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During the Christmas and New Year holiday in 2023, Principal Chris and Teacher Chloe, along with 13 students, embarked on a journey from Shanghai to Morocco, with a flight time of approximately 16 hours. Ye there was an unexpected addition to our planned layover in Dubai. Due to the delay of the first flight, teachers and students had to spend an twenty-two hours in Dubai. This undoubtedly posed a significant challenge, but the teachers added a city tour and visit to the mall, providing the entire group with a fulfilling day. Subsequently, the rest of the journey proceeded smoothly.
The first half of the itinerary has us based in the capital of Morocco, Rabat. Every day, the leading teachers guided the students in the leadership courses amidst the beautiful natural surroundings. The students also immersed themselves in the study of local Moroccan culture and language. In the picturesque harbor square, students engaged in self-exploration, while cultural exchanges took place with Moroccan teenagers in the lush parks. The beautiful scenery and enjoyable activities made everyone reluctant to leave.
A highly meaningful activity for the students took place at the HADAF Special Education Center, where they engaged in various activities with those there to better understand the special needs community. The students experienced the daily routines of the training program, such as hospitality management, making notebooks, decorating Christmas trees, preparing food, arranging tableware, and more. During break time, they worked to interact with the students, despite language and cultural barriers. Even with these challenges, everyone could feel a sense of warmth and enthusiasm.
The latter part of the itinerary mainly took place in the ancient city of Fes. One of the most interesting activities was exploring the old city market and engaging in bargaining with local merchants. In the earlier cultural courses, the students had learned essential phrases in the local language for simple communication and bargaining. This time, at the Fes market, the students showcased their newly acquired bargaining skills in scarf shops, leather stores, and jewelry shops.
In the last two days, we returned to Rabat, concluding this delightful journey in Morocco. The highlight of the trip was on New Year's Eve, December 31st, when the students were invited to join a New Year's Eve dinner with their host families in Rabat. The families prepared local attire for the students, and under the guidance of a local band, everyone celebrated together, singing and dancing with smiles on their faces. When it was time to part ways, both the students and their host families felt a deep sense of reluctance to say goodbye. While having spent only five days together, strong emotional bonds were formed.
This trip to Morocco posed new challenges for the students, including an unfamiliar language, vastly different culture, unique flavors of food, and a completely new homestay experience. However, the students adapted remarkably to the new environment, quickly integrating into local life, and shared their unique insights and perspectives.
The exchange activity has been extremely beneficial for everyone. Now, let's take a look at some of their exciting reflections!
“During our stay in Morocco, we tried lots of Moroccan cuisine. The most iconic of all is the tagine. The pot is a shallow, round dish with a cone-shaped lid mad out of clay. There are often meats (chicken and beef) in the dish as well as vegetables. They have special flavouring as their sweet flavour blends harmonically with the savoury. When having tagines, people often use bread to soak up the flavourful sause and sometimes. In short, we enjoyed the food we had in Morocco (and miss the bread in Morocco).”
“While staying in a local home in Morocco, I experienced the warm traditions and culture of the Moroccan people. Simultaneously, I observed the impact of modernization and the development of tourism on traditional family structures. In a spacious house, only an elderly couple and a cat remained. When spending the night or sharing meals with the younger generation, the generation gap was unmistakably displayed against the backdrop of exotic surroundings. The starting point of my understanding of the local Moroccan way of life was truly my host family.”
“My host was a Moroccan grandmother. Although she couldn't speak English, we could only communicate through body language, it didn't hinder our getting along. The girl in our neighbor’s apartment was 14 years old. She really loved China and wanted to go to a Chinese university. I was surprised she even had WeChat.”
“On the last day we met each other again and had a very good night. That night I thought about a question will that be our last opportunity for us to see each other? The last eye to see the family who gave you the feeling of how lovely could a family be? When can be the next time to see each other again? Never? Maybe, but I’ll always remember the happy moments I had with them.”
“The day before we left Morocco, we went to an ancient Roman site on our way out of Fes. There, we saw no trace of the passage of time. When we walk into the ruins, we can see many stone houses that once lived in Rome, many of which have stone grinding and frescoes and other evidence of their life. When we climb a hill, we get a bird's eye view of the site and learn that an earthquake from Portugal destroyed it almost 400 years ago.”
“I saw a lot of young girls on the streets, including my homestay sister, they didn’t wear the headband. They said, "Because nowadays girls have more ideas of their own and the times have changed. It was not the same as before, it is not so feudal anymore, and our families will support the idea that we don't want to wear headscarves. Not wearing a headscarf makes us feel freer." I realized that all the girls over the world are all fighting against the biases that this society give to them. Girls are becoming more and more freedom and powerful. We have our rights to say no when there is a bias and we should pick out the tags this world gives us to be myself.”
“At the beginning of the trip, we discussed the goals we wanted to achieve during this activity and conducted a debrief at the end. In order to gain a deeper understanding of the responsibilities and tasks of being leaders and managers, the teachers introduced the concept of "Daily Leadership." We were required to familiarize ourselves with the itinerary for the next day in advance when serving as the leader, and we had to chart the schedule on the travel plan. Each day, during the debrief session known as the "anchor," the Daily Leader presented the day's plan. It was a very exciting and meaningful journey, and I hope to build a cohesive team in the future.”
“The market vividly shows the ancient commercial civilization of the Arab world, which has been handed down today and still runs smoothly. As time goes by, technology is progressing and human society is moving forward, but some stuff still remain the same, making people feel the power of humanity. This is also the value of the historical and cultural heritage. Morocco is one of the oldest countries in the non-state, and has experienced many cultural infiltration and cultural integration. It's a place mixed with a lot of elements, noisy and bustling. It brings me countless precious memories, and also makes me realize that the world and culture are diverse, and we coexist harmoniously in our earth.”
文 | Chloe Chen
审核 | Chris Moses
翻译 | Chloe Chen
排版 | Jang