Ssalam kulwahed (hi everyone) –
This was quite the weekend. We traveled to Fes, the spiritual capital of Morocco, last Friday morning and arrived in the early afternoon. This trip was all 34 WPI students, the 3 WPI advisors, and several staff members from the organization that helps us while we’re here. We were quite the group! After a lunch of couscous (Friday!!!), we all went on a big group tour through the old Medina of the city. The locals gave us some strange looks since we were a group of 41, but we made it work! We then went to two ruined towers on top of a mountain to watch the sun set over the city.
The river that flows through Fes. It was the main water source for a very long time. 
Our lunchtime restaurant! 
The King’s Fes palace. 
Fes at sunset. 
Fes at sunset.
Our next morning continued the group tour. We saw many sights in the Fes Medina, including the oldest university in the world that was founded by a woman, and I bought lots of souvenirs! My friends and I took a break for lunch on a rooftop cafe with delicious homemade food. We met back up with the group to finish the tour in the afternoon. Around 4pm, we all went back to the hotel to relax after a very tiring day. We ventured into the modern part of the city later in the evening and got gelato with a Moroccan friend that lives in Fes! All in all, a good day.
A pretty mosque in the Medina. 
Scarves for sale in a shop where they handmade everything. 
All of us got wrapped up in that same shop! It was a very cool experience and we all had so much fun with it. I’m in the yellow.
On Sunday morning, the other humanities students and I met with our advisor’s mentor who teaches at the university in Fes. He helped her get her job at WPI! He has a lot of knowledge about Moroccan culture, so it was interesting to listen to him. We went back to the Medina quickly for some last minute souvenirs before getting on the bus back to Rabat. We arrived back Sunday evening, and it was a quiet night from there.
In terms of school work, I’ve been busy! For my project, I visited two public hospitals in Rabat last week and I plan on going back to one of them this week. My goal is to talk to a couple of nurses if possible, but I may need a translator. We’ll see how it goes! I am also hoping to get in touch with some medical students here in Rabat to ask them about their experience with the public health system. For my other classes, I’ve been studying and practicing Darija every day. It is a super fun language to learn! Very confusing, since it isn’t a codified language, but interesting. My third class is Moroccan film. We have been watching movies made by Moroccan women and analyzing them, which is interesting. School is busy, but going very well!
A lot of us here in Morocco have started missing American foods! I especially have missed homemade foods like chicken pot pie and Mac and cheese. Not that the food here isn’t fabulous, but I am missing home foods! Other than that, I have not been homesick at all. It’s too much fun here!
We don’t have a plan for this weekend yet, but I’m sure it will be something fun! Our tentative plan is to go to Casablanca for one day and then surf in Rabat on another day. B’slama!
Morocco in 7 Weeks 