I was right. Morocco is the moment that I’ve been dreaming
of for a very long time. I cannot love this country, this culture, or this
population more. It’s everything I have prepared myself for while preparing to
study abroad in Egypt. While the Arab population cannot be grouped into one
bubble, what people say about this culture is true. It is so welcoming,
friendly and warm (the weather and people’s personalities). Also everything is
just so beautiful. I constantly look out of the bus windows and everything catches
my eye. Not to say that it’s not dirty, there aren’t stray cats everywhere and
the buildings aren’t slowly falling down but it’s an old African country with a
fascinating history and all of the smells, cats and broken pieces have their
place in a very special history. It
differs from Amsterdam 100%. A lot of students can’t wait to be back in
Amsterdam and neither can I, but at the same time I want so much more time with
this beautiful country and welcoming culture. It’s going to be very hard to say
goodbye to Morocco.
Right now, I am on a bus heading from Rabat to Fes. It’s
really hard to sum up what we did this last week in Rabat, but I’ll give you a
little bit of an idea.
-There was a lot of bargaining at the Medina (I ROCK at the
Medina. Expect some great Xmas presents!)
- We had lectures on Muslim women & veiling, Islam &
Homosexuality, Women & the Arab Spring, Muslim Sexuality Education and much
much more.
- We visited the third biggest Mosque in the world (that was
actually in Casablanca)
- We sang ‘It Wasn’t Me’ by Shaggy with Ronald McDonald and
a bunch of French/ Arabic speaking 6
year olds (also in Casablanca)
-We visited a NGO that helped unwed mothers who were
displaced from their homes (We did a lot in Casablanca)
- I saw Joy Finneran and got to speak with other SIT
students who were studying abroad in Morocco! They gave me incredible insight
on what it was like to study abroad in a country completely different from
Amsterdam. I loved seeing you, Joy, and I hope the rest of your semester is
absolutely incredible. You deserve it!
- We had lunch with a Moroccan family in their homes. I went
with three other students from my program and we had a PERFECT time. The family
was so welcoming and we ate a lot, danced, and fell in love with the Moroccan
family. ALSO the host dad was wearing a George Washington University shirt and
it was just a total coincidence!!! I freaked out and yelled that that was my
university in Arabic! They had a host student from GW 3 years ago. While we
were all a little hesitant to do the home stay lunch in the first place, we
couldn’t have had a better experience if we dreamt it. **Pictures to come later.
All of these experiences have me on cloud 9. I am so
overwhelmed with happy emotions and I cannot stop smiling. It’s been an incredible experience and I
can’t help but feel completely blessed. I realized last night that I am so
filled with gratitude I am about to burst. So here is my gratitude bursting.
To my family: Mom, Nana, Theresa, Tami, Sam, Louisa, Kimmie,
Mama & Papa Smith and all of the Nash family who I know are following my
adventures closely- I couldn’t have had this amazing experience without your
love and your support. Please know that I think about all of you guys everyday
and I feel the love all the way in Africa. This trip has shown me how much
people love me back home and how much support I have to live out all of my
dreams. I wish more than anything I
could share this experience with all of you. But I’ll do the best I can by
taking lots of pictures and regularly updating my blog. I love you all to Morocco, The Netherlands
and back to the USA.
To Shawnee, Raphael, Sean, Angelina, Boy Alex, Leigh, Kellie,
Vicky, Phil, Marissa and Ariel: thanks for checking in when you can. It’s good to
know that you all are thinking about me as much as I am thinking about all of
you. I miss you and I hope GW & WVU & NJ are treating you well. My
heart is filled with so much love every time I get a Facebook message or a
Gchat from someone back home. It makes being away a lot easier.
To SIT Netherlands (Including Yvette & Astrid): I
actually don’t know how many of you read my blog, but if one of you decided to
read it today know that I unconditionally, wholeheartedly love everyone on this
trip. In short 6 weeks, you guys have changed my life in a truly incredible
way. I have learned so much from every single one of you and I cannot wait for
the next 6 weeks together. What an exceptionally brilliant & beautiful
group of college students. Thanks so
much for going on this journey with me.
Last, but definitely not least, thank you Mandy for being
you. It’s amazing that even when we’re on different continents, you are always
there for me. I have no words to describe my gratitude. I will love you forever.
Sorry for the cheesiness y’all, but I just could not have
done any of this without the people in my life and sometimes one has to take
time to recognize this.
To one more week in Morocco and 6 more
Alex
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