More Adventures and the Lofty Expectations of GPA Fellows

July 15, 2014


I fell in love with a small town called Azrou (15 minutes away from Ifrane) a few nights ago. Erik, Ross, Donna, Dana, Kasey, myself, and our friend Hassan from ASI went to have dinner and tour the market. This is Hassan's hometown so his friendship with the restaurant owner helped get us a table even if it was prayer time and most of the staff wasn't there.  We had a delicious dinner of trout from the local trout farm along with some melon for desert.  We did a little shopping and Dana especially had fun with getting to haggle with the shopkeepers for a bargain.  We also met a gentleman named Mohammed who welcomed us graciously. Mohammed is one of those people who emanates wisdom and I can't wait to share a cup of tea and a long talk with him when I get the chance 

My favorite memory of Azrou was a short conversation I had with a young girl in the marketplace.  I was waiting for some of my group mates to decide on their purchases when this young girl also waiting smiled at me and continued to watch us and smile, catching my gaze a few times.  I asked her if she spoke English and she shook her head no, Francais we asked, and she shook her head no again.  So eventually I said Ahlan (hello) to which she grinned even bigger.  Ana Janelle (I'm Janelle), we then started talking in my very limited Arabic I answered her questions telling her where I was from, when I got to Morocco, that I am a teacher etc.  Her one question that really stumped me though was "Did you come here on an airplane?" I had to have Hassan's help with translating that one, because my Arabic isn't that great...yet.

The last few days have been filled with increasingly high expectations.  We have had Daily Arabic lessons for about 2.5 hours a day in Moroccan Arabic initially and now in Standard Arabic.  In addition, we've had lectures from experts in the field on the history of Moroccan schools, geography of the MENA region and the modern day interpretation of Islamic law.  On top of learning Arabic, and I mean A LOT of Arabic ( I made 160 flashcards and ran out after Day 3) we are expected to write a culturally responsive curriculum unit (including 2 fully detailed lesson plans), create an ethnography, and prepare outreach presentations to deliver to our schools and communities when we arrive back home. 


In Sha'h Allah (God willing) we will get it done!