A Free Afternoon In Meknes

We jumped straight into the day with our host mom's delightful breakfast. The breakfast of the day included some mesmen (a typical flaky Moroccan pancake), boiled eggs, steaming coffee, and some sweet bread. Our host mom never fails to have food prepared for us. If it's not a full meal, there's always tea and bread available at the table. After breakfast, our host mom accompanied us on the short walk to class, filled with lots of conversation. During class today, we had an excellent discussion about Cultural Dimensions and understanding Hofstede's cultural dimensions. We unraveled the "onion of culture" and discussed the different parts of culture, including values, rituals, heroes, and symbols. We ended the class by comparing similarities and differences of different cultures around the world to get a better understanding of every culture.

After making it back home from class, we were greeted by our host mom with a delicious lunch. We all sat around the table enjoying the meal and sharing stories about our morning. With a free afternoon, we planned what adventure we would do next with our host mom!

Loubya (Moroccan beans), Fish, Spinach, carrots, and bread

Once we finished our meal, the real adventure began! We started off by heading to the medina to look for some suvioners. We took a taxi with our host mom, and she took us to the hidden corners of the medina. It was very nice, it looked a little bit less touristy, but it was kind of like a hidden gem in the city. There, I was able to find some gorgeous traditional Moroccan earrings I will be taking back. We continued through the medina while we waited for her son to come and pick us up to head to their farm!

Entrance to Medina in Meknes

As soon as her son arrived, we traveled to their farm, which was actually pretty far. We were almost at Fes by the time we reached her farm. When we got there, we were greeted by her dog named Fiona and her cat, Lucy. We got to meet Lucy's recent babies, who were the cutest kittens I had ever seen! It was a beautiful view of the countryside and very peaceful compared to some of the cities we have visited. Our host mom made us some tea, and we all enjoyed a nice conversation in the open countryside air. I was surprised to find out they have a peacock as a pet! It was very large and pretty, but was also very scared, to my surprise. We got to enjoy a sunset there before we headed back and ended the day with a warm dinner as a family.

Picture of me at the farm during sunset, and another picture of the view when visiting their olive plantation.