Moroccan Memories: Dan Reflects on Earthquakes, Culture and Camels | Waverly Journal

One year ago, Olivia Dunn was newly arrived in Morocco, preparing to begin her year as a Fulbright English Teaching Assistant at a Moroccan university in Marrakech.

And it was loaded.

“When I went to Morocco, I brought a big suitcase that was pretty heavy. It weighed about 65 pounds,” says the 2016 Waverly Shell Rock graduate. “I bought another suitcase while I was in Morocco. But somehow, the big suitcase I brought ended up weighing about 65 pounds on the way back, and I filled the new suitcase up, too.”

That school year, Dan not only collected a bag full of material things, but also a treasure trove of new experiences.

First, I traveled to North Africa for the first time, staying in the coastal city of Rabat for 10 days for training.

Then, the night before she was due to take the train to Marrakech, a powerful earthquake struck the interior.

It was September 8. The earthquake measured 6.9 on the Richter scale. The epicenter was about 45 miles southwest of Marrakesh. Her flight was delayed for a few days.

“Things were a little chaotic the first two weeks after the earthquake,” Dan told the Waverly Newspapers on Aug. 23, after returning to Waverly in July.

“Fortunately, things were pretty stable in Marrakech, because it’s a big city,” she said. “Because I was new to the country, it was hard to tell the difference between earthquake chaos and normal chaos at the time.”

In December, Don had the opportunity to visit the area south of Marrakech.

“We passed some small towns, and there were people still living in tents,” she said, “because those were the villages and towns that were most affected. I heard that it will probably take a year after December for them to be resettled.”

Fortunately, the winter was mild, with temperatures only dropping to around 50 degrees Celsius at night.

“It wasn’t cold by Iowa standards,” Dan said. “During the day, it was 60 or 65 degrees, which I thought was pretty cool, but you’d see people wearing big heavy coats and scarves and parkas and everything.”

It's been a huge change since Dan arrived in Morocco.

“We missed the hottest part of the summer, but in September and October, temperatures regularly reached 104 degrees during the hottest part of the afternoon,” she said.

“But I actually thought the colder months were worse. Most of the apartments and houses weren’t insulated against the cold and didn’t have heat either, so it was sometimes colder inside than outside. We were basically in an uninsulated concrete box that absorbed all the cold.”

Dan shared an apartment in Marrakech with another Fulbright English teaching assistant, and the two were both studying English at a medical school a 20-minute walk from their home.

Some of the Moroccan chaos that Dan referred to eventually affected their teaching assignments.

“We ended up changing colleges in the middle of the year because all the medical students went on strike,” she laughed. “They don’t like the French there because of colonialism, but it’s something they kept away from French culture.”

Medical students protested against policy changes at the university, as well as frustration over the rising cost of living.

“The students boycotted their exams in early January and never came back for the rest of the school year,” Dan said. “The first week of February came and went, and we still had no work, so we contacted the Fulbright people, and they ended up finding us a different place.”

Dunn and her roommate stayed in college, but instead of working with medical students, they started teaching business students. This shift allowed them to move away from the specific medical curriculum and focus on whatever they wanted as English teachers.

“I created a class that focused more on professional communication,” Dan said. “I found that a little easier than teaching medical subjects.”

It was not work as an English assistant that occupied all of Dunn's time in North Africa.

“I had the opportunity to travel a lot within the country,” she said, including to other major cities such as Fez, Tangier and Casablanca, as well as some rural areas.

“I did a three-day tour where we went to the eastern part of the country where the desert starts and visited some cities there and also spent the night in the desert,” she said.

This is where camels come in.

“We took a pickup truck to the beginning of the desert, and from there we rode camels into the desert,” she recalled. “It wasn’t a very comfortable experience. Plus, the camels were very tall and kind of stubborn. If they didn’t want to move in a direction or if they didn’t want to kneel down so you could get off, they would just stand there.”

Dan's camel didn't want to kneel so she could get off him, but the group guide managed to get him to cooperate. It turned out she could have faced worse challenges.

“I had a friend whose camel was biting. All the camels were lined up in a row, so the camel was constantly biting the legs of the person in front of it,” she said.

Dan said that riding camels was not easy at all.

“You’re on the seat, this kind of cushion. It’s held tight, but it takes a fair amount of abdominal strength to be able to hold yourself up,” she said. After the two-hour ride to their desert camp, “I felt kind of sore.”

When it was time to return from the trip, campers had the option of riding their camels or, for an additional $40, taking a four-wheel drive vehicle out of the desert.

“I don’t know if they intentionally put this option in place after you’re tired and in pain,” she said, “but a lot of us ended up renting an ATV.”

Dan was able to share her thoughts about travel with family members who visited her during her stay.

“My dad and brother came in January, and then my mom came in April,” she said. “They were really happy to travel with someone who knew the area.”

For example, she was able to advise them on what not to do, such as taking a car trip around multiple cities.

“Morocco is not a large country in terms of area, but it takes a while to get to places,” Dan said. “The roads aren’t as good as they are here in the United States. There’s no highway where you can go 80 miles an hour, so it’s a very long drive.”

Instead, her father and brother stayed in Marrakech, and the three spent the weekend in Casablanca.

Speaking about her time in Morocco, Dunn said: “I think the thing that will stand out most for me is how much emphasis was placed on family and friendships in everyday life.”

She said people spend time together on the streets, in cafes, and walking around at all hours, even during the work day.

“Even as foreigners, we were welcomed into people’s homes a lot,” she said, including sharing dinner with a local family during Ramadan, when they were breaking their fast that day. “And that was really nice. I felt very welcomed there. I think that’s what will stick in my mind the most.”

Enjoying Ramadan, the month of fasting, prayer and reflection that Muslims observe throughout the year, was one of the things Dan was looking forward to during her stay.

Her friends in Marrakech had warned her that people could get irritable during Ramadan, especially as they progressed through the month of daily fasting.

“Some places were closed during the day, especially restaurants and cafes,” Dan explained. “Then everything would close for a few hours in the evening when everyone was having breakfast. There was no one on the street or anything like that, which is very interesting in a city of a million people, where all the streets and sidewalks were empty.”

Dan found that as an American she stood out a lot, mostly as a subject of curiosity and an opportunity for locals to practice their English.

“Almost all the Moroccans I spoke to were very excited to have the opportunity to learn English or practice English,” she said.

She noted that the enthusiasm to practice English with her could sometimes be annoying, because even if she just wanted to run to the store, people would stop her on the street and want to talk to her.

“But most of the time it was just out of curiosity,” she said. “I think I probably found it easier than my roommate, who is six feet tall and has blonde hair.”

Dan is a petite brunette.

After dealing with frequent chaos and some frustrations, she believes working and living in the African country has taught her patience.

“I think it taught me how to be more open to letting things happen or being okay with the unknown,” she said. “If you talk to people [there]If you talk about something that will happen in the future, they will say, “Oh, that will happen, if God wills it.”

“I took an Arabic class where the teacher would end every lesson by saying, ‘Oh, we’ll meet on Monday, Inshallah, if Allah wills.’”

After returning to the United States, Dunn had a few weeks to relax and see her family before setting off on her next adventure. She left on August 26 to teach English at a university in Strasbourg, France, for nearly two years.

“I am so excited to have the opportunity to travel abroad again and teach,” she said. “I think it is a really unique experience.”

When Dan sat down for the interview, she hadn’t packed her bags yet, but she was trying to figure out what she would take with her to last a year or two. It was a daunting task.

“This time I don't want to pay for overweight baggage,” she added.

What Are The Main Benefits Of Comparing Car Insurance Quotes Online

LOS ANGELES, CA / ACCESSWIRE / June 24, 2020, / Compare-autoinsurance.Org has launched a new blog post that presents the main benefits of comparing multiple car insurance quotes. For more info and free online quotes, please visit https://compare-autoinsurance.Org/the-advantages-of-comparing-prices-with-car-insurance-quotes-online/ The modern society has numerous technological advantages. One important advantage is the speed at which information is sent and received. With the help of the internet, the shopping habits of many persons have drastically changed. The car insurance industry hasn't remained untouched by these changes. On the internet, drivers can compare insurance prices and find out which sellers have the best offers. View photos The advantages of comparing online car insurance quotes are the following: Online quotes can be obtained from anywhere and at any time. Unlike physical insurance agencies, websites don't have a specific schedule and they are available at any time. Drivers that have busy working schedules, can compare quotes from anywhere and at any time, even at midnight. Multiple choices. Almost all insurance providers, no matter if they are well-known brands or just local insurers, have an online presence. Online quotes will allow policyholders the chance to discover multiple insurance companies and check their prices. Drivers are no longer required to get quotes from just a few known insurance companies. Also, local and regional insurers can provide lower insurance rates for the same services. Accurate insurance estimates. Online quotes can only be accurate if the customers provide accurate and real info about their car models and driving history. Lying about past driving incidents can make the price estimates to be lower, but when dealing with an insurance company lying to them is useless. Usually, insurance companies will do research about a potential customer before granting him coverage. Online quotes can be sorted easily. Although drivers are recommended to not choose a policy just based on its price, drivers can easily sort quotes by insurance price. Using brokerage websites will allow drivers to get quotes from multiple insurers, thus making the comparison faster and easier. For additional info, money-saving tips, and free car insurance quotes, visit https://compare-autoinsurance.Org/ Compare-autoinsurance.Org is an online provider of life, home, health, and auto insurance quotes. This website is unique because it does not simply stick to one kind of insurance provider, but brings the clients the best deals from many different online insurance carriers. In this way, clients have access to offers from multiple carriers all in one place: this website. On this site, customers have access to quotes for insurance plans from various agencies, such as local or nationwide agencies, brand names insurance companies, etc. "Online quotes can easily help drivers obtain better car insurance deals. All they have to do is to complete an online form with accurate and real info, then compare prices", said Russell Rabichev, Marketing Director of Internet Marketing Company. CONTACT: Company Name: Internet Marketing CompanyPerson for contact Name: Gurgu CPhone Number: (818) 359-3898Email: [email protected]: https://compare-autoinsurance.Org/ SOURCE: Compare-autoinsurance.Org View source version on accesswire.Com:https://www.Accesswire.Com/595055/What-Are-The-Main-Benefits-Of-Comparing-Car-Insurance-Quotes-Online View photos