This past week was the holiday of Semana Santa in Sevilla, which is a huge celebration leading up to Easter. During this time, many students and/or Sevillanos either watch the celebration or travel.
Many people, including myself, chose to travel instead of staying because the city becomes very, very crowded. People from all over come to celebrate Semana Santa in Sevilla every year.
At the beginning of the week, I went to Morocco with a group that had a Peace Corps focus. It was an amazing experience – the culture is beautiful, as are the people with their warm hospitality (my host mother wouldn’t let me stop eating). I have to admit, going into Morocco, I was expecting something different because it has a huge influence from the Islamic culture. I left with more of an open mind than I had before – even though there is definitely a huge influence from the religion of Islam, the country still holds progressive views, which I was very surprised to find out.
It was a great learning experience – we stayed with a host family for a couple of days, to learn about the hospitality of the Moroccan culture and to see what a typical home in the culture consisted of. (The food was so good and I am debating on decorating my house like that in the future). We also went to two NGOs that held bases for teaching women and men how to read and hold a trade in order to support themselves financially. This experience in itself was so rewarding.
Moroccan spices in a market
The picture above is of spices I came across in a Moroccan market – the smell was overwhelming when we walked in.
This is another picture of a market in Morocco – I was with some friends walking down the street.
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