Sardines, Surfing, & Students - Safi
Updated: Aug 18
Today we arrived in Safi! Safi is the pottery capital of Morocco and artisans handmake everything from plates, bowls, cups, and much more, all with stunningly detailed designs. Safi is also the sardine capital of Morocco, and some even consider it to have the best sardines in the world. I am not a big fan of sardines, but I did get several tins to bring home from friends and family.
Once arriving in Safi we checked into our beautiful hotel Riad Safi in the heart of the ancient medina. Safi is one of the oldest cities in Morocco, founded in the 5th century BCE and walking through the medina feels like walking back in time. Unfortunately, Safi experienced terrible flooding earlier this year and much of the old medina was destroyed. Many people lost their homes or businesses and it was sad to see how the floods had affected the community.
After settling into our hotel we headed out for our first visit to our host school CPGE Moulay Abdellah Safi! The school is a boarding school for students from all over Morocco. The school is for students to attend after high school, but before college, and most students were around 18-20 years old. The school focuses on engineering and prepares students for entrance exams into prestigious universities. We were greeted by Culture of Morocco presentations and had a chance to learn more about the students, their home towns, and the education system at the school.
On our second day in Safi, we visited the incredibly inspiring Édouard Manet School where they teach students K-12 in all core subjects and in art and music. We were greeted by a presentation from some of the students about the school, as well as a great musical performance (pretty sure we met the next Moroccan piano prodigy). Later in the day we returned to our host school to visit English, math, and engineering classes. Finally we finished the day off with some sightseeing at Ksar El-Bahr (ancient Sea Castle) and some pottery shopping in La Collin's Des Potiers (potter's hill) and purchased some of the beautiful Safi pottery.
Our final day in Safi started out with adventure as we visited the Safi SURF school (Safi is famous for big wave surfing) and took a dip in the Atlantic Ocean. The waves were too large for us to surf, but we did get a chance to practice hanging ten on the indoor learning surf board. Today was also our chance to get into the classroom and teach! Together, Josipa, Tori and I gave a lesson to students on the United Nationals Sustainable Development Goals. The lesson involved collaborative group work, hands-on learning, and public speaking. Many of the students came up to us after the lesson and said it was the first time they had done such an engaging lesson and they thoroughly enjoyed it. This made me feel a little sad and reflect that maybe school shouldn’t always be about rote learning and teaching to a test. Sometimes, learning can be more meaningful if students are interacting with each other and engaging in the learning process. I can't wait to have my students at Fayetteville High School collaborate with students at CPGE Moulay Abdellah Safi in more fun and engaging learning activities!
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