Blog 2: May 23, 2019

And just like that, my volunteering journey in Morocco has come to an end. For the English lessons, this last week we simply did a general review of all the content we saw and completed several exercises just to make sure everything was learned well. It was very satisfying to see that the students had actually learned a lot, even if I was only there for three weeks. I was so glad I did not give up and back down from teaching English and that I took it as a personal challenge instead, because it was definitely a very rewarding experience. Saying goodbye to the students was very hard, especially as they told me that I was one of the best volunteers they’ve ever had and that they were going to miss me.

Some of my students at the last day of teaching

Another emotional experience was saying goodbye to my host family. The hospitality with which they opened their home to me, and how they treated me was beyond incredible. Throughout my three weeks there I really bonded with them, specially my host brothers. This part of my time in Morocco was one of the most important ones, as it allowed me to experience the culture first-handedly and constantly. This was one of the main purposes of this trip, so I was very glad that the degree of immersion was a high one. Even though I was in Jordan for a few months before coming to Morocco, so I was familiar with Arab culture and Muslim customs, Jordan and Morocco are very different in many ways. Besides, getting to spend Ramadan in a Muslim country and while staying with a Muslim family was an unforgettable experience. Something I was particularly fond of was having iftar every night with the whole family. It was a beautiful time of bonding, sharing stories, and more. Probably what I will miss the most (besides the lemon and almond cookies enjoyed with mint tea while looking at the ocean, no explanation needed as to why that will be missed).

View from the rooftop of            my hostel in Tangier

I am so grateful for the SHIP Grant, as it allowed me to have this experience that is not only unforgettable in general terms, but also directly related to my academic and professional interests. I will miss Morocco like crazy, but I am excited to go to Jerusalem on the 28th and begin my summer internship. I shall return soon enough, though!

One of the doorways in the area of the Hassan Tower in Rabat. Although astonishingly beautiful, the place isn’t swarmed by flocks of tourists (Rabat isn’t a very touristy city, which I appreciated a lot), so I went to this area very often after classes in order to plan out my lesson for the next day.

Blog 1: May 15, 2019

I cannot believe I arrived to Morocco around a week and a half ago. My time here has been full of surprises and unforgettable moments, specially arriving to Rabat and having the city surpass every single expectation I had about it on the first day. As a volunteer under IVHQ, I am teaching English to adults, both men and women, at the NGO Le Féminin Pluriel. This organization has the overall goal of elevating women’s position in society. It was nice to see that, although focusing on women, it opened its educational opportunities to everyone regardless of gender.

 With some hostel friends at the                               Ouzoud Falls, the highest waterfalls in North Africa

I’m not a native English speaker, and I haven’t taught English before, so I felt a little bit uncomfortable at first when I was informed about my placement. My volunteer coordinator offered to place me somewhere else if I felt I could not follow through, but I decided to take this as a personal challenge and remained there. After a few days, I felt absolutely comfortable. All the students share a great determination and desire to learn English, which motivated me even more to work with them. They often complimented my teaching style, and soon what I thought was going to be an uncomfortable experience turned out to be something I woke up excited to be doing. I have encountered some challenges on the way but thinking about how motivated all of them are to be learning English is the only thing I need to push forward and put out my best for them.

Teaching at                 Le Féminin Pluriel

On the cultural side of things, I’ve been intensely immersed in the customs of Ramadan. I have been fasting during daylight hours almost every day, except when I break the fast to try some street food because I want to make sure I don’t miss out on Moroccan gastronomy before leaving. My homestay family is amazing and welcoming, I get along very well with my four host brothers and also with my parents. Having iftar (the meal to break the fast at sunset) with them every day has been such an amazing bonding and cultural experience for me.

Cannot wait to see what the rest of my time here will bring!

Blog 2:  “Quality v. Quantity”

One thought that I would like to elaborate on is quality versus quantity. At the Monteverde Cloud Forest reserve, our tour guide spoke of the production of coffee in Costa Rica. He noted that it had been a law in Costa Rica that farmers can only produce and sell high quality Arabic coffee over lower quality Robusta Coffee. Government officials realized that Costa Rica, being a small country, could not produce the mass amount of coffee as a larger country like Brazil or others in the continent of Africa. Therefore, in order to compete in the market of coffee, Ticos knew that they must produce only the best quality coffee. Therefore, the farmers only use red and appropriately sized coffee beans, as well as take detailed measures to roast the beans just right.

The farmers create even more value in their coffee by offering shade-grown and mountain-grown products. Among other things, Costa Rican farmers go to extreme lengths to ensure that their coffee is of the utmost quality, ensuring the best smell, texture, and taste. In this way, they can capture market segments of the coffee industry, in a way that mass producers like Brazil cannot. The idea of competing on quality over quantity is something that is seemingly woven into the fabric of the Costa Rican economy. Don Alex, a dairy farmer and horse trainer, mimicked these words by noting that he uses only the best dairy products that he can ensure are delicious. Or in the case of the Boruca, the local indigneous tribe created an economic engine by crafting only the highest quality pieces of art, that other vendors struggle to mimic in terms of quality.

Furthermore, all the many small-scale and local hospitality businesses are competing to offer tourists quality and exceptional service to compete with the larger chains that have entered Costa Rica, like the JW Marriot, which have more resources. Finally, as Costa Rica continues to develop as a country in terms of technology and education, there are less farmers and producers, but instead more ticos in services such as tourism and hospitality. Therefore, in a growing service-based economy it is crucial that quality is of utmost concern, a concept that hits close to home here in the United States.

Blog 1: “Triangle of Solidarity”

Visiting the triangle of solidarity or triángulo de solidaridad undoubtedly left an impact on me, but not in the way I had expected. Before walking the streets of the poor ridden community I prepared myself for the worst, picturing horrific scenes and suffering people. I expected to see sad faces and people living in very unsanitary conditions. What I expected was for the people living in this community to act poor, beaten down by life, and defeated. My expectations were clouded by my first-world views and personal biases. Sure, I saw plenty of unsightly things in this community, including stray dogs, unsafe structures, dangerous wiring, piles of burning trash, polluted streams, and ankle high mud covering the streets. What I had not seen was a lost of spirit, instead, I saw people running businesses, children smiling, neighbors engaging in conversation, families spending quality time together, and above all else people living. I had gone into the community expecting people to be suffering not living their lives.

In fact, after leaving the community I had questioned myself as to why I had not been more impacted by what I saw, why did I not feel more sorry for these people (do I have a heart!). Then after reflecting, I realized that the question I should be asking myself is “why would I expect these poor people to be poor in spirit and broken?”. I can only attribute my falsehood and ignorance to my first-world view. I am accustomed to thinking that the poor suffer, because surely without money or resources they are unable to live comfortably or live a “normal” life. Even when I had seen two little kids crying as they were walking with their mother, I quickly assumed that this had confirmed my suspicions- people are suffering here! However, after taking a step back, I realized that what was more likely the root cause of these children sobbing was they had gotten in trouble for fighting or misbehaving- just like any other children their age. It was far more likely that these kids did not spend their days crying because they were poor or because they did not have material things, especially if they grew up here and this community was their home.

Again I say, I had entered this community assuming that poor in terms of money and possessions was almost equivalent to poor in spirit. If anything, I saw the direct opposite of this, as these Nicaraguan squatters were rich in sense of community and spirit. One example of community, is that the neighbors all share electric bills because there is no way to determine which house is consuming what. Therefore, the entire community makes sure that each other has a job, is working hard, and is fully capable of supporting the community. An example of a person with rich spirit, is a local man who had said “esta es mi pequeña aventura” when referring to his new house, which translates as “this is my little adventure”. This quote took me by surprise, imagine this man calling his small, dingy, and poorly constructed house an adventure!

Above everything this community seemed full of people creating a life with the resources they had, rather than focusing on what they did not have. I saw neighbors helping neighbors and everyone working in some form or another toward a common purpose: to live their lives to the best of their ability, whether that meant constructing homes, cleaning the house, earning a living, or cooking meals. After all, the community is called the triangle of solidarity not the triangle of suffering, and what I saw was rich mutual support and common interests.