On Saturday morning we had our first day at Braheim's public school in Aourir. The small town is a few miles up the coast from Agadir and is known for its amazing bananas and as the entrance to the Paradise Valley.
Even though it's only a short distance from Agadir I found the atmosphere and students very different than in town. The Aourir is not as wealthy and the school has very few resources but the students were very genuine and open to us.
The first couple of periods of the day I hung out with the sports/Physical Education teacher. I was skeptical going to the class because the other public school classes I had seen where roll out the balls classes. I was pleasantly impressed with the P.E. class. It was very structured and we'll run. One thing I liked about his structure was that the students were assigned to balanced teams for the whole semester. The teams were indicated by soccer teams such as FC Barcelona and Manchester United jerseys.
I spent both periods helping the girls with their basketball passing and dribbling skills during some drills and games. I loved seeing how they responded so positively to just a little bit of coaching. With a few suggestions I could see improvements in their play. I also enjoyed talking to the girls about their interests and what they liked to do for sports and to stay active.
The rest of the morning I spent in the classroom with Michael and Braheim. One of the sports classes that I had worked with was in class with us which helped because I had already met them. The last class was an incredibly amazing class of seniors with very high English. We had interesting discussions about women and work. I primarily talked to the girls who had mixed opinions but most thought women should not work once they had children.
One of the highlights of the day was that some of the young women brought us gift of milk and dates which is a traditional greeting for Moroccan guests.
After the morning classes the Principal invited us to lunch at a local restaurant. The food was amazing, the Tajines were the best yet. Another cool thing about the meal was that two of Braheim's students worked at the restaurant. They took us down to the kitchen to show us how the Tajines are cooked and how the bread is baked. This was a true treat of an experience and I was very thankful for the students generosity.
After the lovely meal we had sometime to relax. A little later we went for a pre-shopping trip around the souk. This was our reconnoissance mission for the some of our souvenirs.
The final expedition of the day was to go to the highest point in Agadir that overlooks ocean. Agadir Ouffla is an ancient fort that overlooks the ocean and was the only building to survive the 1967 earthquake. It has an outstanding view and an amazing sunset. What a day!