Day 4: More about Morocco

            Today was a much more chill day than yesterday. The orphanage routine was much the same today as it was yesterday, as I think it will be each day. We washed, dressed, and fed all the children, taking a larger role than we did yesterday. I have officially fallen in love with a few of the youngest children, whose laughs melt my heart. Today I made an effort to stay inside longer with the smaller children and those unable to go outside before I gave in to playing with Nadir. Also, the lift that’s used to take the wheelchairs downstairs was broken, so very few kids were outside today.

            Back at Home Base, we had a feedback meeting about everyone’s placements, and overall, everyone seems pretty happy. I wish I had time to try everything! I would really like to teach English.

Then we had a lesson about Morocco. Mohammed talked all about the politics and the education system in Morocco and it was really quite interesting. He talked about the king, and how while he is praised for his successes, whenever something goes wrong, the prime minister (though following orders of the king) gets blamed for the things that go wrong. And that because of the way that the politics work, the king naming those to be on the election ballot, though he was given the names from people already in power (i.e. prolonging the rule of one of the 35 political parties in Morocco,) those people who are literate often do not vote because they see change as hopeless. We also talked briefly about women and how, since the change in political parties in the past few decades and despite the Arab Spring, there has been a shift towards being more conservative.

But what I found most interesting was the education system. Education is free for Moroccans and mandatory up through age 15, or grade 9. After that, the education is still free, but the children can only fail once before they are kicked out. Mohammed said that the children’s fate is decided by grade 9. If they are good at math/science, they go to a math/science high school and then attend medical school paid for by the government for the next 6 years. If they’re good at humanities, they will attend free law school. And the rest of the children, given that they make it through high school without failing out can attend free university, though it is not specialized. Despite government-funded schooling, unemployment of people with professional degrees is still quite high. Because of this, doctors and lawyers often leave Morocco and go to other French-speaking countries like France, Belgium, or even Canada to find work.

We then talked about our awesome weekend trip coming up. I’m not going to spoil everything just yet, but it certainly involves camels and a night in the Sahara. Muahaha I can’t wait!!

Just got back from a little dessert place with a few peeps. So French.

Meghan's Nutella crepe!

Sarah's cake

Claire's ice cream!

I didn’t take many pictures today, so here are some more cool ones from yesterday. Enjoy! :)

Fancy bathroom door

Another stage for the music festival

So. Many. Cats. in Morocco.

Cafe in the Kasbah

Fresh Squeezed Orange Juice

Hand of Fatima

Super windy

Ceiling of the Mausoleum

Handmade tiled wall in Mausoleum

-Allie