One More Class visit then the Beach

We went back to our host teacher's school and were once again blown away by the presentations that the students had created to tell us about Moroccan culture. Once again the students planned the whole series of presentations and had assured their teacher they had it in hand. I loved that the teacher was able to trust the students and the students lived up to expectations. In addition to the various components of Moroccan culture, every student was dressed in traditional outfits from various parts of the country. It was so fun to see the range of the manner of dress celebrated by the students. We ended the session dancing (well, trying to do one of the traditional dances) with the students.

After such an amazing time with the students, it was hard to pull ourselves away from it. But, then it was fun to look forward to our "Girls' day at the beach." What a treat to spend bonding time with our host teacher and her friend in Essaouria! It feels like I now have life-long friends in Marrekech!

After lunch and some shopping (the shop was approved by our two experts as having good prices), my host teacher found a great location for me on the beach. It was great people-watching and just relaxing for a change. The others were able to do their own things that they wanted to do and it seemed like all of us were able to have the day at the beach that we wanted. It was perfect!

Seeing the beach town was a great way to appreciate the range of cities/towns in Morocco. Even though Marrekech is a great city that is so warm and inviting, Essaouira is very relaxed and it feels like a place that one can unwind in and let go of the stress of the city. We all voted that our host teacher should move there so we can visit her in the city when we come back to Morocco. Lol.

Tips for future TGCers - small bills are really hard to get and keep. They go very quickly. However, I finally made use of the larger bills since I went a bit overboard buying gifts at the store that had the good prices. The store did not take credit cards so I was glad that I had gotten some money out from a nearby ATM prior to entering the shop. Some ATMs limit the amount you can withdrawal (e.g. $200 max) so be sure to plan accordingly. Luckily I had enough from the ATM and other bills I still had to cover the costs but it was tight.

Accessibility - The town was lovely. It didn't seem as difficult to walk as other cities we had visited. The ocean breeze also helped making it feel more comfortable temperature-wise. Speaking with my partner teacher (who did more walking there), she felt that it would have been very doable for me had I not been so sore from the day before. Still, I loved relaxing on the beach (under a nice shady umbrella). There were some steep stairs to get in/out of the beach area but the gentlemen that worked there were great in lending a hand (no handrails on the steep stairs that went up and over the break wall). Once again, the Moroccan people are so generous and made me feel very welcomed even though I needed a hand getting in/out of the area. Obviously, the sand would be difficult for some to walk on so if that would be a problem for you, you might wish to spend time at the nearby cafe with servers delivering various sodas/water/juices.