(The itinerary for
the 2004 program will be similar, although the program will begin around May 10
and end around June 7.)
(Most of the pictures on this website were taken by Larry Rathbun -UGA program
student- exceptions noted; to see the pictures, click on the links.)
May 17, Thursday : Fly to Morocco, (a
small map of
May 18, Friday:
Arrive
Arrive
Morocco, (a
detailed map of
Depart
Arrive
at
May
19,
Saturday morning:
Orientation
at the Center for Language and Culture (CLC) followed by Lunch
Here UGA program
students are discussing their daily plans at the CLC (Center for
Language and Culture)
May
20, Sunday
morning, Tour of Marrakech
which contains many masterpieces of traditional Moroccan art and architecture,
once of which is the Ben Yusuf
Madrassah, containing among other things, exquisite cut-tile mosaics and
Islamic plasterwork.
Here is a close up of a marvelous example of the Madrassah's traditional
Moroccan plasterwork
and also Islamic
interlaced geometric designs in metalwork
Sunday
afternoon, Introduction to Arabic and Adab
May
21-25,
Monday thru Friday, Classes at CLC
May 26 to May
28, Saturday, Sunday and Monday
-
Depart for trip to the southeast of
After entering the High Atlas mountains, the group stopped under a tree near a mountain
stream for a roadside
picnic
Not long after crossing the crest of the High Atlas
range students
paused before an oasis in the Dra Valley against the backdrop of desert
peaks). And here the student
travellers on the road to Zagora
-
Staying in Zagora on May 26 and 27: Hotel Palmerie. One
of the sights near Zagora was the famed Manuscript
Library of the Naseriya Zawiya
Outside of Zagora, here we see students riding
camels among the desert dunes
Here is Katie
(from George Washington University) mounting her camel along with Sharon (from UGA)
astride her desert steed.
Just before the the sun set, one of the students, Tariq (from
UGA), was nearly caught by a sandstorm.
May 28, Monday Return to Marrakesh via the world historical
treasure of the Casbah
of Ait ben Haddou, and here again is Casbah of Ait ben
Haddou, seen closer up. A few of the more intrepid students
chose to go rock the Casbah at its top.
May 29-30 Tuesday, Wednesday
Classes at CLC
May 31,
Thursday
Day trip to Tinmal (picture
from the web)
June 1-2 Friday, Saturday
Classes at CLC
June 2,
June 4, Monday , Tuesday, Wednesday, Thursday and Friday:
-
Travel to Casablanca (visit the Hassan Thani
Mosque, which is the second largest mosque in the world --seen here at
night [mosque pictures from the web] ) and Rabat (Chillah, Tour Hassan)
In Rabat our group entered the Merinid fortress
called the Chellah Here is a close-up of the Chellah Gate
Within the Chellah, students (and Moroccans, seen here) visited a pool containing
sacred eels and regarded by some Moroccans as possessing special baraka
(spiritual power).
-
June 4, Hotel Royale,
June 5,
Tuesday -
depart for
Volubolus, ancient Roman ruins,
where the students attended to a Sufi music
and dhikr performance of the Hamadsha Sufi order, part of the Fez Sacred
Music Festival. On the way to Volubolus, we visited the shrine city of Mulay Idris. (picture from the web)
-
June 6, Wednesday
Tour of Fes,
where students visited a madrassah,
made their way through the often narrow
streets (where we found one of students, Brendan, from the University of
Charleston)
Among the sites of
Visit Merinid Tombs, where we had a
nice view of the
sunset over Fes.
June 7, Thursday
Tour
Fatima Siddiqui, talk and discussion
on women in
June 8, Friday return to Marrakech
On the way, stop at the English language
university, al-Akhawayn
In the vast suq (marketplace) in Marrakech, there are many local crafts
available for purchase at reasonable prices. Here, having taken time off from
her medical school program in
Class in the morning CLC
In Marrakech, the most well known of
its architectural features is the Minaret of the
Kutubiyah Mosque
Tour of the tombs of the 7 saints of Marrakech
Day trip to the
Shrine of Sitt Fatima, in the Mountains outside of Marrakech, Urika.
After a nice walk in the pleasant mountain air, the caretaker
of the shrine served us tea and lunch.
Classes at
CLC
June 13,
Wednesday
-
Leave Marrakech –
-
Arrive
-
Arriving
-
Hotel Steigenberger
June 14,
Thursday
-- Fly out of
