During our orientation to Rabat, we drove into the medina to take a walk through the traditional souks - most of which have only been updated by their wares. The busy market was filled with people, mostly Moroccans, making purchases and enjoying the presence of their neighbors. The stalls were filled with everything from ceramics, spices, teapots, scarves, djellaba and other traditional clothes, black soap (for visits to the hammam), lanterns, argon oil, mirrors, and carpets (the traditional wares) to cell phones, jeans, purses, sports attire, Converse, Nikes, and so many t-shirts (the modern products).
Another day after class, at the request of our students, we met by the medina for them to show us some traditional aspects of their culture. This visit through the Rabat souks, we had much more time to view the gorgeous (mostly) handmade items and with the help of our students, learn more about them!
The next morning we woke up to a beautiful blue sky and shining sun and ate our traditional Moroccan breakfast (yogurt, Berber whiskey, bananas, and so much bread) with our guide, who was recommended by many past volunteers. Rather than heading straight into the desert, we spent the morning walking the town's gardens, the highlight of which was the irrigation system - despite being in the desert, the primitive system was far more sophisticated than we could've imagined and drew water out from channels underneath the sand to hydrate the gardens of herbs, dates, figs and fresh food for the village. After we moved to a Berber shop, where we were provided a lesson in the many types of Moroccan carpets - the plain cotton flat woven killims, the more hearty killims made of cotton and wool, the knotted carpets, the flat woven and then embroidered cactus silk pieces (more suited for wall hanging), the low pile rugs that reminded us of traditional oriental rugs, the red and black striped Berber blanket rugs, and the new hilly scenic flatwoven design. This lesson was accompanied by the traditional mint tea and hard sell, to which most of us folded and bought a rug, and none of us left without making a purchase of some kind. From there we headed to Khamiliya Village, established by former slaves, to listen to the local people play gnawa music.
After another 5 hours in the car, we arrived back in Rabat in time for dinner, where we shared our great experience with the rest of our housemates.