Trip Home

   I got to Casablanca a day before my flight, so I got a hotel room with shuttle service to the airport. The hotel was nice, and there was a pool, so I went swimming and then went up and had a nap. Then I went for supper and slept till it was time to leave for the plane.

   I arrived in Montreal first. I went through customs in Montreal, and I did not take my luggage through. My luggage was not put on the plane because I forgot it at customs, but they FedExed it to me anyways. In Montreal, I went and got a poutine at the Montreal Canadiens pub. It was a pretty great poutine.

  It was then mostly uneventful till Saskatoon when I learned my luggage did not make the flight. I was not too concerned because I did not leave anything essential in there. Then they said it would be mailed so I had no worries at all.


This is the last of my blog posts for Morocco. Thanks for reading.

Riding a Donkey and Visiting a Mosque

    The interfaith club organized an event were a bunch of us went out to a small co-operative outside of the city. Most of us rode a donkey they had there. I have been told that the donkey must have been tired after because from the pictures it looks like the donkey and I are about the same size.

   They also had a bunch of rugs that we could buy for 300 dirhams (about $30). I bought a nice blue one that I have at home now, and plan to use as a beach blanket. A picture and a short biography of the woman who made it is attached to the blanket as well, which I think is cool.

   After everyone got their donkey ride and bought their rug the people at the co-operative made us tea. It was good tea, and it was really nice of them to make it. After that, we all went back to the university.

   The same group organized a chance for us to visit the mosque at the university. We got to observe during prayer time, and then after we had tea and cookies. After the tea and cookies, we all sat in a circle, and the Imam said a few words. The Imam then answered a few questions that people had about Islam and anything else that was relevant. I really enjoyed this experience, and I am glad I took the opportunity to visit.


These were just a couple of things I did that were just a couple hours, but I thought were worth mentioning.

Thanks for reading,

Stuff at the University

This post will be about the stuff I did while at the University.

My Classes:

• Thermodynamics
• This class is one offered by the engineering department at the Al Akhawayn, and it covers the same material as a physics course I need to take at the U of R. Unfortunately the Al Akhawayn version of the course doesn't have a lab component, so I will have to take the U of R course later anyways.
• The professor of this course taught in Alberta for a while
• Beginning Arabic 1
• This course covers the basics of Arabic like the alphabet and simple phrases.
• I was disappointed in my progress in Arabic, and I think I will have to try harder to learn it next time I have a chance.
• Data Structures
• This is a Compter Science course, and it transfers to my degree as a CS elective.
• It is classified as an elective, but almost all other CS courses have it as a pre-requisite, so it is basically required. 
• The professor of this course taught in the northern mid-west of the USA.
• Engineering Statistics
• This course transfers over as my basic statistics course.
• The professor of this course taught in Quebec, and her son was born when she was in Quebec, so he is Canadian.

Exercise Clubs and Swimming:

• Extreme Sports
• I went to one training with them, and it was fun, but I got busy with the other clubs
• This was probably the most extreme workout I have had up to this point.
• Kick-Boxing
• This was another club I participated in
• It taught the martial art kickboxing and some other martial arts.
• It was also a pretty good workout.
• Quankido
• This was a club I went to once
• It was also martial arts, but I decided to do kickboxing instead.
• Swimming
• This is the activity that took over all the others 
• After awhile I was swimming so much that I stopped going to kickboxing as well because my muscles were sore from swimming.

I lost around 60lbs during my time in Morocco, and the main reason would be these workouts. 

Clubs:

• Computer Science for Innovation
• This was a club dedicated to computers, programming and other stuff like that.
• They also did some unrelated stuff that is also fun.
• I spent the most time with this group
• Mechatronics Club
• This club did a lot of work with engineering stuff, and it was very fun.
• Because of this club, I started learning more about Arduino and such which is a very fun thing to do
• Wikipedia Club
• This is a club that works to create more interest in Wikipedia and to help around the community.
• The people in this club were very fun to be around.

This sums up most of my on campus life. Thanks for reading

Trip to Agadir

    Leo, Katie, Anna, and I had gone on a trip to Agadir before I went to Essaouira. Agadir is a lot like Essaouria, but a little bit bigger and more things to do.

    We took the night bus in, so we arrived in the morning and saw some sights. The one museum had was dedicated to the indigenous people of Morroco, and the other was about an earthquake. We also saw gardens. After that, we went to the beach. The beach was really nice, but it was busy. Then we went and found our hostel.

   At this hostel, there were not as many people as the one at Essaouria, but it was still nice. The next morning the owners of the hostel did make an awesome breakfast for us. There were a couple interesting people at breakfast, and they were nice to talk to.

   After breakfast, we went for a hike to what is called 'Paradise Valley.' There was a place to jump into the water, but I didn't bring my swimsuit, so I didn't jump in. After awhile I was going to jump in with my shorts, but then someone got injured at one of the bottom cliffs. We all wanted to help but thought we would just get in the way since there were already so many people trying to help. We turned back.

   When we got back, we went to this other beach right beside the hostel. The other beach was better just because it was bigger and easier to find a place to sit. This beach was still nice to swim in though. After the beach, we went back to the hostel. Katie ended up making us supper with the cooking stuff that the owners of the hostel have for customers to use.

   The next day Leo, Anna, and I went to the other beach while Katie went surfing. We had lunch at a place which served beer, and that was my first beer in Morocco. When it became to go back to the bus station to leave Katie was not back yet, so we assumed she had just gone straight to the bus station. We then left for the bus station as well, and we met her at the station. That was the end of the Agadir trip.


Thanks for reading.

Trip To Essaouria

    When I arrived at Essaouira I went and checked into my hostel. I then went for a walk along the beach, but I didn't go too far. I had lunch at a restaurant on the beach. There was not many places that served Morrocan food, so that was dissapointing. When I got back to the hostel I went up to the roof and socialized with some of the workers and other people staying there. Staying at the hostel was a few Canadians, Europeans, Morrocans, and people from a few other places. A group of us went out to a local pub nearby, and then I went to bed. 

    The next day I went back to the beach and walked for hours looking for an end to it. I walked for around 2 or 3 hours in one direction and still could see no end, so I concluded that there mustn't be an end to it. I then started back, and when I got back to the hostel I had a nap because I was so tired from the walk. When I woke up I went and socialized a bit, and then we had supper at the hostel.

   The workers at the hostel make a Morrocan supper for 60 dirham ($6) when there is a few new guests. It was a great supper and it was nice to meet all the people staying at the hostel (some were not on the roof before). After this I went up to the roof again for a couple of hours, and then I went to bed.

   On my last day, I went back to the beach and read on my Kindle or slept till I had to leave. After that relaxing trip, I went back to the University for finals.

Sorry for not making these posts sooner. There is at least two left and then that is the end for my Morrocan blog.