Day 11 - Arrived in Marrakech

by Natasha & Carlotta
This morning, after boarding our bus, (which has become more or less of a second home to us) we headed out for Marrakech. Ghali took us to a few villages along the way, as an opportunity for some shooting. At the second village, Carlotta discovered a small bread shop, where Ghali bought us all some deliciously fresh Moroccan bread loaves as a good-bye gift. Upon arriving in Marrakech, the group was quite sad to see our beloved tour guide leave us, but he’s promised to visit us in New York!

After settling in to Hotel Akabar, we set out for the bustling of night-time Marrakesh, which was absolutely fascinating. The narrow alleyways (much like Fez) are lined with vendors, dancers, snake charmers, and so much more. Where we wandered the Jemaa El Fna square, smoky scents of traditional food and Moroccan incense followed. Marrakesh is far more modernized than any of the other places we’ve visited here in Morocco, and so the energy in the night-time square was invigorating and thoroughly exciting, despite our fatigue from the day’s travels. Jin Haeng was even able to convince a great number of both natives and tourists to partake in his growing portfolio of “let’s go!” candids.

Although we would have loved to take our time shopping, we didn’t have much time wander today. Tomorrow and Monday, however, we plan to spend what few Dirhams we have saved on plenty of gifts and goodies.

Day 10 - Ait Ben Haddou

By Sara and Hannah
This morning, after a satisfying breakfast of bread, jam, and Moroccan style donuts, we headed back to our hotel to gather our belongings for the day ahead. Yet again, Nick misplaced another object (his wallet, this time). After a thorough search it was found in his camera bag.

Instead of our usual bus ride to a given location, this morning we rode donkeys (and a select few rode camels – Kenny, Natasha, and Carlotta rode them with pride), across a stream, to the Kasbah Ait Ben. This Kasbah happened to be the spot where the films Gladiator and Lawrence of Arabia were partly shot. Our host served us tea and almonds, and showed us his personal art gallery. Afterwards, we did some light shopping in the area, and had opportunities to shoot some photos.


Next, we returned to our donkeys and camels (it was quite the wet ride across the river for some of us, the tall camels were especially handy in this situation) and headed back to our hotel briefly before a very delicious lunch on a sunny rooftop. Surprisingly we did not have a Tangine, but chicken skewers instead…quite exciting!


After lunch we went to to do a very specific shooting assignment, as given to us by Alexis. We were to shoot a faceless portrait, a self-portrait, and a photo in which you were to tell a secret. Each person grouped up with a peer to work on their assignments. The aftermath consisted of several pairs of dusty pants, and some really great shots. Afterwards, we drove back to the hotel, washed up, and we are now waiting to finish (hopefully) our last round of critiques with the cast of American Idol.



“Let’s Go!”-

A Korean hand movement with the purpose of exciting someone

Day 9 - Driving through Typical Villages in the South of Morocco

by Taylor and Nick
Last evening, we continued our critiquing into the wee hours of the night… and by critiquing, we mean an ongoing rendition of American Idol (Alexis:Simon.Kenny/Bill:Paula,and Kerry:Randy). Thus far, all of us have learned a great deal from what our peers and teachers have had to say about our work (no matter how harsh the criticism may seem at the time).
During the critiques, the term wrastling was born. According to Alexis, wrastling is a less-intense version of wrestling (so as not to put our Ross School dignity in jeopardy!) Several wrastling matches are scheduled between pairs of students, and it’s suspected that Hannah L. may end up being a super-star wrastler... stay tuned for scores.
Early this morning, we boarded our bus, and stopped along the way to photograph some sheepherders and their flock. A few of us lucky ones even got to cuddle with a baby goat. Several sanitary wipes later, we crossed the desert sands and found ourselves at an oasis in the Dades Valley. Here, we explored an abandoned town similar to yesterday’s beauty shot location, Tinghir.
We walked around most of the oasis before departing in order to move on to Ait Benhaddou, where we are spending the night. Although the hotel is quite comfortable, the high winds in the valley cause several intermittent power outages. A few of our more squeamish peers have become known as shrieking banshees of the darkness among the hotel’s guests, along with our notorious army of glowing apple computers.
After dinner, we once again huddled around the hotel’s television, computers in hand, to continue our critiques. We viewed our fashion images from yesterday, and got an interesting look at the dos and don’ts of the new (to us) branch of photography.

As a note, our portfolio site hasn’t been up to date lately due to the fact that we haven’t had a very stable Internet connection at any of the recent locations.
Tomorrow’s assignment, as given by Alexis, is to photograph a faceless portrait, a self-portrait (to be taken on self timer), and a secret. Our location for the shoot will be an empty Kasbah, with plenty of interesting nooks and crannies for our photography.
And while we’re working away at our assignments, we have one for you! Make sure to comment on all of our blogs and photos, so that we know you’re out there and following us!

Day 8 - Road of 1000 Kasbahs

Today, after reluctantly leaving the Cherugi Hotel, we headed to the Todra valley, where the Todra River crosses a vast oasis. In the valley, there exists a beautiful set of Moroccan ruins. On the way into said valley, Alexis improvised an assignment for us, based on fashion and beauty photography (our group was to take turns photographing one another).
Mass amounts of makeup later (including Daniel, my partner, who was so obsessed with his eye liner that he spent a large portion of the bus ride on it), we arrived on location and started snapping!




After our beauty shots were complete, we went to Todra gorge.. and of course, Todra Gorge was simply GORGE-ous! The rocky mountains surrounding a soft, bubbling stream made for some great landscape photographs.

We arrived at the hotel around six thirty, and the sky was already darkening. We shared a quick dinner, and then did some more critiquing of student images before a much needed rest.

Some vocab!

English word	Arabic word
Thank you	Shoukran
You’re welcome	Afwan
Welcome	Marhaba
Hi	Salam Alicum: (Peace be upon you)
Good morning	Sabah Lkhair
Good evening	Masae Lkhair
Good night	Laila Saida
Bye	Bisalama
No	La
Yes	Yah
How are you?	Labas
I am fine	Mezian Hamdoulah
Cheers	Bisaha

Day 7 - Sunrise in the Sahara

Early in the morning, once again, we mounted the camels to view the sunrise. We literally got the feel of the Sahara when several people, especially Rachael, got dragged down a 40 foot sand dune by one of the our berber guides.

After departing the desert, we headed to Maison Gouareg (the home of the "Blue Men People"). The Blue Men were named so because they would rub a great deal of indigo on their skin, in order to protect them from the sun and diseases (while they attacked caravans in the desert!) The house was a basically a big shop full of beautiful antique accessories, home decor, clothing, lanterns, etc...
Haggling was at an all time high today, as Hannah and Suna were able to bring down a "golden" ring from 200 to 5 Dirhams. Jocelyn showed her wild side by buying two daggers while others stuck to rugs and jewelry. Several of the other girls were able to cut down the prices from numbers of 300 to 150 and below.
Leaving most of our Dirhams at the Blue Men shop we headed of to the Rissani Market to do a little exploring. Looking like tourists with our cameras in hand, we set into the market. While wandering through the market, a lovely little spice counter caught our eye. A vendor behind the spice stand couldn't help but notice Alexis and Kerry as out-of-place Americans, and proceeded to snap some pictures of them on his cell phone.
After several purchases of curry spice and mint tea we continued our sally. Further in, we stopped to take some snap shots of donkeys, which were being sold for about $120 USD as transporters for local vendors. Alexis (being the animal person that she is) bonded with a small calf.
As we entered the sheep market, we were immediately dismayed at the sight of one of the lambs being tied up for transport. We took some cuter snap-shots and set out for some lunch.
At the Hotel Kasbah Ashaa, Natasha was greeted by the hotel cat and then quickly bonded. They sat together for the entire lunch, as Natasha snuck it tidbits of food.
After lunch, we headed off to our larger-than-life sand castle, the Kasaban Hotel Chergui. After eyeing the pool from afar, a couple of students decided to take a quick dip in the freezing water. After a refreshing leap into the pool, students relaxed by sleeping, listening to music, working on their journals, and then sleeping some more.
Now, we’re off to a group critique, and then dinner at the hotel.

Jocelyn and Suna

Day 6 - Drive, Drive, Drive

Justine and Catherine
This morning, we awoke at six because we had an eight hour car ride ahead of us. We ate breakfast, and were out of the Hotel Batha by 7am. On the bus ride, Sarah J. discovered (from Kenny) that apparently you don't have to lick the back of the stamps as of 5 years ago. Once settled, everyone on the bus fell into a shallow coma due to lack of sleep.
Out our windows, those of us who were awake saw the Atlas mountains, which the Berbers control. Those of us who went so far as to decipher the sounds coming from Ghali’s microphone also learned that weather changes very rapidly in Morocco (eg., from being cold in the snowy mountains, to the hot Sahara desert). Ghali also informed us the the weather and the length of days in the Sahara, strangely enough, are similar to Dallas, Sydney and Los Angeles. The weather in the Sahara is very polar; that is, it is sizzling hot during the day and freezing at night. Not the greatest camping conditions- but we had camels to ride!
Before we got there, we stopped at Hotel Kasbah Asmaa for lunch. Afterwards, we stopped for a panoramic view of the area (Arfoud). The region holds a record for one billion palm trees! It is also known as the biggest oasis in Morocco.
Once we reached our destination, we were greeted by the Berbers, who led us on camels deep into the dunes to photograph the sunset, which was breathtaking. Getting used to camel back was more challenging for some, as apparently camels are subject to violent mood swings and fits of discontentment. Jin Heang fell off of his camel twice, naturally.
(As an aside: most of the camels names were Bob Marley, Jimmy Hendrix, and Jackie Chan.)
After we had returned and gotten settled in our sleeping tents, we shared a traditional Berber supper. The food was accompanied by a live Berber music performance.
After dinner, everyone danced around the fire to the drumming and singing. Some of the people danced enthusiastically with the Berbers (including Jin Haeng, who did not hold back any of his signature moves). Later on, the musicians told us that they are straight descendants from the ancient Berber tribes. They told us jokes in Spanish to entertain us (which Suna translated.)
For example:
Berber: "Why are there waves in the ocean"
Ross Kids: “Why”
Berbers: "Because of the fish!"
(What?)
For the rest of the night, we danced and sat around the fire under the stars, whilst listening to Lucie and Rachel's improvised scary stories... which remain to be continued.

Just so all of you followers who are now knee deep in snow (p.s. it is brisk and delicious weather here) we will be heading off to the desert "think sheltering sky, Bertolucci," riding off on camels to see the sunset.. (be a little jealous) but sadly, we will not be in contact while we are sleeping in tents with the nomads, and staying in a beautiful hotel in the middle of the desert. we will re connect as soon as possible, have fun with your snow.

Day 5 - Fez

Today was a day filled with haggling, learning, shopping, teeming streets and near death incidents with donkeys! Our day six journey began with a visit to the Kings Palace in the new city of Fez. We admired the ornamental mosaics and the mammoth sized doors. We then continued on to the first Jewish quarter of all Morocco. Jews first settled in Morocco when the Romans invaded it in the first century A.D. Jews were moved from the medina to the mellah in the 14TH century by the Merinedes Dynasty. Most Jews left Morocco when Israel was first founded. Nowadays about 1% of the Moroccan population is Jewish with the largest community in Casablanca; about 4,000 Jews still live there.  When then drove to a fortress over looking Fes, which is considered one of the best views of the three distinct areas in Fez with very different characters.. After our amazing views we moved on to Mr. Serghini Maître Potier’s pottery house. We then got a step-by-step tour of the process it takes to make beautiful pottery.

STEPS:
1. Kneed clay to get air bubbles out
2. Shape clay on foot powered pottery wheel
3. Let dry for a week
4. Bake in Kiln
5. Paint designs
6. Bake again in Kiln

We then had a quick shopping excursion after watching some of the pottery being made; we then made our way into the medina of Fes. A medina is term used to describe an old fortified city. The medina of Fes is the oldest part of Morocco and the most complete Medieval city all over the world. It is known for its vast markets and winding roads. We were immersed in the different smells of the olive stands, butcher shops, fruit stands, etc. The award for the most aggressive scent that we encountered would have to go to… The Tannery! The tannery was an experience in itself, despite the pungent smell. A tannery is a place where people dye and produce leather products. We all got to practice our haggling skills with the venders. Suna, Rebecca, and Sarah were crowned the best hagglers of the day! Daniels hat was even temporarily borrowed by a worker…and soon returned.

Today we got to explore the narrow paths throughout the medieval city and experience a whole new part of Morocco. We even learned that donkeys ALWAYS get the right way mainly when someone shouted BALLAC! Throughout the vibrant colors and crowed streets we had an amazing and different day.

NEW Vocabulary

WHINGING- complain persistently and in a peevish or irritating way : stop whinging and get on with it!

DEMERIT- a mark awarded against someone for a fault or offense.