NSLI-Y Morocco Students Experience the Desert
From June 28 through June 30th the students were on their desert excursion to Merzouga. The group took a bus on Friday the 28th from Rabat to the Middle Atlas town of Midelt where they spent the night.. From the town of Merzouga they trekked into the desert on camels and spent the night in a Bedouin camp.
During the trip the students had a lot of chances to practice their Arabic. Most of this practice time came when the group would stop for snacks and the students had to ask how much? where? and haggle as best they could. One of the stops was in a town called Erfoud. Students visited the traditional market place in Erfoud and the students all bought turbans. They all practiced their dialect skills as they tried to get the lowest prices possible. At one point the resident director even taught a group of students an Arabic nursery rhyme.