Beach Day!!

Our first full day in Morocco began after a well-needed full night of sleep.

We ate a traditional breakfast with handmade pastries, cafe au lait, jus de mangue, jus d'orange,
and homemade bread and noodles.

The boys knew that a trip to the beach was on the agenda and decided to get their beach bods ready.

Once we got on the bus, it was time to head out for the day. We first went to a Portugese fort from 500 A.D. Then we visited an estuary

and a reserve where we took many photos, both serious and goofy.

Marita and Matt befriended one of the many cows that wanders the city.

At the fort, Mr. Defaa and his nieces and nephews posed for a family photo.

When we visited the estuary, we saw a lot of different kinds of flora and fauna and posed for some group photos.

After that we headed to the beach. When we got there, Mr. Defaa alerted us that it was "the most dangerous beach in Morocco," so we shouldn't go in the water. We ran around in the
sand despite the strong wind and chilly temperatures. We managed to get one group photo but moments after the photo was taken, a wave caught us all by surprise and soaked our pantlegs
with ocean water and sand.

We decided to head to a cafe to get drinks before we went back to the house in Kenitra to freshen up.

On the way home we stopped at a fish market and got some shrimp and calamari for our dinner feast. It was cool to see but it didn't make the bus smell great....

We returned to the house where we've been sleeping to get ready for dinner. We eventually headed to Mr. Defaa's brother, Achmed's, house. He is a professional chef so our expectations
for dinner were high. Dinner went above and beyond those expectations though with legs of chicken, a type of pie that contained the fish we bought earlier, noodles, chicken, and lots of
vegetables.

After dinner we all hung out drinking tea, enjoying desserts, and talking until 2:30 in the morning. It didn't feel that late to most of us though because the time difference between
the east coast and Morocco is 5 hours, so it only felt like 9:30 to us! All the fun did take it's toll on us though because we all slept until 11:30 the next day!

Our First Day

Hello everyone! We are very excited to start this adventure and begin sharing it with you. Our journey started on Thursday the 21st when we left the school at 12 30pm
and took the Boston Express to the Logan Airport. Our entourage includes Mohamed, Nada, Imane, Aziz, Linda, Remy, Jeff, Matt, Chase, Marita, and Hannah. After a hectic session o
f checking bags, we survived and ate some classy airport dining. Most of us got through security
without issues, but Hannah, Imane, and Nada, had to turn back and get new boarding passes because their names were written in the wrong order. We rushed to the gate and
made it onto our Iberia flight just in time.

Merrimack High School in the Madrid airport to view a beautiful sunrise!

It was a grueling 7 hour flight to get to Madrid, with poorly timed lighting, inadequate food choices, and insomia (except for Matt...lucky duck). Overall, there was not
a lot of turbulence and we made the trip relativiely well. We made short friends with a very kind Israeli woman on our flight who happily showed us her granddaughter's baby
photos and we hope she had a safe journey home.

The boys all hanging out and making waves in Madrid.

We were able to relax a little once we got to Madrid, but we still had to wait 4 hours for our flight to Casablanca. Entertaining ourselves was easy, and the airport in
Madrid was absolutely amazing!

Waffle ceiling...that is all

The mountains behind the runway...pretty awesome!

The whole gang after arriving in Casablanca

Most of us slept through our one hour flight to Casablanca- we were all exhausted from a long flight and a long day that was far from over. Going through Casablanca customs was 

pretty easy and were united with the Defaa's family very soon and the adventure truly began. Unfortunately in all that travel, Hannah lost both her watch and her camera along the 

way. Hopefully nothing else happens! After picking up our crazy amount of luggage, we got hooked up with our own van and our own private driver that we will have for the next two

weeks. From Casablanca, our next stop was Kenitra where we would be able to relax and meet the rest of the Defaa family.

"There are so many colors" -Marita

The ride to Kenitra was extraordinarly beautiful, and it was hard for all of us newcomers to realize that we were actually finally in Morocco! The fields lining the road were just

so green, and sprinkled with patches of yellow and orange flowers. There was SO many animals including lots of horses, donkeys, cows, goats, dogs, and loads of sheep!

New Best Brothers

The students have quickly become good friends with Defaa's children Aziz and Imane. We make a fun group!

The view from the rooftop of the Defaa family 

It was a blustery day of 65 degrees fahrenheit and best part...NO SNOW. After a crazy day of travel, it was wonderful to see our final destination. After seeing the skyline of Kinetra, 

the trip became more real as we stared at such a different universe. This is unlike anything we have ever seen before in America and it is truly a once in a lifetime experience.

Our delicious appetizers and tea

After settling in to Nada's mother, Hafsa's, house, we were quickly bombarded with food and people. The Moroccan living room consists of long couches that line the walls that make 

lounging and hanging out a constant acticity that encourages laughs and chats. The immersion of language was incredible, and the number of conversations in thee different languages

was astounding.there were so many plates and so much food we believed it was early dinner.

These weren't even desert...midday snack at 4:00 pm

Honestly, we thought this was the dessert...we were mistaken. Filled ourselves with these wonderful homemade cookies...little did we know there was a dinner to look forward to.

First Course

Our first dinner course in a traditional Moroccan home. Rice, mayonnaise, tuna, tomatoes, potatoes, cucumbers, lettuce and cheese began our filling meal. 

Course number 2

A fish full with crazy amounts of spices and vegetables. It was surrounded by olives and bean spread with wonderful warm bread. (way better than the frozen bread on the airline.)

Form a line ladies

After a day and half with very little sleep, we got a little too imaginative. Remy decided that the dead fish needed some love, and got a little excited.

Remy goes in for the kill

deciding a smooch wasn't enough, Remy goes and tears the poor beast's tongue out!!!

The Jeff Marchesano mating call (actually just eating a jalapeno)

Not wanting to be out-weirded by Remy, Jeff decides to down an entire jalapeno pepper and not drink anything for 3 minutes 

First night in Kenitra comes to an end

From left to right: Aziz Defaa, Matt Marchesano, Remy Watt, Chase Terranova, Marita Dancy, Imane Defaa, and Hannah Dutton

With full stomachs and memories to last a lifetime, We turn in for the best night sleep in a while, and looking forward to the beach day tomorrow.

Trying our hardest

We're trying our hardest to post...but Internet connection is scant and it's hard to charge equipment, but we're having a lot of fun and taking some great pictures that we will hopefully post soon!

Au revoir!!

The Moroccan troup