In my education classes we've been talking a lot about ego boundaries. The discussion got me wondering whether I'm a thick-ego boundary person or a thin-ego boundary person. I wasn't sure because I feel like I go back and forth depending on the situation, so my scale was pretty balanced. Well thank God I went to Morocco because it totally cleared up this issue. It tipped the scale and I now know for sure that I have thick-ego boundaries.
Going into the trip I briefly glanced at our itinerary and read the emails from our coordinators, and I felt like I was pretty well prepared. I packed pretty much exactly the same stuff as I did for my trip to Portugal, looked at some pictures from other people's trips to Morocco, and went to bed. I was hoping that the good outcome of my lack of expectations about Portugal would repeat itself for this trip. Little did I know what Africa had in store for me.
We left Sevilla at 5:45a.m. Friday and headed to the coast of Spain to take a boat to Africa. I spent the whole ferry ride listening to Waka Waka and Hakuna Matata because how much more African does it get? I figured I'd better be in the proper mind set for the new continent I was about to enter.
Unfortunately for me I got into the wrong mind set. The second we stepped off the boat and set foot on Moroccan soil I realized my preconceived picture of Africa was way off. And shortly after that everyone in our group realized all of our expectations or lack there of were way off for the whole trip.
Our tour guide picked us up from the station and bussed us to a field on the side of the highway where these guys kept camels tied up and charged tourists to ride them. It was kinda sad to see the state they kept the camels in, but the thing is, it was totally normal for Morocco. So I got to ride a camel for a minute.
From there he took us straight to a Tourism Institute. We were all put in a room full of Moroccan tourism students (people who were in a college learning how to be tour guides) and told to mingle. We were then all moved to a classroom where the Spanish and English professors of the institute told us all about how they teach the languages, and we all introduced ourselves and talked about what we do. It was nice to meet people, but overall we were all confused as to why we were meeting Tourism students.
From here our tour guide took us to a restaurant. But not just any restaurant, this restaurant was run by women who were recovering from domestic abuse, addictions, and single moms who were learning how to cook and work in order to support themselves. This was my first hint at my thick ego boundary.
Although there was absolutely nothing wrong with the restaurant and we were supporting a good cause I was annoyed that we weren't going to a "real" restaurant. I suppose I was expecting the trip to be more of a vacation than an educational experience. The food was good, however. We had couscous, which isn't my favorite, but it had this delicious chicken in it and the dessert was also amazing. While we were eating our tour guide explained to us how he started working when he was 8 years old to pay for his education, and that he has 8 siblings and that once he got his education he paid for the education of all of his siblings. He started crying and told us that teachers have the ability to be great prophets. This was actually really moving, and motivational for me because I want to be a good teacher, and I hope to really make a difference in the lives of others.
Oh, one important note was that we were only allowed to drink bottled water in Morocco because the water is so different there. From the restaurant our guide (Salem) took us through a bunch of random streets and markets to see the city of Tanger. Honestly I hated this part because the markets were full of living and freshly killed animals and smelled bad, and I was afraid I was going to get robbed the whole time. We were also getting cat-called by just about everyone.
Finally we ended up at the oldest hotel in Tanger. It was really beautiful and we took a lot of pictures, but after about 20 minutes... surprise! We met with more students. This time they were all management students and it was a mix of guys and girls varying in age from 18-24. We drank tea and talked to them for about an hour about cultural differences. One of the girls was telling us how she isn't allowed to drink or dance due to her religion (Muslim), and one of the girls belly-danced and told us about her coke habits. That's cocain-coke. Not soda-coke.
After our tea was over we took a two-hour bus ride to a different town called Chefchaouen. We were all relieved to have a break. When we arrived in Chefchaouen we got settled into our hotel and were told to meet back in the lobby at 7. So 7 rolls around and guess what. A parade of 15 year old Moroccan highschoolers comes in and we get to meet them too. They were all just learning English, and didn't speak Spanish, so we were basically all having handicap conversations due to language, culture, and AGE barriers. Anyways about 10 minutes into our conversation they started inviting us individually to have lunch with them in their homes the next day. Surprise!! We had Moroccan host families and we didn't even know it. Thankfully they left shortly after that and we ate dinner and went to bed in our barely heated Moroccan hotel rooms.
The next morning I woke up and went to take a shower but the water wouldn't heat up. I already had a cold and I'm not a morning person so I was extraordinarily grumpy and pessimistic about the whole day for awhile after that. Especially because we all met up to go to the highschool and attend class and meet our kids and we were surprised by hiking through the mountainside to get there. Fortunately I quit being a brat when I saw women doing laundry in pails on the side of the road and goats living in people's front yards. I'll put up pictures because I don't think words can accurately describe the lifestyle. But it made me extremely grateful for everything I have, and honestly changed my attitude towards life. So I went into the highschool with a refreshed attitude towards life and I was trying really hard to tip my scale over to the thin side.
The English class was really cute. Somehow they knew we were coming for like...a whole week before we went, and they prepared a presentation for us on what they were currently learning... shopping vocab! So we watched a little production of a day at the market complete with props. It was really touching that they put together a play just for us! After the production was over though, their English teacher started asking us to critique it and he got all...educational on us. Some people might have liked it, but I wasn't too happy about it because we literally had no warning it was going to happen (me and my thick boundaries!)
After class we were taken to a gym where half of us were grouped up and given uniforms to play basketball. I opted out. But here's the thing. They played the actual girl's high school team. So there we were in our jeans and stuff, given jerseys, and actual people came and watched the game. I thought it was funny because I wasn't playing, but it still bothered me that we weren't prepared for that in any way. The team we played (and I say we in the sense of the TDP group) was really aggressive and took the game super seriously, so we lost and it was a joke in general.
After the game our host students took us to their homes and we ate lunch. I was with another TDP student, Sarah, and we went to Aya's house. In Morocco they all eat off of the same plates with no silverware. So we got to know Aya and her family pretty well. But the food was actually delicious! In Spain the food is pretty plain, but Morocco uses a lot of spices so there was tons of flavor :) We had a meatball and pea dish. It was really good. We also ate with Aya's 14 year old neighbor who was fluent in English and amazing! She was an old soul and we got along reeeally well. She told me about how Beyonce is her role model and she loves to do song covers and sing. She was a pretty inspirational person. Unfortunately I didn't get a picture with her :( Anyways after lunch we went back to the hotel and I took a much-needed nap. That evening we went to a restaurant and I ate baby fish and we watched a performance of Moroccan music.
The last day I actually have pretty much nothing to say because I spent the whole day sick with food poisoning. I also have no pictures for this reason. I don't know what I got it from, but after breakfast I just started feeling like crap. By lunch I could barely walk. My stomach muscles were all cramped so hard I almost vomited just from the pain, and my belly was so distended I couldn't wear my belt. Which is absolutely ridiculous if you know how much weight I've lost. But the worst part was that I was really scared. I had no idea what was going to happen because we were on a schedule and we were in Africa. I never knew if I was going to vomit or...the other thing, and we had a two hour bus ride, hour boat ride, and another two hour bus ride back to Sevilla. I actually started crying because I was afraid I wouldn't make it to Spain if I got worse, and I just wanted my mom. I literally spent 4 hours thinking about two things: the first was, I want my mom and my home and my bed and my bathroom. The second was, I wonder what Claire Calkins felt like when she had salmonella on the Europe trip? And it wasn't like I thought I was so sick I was literally going to die, I was just super scared because I had never felt like that before and we were in Morocco (which is just a really shady country I'm gonna be honest) and we were on a schedule and I couldn't do anything about it. I did have to ask the bus to pull over during the trip to the boat. And I really hated doing it because I don't like causing problems or needing extra help. But God taught me a lesson and that was that I can't always be in control. Sometimes I have to accept the circumstances and make the best of it.
Fortunately I redeemed myself on the boat ride because I was one of the only people who didn't get motion sickness (not that I would have known if I did because I was already sick in the first place). But for real one of the girls in TDP had a seizure/anxiety attack. So I was happy with my boat ride.
In conclusion to my Morocco post all I can say is...Waka Waka what? I can honestly say I don't want to go back ever again. But before you get all...you need to broaden your horizons and see the world let me say one thing. Morocco taught me sooo much about appreciating what I have and being grateful. As a country and as an individual. The United States is an amazing country. I completely took it for granted while I was there and I think a lot of the citizens do. I don't think we do it on purpose I just think it's hard to get out of our own little world. We are incredibly fortunate people to be members of such a strong and prosperous place. On an individual level I learned a lot about selfishness and sacrifice. I have a long way to go, but I learned some important lessons that won't soon be forgotten. Also, back to the discussion at the beginning of this blog about my preconceived notions of Morocco being way off, I only saw 2 black people in Africa. So to tell you how off I was going into this trip I assumed Africa=black people. Yeah I was that stupid.
After the tomb trip we went to a Moroccan tea cafe (just what I needed). Although I wasn't thrilled to be reminded of the previous trip, I had an amazing strawberry and chocolate crepe that just made my day! 
After the tomb trip we went to a Moroccan tea cafe (just what I needed). Although I wasn't thrilled to be reminded of the previous trip, I had an amazing strawberry and chocolate crepe that just made my day! 
