutes waiting, our train finally arrived, full of men, shouting waving flags and climbing the steps. Maybe it was a soccer game? Some kind of independence day? We had no idea and spent the only few moments of the trip we weren't entirely comfortable keeping a low profile and refraining from taking photographs. We ran down the platform, trying to find the car we belonged in and boarded the train in time to enjoy about a 4 hour train ride on the Marrakech Express.
I get home and my Dad sends me this link of a Crosby, Stills, Nash & Young video at Farm Aid:
The Marrakech Express
We arrived in Marrakech and went to meet some other TGC fellows who were traveling that day. We waited in a hotel lobby and exchanged some currency while we waited for them to return from shopping on the Square. When they arrived, it was lunch time so we all walked over to a high end hotel restaurant which serves many good Moroccan dishes. The train delay left us a little shorter on time than we had hoped but after lunch we walked to Jemaa El Fnaa Square.
Jemaa El Fnaa has food vendors, hotels, businesses, snake charmers, monkey keepers and curious visitors. For 20 Dirhams, one can have a photo made holding a non-poisonous snake or charming a venomous snake. If primates are your thing, a photo with a monkey can be purchased. We had to go before the food cart vendors began to fill the square that evening. There were six of us riding to the train station. We were about to make another cultural discovery.
UN Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon had made a speech about Morocco. In his remarks, he had stated Western Sahara was not a part of Morocco. Loyal Moroccans had taken to the trains and rode to Rabat to meet in protest of the inflammatory statements. Four million Moroccans had traveled to Rabat just to protest the Secretary-General's idea that Morocco wasn't a sovereign state, entitled to all it's lands to the south. Yeah, that's what the trainloads of men that morning had been about.
Problem at that point was the trains had been running behind all day. When would be passengers in the Marrakech Train Station found out they weren't traveling that evening due to the schedule being now hours behind, they didn't take the news without waving fists and shouting at railroad employees to express their displeasure. Houria Kherdi, host teacher for another TGC teaching team thought quickly and arranged a bus back to Rabat. We would arrive late in the evening but we would be back at our hotel and ready for school the next day.
Great thing about the group we were traveling with was we all understood flexibility is a key to happiness during international travel. The bus rumbled through lots of traffic until we were outside the city and safely back to Rabat. We had been witness to an impressive moment in Moroccan life. Of 34 million citizens, 4 million had traveled, protest and were now trying to get home, just like us.
Fes the Incredible
Ah, Saturday morning found Todd and myself learning how to travel by train to the heart of Morocco, historic Fes. It was a beautiful day and we briskly walked the .5 km to the Rabat train station. The tickets were easy to get and the train was on time. The cars were very comfortable and we had a compartment to ourselves. The train sped across the River Bouregreg through Sale and then East towards Fes.
We had the great fortune to be guided by Bakou Karim. Karim is a Teaching Excellence and Achievement (TEA) fellow and has spent 6 weeks in the U.S. participating in a similar program to TGC. He teaches airline attendants. He greeted us at the Fes train station with a contagious smile and boisterous laugh. We met some of his students passing through the Fes medina and they had great respect for him.
One thing we noticed, was how Moroccans pay a lot of attention to children in public places. It is not uncommon to see perfect strangers patting children on the head or putting a hand on the side of their faces. More than once, Karim passed a child and acknowledge them, touching the top of their head. The parents just smiled and Karim would compliment the child, then move on through the medina.
After a 3 hour train ride and some sightseeing, it was time for lunch so Karim took us through a very narrow side path from the medina to a restaurant called Cafe Clock. Cafe Clock serves, among many other delicious dishes, a camel burger. Three camel burgers it was. The surroundings were what we were learning is classic Moroccan decor. Clock has thick stone walls and narrow winding stairwells. It was a very memorable lunch.
Afterwards, we walked through the medina, shopping in the souks. Karim did some bargaining with the vendors and told the owner of a store grinding argan kernels and selling argan oil for both cooking and cosmetics to give us a good price because we were not tourists. We were friends, he said. At a kiosk selling handmade candies, Karim pointed at a package of peanut nougat and said "Before there was Snickers, there was this!" His friend behind the counter made a give of small paper plates of several pieces of various flavors of nougat. The sun began setting outside the city wall on a great day of learning about this ancient place. It was time to race back to the train station.
Karim wove the car through some thick stop-and-go traffic and got us there in time to catch the train home. We said our thank yous and good-byes and literally rode the train into the sunset. I opened the gift plate of nougat on the train back to Rabat. It was very good. A sweet ending to an unforgettable excursion. Todd and I had planned to travel to Marrakech the next morning. We mulled over the prospect "should we stay or should be go?" Sunday morning would tell or would we sort it out that night in Rabat?
Should we stay or should we go? Hmmm.
OinM
Among other aspects of historical significance, Fes is the home of the Fez.
We had the great fortune to be guided by Bakou Karim. Karim is a Teaching Excellence and Achievement (TEA) fellow and has spent 6 weeks in the U.S. participating in a similar program to TGC. He teaches airline attendants. He greeted us at the Fes train station with a contagious smile and boisterous laugh. We met some of his students passing through the Fes medina and they had great respect for him.
One thing we noticed, was how Moroccans pay a lot of attention to children in public places. It is not uncommon to see perfect strangers patting children on the head or putting a hand on the side of their faces. More than once, Karim passed a child and acknowledge them, touching the top of their head. The parents just smiled and Karim would compliment the child, then move on through the medina.
After a 3 hour train ride and some sightseeing, it was time for lunch so Karim took us through a very narrow side path from the medina to a restaurant called Cafe Clock. Cafe Clock serves, among many other delicious dishes, a camel burger. Three camel burgers it was. The surroundings were what we were learning is classic Moroccan decor. Clock has thick stone walls and narrow winding stairwells. It was a very memorable lunch.
Afterwards, we walked through the medina, shopping in the souks. Karim did some bargaining with the vendors and told the owner of a store grinding argan kernels and selling argan oil for both cooking and cosmetics to give us a good price because we were not tourists. We were friends, he said. At a kiosk selling handmade candies, Karim pointed at a package of peanut nougat and said "Before there was Snickers, there was this!" His friend behind the counter made a give of small paper plates of several pieces of various flavors of nougat. The sun began setting outside the city wall on a great day of learning about this ancient place. It was time to race back to the train station.
Karim wove the car through some thick stop-and-go traffic and got us there in time to catch the train home. We said our thank yous and good-byes and literally rode the train into the sunset. I opened the gift plate of nougat on the train back to Rabat. It was very good. A sweet ending to an unforgettable excursion. Todd and I had planned to travel to Marrakech the next morning. We mulled over the prospect "should we stay or should be go?" Sunday morning would tell or would we sort it out that night in Rabat?
Should we stay or should we go? Hmmm.
OinM
Wednesday, September 7, 2016
Cultural Exchange
On Friday, we had school again. Abdellatif picked us up from the Helnan Chellah and drove us to school. The drive from downtown Rabat to Temara is highlighted by passing Mohammed V University, a soccer stadium, a building that looks like an elementary school I attended many years ago and the Maroc Telecom building. The MT building is very high tech and has large antennae on the roof not unlike the Hancock building in Chicago. At night, the glass sides of the building are lit up with lots of colorful designs that look like rippling water, stripes, squares, plaid and spotlights.
Todd brought his laptop and was showing students in a math class pictures of his school and community in Ithaca, New York. The crowded around him to see while the Calculus teacher rubbed his chin between his fingers and soaked in all the information. Quick with the camera, the moment was captured digitally. The photo sums up the experiences we had at our schools and shows how much fun we had interacting with all our hosts.
We returned to school for the afternoon with students showing more and more interest in our presence. That evening, we spoke to a group of English teachers about teaching methodology and 21st Century competencies. It was a very enjoyable night. After we spoke, teacher after teacher greeted us and told us how much they enjoyed visiting the U.S. or how they hoped to visit one day. We traded e-mail addresses and it was time to go back to the hotel so Abdellatif drove us back to downtown Rabat.
Exchanging ideas was a great time.
OinM
Todd brought his laptop and was showing students in a math class pictures of his school and community in Ithaca, New York. The crowded around him to see while the Calculus teacher rubbed his chin between his fingers and soaked in all the information. Quick with the camera, the moment was captured digitally. The photo sums up the experiences we had at our schools and shows how much fun we had interacting with all our hosts.
Abdellatif took us to his home at lunch time and then to a Turkish restaurant in Temara named Istanbul Express. We sat on the covered patio, just off the street. Our waiter was wearing a New York Yankees baseball cap. I ordered Turkish style pizza and passionfruit soda. Abdellatif ordered Turkish bread.
Exchanging ideas was a great time.
OinM
Friday, September 2, 2016
Our Host School - Larbi Doghmi High School
Thursday of our first week in Morocco, our cohort was divided into partners after lunch and we all bid a temporary farewell to the Golden Tulip Farah Hotel. My partner teacher, Todd, and I were assigned to Larbi Doghmi High School in Temara, a suburb just south of Rabat. Larbi Doghmi was a famous Moroccan actor in the 1960's and 1970's as the Internet Movie DataBase notes at this link: http://www.imdb.com/name/nm0488015/ . His picture hangs in the teacher break room at the school.
Todd and I found our new space at a place Abdellatif had suggested, in downtown Rabat called The Helnan Chellah Hotel. The Helnan Chellah which still deals in metal keys and doors locked by key from within and without, has a charm all its own. The woodwork and furniture were extravagant. There are many paintings and artworks on display to add to the mansion-like atmosphere. The stairwells are marble. Just off the lobby is an ornately tiled tea service area. As we became accustomed to the historic decor the amenities, such as the 6th Floor Boys Club, we liked the place more and more. The location was near the Ministry of Defense, not much further from the train station and numerous local eateries.
Our host teacher was Abdellatif El Merced (Obb-dell-uh-teff). He is an English teacher. His classes are full because learning English is very popular in Morocco. Students believe learning English can help them connect to English speaking countries Morocco benefits from economically and socially. The El Merced family consists of Abdellatif, his wife and two daughters. Abdellatif is always working to improve his teaching skills and methods which made the conversations we had in transit to and from school and during the lunches he invited us to lively and meaningful. He went out of his way to make sure we had access to some very good homemade food in the break room during down time.
We were introduced to the office staff and shown some classrooms. The Principal was a friendly gentleman who made us feel at home in his office. He proudly showed us his security measures and the student attendance software he had recently received. He indicated it was making his life much easier. There was also what looked like a card catalog with student photos stapled to each card which were in the process of being phased out. He could read written English and spoke French well enough it didn't take Todd and me long to understand his ideas. We enjoyed a couple of visits in that office during our time in his school.
As we walked across the school courtyard, which was completely enclosed by 3 floors of classroom buildings with gates on the ends, it was time for class change. As Todd and I walked along the sidewalks with Abdellatif, Students were smiling and waving from the upper floors and all around us at ground level. Some had bewildered looks on their faces and many turned to their friends to whisper about what they were seeing. The students in each class were instructed to stand when we entered the rooms as a show of respect. It was humbling.
We visited the science lab and storeroom as part of the grand tour. I had brought along a box of Oklahoma rose rocks. They are barite stones which are shaped like roses and colored rust red. I had been offering the small stones to the administrators and staff members during the tour. As we were greeted I explained to each person, with varying amounts of interpretation, there are only two places on Earth rose rocks are naturally formed: Oklahoma and Australia.
When we met a physical science teacher decked out in lab coat and glasses, I held the box up to him and he looked inside. He picked up a stone he liked and then quickly snatched up two more. It was humorous and I felt a wide-eyed smile crossing my face. As a result, there are now genuine Oklahoma barite rose rocks in the Larbi Doghmi High School science geological sample inventory. I was enjoying sharing gifts, culture and science with our neighbors.
The afternoon flew by and Abdellatif took us back to the hotel. There were two graying Japanese couples who had arrived on a tour bus wheeling their luggage down the hall together when it was time to go back to the room for the night. They seemed so content to be there together and I saw their love for international travel in their eyes. It was like I was sharing their joy to be in a historic place like Morocco and I appreciated the privilege even more. A couple of revolutions of the old metal key and I was in for the night.
Trail wasn't even half explored yet!
OinM
Todd and I found our new space at a place Abdellatif had suggested, in downtown Rabat called The Helnan Chellah Hotel. The Helnan Chellah which still deals in metal keys and doors locked by key from within and without, has a charm all its own. The woodwork and furniture were extravagant. There are many paintings and artworks on display to add to the mansion-like atmosphere. The stairwells are marble. Just off the lobby is an ornately tiled tea service area. As we became accustomed to the historic decor the amenities, such as the 6th Floor Boys Club, we liked the place more and more. The location was near the Ministry of Defense, not much further from the train station and numerous local eateries.
Our host teacher was Abdellatif El Merced (Obb-dell-uh-teff). He is an English teacher. His classes are full because learning English is very popular in Morocco. Students believe learning English can help them connect to English speaking countries Morocco benefits from economically and socially. The El Merced family consists of Abdellatif, his wife and two daughters. Abdellatif is always working to improve his teaching skills and methods which made the conversations we had in transit to and from school and during the lunches he invited us to lively and meaningful. He went out of his way to make sure we had access to some very good homemade food in the break room during down time.
We were introduced to the office staff and shown some classrooms. The Principal was a friendly gentleman who made us feel at home in his office. He proudly showed us his security measures and the student attendance software he had recently received. He indicated it was making his life much easier. There was also what looked like a card catalog with student photos stapled to each card which were in the process of being phased out. He could read written English and spoke French well enough it didn't take Todd and me long to understand his ideas. We enjoyed a couple of visits in that office during our time in his school.
As we walked across the school courtyard, which was completely enclosed by 3 floors of classroom buildings with gates on the ends, it was time for class change. As Todd and I walked along the sidewalks with Abdellatif, Students were smiling and waving from the upper floors and all around us at ground level. Some had bewildered looks on their faces and many turned to their friends to whisper about what they were seeing. The students in each class were instructed to stand when we entered the rooms as a show of respect. It was humbling.
We visited the science lab and storeroom as part of the grand tour. I had brought along a box of Oklahoma rose rocks. They are barite stones which are shaped like roses and colored rust red. I had been offering the small stones to the administrators and staff members during the tour. As we were greeted I explained to each person, with varying amounts of interpretation, there are only two places on Earth rose rocks are naturally formed: Oklahoma and Australia.
When we met a physical science teacher decked out in lab coat and glasses, I held the box up to him and he looked inside. He picked up a stone he liked and then quickly snatched up two more. It was humorous and I felt a wide-eyed smile crossing my face. As a result, there are now genuine Oklahoma barite rose rocks in the Larbi Doghmi High School science geological sample inventory. I was enjoying sharing gifts, culture and science with our neighbors.
The afternoon flew by and Abdellatif took us back to the hotel. There were two graying Japanese couples who had arrived on a tour bus wheeling their luggage down the hall together when it was time to go back to the room for the night. They seemed so content to be there together and I saw their love for international travel in their eyes. It was like I was sharing their joy to be in a historic place like Morocco and I appreciated the privilege even more. A couple of revolutions of the old metal key and I was in for the night.
Trail wasn't even half explored yet!
OinM
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