Hey everyone! Sorry but I am having troubles loading my pictures again! : ( But I thought that you would still enjoy reading the posts.
So the first day we started off with a bang! Cairo is absolutely CRAZY! In the daytime there are 18 million people and in the night time there are 8 million people. There are traffic jams everywhere and it takes forever to get anywhere. It is also very dirty! It is also really hard to beat the good times wwe had in Morocco.
But we did get to visit a Dairy Buffalo farm today. It was pretty interesting and we had a good time. They actually have these things called Flying herds that never see the sunlight. They are kept right here in the city of Cairo and are housed in the buildings. Then the people sleep on the floors above them.
That is a pretty condensed version of everything but i just can't write anymore right now. : )
We did get to see the pyramids today! I will write more later.
The Traveling Bogart,
Kasie
Monday, May 28, 2007
Off to Cairo We Go!
So today was a day for buying last minute gifts, wrapping up what we had learned, saying goodbyes and jumping onto our next flight to Cairo, Egypt! So I did buy a couple of things and got ready for our 4 and a half hour flight. It was a pretty uneventful flight and trip. Well we did fly Air Maroc though. It does make for an interesting flight. Sometimes the people have trouble finding their seats and safety demos are optional (jk). They pile you on these little buses to take you out to the planes and everyone just loads all at once, So there really isn’t much organization at all. Then halfway through the flight they sold perfumes and cigarettes. Plus, they tired to feed me raw fish again! But we finally made it to Cairo at around 1 in the wee hours of the morning. We bought our visas, cleared customs and got our bags in no time! Dr. Solomon was there to greet us and provide us entertainment on the ride to our hotel. He is a very energetic man! Especially, at one o’clock in the morning. He gave us this passionate and full of energy speech about the dairy buffalos and flying herds. In fact, even though it was early in the morning, we were all ready to go look at some buffalo! It is actually pretty humorous that he could take a bunch of jet-lagged tired beyond belief students and get them pumped up to see these flying herds a the time of night (morning). I can tell Dr. Solomon will be a fun guide for the rest of our stay.
The next post will be all about the Dairy Buffalo and flying herds. So don’t worry it things are a little unclear. Then next after that come the pyramids and camel rides! So now I am actually almost caught up! We visited the buffalo stuff today and we are off to experience the Sphinx and Pyramids tomorrow!
It will be an exciting day! Here is a teaser picture of the Nile River from our hotel balcony. Can you say five star hotel? It is so nice!!
The Traveling Bogart,
Kasie
The next post will be all about the Dairy Buffalo and flying herds. So don’t worry it things are a little unclear. Then next after that come the pyramids and camel rides! So now I am actually almost caught up! We visited the buffalo stuff today and we are off to experience the Sphinx and Pyramids tomorrow!
It will be an exciting day! Here is a teaser picture of the Nile River from our hotel balcony. Can you say five star hotel? It is so nice!!
The Traveling Bogart,
Kasie
Our Last Full Day
So today is our last full day in Morocco. Tomorrow, we hang out in the morning a little and then make our way to the airport for Egypt! It was a great day! We are up in the Northern part of Morocco in and around Rabat and Meknes. We actually stayed the night in Rabat and got to meet Mustapha’s wife Hiat and older daughter. All very, very nice people. It is a little funny because we actually ate with them at a Pizza Hut! Rabat is Morocco’s capitol so it has places like that. It was an exciting dinner because we got pizza, ice cubes and straws! Things we all take for granted. You can also add toilet paper to that list. I have trained myself to have some sort of paper on me at all times now. : ) There’s nothing worse than finishing up and then realizing you have no toilet paper! I don’t think I mentioned this before, but many times you will have to pay a lady in the bathroom a duram or two to use the douche (as they call toilet in French). By the way, French is spoken A LOT in Morocco.
We got to meet the Ag attaché , Michael Fey and the US Ambassador of Morocco today. He is the guy that represent our president in Morocco. It was a very unique and interesting opportunity. I mean not everyone gets to meet the US Ambassador of Morocco! We had to stand up when he entered into the room. Plus, we remained standing as he help himself to lemon aide and banana bread. Which pay the way, I have never tasted lemon aide so deliciously good in my life! We just sat around in Michael Fey’s beautiful home and chatted and listened to him talk. We all were very impressed and had a great morning.
So then we were off with another bus drive through the countryside. We could see green stuff this time! Also, for a lot of our trip we say the coast or fields of grapes, sunflowers, and various other flowers. We were told that this part of Morocco is very much similar to Mediterranean areas of Spain. So when we finally made it to our destination we arrived at a small farm. Much to our surprise there was a big Berber tent set-up. But wait! It gets much better. We actually got to eat our lunch in that Berber tent! It was sort of a surreal experience lounging in the tent with pillows and rugs after rugs after rugs covering the ground and part of the back. I have said it again and again but Moroccans have some of the best hospitality. They are so very kind. So we took off our shoes, which is a Moroccan custom and went to sit down in the tent. We had a man come around and pour water for us to wash our hands, and then we were served mint tea! Next came lamb shish kabobs! Very delicious!! Next came something I wasn’t expecting! We were served TWO whole lambs for us to gobble up. We just ate with our right hands, using the bread to tear off pieces of lamb. It was very good. Then we were served a huge heaping platter couscous. It was actually the first I had tried. It kind of reminds me of rice. It also had carrots, potatoes, beans and squash in it. Of course this was quite tasty as well. After all of this, in perfect Moroccan tradition, we had fruit. We had watermelon and honeydew. At this point were about to bust! Just a little side note, Moroccans feed their guests way more than enough food. They actually want there to be a lot of leftovers. It just shows prosperity and is proper when entertaining guests.
After the Berber tent meal, we walk around the farm and saw their cattle and lamb that they just let roam around to graze. The tents are set up so that the people can see their animals for miles and miles. They can also see when others are approaching. After all the excitement it was time to load back up in the bus.
They next part of the trip was a trip to a winery. I have never been to a winery before so it was pretty interesting. We also got to do a little taste testing at the end. They were all very tasting. I would have bought some but they didn’t have any for sell. Just trust that it was good. : )
So tonight was our farewell dinner! I just want to throw this in. I am sitting in Cairo right now and I really miss our last night in Morocco. We were lucky enough to be invited over to Mustapha and Hiat’s home for dinner and fun. It was just fun to hang out and relax with some amazing people. We also got to meet Mustapha’s younger son and daughter. When the younger son came in, he went around and gave all of us kisses on both sides of our cheeks. I think some of us were caught off guard, even though we had seen this greeting before! : ) Then we made fun at Ashley for saying his cheeks were soft. Just for some background his son is probably in our middle school age group or younger.
We had another amazing meal and along with that, good conversation. I had what I thought was fish at the time. Unfortunately, I later found out it was sheep brains. Shame on you tricky people. : ) Hey, but I am still here. Another thing that was pretty exciting was getting our henna done! Mustapha had invited a lady to his house to do our henna. She did an amazing job. She was very fast and very detailed. I really like looking at my henna. : ) At the end of the night we had a champagne toast to friends we came to Morocco to be friends with and all the amazing thing we had just learned.
I will definitely miss listening to Kurt and Mustapha talk about anything and everything from Morocco to life in general. They have a wealth of knowledge and it is all very interesting. Plus, they were just really genuinely nice people to hang out with. We will all miss them.
The Traveling Bogart,
Kasie
We got to meet the Ag attaché , Michael Fey and the US Ambassador of Morocco today. He is the guy that represent our president in Morocco. It was a very unique and interesting opportunity. I mean not everyone gets to meet the US Ambassador of Morocco! We had to stand up when he entered into the room. Plus, we remained standing as he help himself to lemon aide and banana bread. Which pay the way, I have never tasted lemon aide so deliciously good in my life! We just sat around in Michael Fey’s beautiful home and chatted and listened to him talk. We all were very impressed and had a great morning.
So then we were off with another bus drive through the countryside. We could see green stuff this time! Also, for a lot of our trip we say the coast or fields of grapes, sunflowers, and various other flowers. We were told that this part of Morocco is very much similar to Mediterranean areas of Spain. So when we finally made it to our destination we arrived at a small farm. Much to our surprise there was a big Berber tent set-up. But wait! It gets much better. We actually got to eat our lunch in that Berber tent! It was sort of a surreal experience lounging in the tent with pillows and rugs after rugs after rugs covering the ground and part of the back. I have said it again and again but Moroccans have some of the best hospitality. They are so very kind. So we took off our shoes, which is a Moroccan custom and went to sit down in the tent. We had a man come around and pour water for us to wash our hands, and then we were served mint tea! Next came lamb shish kabobs! Very delicious!! Next came something I wasn’t expecting! We were served TWO whole lambs for us to gobble up. We just ate with our right hands, using the bread to tear off pieces of lamb. It was very good. Then we were served a huge heaping platter couscous. It was actually the first I had tried. It kind of reminds me of rice. It also had carrots, potatoes, beans and squash in it. Of course this was quite tasty as well. After all of this, in perfect Moroccan tradition, we had fruit. We had watermelon and honeydew. At this point were about to bust! Just a little side note, Moroccans feed their guests way more than enough food. They actually want there to be a lot of leftovers. It just shows prosperity and is proper when entertaining guests.
After the Berber tent meal, we walk around the farm and saw their cattle and lamb that they just let roam around to graze. The tents are set up so that the people can see their animals for miles and miles. They can also see when others are approaching. After all the excitement it was time to load back up in the bus.
They next part of the trip was a trip to a winery. I have never been to a winery before so it was pretty interesting. We also got to do a little taste testing at the end. They were all very tasting. I would have bought some but they didn’t have any for sell. Just trust that it was good. : )
So tonight was our farewell dinner! I just want to throw this in. I am sitting in Cairo right now and I really miss our last night in Morocco. We were lucky enough to be invited over to Mustapha and Hiat’s home for dinner and fun. It was just fun to hang out and relax with some amazing people. We also got to meet Mustapha’s younger son and daughter. When the younger son came in, he went around and gave all of us kisses on both sides of our cheeks. I think some of us were caught off guard, even though we had seen this greeting before! : ) Then we made fun at Ashley for saying his cheeks were soft. Just for some background his son is probably in our middle school age group or younger.
We had another amazing meal and along with that, good conversation. I had what I thought was fish at the time. Unfortunately, I later found out it was sheep brains. Shame on you tricky people. : ) Hey, but I am still here. Another thing that was pretty exciting was getting our henna done! Mustapha had invited a lady to his house to do our henna. She did an amazing job. She was very fast and very detailed. I really like looking at my henna. : ) At the end of the night we had a champagne toast to friends we came to Morocco to be friends with and all the amazing thing we had just learned.
I will definitely miss listening to Kurt and Mustapha talk about anything and everything from Morocco to life in general. They have a wealth of knowledge and it is all very interesting. Plus, they were just really genuinely nice people to hang out with. We will all miss them.
The Traveling Bogart,
Kasie
Oh the things that happen in Morocco!
(A palm tree in a wheat field!)
So another exciting day in Morocco! This was the day our bus broke down, we ate at this restaurant that served us undercooked chicken, and we got to see a beggar man get into a pushing fight right by the doors to our bus, Really all these problems weren’t too bad and actually make for good stories and pictures. : )
So we fixed the bus problem by doing a rolling start…downhill. We all got out and pushed the bus! Good thing it was our little bus because out other big bus would have been a challenge. Apparently, we had blown a fuse.
Earlier that day we had visited some Oasis’. Basically they plant in tiers. The first tier is the palm tree, then the olive, then the fruit, and barley and wheat, etc. They are pretty small plots. The main thing that was stressed to us was the fact that what the farmers make today is actually the same amount they will make twenty years from now. Not a lot of room to expand or grow. We saw a variety of fruit trees; apricot, almond(nut) , and pomegranate. Katie, this reminded me of you. : ) Oh and this Kansas girl got her picture in a wheat plot! The cool thing about this oasis was that we drove out into the middle of a dried of river bed to get to it. It is crazy to think about how little water they get in the south. In the future the Moroccans will be a great model to look to when the United States faces water conservation problems. One thing I did notice was that along the roads, they would have ditches or aqueducts to move water through. They also have reservoirs that the government controls and uses to release little amounts of water at a time to help replenish the water table. We also talked a lot about how wheat was grown in Morocco for obvious reason that made since at the time it was introduce but that less wheat should be planted. It is a high water and low labor crop. Moroccans need a low water, high labor crop in order to survive. Moroccan find great success with their olive trees. In fact I can’t recall a meal when we didn’t have olives. With the pit of course. : )
So that oasis trip was very interesting. On the way there we traveled through breathtaking scenery. The roads were narrow and steep and curvy. Out bus was big and bulky. As you can probably imagine, it made for some interesting turns. Kurt made a funny comment on how we all needed to buckle our seatbelts for the next part of the journey. But we didn’t have any seatbelts! Kurt and Mustapha sure did like to play funny jokes on us. Anyway, we made it safe and sound to our next destination.
This place was another place I wish we had scratch and sniff photos! We toured a rose processing facility. It was pretty neat to see how they extracted the rose oil from the petals. I can’t remember the specific amount of rose petals it took to make one liter of oil but I don remember it was a an enormous amount. I guess that is the reason it is over 3,000 dollars to get some rose oil. Sorry friends, I am just not that rich to get you that good smelling stuff. Actually, Pamela, my roomie said it reminded her of a funeral home! : ) Anyway, we left that place and hit the road. We actually stopped along the side of road to get some roses form the little boys who were selling them. We bought to rose leis. Anytime our bus stopped on the road or in a city you better believe people would come to check us out or try to sell us stuff. Like the boys with the roses. That is were the beggar man comes into the story. We were eating our less than tasty meal (actually our only bad meal experience) and had our bus parked across the street so we could watch it. Well these men were standing around waiting to sell us stuff and ask for durams. Well we got our bus driver to drive the bus to our side of the street. When that happened the men changed side but most of us were on the bus already before they could get to us. This beggar man, who actually had a deformed leg got really mad at another man and pushed him down right by our bus door. We were all like “close the door!” So certain people won’t worry, I really didn’t feel threatened or in harms way. It was kind of exciting and by this point we had all had to deal with this type of thing. So then the beggar man sat right by our bus and screamed every now and then. About what? I have no idea. The funny thing about this was that Jill wasn’t on the bus when we got on and we were all looking at her to make sure she was okay. She mouthed to us to stopped staring at her because she didn’t want the people to approach her. It was kind of funny. Good thing Kurt was still out there to help Jill to the bus.
I think this was the day we also went to the market. They have their market on Thursdays. There is no other town in the region to have a market on Thursday so it eliminates competition. Let me tell you it was an interesting site to see. For some reason a Moroccan guy got mad at us when Mustapha asked about a calf. It started an argument between the guy and Mustapha. Kurt told us that Mustapha just liked to argue. : ) He also said the other Moroccans thought the mead, mad Moroccan was being to uptight. Just imagine a crowd of Moroccan people gather around all of us Americans arguing right in front of us about God knows what. Mustapha had it all under control though. And once again we never felt threatened. Most of the Moroccans were all very curious and nice to us. We even had two little boys follow us all around the market.
So we fixed the bus problem by doing a rolling start…downhill. We all got out and pushed the bus! Good thing it was our little bus because out other big bus would have been a challenge. Apparently, we had blown a fuse.
Earlier that day we had visited some Oasis’. Basically they plant in tiers. The first tier is the palm tree, then the olive, then the fruit, and barley and wheat, etc. They are pretty small plots. The main thing that was stressed to us was the fact that what the farmers make today is actually the same amount they will make twenty years from now. Not a lot of room to expand or grow. We saw a variety of fruit trees; apricot, almond(nut) , and pomegranate. Katie, this reminded me of you. : ) Oh and this Kansas girl got her picture in a wheat plot! The cool thing about this oasis was that we drove out into the middle of a dried of river bed to get to it. It is crazy to think about how little water they get in the south. In the future the Moroccans will be a great model to look to when the United States faces water conservation problems. One thing I did notice was that along the roads, they would have ditches or aqueducts to move water through. They also have reservoirs that the government controls and uses to release little amounts of water at a time to help replenish the water table. We also talked a lot about how wheat was grown in Morocco for obvious reason that made since at the time it was introduce but that less wheat should be planted. It is a high water and low labor crop. Moroccans need a low water, high labor crop in order to survive. Moroccan find great success with their olive trees. In fact I can’t recall a meal when we didn’t have olives. With the pit of course. : )
So that oasis trip was very interesting. On the way there we traveled through breathtaking scenery. The roads were narrow and steep and curvy. Out bus was big and bulky. As you can probably imagine, it made for some interesting turns. Kurt made a funny comment on how we all needed to buckle our seatbelts for the next part of the journey. But we didn’t have any seatbelts! Kurt and Mustapha sure did like to play funny jokes on us. Anyway, we made it safe and sound to our next destination.
This place was another place I wish we had scratch and sniff photos! We toured a rose processing facility. It was pretty neat to see how they extracted the rose oil from the petals. I can’t remember the specific amount of rose petals it took to make one liter of oil but I don remember it was a an enormous amount. I guess that is the reason it is over 3,000 dollars to get some rose oil. Sorry friends, I am just not that rich to get you that good smelling stuff. Actually, Pamela, my roomie said it reminded her of a funeral home! : ) Anyway, we left that place and hit the road. We actually stopped along the side of road to get some roses form the little boys who were selling them. We bought to rose leis. Anytime our bus stopped on the road or in a city you better believe people would come to check us out or try to sell us stuff. Like the boys with the roses. That is were the beggar man comes into the story. We were eating our less than tasty meal (actually our only bad meal experience) and had our bus parked across the street so we could watch it. Well these men were standing around waiting to sell us stuff and ask for durams. Well we got our bus driver to drive the bus to our side of the street. When that happened the men changed side but most of us were on the bus already before they could get to us. This beggar man, who actually had a deformed leg got really mad at another man and pushed him down right by our bus door. We were all like “close the door!” So certain people won’t worry, I really didn’t feel threatened or in harms way. It was kind of exciting and by this point we had all had to deal with this type of thing. So then the beggar man sat right by our bus and screamed every now and then. About what? I have no idea. The funny thing about this was that Jill wasn’t on the bus when we got on and we were all looking at her to make sure she was okay. She mouthed to us to stopped staring at her because she didn’t want the people to approach her. It was kind of funny. Good thing Kurt was still out there to help Jill to the bus.
I think this was the day we also went to the market. They have their market on Thursdays. There is no other town in the region to have a market on Thursday so it eliminates competition. Let me tell you it was an interesting site to see. For some reason a Moroccan guy got mad at us when Mustapha asked about a calf. It started an argument between the guy and Mustapha. Kurt told us that Mustapha just liked to argue. : ) He also said the other Moroccans thought the mead, mad Moroccan was being to uptight. Just imagine a crowd of Moroccan people gather around all of us Americans arguing right in front of us about God knows what. Mustapha had it all under control though. And once again we never felt threatened. Most of the Moroccans were all very curious and nice to us. We even had two little boys follow us all around the market.
(Mustapha popping popcorn)
In the market we saw many things, ranging from movies to tools to cattle. It was all a lot to take in. Just imagine aisles and aisle of tents with spices, bread, meat, vegetables all crammed together. Then throw in a bunch of Moroccans and 14 Americans. We got a lot of attention. We ended up buying wool scarves from a lady. Then Mustapha help this man pop some popcorn and bought some for all the kids following us around. They really loved that. It was probably my favorite moment of the day. On our way out of the market we all had to cram to the side to make way for the meat trucks. They drove these trucks of meat down through the narrowest places imaginable. I was squashed up against the side as they drove by. As we left a very old lady asked me for durams, I felt sorry for her so I gave her 10 durams. I think I heard that many people live off of two dollars a day. I gave her a little over a dollar. So it was an interesting visit to their version of a Wal-Mart.
In the market we saw many things, ranging from movies to tools to cattle. It was all a lot to take in. Just imagine aisles and aisle of tents with spices, bread, meat, vegetables all crammed together. Then throw in a bunch of Moroccans and 14 Americans. We got a lot of attention. We ended up buying wool scarves from a lady. Then Mustapha help this man pop some popcorn and bought some for all the kids following us around. They really loved that. It was probably my favorite moment of the day. On our way out of the market we all had to cram to the side to make way for the meat trucks. They drove these trucks of meat down through the narrowest places imaginable. I was squashed up against the side as they drove by. As we left a very old lady asked me for durams, I felt sorry for her so I gave her 10 durams. I think I heard that many people live off of two dollars a day. I gave her a little over a dollar. So it was an interesting visit to their version of a Wal-Mart.
(Live animals at the market)
I hope I am not leaving anything out! There is just so much to see and to do! All I have is one more day about Morocco! Time sure does fly when you are having fun!
I hope I am not leaving anything out! There is just so much to see and to do! All I have is one more day about Morocco! Time sure does fly when you are having fun!
Saturday, May 26, 2007
A look at Morocco: Swimming in the naked pool, Snakes, Knives,Transhumance and Bargaining 101
Yet again I a little behind on this blogging thing! We have just been so busy and by the end of the night I am pretty much done for. As promised I will give you all some exciting updates. We got the chance to go down even further down into southern Morocco. We were in Taroudant, Taliouine and Ouarzazate. While we were in Ouarzazate we stayed at a really cool hotel overlooking the city. It had this pool that had windows looking into the restaurant! Supposedly, it is because the hotel use to be a nude hotel and people could see the naked people swimming around in the pool while eating supper. Well we took the plunge, not naked though, and swam around and took pictures of us underwater in the restaurant. Fun times! People most likely thought we were crazy because it was freezing outside! That is actually the second time we got to swim in Morocco though! Both times were pretty chilly. : )
So later that night we were in for a BIG surprise. In Morocco most of the rooms in hotels or restaurants are very relaxed and made for lounging. With pillows and short tables and lots of beautiful wood ceiling carvings and colors! So we went to this room in our hotel and got to see a snake charmer and belly dancer! We also got to try Moroccan beer! It is called Casablanca and was pretty good. I got video of the snake charmer and belly dancer. We had a cobra, sidewinder and some nice snake. It was the snake he liked to put on people. : ) Jill our Collegiate FFA leader and a guy named Eric were not fans of the snakes! Jill curled up with her feet up on the couch and Eric screamed when they put the snake on him. It was such a cool thing to see. Then the snake charmer must have though the snakes weren’t enough because then he started to poke needles in his mouth and spitting hot water through the holes. This was crazy! I actually had to look away a couple times because he was bleeding. Now I know you all wanted to know that! : ) When the belly dancer came out we let the boys give her moolah. It was still very cool to get to see these parts of their culture. After that we stayed up a little longer and danced with some Arab friends.
The next morning (at least I think this the right order), we went to visit the headquarters for the Transhumance for Biodiversity Conservation in the Southern High Atlas. It was basically a project that was in place to conserve the most diverse flora and fauna in Morocco. People in this region are traditionally Transhumance or nomads. They are sheep herders who move their sheep to the best grazing lands each season. Their life is extremely difficult. They don’t have schools, medical care, or veterinarian care. This way of life is disappearing and along with it a lot of their plants and animals are becoming extinct. So the Transhumance project is one that is pushing people to return to that lifestyle. It kind of boggles my mind that they wish to send people back in time and technology but it would be the best thing for the environment and the people in the long run. The Transhumance project is now providing mobile schools, hospitals and vet clinics for these people in hopes of attracting more people.
So later that night we were in for a BIG surprise. In Morocco most of the rooms in hotels or restaurants are very relaxed and made for lounging. With pillows and short tables and lots of beautiful wood ceiling carvings and colors! So we went to this room in our hotel and got to see a snake charmer and belly dancer! We also got to try Moroccan beer! It is called Casablanca and was pretty good. I got video of the snake charmer and belly dancer. We had a cobra, sidewinder and some nice snake. It was the snake he liked to put on people. : ) Jill our Collegiate FFA leader and a guy named Eric were not fans of the snakes! Jill curled up with her feet up on the couch and Eric screamed when they put the snake on him. It was such a cool thing to see. Then the snake charmer must have though the snakes weren’t enough because then he started to poke needles in his mouth and spitting hot water through the holes. This was crazy! I actually had to look away a couple times because he was bleeding. Now I know you all wanted to know that! : ) When the belly dancer came out we let the boys give her moolah. It was still very cool to get to see these parts of their culture. After that we stayed up a little longer and danced with some Arab friends.
The next morning (at least I think this the right order), we went to visit the headquarters for the Transhumance for Biodiversity Conservation in the Southern High Atlas. It was basically a project that was in place to conserve the most diverse flora and fauna in Morocco. People in this region are traditionally Transhumance or nomads. They are sheep herders who move their sheep to the best grazing lands each season. Their life is extremely difficult. They don’t have schools, medical care, or veterinarian care. This way of life is disappearing and along with it a lot of their plants and animals are becoming extinct. So the Transhumance project is one that is pushing people to return to that lifestyle. It kind of boggles my mind that they wish to send people back in time and technology but it would be the best thing for the environment and the people in the long run. The Transhumance project is now providing mobile schools, hospitals and vet clinics for these people in hopes of attracting more people.
At the project headquarter we also got to visit with a lady who was in the Peace Corp. She had been working with her village to get running water and try to make things better for the people. She was actually at the end of her 2 year service term. It was interesting to hear from a person who was actually living with the people and living like the people. Especially, since I have considered Peace Corp after college.
Don’t worry Mom, I think I am still going to teach!So after all that in the morning, we got to do some shopping! I bought two beautiful Berber rugs. I am keeping one and am not sure who gets the second. I just got so caught up in the bargaining process with the men that I ended up buying two. But I got the second for 500 Durams less than he originally quoted me. It was crazy, the men were rolling out rugs left and right and they were all so amazing. I made friends with this one guy, the one selling me the rugs. He told me I had expensive taste and would laugh when I argued with him on the price. It was a really fun experience. The only bad thing is that I now have to lug around two heavy rugs!
As if the rugs weren’t enough excitement we decide to go to the Kasbash. It is a Moroccan castle. It was a nice little tour. The main thing to note was as the castle went higher the doors and ceilings became shorter and shorter to support the weight. They are made from clay. They had really nice ceiling carvings.
Well I think I will end this post and add more to the next.The Traveling Bogart,
Kasie
Thursday, May 24, 2007
Morrockin Awesome
Sorry I haven't updated in the past two days! We haven't had internet access. : ( But A LOT has happened! I actually have been trying to type a little each night, even when I don't have internet. Here is what I wrote Tuesday the 22nd.So I am pretty sure if I went home today all the money I have spent would have been well worth it. We got up around 6:00 and had some breakfast. The breakfast was crepes with honey, orange jam, or strawberry jam. I tried the orange but didn’t like it at all so I used the good ole strawberry instead. : ) Then we had slices of grapefruit, weird yogurt, and yummy bread. I also drank a lot of orange juice. Morocco seems to be like the U.S.’s Florida in that respect. It is great!
Today we visited COPAG it is a farmers cooperative that has orange processing, dairy feedlots and manufactures dairy products. We had a short meeting with them and got to sample all their dairy products. It was great fun. Some of the things we tasted were a little sketchy….We ate a whole lot of what we thought was strawberry yogurt (ish) but then found out we were eating cream cheese like a person eats yogurt. It was good though! Of course we also got orange juice and orange juice with peaches, milk with yogurt in it and pastries! I really feel that we get treated like VIP’s. It is so weird to get treated like we do.
We also got to see their feed mill in full operation. It was a lot larger than the feed mill we saw the previous day. A cool thing we saw in their feed mill was that they use Pioneer seed for the corn the produce. We all thought that was pretty cool.
After the feed mill, we went to see were they package their dairy products. They had machines do most of the work. I got some good video of the machine packaging yogurt and also milk.
Unfortunately, most of their orange facilities were up today. However, we still toured the plant and got to see what happens to all the “bad” oranges. They really aren’t bad just too small or big or wrinkly, etc. This part was my favorite part. They use these oranges in their cattle’s feed. So because of this we came to this conclusion: Happy cows may come from California but healthy cows come from Morocco! : ) I so wish everyone could have been there to smell those oranges. Too bad pictures aren’t scratch and sniff.
Next we got the opportunity to visit their feedlot. They are also currently expanding the feedlot. It was a dairy feedlot and the farmers of the coop bring their calves in at a young age. They pay a certain amount of money that is different for each animal to be able to keep their animal there. The heifers are AI and then after so many months they are taken back by the farmer to their farm. This coop in very sought after by farmers in the area and many farmers are even turned down to join.
Next we went across the way to a banana greenhouse. It was very big! Also to get to the banana field we had to cross a field of alfalfa! Everyone was smelled in that alfalfa smell and taking pictures. Kurt of our leaders laughed and said only farmers would take pictures of grass! We also had to cross this NARROW bridge that we could hold onto wire to steady ourselves. It was kind of wobbly but it was definitely worth seeing the banana trees! I can’t wait to show Jackie and Lindsay all the greenhouse pictures! For those of you who don’t know, they are two of my amigas that just graduated with Horticulture degrees.
We had another amazing lunch. We got to chat with a younger Moroccan man who studied in Japan last year, He knew English pretty well even though he thought he didn’t. He was pretty funny and showed us all the proper way to eat some of the food, speak a little Arabic and learn the names of food. He told a joke that went like
Next we went across the way to a banana greenhouse. It was very big! Also to get to the banana field we had to cross a field of alfalfa! Everyone was smelled in that alfalfa smell and taking pictures. Kurt of our leaders laughed and said only farmers would take pictures of grass! We also had to cross this NARROW bridge that we could hold onto wire to steady ourselves. It was kind of wobbly but it was definitely worth seeing the banana trees! I can’t wait to show Jackie and Lindsay all the greenhouse pictures! For those of you who don’t know, they are two of my amigas that just graduated with Horticulture degrees.
We had another amazing lunch. We got to chat with a younger Moroccan man who studied in Japan last year, He knew English pretty well even though he thought he didn’t. He was pretty funny and showed us all the proper way to eat some of the food, speak a little Arabic and learn the names of food. He told a joke that went like
this: What do you call someone who knows 
three languages? Trilingual. Two languages? Bilingual. On language? An American. It was funny but I do believe there is a lot of truth in that joke. Practically everyone over here knows French or some other language. It is a very big mixture of languages. Another cool point to add about lunch was that we sat at very small tables and some people on little cushions. After lunch we went to this spot overlooking the town we just ate in to have tea. The COPAG people also gave us gifts. They presented each one of us with Moroccan slippers! We all thought this was the coolest thing ever and it was very unexpected. 
three languages? Trilingual. Two languages? Bilingual. On language? An American. It was funny but I do believe there is a lot of truth in that joke. Practically everyone over here knows French or some other language. It is a very big mixture of languages. Another cool point to add about lunch was that we sat at very small tables and some people on little cushions. After lunch we went to this spot overlooking the town we just ate in to have tea. The COPAG people also gave us gifts. They presented each one of us with Moroccan slippers! We all thought this was the coolest thing ever and it was very unexpected. 
The next thing we did was probably the highlight of my day. I think I mention briefly yesterday about the Argan tree. Well we went to this women’s coop were they crack the nut from the Argan tree and then use it to make oils, soap, and spread for you to eat. It was very hole-in-the-wall and off the beaten track. The women actually wanted me to sit and crack open the stones with a rock right by them. So I sat myself in between two Moroccan women and they showed me how to crack open the nut with just a rock and a stone. It was harder than it looked and if you weren’t careful you could really smash your fingers real good. Today I finally feel like I am in Morocco. I have definitely never had an experience like that before.
To end the day, we got to see some of some goats climbing the Argan tree’s. We took pictures of the goat at the very tip top of the trees! I still don’t know how they do it! The goat owner went around and asked us for Duram for taking pictures of his goats
Last but not least we finally made it to our new hotel and are trying to get rested up for another eventful day.
The Traveling Bogart,
Kasie
The Traveling Bogart,
Kasie
PS-It is about 12:30 in the morning here. My usual bedtime! I really want to tell you all more but I am tired! I will hopefully post more soon! We eave for Egypt tomorrow night and will be in the same hotel for the rest of the trip. Hopefully they have internet!
Be looking forward for news on oasis's, snakes, belly dancers, Wheat, and moroccan rugs and markets. I have so many good pictures to show you!
Monday, May 21, 2007
Agadir continued....
So we definitely went to the beach to start off our day bright and early at 7 am. Which foot is mine?
It was a good time. Today was the first time I had seen the ocean since I saw the Gulf of Mexico. I tasted it becasue it was Gena's, a girl on the trip to, tradition to do that when ever she got to a lrge body of water. If you would like to taste some yourself just go to your kitchen and dissolve lots of salt into a glass of water. Enjoy.
After the beach we ate a wonderful breakfast in our hotel. We had crepes, eggs, potatos, fruit an more fruit, jams and bread, fresh sqeezed orange juice and sidi ali water. It is the water out here. While we are on the topic of food, today I had trajine which is the pciture posted here. I have now actually tried beef, chicken and lamb trajine. They just bake it in this pot and the beef one really reminded me of pot roast. Sorry I don't have a pick of the actual meat but I am sure there will be one later. They serve us SOO much food. this is usually the order: bread, appetizers, main course, fruit, and finally mint tea. Here is a picture of mint tea being served. The Moroccans always pour it far away from the little cup. 
We have also go to some cool farms today. We went to a feed mill where they made feed for many types of animals. They showed us their bagging, and milling processes. The same man also raised chickens. We visited his farm and wore protective clothing, lunch lady hair nets and dipped our feet. : ) The market for processed chickens isn't as popular as live chickens at the market but it is growing steadily. After the chicken far, we piled back onto our bus to make the 1 1/2 hour trip to Touradant. Our tour guide Mustafa ( no not mufasa fromth lion king) told us all about the argan tree. It is a tree only found in this region of the world. Many people live totally from this tree. The people of that ethnic group have goats and anyone can grazed their goats on the trees. By the way, sheep can't graze here becasue they can't climb the trees well. Each tree has a specific owner but their are only fences around the trees when they are producing fruit. Any other time, any and everyone is free to graze their goats around the trees. The Argan tree can't be cut down because the Moroccan people have great pride in these trees due to the fact that they are the only reason their country has survived during times of famine. Also, farmers grow their crops around these trees. So scattered throughout a field you see these Argan trees. I thought it was pretty interesting.
Then we visited a nursery/greenhouse that raised citrus, many types of beans, peppers and olive trees. We got to visit one of their greenhouses that they are trying out growing olive trees from cuttings. I really enjoyed this visit. The greenhouse where they grew the beans was amazing and huge. They have well over a hundred acres of greenhouse crops. We also got to see their resourvior. From the top of the resourvior we could see the entire farm. It was definitely the largest greenhouse operation I had ever seen. As a matter of fact, it was the largest in North Africa and Arnold Swarzeneggar (spelling?) visited it last year.
One of today's most interesting journey's was our toilet experience at a gas station. It was pretty much a hole in the ground with foot grips. Oh and a bucket of water to wash it all down. : ) I do miss our toilets.
The Traveling Bogart,
Kasie
Sunday, May 20, 2007
Made it to Morocco!
Hello Everyone!
I am trying to get my pictures to load on this blog and it is going very slowly. I will try to upload them to facebook though.
Anyway two days later and we finally made it here to Agadir, Morocco. We are right at the base of the Atlas mountains and right next to the ocean. Our hotel is AMAZING! It is like a little resort vacation and did make me feel a bit guilty after driving through the city on our bus. It is just so different here. There is a lot of construction going on and no sidewalks. People are everywhere though! They all drive teeny tiny cars and motorcycles or bikes. We even saw a man hauling a dairy cow in the back of his little truck.
So far, everyone is very friendly, well besides the French. We had a long layover in Paris, at a terminal that didn't have a lot to offer. It was kind of a bummer because these airport people wouldn't let us leave out terminal to get food.
I only have a limited of time on here so I will wrap it up. Tomorrow we start touring farms with our group leaders Mustafa and Kurt. I know for sure we are going to a poultry farm.
I sure hope I get those pictures to work soon!
Oh and interesting fact about over here and pretty much the rest of the world besided the US. It is Coca Cola Light NOT Diet Coke. Random but good to know. : )
The Traveling Bogart,
Kasie
Saturday, May 19, 2007
In D.C.
Hello everyone! It is about 10 in the morning and I am enjoying what I am told is one of the latest sleep in mornings that I will get in the next two weeks. I am really looking forward to this week; we are going to be exhausted and covered in desert sand but boy will it be fun.
So like I said we are enjoying a really relaxing morning here in D.C. We are staying right across from the U.S. Education building and they have little school houses that say No Child Left Behind. For all those education people out there you might get a kick out of that. I will post a picture later. It really is quite funny.
Our flight doesn't leave until 4:55. It is about a 10-12 hour flight over to Paris. We have a 6 hour layover and our scheming on a way to get another Passport stamp in our Passports and see the Eiffel Tower. We just MIGHT have enough time. I sure hope so. A picture of the Eiffel Tower sure would be nice to add to the collection.
Welp, that about sums it all up for now. I assure you later it will be much more exciting. It will be full of pictures of Africa. Yes Mom, Africa! (really I mean Manhattan) Maybe you will get to see me on a camel.
Until next time,
The Traveling Bogart,
Kasie
So like I said we are enjoying a really relaxing morning here in D.C. We are staying right across from the U.S. Education building and they have little school houses that say No Child Left Behind. For all those education people out there you might get a kick out of that. I will post a picture later. It really is quite funny.
Our flight doesn't leave until 4:55. It is about a 10-12 hour flight over to Paris. We have a 6 hour layover and our scheming on a way to get another Passport stamp in our Passports and see the Eiffel Tower. We just MIGHT have enough time. I sure hope so. A picture of the Eiffel Tower sure would be nice to add to the collection.
Welp, that about sums it all up for now. I assure you later it will be much more exciting. It will be full of pictures of Africa. Yes Mom, Africa! (really I mean Manhattan) Maybe you will get to see me on a camel.
Until next time,
The Traveling Bogart,
Kasie
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