Arrival in Marrakech

Arrival in Marrakech

The group has started its "southern swing" of Morocco with an arrival this afternoon in Marrakech, "The Rose City." Check back soon for some blog reflections on the end of the first phase of Fes and initial reactions to the electricity of Marrakech.



So as you know we are now in marrakesh and have been for a few days now. I absoluytely love Marrakesh and wish we spent more time here as a whole. Its more of what i expected from morocco-with the souks bustling with traditional morrocan crafts unlike Fes which has a lot more tacky western shops/souk stores. There is everything from jalabas; leather goods; scarves;(i cant find the comma) nuts and dried fruit;to handmade rugs and antiquesè-all made here; by han by local artisans. Its also a uch greener city then Fes and i personally think parts are more beautiful; not to mention the medina streets are wider here and less claustorpheobic here.
So today we visitedr a beautiful weaving place where we saw the men creating fabric on the original old looms-i guess you could stay the old fashioned way. There were also men tending to leather peices while the man next to him stretched and made them into very beautiful and well made shoes. It was fascinating and I know we all enjoyed our visit. They make very well-made. high quality products that are all so beautiful. There were scarves and pashminas in silk and wool; tunnics; jalabas and other clothing; leather bags and shoesas well as sell tons of beautiful fabric.
After lunch we then headed to a local musicians shop and had a drumming lesson using drums that resemlble a small bongo but are the shape of an hourglass or old sand timer thing. It was a lot of fun but our fingers were defniinitely sore after all that tapping and slapping. on the drums. The teacher is a professional drummer and singer and he played with us the entire time- leading us in new beats and rhythmns-as well as showed us a bunch of his special skills and talents on the drum. I had a great time§
Tommorrow morning we hgead off to Assoira to the beach where we will be having some fun in the sun abnd surfing-in shallah.


After five fun-filled days in Marrakech, we are preparing to hop on a bus tomorrow for some time in the beach town of Essouira. The group has really been enjoying exploring a new city and having a wonderful hostess, Gita of Riad Arabesca, to give pointers along the way. We've had several tours of different parts of the medina, seeing everything from a man who turns old bicycle tires into works of art to the spice and medicine markets to exploring ancient palaces. Today, we were even given the opportunity to play dress-up with some of Madame Gita's traditional Moroccan clothing. We looked as though we were ready to waltz into a wedding!

Our time in Marrakech has also allowed us to learn more about Sufism and the complexity of Amazigh (Berber) culture and language. Today, one of our lecturers even gave us an overview of a traditional Moroccan tale that reaffirmed the well known fact that women are far more cunning than men. (Come on, we're a group of five women.) The group had a fantastic drumming lesson this afternoon in which the girls created their own beats and entertained the neighborhood for an hour.



Bright blue skiffs nuzzle Essaouira's 18th century ramparts overlooking the Atlantic Ocean

Al-Jimal have made their way to the charming Atlantic coastal town of Essaouira where they'll spend the next few days. With its own UNESCO World Heritage-minted medina, impressive ramparts, and a mellow vibe attracting artists and musicians, the group will have plenty to absorb at a leisurely, seaside pace. Surfing lessons are on tap for tomorrow in this self-proclaimed "Windsurfing Capital of Africa."
Posted by Alex Safos at 5:17 PM | Permalink

World Distribution of Muslim Population

From the Pew Research Center, the most recent statistics on the world's muslim population are portrayed in a very revealing map. While Morocco possesses the 3rd largest Muslim population in the Arab World (after Egypt and Algeria), its 33 million faithful are but a fraction of Indonesia's, Pakistan's, India's, and Bangladesh's: Global Muslim Population


morocco culture,moroccan food,morocco food,moroccan cuisine,morocco beaches,moroccan meal,beaches in morocco,moroccan culture,hercules cave,hercules cave morocco

Marrakech, Motorcycles and Sufi Chanting

Marrakech, Motorcycles and Sufi Chanting

We're here and getting established with the help of a medina map which we highlight with our routes. Marrakech is both overwhelming in its massive material good industry and calming in its obvious catering to tourists and people like ourselves. We, for the first time since coming to Morocco, are not exceptional here at first glance. But it is hard to describe the calamatous souks and vibrant colors of Marrakech when right now my head is in the sufi world. Yesterday afternoon we had a woman come to talk to us about some of the ins and outs of basic sufism. She herself is writting a book on the femal sufi saints, so naturally our talk drifted in that direction and we had a fantastic discussion. But this evening we had a sufi chanting group come and perform for us. We sat in Riad Arabesca's zelliged courtyard lulled by the ups and downs, ins and outs and shouts and silences of the five sufis chanting for us. They were following a path of only their knowing as first one then another took up the lead, clapping a gentle beat, tapping an almost silent rhythm and singing the praises of Allah. The sufis use this chanting to lull them into a trance-like state enveloping themselves in the music and the pattern of their familiar words. It was amazing as I felt myself calming with the musical sound of the sufi poems. Any tension or worries seemed to ebb and take a place furthur back in the recesses of my mind, what might have seemed pressing and urgent felt feather-light and easily dealt with. It was a period of meditation where silence was not the object, but release in music.
After they finished their chants we sat up near them and asked them as many questions as we could think of, in French. They started at their 'zawia' or gathering house for budding sufis and teachers at the age of seven. They also attended regular school as well as lessons on the Qu'ran. Of the five men chanting one was a high school economics teacher, one a retiree who was volunteering for the religious part of the government inspecting mosques around the country, one was a music teacher, one was a taxi driver and one was an aide to the minister of the interior for Morocco. When we asked how many were in their group they said about 200, and these five came because they were the best. They also have between 100 and 150 women at their zawia, but the women and men don't sing together. Not learning about their backgrounds until after we heard them chant was really interesting, because hearing how they interacted with one and other and how they blended their voices I thought that the pursuit of sufi knowledge through continuing scholarly education and practicing of singing would be their full time job. But they only get together to sing every friday for two hours for prayers when the public can come, and special gatherings like our 'soiree'. It was an amazing experience and I think it is an integral part of Moroccan culture that can only be understood through actual conversations and hearing the chanting.

morocco culture,moroccan food,morocco food,moroccan cuisine,morocco beaches,moroccan meal,beaches in morocco,moroccan culture,hercules cave,hercules cave morocco

Additional Preparation/Packing Advice

Additional Preparation/Packing Advice

1) You don't need to bring an international phone card or cell phone as public use phones are widely available (you pay by the minute and the cost is very affordable)

2) Your group leaders will be carrying a laptop which you can use for blog postings or downloading photos (don't bring your own laptop it will be cumbersome to carry and there are plenty internet cafes which come with computers you can use if you need to send an email or check facebook).

3) We suggest you bring $500- $1000 in "spending money". This will cover your snacks/beverages between meals/gifts/mementos and internet/phone costs. ATM cards work at many locations, but can occasionally not work for mysterious reasons. Do not bring more than $100 cash. Bring a money belt.

Travelers' checks are a great option for India, but inconvenient in Morocco.

4) If you have not booked your ticket yet, contact sue@aviatravel.com and be sure to get on the flight your group will be on!

5) If you have not sent in your final paperwork or tuition balance, please do so immediately (send to our Woodside, NY office).

6) Students going to Morocco will be issued a visa upon arrival. Students going to India should apply for their visas as soon as possible. You can fill out the application on-line but you need to send in your actual passport to the visa agency.

7) If you wear contacts- bring lots of solution, you might want to bring glasses too.

8) We will be meeting for pre-travel orientation the afternoon of the eleventh of September- more info on this coming soon! Both programs depart internationally on Sept 13.

9) If you have any questions you can contact michelle@global-lab.org or alex@global-lab.org or you can reach Michelle or John at 800 984 4522.

10) Keep checking the blog- new information will be going up regularly.