Morocco—Field Studies Blog
Sørlandet's Field Studies have enriched students’ understanding of history, geography and culture, perhaps none more so than those in Morocco. On the first of four days off of the ship, buses arrived early in the morning right on the dock to drive students from the port of Agadir to the remote Tighza Valley.
A four kilometer walk before sunset along the mountainside followed. Students and faculty found rest and green tea in a guest house, and there spent two nights amongst a Berber community —hearing calls to prayer, seeing preparations made for the festival of Eid, hiking in the day, sharing tagine and discussing what is being done to preserve Berber language and culture at night.
The second half of Field Studies in Morocco involved a different landscape: the desert. Students said their goodbyes to the Tighza Valley, hiking out after sunrise.
Then it was back to the road, which flattened until reaching the Erg Chebbi dunes, the westernmost part of the Sahara. On camels, students and faculty rode to a desert camp. Nomadic guides were pleased to share traditional music after dark.
Liz, a British national, was happy to tell students of her non-profit work abroad (providing women with goats as a means to support themselves sustainably) and the importance of economically empowered women in community.
The camel trek was without question the highlight of Field Studies in Morocco, but it was not the end. Students hiked a dune in the dark, just in time for sunrise. On the way back to Agadir, Ms. Curtin, a biology teacher, was thrilled to stop at a desert museum home to fossils once undersea.
Outside of Erfoud, students were given the opportunity to descend below ground to inspect irrigation channels carved out in the ninth century. And in Alt Benhaddou, students not only visited an historic World Heritage site, but the famed location of many classic films.
