Morocco: pt 1...

So i havent blogged in a while and my apologies for that. look for much more in the coming weeks. This blog is about morocco: the people...and well thats about it.

for those that are uniformed about my life, this year for spring break i traveled with the leadership minor here at Penn State to Morocco in order to study for a week, experience a new culture, and see the world.

The goal for the week was to discuss water resources as well as develop a cleaner burning solid fuel cook stove in order to starve the problem of sickness caused by the exhaust of these things in developing countries. This is the uninteresting part and I'm sure ill post about water resources in the future since this is my grad school option so lets skip to the more interesting bits.

morocco is not like aladdin had me believe. well at least not the developed part of Rabat. Rabat, the capital city of Morocco is part sprawling metropolis and part medina. the medina, or "the old city" as it is referred to is just that....the old city. This is where I stayed with a moroccan family for one full week and was the most fascinating part of my trip.

Walking from the bustling streets of Rabat you smell similar smells to New York. The familar fumes of taxis whiping by, smells of soil on the roads collecting from exhaust dust and other things...., even down to the smell of newspapers as you walk by vendors selling your favorite newspaper, magazine, journal, picture book, hell even translation books.

But walking from this to the medina is like walking through a completely differnet world. Kind of like when you travel from campus to the neighborhood surrounding campus, and then to Frat Row where it seems all law has dissapeared and it is a completely different world. Instead of drunken fools however trying to roofie girls you have markets selling everything from authentic moroccan scarves and pottery to knock off adiddas track suits that you can find in Chinatown. Smells transform from dirt, grime, and taxi exhaust to fresh baked breads, pasteries, fresh squeezed....literally orange juice stands. Grey and white high rises (for morocco at least) are downsized to homes dating back over 400 years with huge open air living rooms and nothign but curtains separating the different areas of the house. Sounds go from the clusterfuck of beeping horns on the street to people yelling over their neighbors offering you the finest quality goods.

Its like stepping back in time. Its simpler. Almost like you did go back to Agraba that was seen in the tale of alladin.

Look for pictures coming soon