AZROU, MOROCCO, 9/1-14/2011

	Awesome! Exceeded my expectations! Wonderful Experience!

Those comments were typical of members of the September Morocco Exchange as the bus headed back to our starting point in Casablanca. We found Morocco to be a country of contrasts:  traditional dress/modern garb, donkey carts/four door autos, arid desert/lush green valleys, high mountains/coastal surf, elaborately tiled edifices/adobe dwellings.  Ask anyone who was part of the trip and hear more examples.  Our group of 14 FFGM members and eight other FF members from New Zealand, Brazil, New York, Tennessee, Texas, Sun Prairie and Iowa quickly blended into a congenial whole.  Neither Bob nor I fielded any complaints the entire two weeks! Well, maybe there were a couple in regard to the gambling game we played on the bus. J

Because Morocco FF clubs are developing and can’t easily accommodate homestays, most of our nights were spent in hotels. We did have two nights of homestays in Azrou with the new FF club there and enjoyed a celebration of the birth of the Lamrani family’s newest child.  We also visited an elementary school and the local hamman.  A second club is under development in Salé and several of us spent time talking with the leaders of that group about starting a club. We also had two nights of homestay in Salé, with families who will be part of the Azrou FF club. While in Fez, a mock wedding celebration was arranged by the Azrou FF, complete with costumed musicians, dancing, and a feast of lamb.  Two of our members, Dorothy Krupa and Joe Geck, were selected to be the wedding couple. Ivan Gruetzmacher and our guide, Ali Alami were costumed as the elders who wrote the marriage contract.  Our bride was not easily satisfied with the terms, and the groom had to give up more camels than he wanted to.  It was an evening that we will all remember.

~Mary Hauser