By A.S. and E.L.
BAM BAM BAM! I rolled over and looked at the alarm clock that we had set up so carefully last night. It blinked 7:34. It’s 11 minutes before our alarm was even supposed to go off, which still allotted 45 minutes to pack and head to breakfast.
“I’m upppp,” I say as my eyelids droop once more.
BAM BAM BAM!
“We’re up!!” I shout even louder.
BAM BAM BAM BAM BAM!
“WE’RE AWAKE!” I shout through cupped hands.
“It’s 8:35!” Teacher Provine shouts back.
All at once, three of the four people jump up and fly to the bathroom, the fourth drearily pulls the sheets farther over her head with a groan. How could we forget about Daylight Savings 2.0?? Oh, I don’t know, maybe because we had slept for a maximum of 2 hours in the past day and a half? Nonetheless, we somehow managed to make it down in 30 minutes – yes even the one stuck in the sheets.
There was even food, tea, and most importantly, coffee, waiting for us at the other Riat where we met with the other half of our group. The food in question consisted of a variety of nut-speckled cookies, (allergies were managed appropriately, no need to fear) a tray of cut fruits, loaf cakes, yogurt, and bread. One thing that we learned very quickly is that there is ALWAYS bread.
While breakfast was sleepily enjoyed, and our group leader, Laurie, took us through our first ANCHOR exercise. ANCHOR is about 30 minutes where two student leaders take the group through the process of talking about what we Appreciated about the day, News about the next day, any Concerns students may have, Hopes for the day and the Health of the kids, and Oh WOW moments from the day, and a Reflection question.
Many of these centered on food, especially appreciations for the welcomed sharing of such richness and variety and the WOWs of the servers at dinner the night before pouring steaming hot Moroccan sweet mint tea from a gorgeous silver kettle raised over their heads and behind their shoulders. Without looking. Into multiple cups.
After debriefing, we took a walk through the old medina. We admired the Atlantic Ocean and enjoyed people watching both the locals and other travelers. Some were surfing, playing soccer, doing pushups, and just enjoying each other’s company. Our plans, which had been to visit the medina’s museum (which is closed for the three-day observance of Eid Al-Fitr) were promptly shifted to a pleasant hour of tea and biscuits as Medijah, the local group leader, taught us Arabic greetings and numbers. I spent a lot of my time gazing over the balcony and watching the half a dozen stray cats move from rock to rock and sun themselves.
We then stopped for a delicious lunch where everyone ordered their own respective meals, after which which we piled into our vans to head to Azrou. It should be noted that the travel vans are accurately labeled “VIP” transport. After such an … abrupt wakeup … it’s safe to say that everyone was dead asleep within the first ten minutes. Most importantly, we made a pit stop to meet my new best friends. The van pulled right off a main road, and there stood four camels, two moms and two babies. Imagine the collective “Oh. My. God’s” that were emitted from all of us.
En route to Azrou and our welcome to the community with an “ahwash” – traditional Amazigh drums and chanting, dates and milk, and dancing.
We started snapping pictures and feeding them grass until someone peeked around the corner and saw him. My new best friend. He is the most massive of two-toed camels and the most gentle of giants. He let everyone give him many scratches and scraps of bread. I was completely in awe of this camel, and as I was scratching behind his ear he reaches his head around me and gently rests it on my shoulder, giving me a hug. This happens many many times, and will likely be the highlight of my trip.
Our arrival at Azrou was unlike anything we had thought to expect. Let us paint a picture for you: We all stumble out of the vans after three hours, and walk up the steps to meet the community we will be spending the next five days of our life with. I’m first up. I lead the group up the steps to a crowd of a hundred people, who are all beautifully dressed. I’m met with a red carpet drawing me through a well decorated and terraced walkway. The people are all smiling and start immediately offering shot glasses of milk and a bowl of sweet dates. There are men with cameras and drums and they all start singing and I’m beaming and staring utterly bewildered back at the rest of my group. I honestly couldn’t tell you what happens next becaouse all of the sudden the singing turns everyone into dancers and there are many dance circles and much hand holding and there was even a congoline at somepoint? I start repeating the chants I can’t understand a lick of, but it’s okay because everyone is in the most incredible mood with the highest of spirits, and then the song ends and we are met with more cookies and tea.
After all the joyous celebration, we are paired off in groups of two with host families who graciously welcome us into their homes and provide the most delicious of meals. (more to come soon) We were then brought back to the Auberge, the place we will be staying, and enjoyed our long-awaited showers, each other’s company, ANCHOR, and a rather interesting game of cards.