The magic of Morocco 🇲🇦

Datum: 04.12.2023
Position: Essaouira, Morocco
Geographische Position: 31° 31’ N, 9° 46’ W
Etmal: 0 nm
Total: 1151 nm
Schiff: Pelican of London

colonialism and the medina

Today, we had a chill day. After spending hours on an old bus the day before, our teachers surprised us with the opportunity for a long sleep. Everyone was happy that they could sleep until 10 o’clock in the morning. After a short morning meeting at the breakfast tables, we got to know the plans for the day:

Everyone had 1 1/2 hours of self-learning time, and afterward, group A had the honor of a history lesson with Tobi while the others were out on free shore leave. Afterwards, they switched activities. In the afternoon, when group A went out, we got ourselves some crepes and went for a walk around the medina. In the last 45 minutes, Philipp bought himself a Jeleba, a traditional Moroccan robe, to match Noé and Tobi. After the lessons and the free shore leave, we went to our restaurant to have dinner together.

SCHOOL!

In our history lessons today, we talked about colonialism and learned what the word means and when it happened for the first time.

Colonialism is defined as a group of people who take land away from other people without any diplomacy. The oppressors also try to change the indigenous culture and religion. Columbus, for example, wanted all of the native Americans to be Catholic. In Morocco, you notice the French influence in many ways. The first thing is that most Moroccans speak French as their first or second language, even though it isn’t an official language in Morocco. The second thing is that, for example, Essaouira is built in a French coastal style. It was designed by the guy who designed Saint-Malo in France. The food is also inspired by French cuisine. The pancakes we eat for breakfast every day are inspired by French crepes.

Good news 🗞

In the evening at dinner, Gregor gave us some updates about the upcoming days and the Pelican. Our sailing ship is still in Lisbon and is getting serviced, but it looks like we can return to our beautiful ship soon! Maybe it’ll change, so we’ll see. Until then, we enjoy our stay here in Essaouira with free shore leaves and SURFING! On the 5th of December, tomorrow, we will be going to surf 🏄‍♂️ the second time. We are all very excited. We will be split up into our Watches to go surfing, making a 2 1/2-hour shore leave and having some self-learning time as well.

Straight-Wave (white) surfing how-to:

Book a surf lesson at a surf shop so that a local guy can teach you the basics.
Take your board to the beach and repeat your knowledge in the sand.
Go into the water and spot a nice breaking wave 🌊. Wait until it comes close to you.
Stand in the water with your back facing the wave and jump on your board with your chest touching the middle part of the board.
Make some nice deep paddle moves to catch the speed of the incoming wave.
If you feel the wave carrying you, push yourself, with your hands close to your chest, up and stand up on the board. Your front foot should be around the middle of the board to help your balance.
Enjoy the wave you just caught and pump a little bit with your knees to stay in the flow.

P.S.:

P.S.: Niklas, ich wünsche dir für den 07. starke Beine, tolles Wetter, gute Laune und ganz viel Ausdauer. So gern wäre ich bei Dir. Ich bin unfassbar stolz auf dich und liebe Dich! ~ Luise