04/19/2014

Mr. Eldigwy

Today is the last day before we depart Morocco back to the U.S. The day started with a 2 hour Arabic class, followed by a very nice barbecue of chicken and kofta kebabs. The students participated in cooking the food and after the party they went with their host brother and sisters to the old medina to do more shopping.

 

 

 

 

04/18/2014

Isabell,

IT’S MY BIRTHDAY!

At the beginning of the trip I was a little worried about spending my birthday away from my family but from the moment the clock ticked twelve am and my three host sisters, host mom along with Jana and her host sister barged into my room screaming happy birthday, I knew it was going to be a good day! Waking up early and going to school on my birthday was a new experience, I’ve spent every birthday since I could remember enjoying my spring break, lazing around, but instead I was participating in an intense Arabic only program for the majority of the day.

 

 

 I’ll admit it was one of my less productive days, but still, a lot was learned. We were lucky enough to get a break where we were shown the impressive cooking skills of Bridges School staff, I’m positive the little old lady was burning right through the skin on her hands as she separated the couscous chunks in Brian’s portion.

 

 

At lunch we were served an Amazing meal of couscous and raisin chicken. Mid meal, I was ambushed with Arabic hymns, I realized after a couple verses that they were singing happy birthday!  A delicious cake followed which definitely clarified the happy birthday thing. After distributing pieces amongst the staff, we sat down and proceeded to devour the rest. 

 Once class let out we were led to an upstairs classroom where we were introduced to art of Arabic calligraphy. After being thoroughly embarrassed for not being able to properly draw out one of the easiest words of the language we celebrated the few circles on our sheets and laughed at Brian’s vegetable shaped letters.

 

We spent about 30 minutes deciding what happens next and finally decided on bowling. After a terrifying 5D experience we spent the rest of the day trying to break 30 on the bowling scale. Needless to say we all (except Brian) succeeded. Being rushed home seemed kind of odd especially since we were all having a good time, but my host sister insisted. Me and Jana were crammed into the car and swept away.

 

 

 

 

To my great surprise I was greeted with an adorable cake and birthday wishes from my host family as soon as I stepped into the apartment. We sang and laughed and ate and ultimately ended the day on a high note.

 

 

04/17/2014

Nadia,

Today we decided as a group to go back to the medina in Rabat. In Fes, our tour guide wasn't the best and took us to expensive places where he only had deals with. I also found that Fes was more expensive. It was tough haggling down to decent prices. Usually the stores that specified on one item (for example a scarf store), had higher prices. So we liked to go deeper in the market places to small stores that were willing to bargain. The hotel we stayed at was beautiful with tiled mosaics and good food. Last night we relished the dinner they gave us. We thought the appetizer was the meal so we were filled by the main course.

 

 Before our little adventure up to the hotel terrace, I had a personal struggle of my own. In the bathroom, there were two different soaps that came with the hotel. Of course they were in Arabic so I made an educated guess as to which soap was for what. However, there was this one soap that no one was able to identify. It was either between body wash or conditioner. The substance was green and slimy and I was completely thrown off as to what it could be. So I used it for both. After my shower I joined everyone on the terrace and found out the soap was body wash. My hair remains sticky and unmanageable.

 

 The next morning for breakfast we had the traditional bread and honey, jam or butter. In Fes, the atmosphere was more for tourists so we returned to the Souk in Rabat. After the 3 hour ride back we began our shopping. I bought 5 scarves, some jewelry, teapot, backpack which the workers cleaned with pigeon poop, a purse, and more. We went without a tour guide so we were able to explore more of the medina on our own. We walked a lot and after our little shopping spree it was difficult to find an empty cab.

 

 After half an hour of waiting we found a cab and went back to Bridges. We ate at this street store and everyone had shawarma. This is a delicious wrap filled with chicken, lettuce, tomatoes, olives (which everyone picked out) and hummus. I noticed how many cats came up to us while we were eating and ate our leftovers. I ended up giving them pieces of chicken because one was pregnant and I just love cats in general.

 
 

 

 Overall our shopping day in Rabat was successful and everyone bought what they've wanted to buy.

 

 

 

 

04/16/2014

Brian

So waking up at 7 am is never fun, and following it up with a three hour bus ride just adds insult to injury. Thus accurately describes the beginning of our trip to Fez. I wake up with a sore throat, but that quickly faded away. My first impression of Fez is of its overwhelming crowdedness. There are literally people walking around the cars as they drive through the street. We get out of the bus and are led to our hotel, or Riyad as it’s called here. A Riyad is essentially a large home that was converted into a hotel and is often based in the middle of the medina. Ours happened to be close to the outside, which was lucky for us. I, having never been in a Riyad, or Morocco for that matter, expected a hole in the wall. From the outside, that is exactly what we got. However, walking into the lobby, we are absolutely shocked. This place is absolutely gorgeous. Tile everywhere, artful rugs holding the dining table in the middle of the room down, a couch decorated with striped pillows is backed up to an octagonal-tiled wall at the entrance, where we promptly sat down to drink our welcome tea, which was divine. One problem I have with the tea here is how sweet it is, yet these people in the Riyad seem to have it down. Anyway, we get the room keys and are directed to just the steepest stairs I’ve ever seen. One step is easily ten inches tall, maybe more, and they’re narrow. I lay my bags down in a deep maroon room whose centerpiece is a four-posted queen size bed, which although is hard as a rock, has very beautiful pillows.

It is time to leave after we have settled down, and in the lobby stands an old, tired looking man named Taoufik. I find it funny that this man shares the same name as our Arabic teacher back at Bridges, and move on. As we walk into the medina, he tells us that this is the largest medina in the world, comprising of upward of 9000 streets, all packed to the brim with people, stores, and countless trinkets and other items. I am instantly taken aback by the sheer volume of things happening in the medina. First, we are immersed in the world of the medina, with men shouting their wares across the narrow corridors, women and children struggling to get by all the clutter in the medina, and the plethora of things. I am not saying things for lack of a better word, but because that is the best way to explain it. Literally anything that you can think of is for sale at a (moderately) cheap price in the medina of Fez. My friends behind me tell me to look at the people walking by, as many of them are looking at us (if you catch my drift) but I am simply overwhelmed by all the stores that we walk by. One store in particular that retains a spot in my memory is the tannery, where bags aplenty were made in the back, which we were shown from their rooftop. There are two things that make up the dyes used to color the bags, scarves, and just about any apparel in the medina. First are different types of flowers. Saffron makes yellow, lavender purple, etcetera, etcetera. All the pleasantry is put to shame when we learn of the second ingredient: the fecal matter of pigeons. As we are being told this, we surface at the top of the building and are blown away by a stench. When we look down, there are multiple pools of different color in one section of the “backyard” and different pools of a grayish-brownish color. The latter pools can only be assumed to be the pigeon poo. Anyway, we leave, quickly I might add, and begin looking for a place to eat. We walk into this place, and it is clearly a tourist trap. There is not a single local in the restaurant, save for the waiters. You would think that a tourist trap would be good. You’d be wrong. The chicken, which I ordered, was terrible. We left this place quickly as well and went on shopping. I’m not the best at haggling, which is customary in the medina, so I was broke quickly. On the bright side, I have some wonderful smelling hand lotion among other things. We finish up and head back, and call it a day. The medina is definitely something worth visiting, unless you happen to be claustrophobic.

                           

                            

04/15/2014

Johnna

Our day began at 10 am with 5 hours of Arabic class. We had 2 breaks in between where we ate an enormous amount of food. We had everything from Moroccan khobz (bread) and mint tea to couscous and vegetables. During class, we learned about family and ways to describe your family. Later on, we met up with our hosts and went on a scavenger hunt throughout the medina. My group consisted of me, Isabell, and our 2 hosts. We made it through the scavenger hunt fairly quickly and it was a lot of fun. We tried to use our Arabic as much as possible but it was tricky because in Morocco, Arabic is mixed in with French.  The trip through the medina was also different for me because I am blonde. I got a lot of looks, was called beautiful multiple times. After we completed the scavenger hunt, we had to take the tram back to Bridges international school. We got on the tram and relaxed until suddenly, our hosts ran up to the front of the tram to talk to the driver. Apparently, we got on the wrong tram and were headed in the opposite direction. It wasn’t too bad getting on a tram back, but we had to take 3 trams and got back almost an hour after the other groups. They felt so bad that we got candy for being so cooperative. Overall it was a short but very fun day.

04/14/2014

Lindsey;

We had our first class in Bridges yesterday. At 10, we had an orientation where they quizzed us on Morocco. They told us little facts about Morocco like how Mohammad the Sixth (the king) was the first king to publicize his marriage. People in Morocco today know the name of his wife, while beforehand she was nameless and anonymous. We also learned that the Hollywood of Morocco is Ouarzazat. After the orientation, we had our first Arabic class. At the beginning, we introduced ourselves. We told each other what we did and didn’t like, where we lived, who our parents are and what they do. After that, we played charades completely in Arabic. We couldn’t speak any English. I was the first one to go. Taufik showed everyone else a picture and I had to ask questions in Arabic and my classmates had to answer me in Arabic. The person in my picture was Angelina Jolie. It took me a while to guess her. I guessed Angelina Jolie only after someone said that she had many children and was married to Brad Pitt. The picture that Nadia had to guess was Adele. We said that her songs were very sad and that she was British. Nadia couldn’t guess Adele because we didn’t know what else to say. Eventually, we tried to say one of her song titles in Arabic. The song we were trying to translate was Someone Like You. We ended up translating the song title word for word (a word for some, another for one, a word for like, and a word for you). Then she guessed Adele. Isabel had Obama. We were joking earlier that Oprah Winfrey was the real president and not Obama. We said that in Arabic and Isabel immediately got it. After the class, we went on a guided tour of Rabat. On the tour, we went to Roman ruins and our guide showed us a few of the structures and told us what they were used for. We also went to the place that was supposed to be the biggest mosque, but the king died before it could be completed. Our guide showed us the place where the current king’s father and uncle were buried. There was a lot of detail on the walls around them and there were even guards out front (which Johnna, Isabel, and Nadia took a picture with). After that, we went to the old medina and went shopping a little bit. The medina was very busy and there were even a few people riding around on a motorcycle. I enjoyed the tour a lot. I even got to see a few places that I didn’t get to last year.

    

 

 

                                                             

                                

04/13/2014

We arrived in Casablanca, Morocco after a long flight and were greeted by Brian’s host brother Ali and the van driver. We took a two and a half hour ride to Rabat, the capital of Morocco ad everyone was really tired.

We arrived at Bridges around 9:30 pm and all host students were waiting for us. We were greeted by Meriem (director of Bridges). Today 4/14, we will start our program by an orientation followed by the first Arabic class for the students; at 4:30 we will have a guided tour of Rabat.

Roz McCarthy writes:

We spent our last day in Qatar today, and the Middle East International School put on a lovely party for us.  There was a TON of food, as there has been at every meal and every snack.  There was a slideshow of our visit, a small presentation by some students who had spent a year in the US as exchange students, and an American diplomat gave a short presentation about what it's like to work for the US Foreign Service.  All-in-all, it was a great visit, and we hope to be able to host a group from Qatar next year.
The group goes to Morocco tomorrow, flight at 9:55 am.

Roz McCarthy writes:
My plan was to have the students write the blog, but it seems like we are so busy going places and doing things, I never seem to get them to sit down at the computer and write.

On Tuesday night, the whole group and their hosts met at Souk Waqif, a traditional market, filled with small shops that sell traditional clothing, souvenirs, birds, animals, hookahs, and where there are lots and lots of restaurants.

One of the students from Middle East International School donned traditional Qatari robes and acted as our guide.

After a dinner of kebobs and delicious onion bread, we roamed the streets for a few hours.   Our students found new friends in the animal shops in the market.

Mr. Eldigwy stayed with group and they all arrived at school the next day a bit bleary-eyed and draggy.

But it's not like they could just sit around and do nothing.  We promptly hopped on a bus and went to the Islamic Art Museum, designed by I.M. Pei, and it was absolutely beautiful.  The artwork from

the Islamic world was breath-taking.  Each room was dark, but the displays were brightly lit and the pieces were uncluttered so we could really appreciate the individual pieces.  We stayed less than two hours.  Although the students were ready to go (they were all hungry), I could have stayed for many more hours.

Today, we gave a presentation to the whole high school (200 students) about CGS.  We had the PowerPoint show that I use when I visit middle schools, recruiting new students.  Each student narrated a section of the show that he/she was most familiar with.  For example, Johnna spoke about sports and cheerleading; Nadia spoke about the music program and the plays; Lindsey spoke about the student tour to Morocco, etc.  All students did a wonderful job, with almost no practice.  They were exceptionally poised.

By the end of our visit, the owner of the school agreed that he would like to send students to visit us in the fall.

Tomorrow is the Sabbath and the weekend begins.  Students will spend the day with their hosts.  On Saturday, our last full day here, a large barbecue is planned for us with the host families.  I've been told it will feature traditional Arab food.

The school week seems to have flown by.  I hope to get students to write more of these blogs.  Their afternoons and evenings have been filled with hanging out with groups of kids, seeing the sites, having swim parties, and I'm told, eating, eating, eating.

We leave on Sunday morning at 9:55 for the flight to Morocco, stopping first in Abu Dhabi.

Tuesday, April 8 - Isabell writes:

After enduring a ridiculously long flight and almost 25 hours of transit, our arrival to Qatar was met with the smiling faces of our hosts in Qatar.  They greeted us with kisses on each cheek, exclaiming how excited they were to finally get to meet us. Apparently, we’ve been the talk of the high school for the past few weeks, and it absolutely showed by the number of messages my host sister received asking whether or not I had arrived. Walking into the home I was amazed by the interesting decorations:  the walls were painted bright colors and the furniture was adorned with beautifully patterned drapes and majestic looking pillows. We were treated to a light dinner of makeshift pizza sliders and spicy sauce topped bread. Ustez says it’s called Maraquish, but I’m not actually sure. After chatting for while, I was showed to my room, then went to bed with high expectations for the next day.

 We have arrived!  After a long but uneventful trip we landed in Qatar and were met by three people from the Middle East International School, including Dr. John Ramos, former Assistant Superintendent of Norwalk Schools.  Our host families drove up and we had enough time to pose for a picture before everyone left for their first night.  The students from MIS hugged our CGS students on sight, and everyone seemed very excited to finally meet.

During the layover in Amsterdam, our students kept themselves occupied in various ways.  Johnna worked on her math problems, Brian did some yoga moves and finally fell asleep on the floor of the airport.

Sunday

We are all busy packing, getting ready for the warm weather we will experience in Qatar and the cooler weather in Morocco.  Remember to weigh your luggage so you don't go over the 50 pound limit.  Remember your passports!

See you at 11:30 am sharp at CGS on Sunday, April 6

Welcome to the blog for the trip to the Middle East, 2014.  We leave on Sunday, April 6.