Taroudant!

After a bus ride from Casablanca through the night we arrived a little after six a.m. yesterday morning in Taroudant. My teaching partner from the U.S. is Tom Gray from Maine. We make a good pair and are up for some adventure here.

We met with our host teacher Hassan Ait Man, got some sleep and then took a tour of the school we will be in during the next week. Again, everyone is so welcoming and happy to have us visit. The students who can speak English can barely contain their excitement to speak with Americans. It is a joy to see such enthusiasm and receive such a warm and hospitable welcome everywhere. We also got a brief tour of part of the city last night with Hassan, where we walked through part of the souk (market) and had another wonderful meal of pigeon tagine. I loved the Moroccan salad. The food here has honestly been exquisite, so flavorful and also healthy. Dessert can either be something with French influence or fresh fruit. For example, the other day it was a variety of fruit cut up and soaked in rose water. I'm not sure if I ever want to eat American food again.

Remember, I can only blog using the Blogger app, so I have to stick all the photos at the bottom of each blog and cannot write captions, so the walls you see are up to 900 years old. They surround the old part of Taroudant, and our hotel, the Salam Palais, is built into the walls. It was built in the early 1800s by the city's mayor who had 12 wives. It is a mixture of suites and walkways and gardens and is lovely. It is fragrant with honeysuckle.

Casablanca: Mostly Business, a Little Pleasure

Up early today and off to Casablanca on a much nicer bus than our adventure to Rabat from there on our first day. We observed to English lessons at a public then private school. They have some of the same issues we do in America with disparities between the two, but private are controlled by the government. They had a much nicer school than the public, and more technology, though, remarkably, the same high engagement among students. It was a grand occasion for them; it was obvious, and they certainly had to have selected prize teachers and classes. Nevertheless, it was inspiring. I watched a really outstanding example of a discussion on citizenship by the private school students in their 4th year English course. Their concern for others, awareness of world issues, and ability to construct an eloquent argument impressed me to the point of near tears. I cannot wait to be in a classroom teaching in the next couple of days.

The private school hosted a reception for us, and the students treated us like celebrities. They wanted photos and shared their tastes in American music (everything from Adele to Metallica).

Then we went to one of the largest mosques (though you cannot go in), which was along the coast, a beautiful place.

Finally, we walked along the coast, where I made friends with one of the locals, much to the chagrin of Ashley from New Mexico who was trying to hurry me along. He put his hat on me, so I am praying for no ramifications , and I gave him a little money. He spoke some English, and seemed pretty harmless. His smile was contagious. I could not resist the meeting.

Now I must wish my wonderful and talented daughter Avery a happy birthday. Avery, you make me proud every day, and I look forward to seeing the results of your creativity daily. Happy birthday. Time to stop and give you a call across the ocean...

Rabat: Education in Morocco

Our schedule today is much business, much like yesterday until 4:00.
--Foundations of the Moroccan Education System
--Meeting with President of the Moroccan Association of Teachers of English (pretty sure I will be able to understand this man:-)
--Meeting with Director of the Moroccan American Commission of Educational and Cultural Exchange
--Meeting at the U.S. Embassy in Rabat with the Cultural Affairs Officer, Matthew William Long
--Visit to Oulja, Sale' (an artifact village representing different regional Moroccan artwork). I'm looking forward to this!

Here are some things I've learned about education in Morocco:
1. Educational system first established by the French. The Ministry of Education (after Moroccan independence) introduced compulsory education in the 1960s, although attendance is not strictly enforced, especially in rural areas.
2. There are many private schools and the primary and secondary levels and one private university (Al Akhaway).
3. The majority of schools are public, and there are 14 public universities in Morocco.
4. Classical Arabic is the language of instruction at all levels. About one-third of students speak one of the three Amazigh (native) dialects (which has been accepted in the last few years as an official language). French was the sole language of instruction until the late 1970s to early 1980s, except religion and language classes.
4. Classes begin in early September and officially end on June 30. Students attend classes all day Monday through Saturday from 8:00 a.m. to noon and then from 2:00-6:00 p.m.
Moroccan Ministry of Education website (in English): http://www.men.gov.ma/sites/fr/English/default.aspx

Does the French chocolate dessert match my blouse? I may have to be rolled onto the plane after the culinary delights of this trip.

Today was not a very "touristy" day. We went to the Fulbright House here and had the cultural director at the US Embassy come talk, as well as the director of the Fulbright House. Also, another person from the Ministry of Education who deals with teachers of English talked to us about some of the reforms in Moroccan education.

We then did go visit an arts center where I picked up a couple neat pieces for gifts.

First Full Day: Rabat

Enjoying the capital city today. Thus far we have learned tidbits of the history, economy and values of Morocco. I was especially interested in the new constitutional changes since last year's Arab Spring. Morocco headed off protests with reforms for women's rights, although in practice they are slow coming.

Will post as the day goes, that goes for all my blogging. I am finding it is quicker to blog via my phone, using pics from it. So the great photos from my nice camera may wait until I return. One of the photos below is our hotel. The app for the iPhone does not allow for easy labeling of photos. It just sticks them at the bottom.

Went to a national director of education's office today. All had to be translated from French. In Morocco the largest part of their national budget goes to education. That is their future. Imagine what might happen if that were to occur in the U.S.!

Experienced currency exchange today and shopping in the market. What a cultural adventure! Bartering in dirhams and doing the math calculations in my head and trying to communicate all at once made my head spin a bit, but what a blast!
Then we had a 5 course meal at a fabulous restaurant. The main course was a chicken and phyllo type celebrational meal often served to mothers within days of giving birth. It is called rfsa.

It was after 10:00 when we got back to the hotel. I'm writing this shortly after so must finish. Time for bed! Still slightly jetlaggish. :-)

Layover inParis + Made it to Morocco!

This photo is indicative of the exhaustion and dehydration we felt after about 26 hours of travelling.

Landed on French soil, and stepped off on the Tarmac, so can say I've really been in Paris now. I enjoyed a black currant macaron with my new friend Ashley, a science teacher from New Mexico. In two more hours, we fly to Rabat. Almost there!

Okay. Spoke too soon. We were Not almost there. Upon trying to fly into Rabat, the pilot decided it was too windy. We flew to Casablanca, waited in Customs lines and got on a bus to Rabat. The best part of the story is that everything happened almost identically to what we were trained about back at our conference in D.C. last month. After getting on the bus, which we thought was taking off immediately to Rabat, an irate man in a Boston Red Sox jacket started yelling in Arabic and then in English that we all needed to get off the bus and convince the driver that we needed to go. He explained that he is Moroccan and that 2-3 minutes means 2-3 hours. We had spent at least an hour on the bus before it finally took off. Luckily we all managed to laugh at the situation. Five hours later than planned, we did make it to a great hotel and flavorful meal. I tried chicken tagine.

These teachers don't look irritated, but this is us standing in line at the Casablanca airport, waiting to go through Customs. It was a long wait!

Chicken Tagine. The tagine means that the dish was cooked in a tagine. These are small clay ovens, and they cook over coals or, more recently, gas, but can be baked in an oven as well. I'm purchasing one from World Market when I return.

Ashley and I enjoying a French macaron at the airport in Paris.

Circling over Rabat. This landing never happened, as described above.

Leaving Wyoming!

I thought it might be fun to show what I am leaving as I head to Morocco. This was me less than two weeks ago. Though the snow has melted some in the last few days here (pray for it to be all gone before I get back), it is still covering the ground.

High seventy degree temps, here I come!

Global Competencies Explained

These competencies are the focus of what we are challenged to promote and help students acquire. These are summarized from the Asia Society's Global Competence Matrix found at http://sites.asiasociety.org/education/globalcompetence/:

Investigate the World: Students identify issues, generate questions and explain the significance of those issues using a variety of international sources and media. Students analyze the evidence to construct responses to their questions and develop compelling arguments, which consider multiple perspectives.

Recognize Perspectives: Students recognize and express their own and others' perspectives on situations, events, issues or phenomena. They explain how cultural interactions influence those same situations, event, etc., including the development of knowledge, and articulate how differential access to knowledge, technology and resources affects quality of life and perspectives.

Communicate Ideas: Students recognize and express how diverse audiences perceive different meanings from the same information. They listen to and communicate effectively across diverse groups, using appropriate language and non-verbal behavior. Students use diverse and appropriate technology to communicate with others and reflect how effective communication affects understanding and collaboration in the world.

Take Action: Students identify and create opportunities for personal or group action to address the issues they have researched. They assess options and plan, taking into account varied perspectives, previous approaches and potential for impact. Student act in creative and ethical ways to make local, regional or global improvement, assess the impact and reflect on their capacity for causing improvement.