7/15/2023 0 Comments Tour of the coastToday I booked another tour with Xuaen Tours, a great company here in Morocco!, to go on a tour around the cost of Morocco. Throughout the tour we visited the souk in Tangier, Hercules Cave, the medina of Asilah, Cape Spartel, and the Tangier Casbah. On this tour it was just me and a young couple from Spain who were so much fun! We made it a really great time, taking pictures for each other and joking around. The husband just got a job where he has to speak English, so throughout the day he kept asking me new words and pronunciations in English. They were a ton of fun, and I really enjoyed getting to do the tour with them. We first went to a panoramic spot in Tangier, where you can see across the water to Spain! It was cloudy at first in the morning so it was difficult to see all the way across the water but you could make out the shape of land. Then we went to Cape Spartel where the driver dropped us off and we went to get tickets to go into the museum and up the lighthouse. The lighthouse was built in 1863 and was recently renovated. Going up the many winding steps was not so fun for someone with a fear of heights, but the view at the top was so beautiful! Then we drove down to another point close-by to take a picture with the sign where the Atlantic and Mediterranean oceans meet. Afterwards we walked down to these caves for more views of the water. The sound of the waves crashing was sooo peaceful, I loved it so much. Then we went back in the van and passed multiple popular beaches, and stopped at Hercules Cave.
Hercules Cave was breathtaking. We had to wait in a long crowded line to get tickets and entrance to the cave, but it was all worth it once you get to the views. The cave mouth is shaped almost exactly like the African continent. It was so scenic with the color of the water and light coming through the opening. It was difficult to take pictures with because of the light, but that's okay. We didn't have a tour guide, but I looked up online before the visit, and saw that it is names the Cave of Hercules because it is believed in mythology that during Hercules travel to Africa, he stopped and slept in this cave for many nights. I love mythology and think that it would be really cool if this was true. We walked back out of the cave and went to a different section, where there was a Moroccan band playing, and tons of statues of Hercules were around and there was a natural water spring where they believe Hercules got his water. Then we went out of the cave area and walked down to the water to take some pictures of and with the water. Yes mom, I went on the jetty in my Birkenstocks, yes I had flashbacks from when I sliced by foot open when I was 10 years old on a jetty in flip-flops, and yes I suppose I never learn haha. But I was super careful and stayed on the flatter parts. It was fun as we took photos a big wave came up and splashed me in a photo. After Hercules Cave, we drove back along the coastline and stopped at one of the beaches for our camel ride. This was my third time on a camel, and I'm still not used to it!! You get so high off the ground, and you really get jolted back and forth when they stand up and sit down. They were beautiful camels and it was a ton of fun getting to ride them here. The ride was definitely a lot faster than my other ones, but the experience was still special. Once we got down we got to say hello to the baby camels, who were in love with our van driver who visits them everyday. It was really fun as I was petting one of them it started to sniff and lick my leg through the hole hahaha. It was so special and I love these special moments. Then we got back in the van for the long drive down the coastline to the city of Asilah where we got dropped off for lunch and for free time in the medina. The couple and I all stuck together and got an amazing Moroccan lunch. Asilah is known for their fresh fish, so of course we all tried different fish plates. I got a piece of swordfish, which was really tasty and not a very fishy fish. There were tons of cats milling around, and the couple fed them a whole one of their mini-fishes, which the cats knew how to devour easily in getting the spine out and just eating the meat. It was pretty impressive not gonna lie haha. After lunch we walked around the medina, which had many blue buildings like Chefchouan. We went up on the brick wall and got to see out into the ocean again. The color of the water and sights of the city were so beautiful. After two hours of lunch and walking we went back to the van and headed back to Tangier, where our driver took us to another panoramic point to see more of Tangier. It was really hot at this point and we were all getting very tired. On the drive back to our drop-offs he gave us tons of recommendations for places to eat and shop. This was so great because while I have been here for 2 months, there is sooo much to see and do here!
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7/8/2023 0 Comments Chefchouan and TetouanI finally got in some travel while in Morocco!! Life has been so busy lately I have been just on constant catch-up, but yesterday I gave myself the day off and book a tour. I booked a TripAdvisor tour that would be a group trip to Chefchouan and Tétouan by van with tour guides in each city. There ended up being 8 people in total, one other solo traveler, a couple from Canada and a family from Spain. It took about 3 hours to get to Chefchouan and oh man some of those roads are veeery winding and high up (and gravel). I was very happy that we stopped halfway through for a tea and coffee break just to stretch and get out of the car. The cafe was overlooking this beautiful lake!! Then we headed back in the car and the roads were so winding, but luckily I’m not a morning person and slept through most of it haha. It was all worth it making it to the Blue City!! Chefchouan is so beautiful and known for its blue buildings all throughout the town. I will say our tour guide seemed more for just walking us around the city and stopping in pretty areas for pictures. I still don’t know why the city is blue, but he did say they have to repaint every 2-3 months. Everything was just so gorgeous walking through, and ahh so many cats! The streets were all so beautiful and blue, with tons of potted plants. We wound through the town and made it to the river stream with fresh water from the mountains which maintains the town. Throughout the winding river/ hill were tons of kids and families playing in the water, riverside juice stands, and tons of mini craft stalls. After walking through the streets for 2 hours, we had lunch as a group and I got a traditional chicken pastella, like a chicken pastry pie with honey on top. It was a lot of fun getting to talk with other travelers and get to speak English with people!! We then got some free time in the main market square where I bought my traditional bracelet for the country and an piece of artwork (I had the guy add the little cat because the other ones that did have the cat weren’t very detailed). Then I had extra time so I got a henna from a super nice local woman. She did my right arm for free for being nice! It was such a beautiful city and I had a great time! Then we headed back to the van and started the drive back and stopping in Tétouan. The landscape in Morocco is so beautiful and I was happy (though a little car sick) to see it. Tétouan was a quick stop, walking through city streets and a local Medina. I liked getting to see more of Morocco and experience another town here. Overall, it was an amazing day and a much needed pause from the past few busy weeks!! 6/25/2023 0 Comments All cafes are cat cafesI've been going to cafes a lot to get out of the apartment and work no my research in the evenings after my internship and on the weekends. Every time I order a Thé à la menthe = mint tea! It is so incredible! It is nothing like the mint tea you've ever had! So yummy! I've been going to some of the same cafes these weekends, and (shocker) am constantly making friends with the cats that hang around them. One of the cafes the same little kitty comes and hangs out with me every time I come and it warms my heart so much, it definitely makes studying a lot easier! 6/23/2023 0 Comments Mid-Way internship UpdateThe week after my shadowing, I began working directly under my supervisor, and discussed the plan for the work that I will be doing for the next 8 weeks. I would be starting working on collecting data on the activities and beneficiaries from each of the departments from the period between December 2022 and April 2023 to format into an overall excel sheet. Then I would move onto conducting research on asylum procedures and formulating a one-page report for the stakeholders to understand the situation in Morocco. At the end of June and throughout July, I will be tasked with working on updating documents for the RefAid website on new organizations that are in the different cities in Morocco. This will require reviewing a variety of documents, compiling information, and translating between French and English for the information to be submitted to the app workers at the end of July. Additional work would be given throughout based on needs from the organization. After completing the compilation of data from each of the departments and putting them together, I attended a meeting with my supervisor with the head supervisor for DDM to discuss the planning of funding for projects for the following fiscal year.
This ultimately led to a large conference the following week, where DDM rented out a hotel conference room with members from each of the offices in DDM having traveled in. During the two-day conference they discussed how much funding they had received for the following fiscal year and how it the money would be allocated to each regional office. Then each office had a representative that presented their monitoring frameworks for each department of services. This conference was an impactful experience for me to witness the exact planning that goes into the allocation of funding for a humanitarian organization and their plans to monitor the success of the activities funded. I was able to greatly understand the frameworks of the models they were using when discussing the activities as they were in a format similar to the results monitoring frameworks that we studied in our Monitoring and Evaluation course from the spring. I am grateful that they allowed me to attend these sessions and gained valuable experience learning about the coordination and evaluation process for major projects for a humanitarian organization. Challenges The language barrier has been the greatest challenge for this internship. The organization operates fully in French, with about 4 out of the 10 office employees speaking English. While I do speak French, the first week was difficult getting thrown into the operations of the organization as the workers and beneficiaries spoken rapidly in French. While I minored in French in college, I am not at a native French speaking level as the others in the organization are. The first week I was often confused and had to ask for them to repeat what they said or say it slower so that I could understand. Luckily, my French skills are strong in discussing work/human rights topics as I had two courses focused on these topics. I am weaker, ironically, in the day-to-day speaking. This has been a benefit in that I have understood more of what is expected of me and what work I have been working on, while I am not always socially conversational. Over the weeks, I have settled in more to the language and I can tell that my skills have already improved conversationally over the past month. The two-day conference was a large test to my skills, as it was held in French with each speaker discussing their funding opportunities at a rapid pace. While it was challenging at times to keep up, I made sure to try to not get overwhelmed and just listen as well as I could to absorb what they were discussing. I kept open a tab for Word Reference on my computer so that when there was a word I didn’t understand, I could quickly look it up and continue to follow the speakers. I have enjoyed this challenge of raising my language abilities, and while it is difficult at times, I have worked hard to ensure that it does not hold me back. 6/11/2023 0 Comments International book festivalCome with me to #SIEL2023 for the International Book Festival in Rabat, Morocco! This festival was 10 days, with over 700 exhibitions representing 55 countries!! It was soo huge I spent 3 hours just winding through all the booths! It was so fun walking around and enjoying being in a space with other people who love books. It was such a wonderful experience, I’m so happy I found out about it before they closed!! I found out about the festival at 10pm the night before and ran to find train tickets and find a way to go! It was so fun to get out of Tangier for the day and explore more of Morocco!
6/4/2023 0 Comments Beach DayToday I went on a walk to the beach! It took about 30 minutes getting down to the public beach from the city. The coast isn’t all beach so you have to walk a bit to get to this area. It was a warm beautiful day and perfect for sitting out on tue sand! There were tons of families and kids out in the water and sitting on the beach. The water was so calm and clear, I wanted to go in for a swim but I have nowhere to put my stuff. So I just walked up and down the shoreline holding my skirt and enjoying the water. After awhile I walked up to the sand and pulled out my book to read for an hour. It was so calm and exactly what I needed to relax. There are tons of people walking up and down the sand with food and drinks, and guides with camels and horses that you can ride. After reading for awhile I walked through the water some more, where at one point this kid randomly ran up to me and splashed me then ran away….I was like ugh okay then haha. Then I went back up and walked along the Marina looking at the boats and stopping by the stores facing the water. It was a really relaxing Sunday.
5/26/2023 0 Comments First WEek with DDMFor the first week of the internship, I met with the overall supervisor of the organization to sign paperwork of the organizations policies for work conduct and policies for working with children. Then we went on a tour of the office where I was introduced to each of the department heads. For the first week, I would be shadowing each department head for a day to gain an understanding of each of the main services provided by DDM. On Monday, I shadowed the case worker for the office where he averaged about 6 meetings an hour with beneficiaries all needing a variety of assistance and getting signed up with the organization. On Tuesday, I shadowed the psychosocial services office with two workers who took me on their work trip to visit a few local NGO’s that they are working on partnering with. On Wednesday, I was in the women’s space assisting with painting sessions and later helping to facilitate a workshop with women refugees on gender stereotypes and issues. On Thursday, I sat in with the doctor for his day of meeting with patients who over the course of 7 hours didn’t take one break between patients. On Friday, I helped to oversee the Nadafa space that is the open area in the middle of the office where beneficiaries sit and wait for one of the departments or to do their laundry and helped to entertain the children. This introduction to the office by shadowing each department was very helpful for me to be exposed to each of the services that DDM provides and observe the interactions amongst the staff and beneficiaries.
5/17/2023 0 Comments Hello MoroccoI made it to Morocco! Oh my gosh I can’t believe I’m finally here! It is insane how much has happened over the past two weeks going from Serbia to Germany to London to Paris to Morocco! Safe to say I’m going to take a few days to sleep and relax before my internship starts on Monday. I got a pizza from a place across the street tonight and am just watching some Netflix before turning in early for some sleep! The next few days I’m going to try to just slowly explore and learn more about the area, I can’t wait for this new adventure!
5/16/2023 0 Comments Palais Garner...Bye ParisMy last day in Paris started with a protest at a school right outside my hotel. If I had a nickel for the amount of times I’ve accidentally ended up at a protest internationally, I’ll have two nickels, which isn’t a lot but it’s weird that it’s happened TWICE! Lol. I went past them in the morning and made my way to the Palais Garnier to fulfill my Phantom of the Opera dreams! I didn’t buy a ticket to go inside because I didn’t have a lot of time, but I took pictures and went to the side steps to eat my baguette. I just took in the scenery and appreciated my last hours in Paris. I saw at the side there’s a separate entrance to go into their gift shop, and was able to look around and bought a few phantom of the opera souvenirs. It was a great last morning there and end to my trip!
5/15/2023 0 Comments Full day in parisThis morning I got up and stopped at a cafe for a pain au chocolat and baguette. Then I walked up towards the Place de Concord with the Egyptian obelisk and gardens. Afterwards I hopped on the bus and went to the Eiffel Tower where I walked around the front grass area, which was sadly barred off so I had to sit in the grass by the side, which was still beautiful! I went to a stand and ordered a Nutella crepe for my mini picnic under the tower. Sadly the sky was clouded over but the temperature was nice and I could still enjoy my time. I sat down and ate my crepe and read for awhile and just felt at such peace! My peace was sadly interrupted by a bunch of school groups of kids that came and sat in groups for lunch all around me screaming and running around. I found this a good time to get up and head to the docks to book a river cruise! The timing ended up perfect because right as I got on the boat, it started pouring outside! It was okay though because the River boat had clear walls and we could still see everything around. It was so incredible to see the sights, and oh my gosh the Notre Dame!!! I loved it so much and had a really great time. After the cruise it stopped raining, and I took a bus to the Louvre and bought tickets to go inside! Everything inside was breathtaking and beautiful history! I did go through the line for the Mona Lisa, which I have to say was a little underwhelming haha. I was more excited to see the Liberty Leading the People painting! I’ve been studying this photos for years and it was amazing to see it in-person! Then I took the bus back towards the hotel, and stopped in a restaurant for a nice dinner to relax after a long day. |