Hi!!!! I know it has been forever since I have written but I have been very busy here In Morocco. So many amazing things have happened the past two weeks!! I started my classes and service learning, went to a Moroccan wedding, saw a lot of Meknes sunsets, went to the blue city, and hiked Akchour! So where to start….. everyday here I am learning something new about the world and about myself inside the class room and outside. I am very excited about my classes! I am taking intermediate Arabic, three people three religions one God, and peace and conflict resolution. I have Arabic everyday for 2 and a half hours and I love every minute of it. My professor said at the beginning of class he doesn’t want us to just memorize Arabic but understand how it works. Its great living here too because I can use my Arabic on a daily bases!! Today I actually only spoke Arabic to my cab driver to get me home (I was pretty proud of myself hehe) My next class called three people three Religions One God is about comparing and contrasting the three religions of Christianity, Islam, and Judaism, which is fascinating to me. My professor is brilliant and I am eager to learn more from him about these religions. This class gives me a sense of hope for humanity in that we can all be different but still respect one another and live peacefully through a general understanding of eachothers beliefs. My next class is peace and conflict resolution, which is mainly about the Palestine and Israeli conflict. I am really excited to learn more about this subject and ways of resolving differences among different cultures. Last class we watched this incredible ted talk about resolving conflicts in the Middle East through retracing Abrahams walk and promoting hospitality over hostility and tourism over terrorism. I put the link below so you can all watch it! For those of you who don’t know I am also doing a service-learning program at a woman’s developmental program organization called Alamal. This experience is both challenging and rewarding because no one speaks English so I have to rely only on my Arabic skills to communicate. The organization is run by a woman named Salwa and her sister Jamila. Selwa is hands down the most inspirational human being I have ever met and it is truly an honor to get to work beside her this semester promoting women’s rights, education, and empowerment. She has the kindest heart and radiates goodness. I am learning what it truly looks like to dedicate your life to others from her. She has been given an Amnesty award for her work with promoting human rights and organizes demonstrations against girls being forced into getting married to young. All of this I was able to learn all of this just by her showing me pictures and using the Arabic I do know. It is such a rewarding feeling being able to communicate even though we speak different languages. I really enjoy spending time with Salwa and I am so excited to see how I can help this organization through the use of social media promotion and marketing. Jamila also has been giving me Arabic lessons and I can already tell how I’m advancing in this language. Yipeeeeee!!!!! Also the first weekend in Meknes I went to a Moroccan wedding….. WHATTTTTT. My awesome host brother Omar got a call about one of his friends getting married and invited Jamie and I to go with him. Going to a Moroccan wedding is on my bucket list and I GOT TO CROSS IT OFF DURING WEEK ONE!!!! So this experience was something I will never forget. When we first arrived we were at the grooms house and the women and men were separated so we were in the gorgeously decorated room with a bunch of strangers who couldn’t speak any English but that’s okay because I have realized you do not have to understand something to feel it. All the women got us to dance and there were little girls that instantly befriended us and we all had the absolute best time! It’s funny how dancing and music can open doors of communication and understanding among people. After eating we went to the brides house where the wedding took place and it was seriously like something out of the movies. Everyone was dressed in their traditional clothes and looked BEAUTIFUL. The bride changed dresses four different times and each one was mesmerizing. Moroccan weddings last all night so we stayed until 5 am! That night will be something I tell my grandkids about one day. This past weekend Me, Jamie, Carson, Omar, Tarek, and Zayed went to Chefchaouen! Zayed was nice and drove us there so we didn’t have to take the bus. We got to chefchaouen and it was like a fairytale. Literally EVERYTHING was blue. The town was also surrounded by magnificent mountains that were so close it felt like you could just reach up and touch them as Jamie said hehe. We went and had tea on the roof of this café to watch the sunset and just tried to soak it all in. The next day we headed thirty minutes north to a place called Akchour and it was literally something out of a book. The mountains were unreal and we hiked to a place called “Gods Bridge” which is a naturally forming bride between two mountains. Like I said, UNREAL. I had a moment while looking at the beauty of the scenery around me and thought to myself how much I loved travel and how happy I was in that moment. I was surrounded by beautiful souls that have all found special places in my heart. I promised myself in that moment I’d never stop traveling. I never want to loose that feeling or loose sight of what really matters in life. Morocco is hands down one of the most underrated places to travel. I am amazed daily by its beauty and the diversity of not only the culture but the geography as well. I encourage you all to jump into the unknown and go to a place completely foreign and terrifying to you, it might just change your life. To the ends of the earth, Jess PS. Jamie and I are headed to Spain tomorrow so stay tuned!!!!! Here is the Ted talk!! http://www.ted.com/talks/william_ury?language=en
0 Comments
Leave a Reply. |
AuthorHi I'm Jess!!! I have a soul for traveling and loving people. All kinds of people from all conners of the world from all walks of life. I've left pieces of my heart all over the world. This is my safe space to write all the things on my heart. I hope you find some comfort and encouragement in the words on these pages. Thanks for reading friends (: Archives
July 2016
Categories |