Coming to Fez, everyone tells you that it will smell, but you don’t realize how much until you get here. While walking up the tannery stairs, you feel your posture change, you try to block out the intense smell coming from the outside. You bring the top of your shirt in front of your nose and mouth, your facial expression changing to one of disgust. You bring in your head...
Read MoreCategory: Students
Morocco is an exquisite place where ancient traditions still reign. Also, Morocco is unlike any of the recent places that I have been since the medina and even the air itself are entirely different. One of the many unique things inside the medina are its arches. You may not even notice it, but when you look up from time to time, you will notice tiny details that you hadn't before. Another...
Read Moret’s been a week since I arrived in Rabat, yet so many things have already happened. We were invited to a traditional Moroccan dinner with dancing and singing, and some of us went for trips to the library or to the shore. Grade 10 had a scavenger hunt in Medina which included collecting pictures of cats, looking for tourists, and bargaining (even though my French is limited to ordering “café...
Read MoreWhen I first learned half a year ago that I would be hiking the Inca Trail, there were no words to describe my feeling of ecstasy. Not only were we going to one of the world's seven modern wonders, but we were also being given the opportunity to complete a five-day variation of the Inca Trail -- possibly a life-altering experience. From that point on the news stuck with me,...
Read MoreSouth America is home to many spectacular sights, both natural and manmade, but few -if any- capture the imagination and test the limits of visitors like Peru’s Machu Picchu. After taking part in the Inca Trek this fall, 11th grader Amy E. assessed her own experiences and compiled the following pieces of advice for anyone else planning on undertaking the hike of a lifetime. 1. Do not hike the Inca Trail...
Read MoreThe last minute packing of hopes and dreams and clean socks into a suitcase that threatened to spill over twenty three kilos wasn’t a new experience. I’d crammed enough times to know that I did not need four pairs of black jeans, but that I did need my birkenstocks. Because you learn that it doesn’t matter how Nico looks at you when you wear ‘socks and stocks’ - it’s your...
Read MoreWhile in Peru, Breanna Reynolds' humanities students selected a SPEED (social, political, environmental, economic, or demographic) factor to study in depth. In looking at the environmental factors Peruvians face, 10th grader Harry W wrote the short story "The Tree," which exposes deforestation and is told from the narrative view of a tree itself. Decades of existence within the woods enlightened me to treat every living form as one amongst us,...
Read MoreIt had been almost an hour, and due to the chilly morning breeze, the weather was quickly becoming unbearable. Having no other option, I waited patiently, but there were no signs of relief as I could hardly sense any movement on the road. With mixed feelings of excitement and nervousness, I stood there thinking about the long day ahead. “Will I adjust to my new urban environment?” “Can I compete...
Read MoreThis year Indian student Utkarsha V. introduced her fellow students to one of India's most festive holidays, Diwali, by staging a similar celebration in Cusco, Peru, as she would have experienced back home in New Dehli. Below you can find media from the celebration and a description of Diwali by Utkarsha herself. Diwali is an Indian Hindu festival that has been around for centuries as it is based on the...
Read MoreI have grown up by the ocean, where the raindrops never stop falling and where the air is always moist. The Sacred Valley during the dry season is the complete opposite to my hometown. The lack of rain turns everything into dust - the ground you walk on, the air you breathe, your cracked skin. It was here that I learnt the importance of a really good moisturizer. I learnt that...
Read More