THE PICTURE SHOW

Here they are, finally!

SAHARA

A building in the desert

driving to the dunes in land cruisers. this was pretty extreme. 

camels, chillin'.

sunset

BENSMIM 
(village in the Middle Atlas Mountains)

A beautiful, peaceful little town nestled in the foothills of the Middle Atlas range. My program was here for 2 nights, I wish we had stayed longer. Village life is slow and thoughtful, the people are warm and everyone says hello. 

My friend Taylor roomed with me in Bensmim. This was our bright little breakfast nook. Our window overlooked the fields below.  

Ran into this little guy walking through the orchards. 

Host mom Amina and little brother Aman.

fields, outside Bensmim

THE MOUNTAIN!!!!!! 
(Toubkal - High Atlas Mountains)

The crew, getting pumped before departure. We stayed the night in a small little town called Imlil in a wonderful little house with our guide, Mohammed, before hiking out to base camp the next day. Our morale is high now, it will go through many ups and downs in the next 2 days.

we walked out through several tiny mountain towns. 

 

Grace and Taylor*

We reached base camp after trekking just over 10 miles. We would spend the night here, and with the rise of the sun would begin The Ascent the next morning. We met some silly Europeans, ate good food, and snuggled in tents. We also had some unexpected snow that night. It was cold. 

6 am

Skip forward about 4 hours (apparently I forgot to take more pictures in the haze of my determination and exhaustion), and here I am on the 2nd highest peak in Africa** This was I think the most physically challenging thing I have ever done. The air was so thin, the air was constantly escaping me. It is also recommended to do the entire trek in 3 days - we did it in 2. But absolutely no regrets - it was one of the best things I have ever done. Being up there felt AMAZING.

 Enthusiastic Spaniards. We are pretty sure they ran up the mountain.

After reaching the summit, we needed to book it back to base camp and then back to Imlil all in one day, so we'd be able to stay the night in Imlil Saturday night and catch our train from Marrakesh (about an hour from Imlil) back to Rabat on Sunday....so we could go back to school Monday. We were walking from 6 am to 7 pm beginning before the sun rose and ending after it set. Over 20 miles that day (in total, we hiked over 30 miles in 2 days). It was a long, long day. My legs were DESTROYED. It is Wednesday and it is still a sight to see, watching me try to climb stairs. 

Things I will remember next time I climb a mountain:
1) do more than 150 calf raises in preparation.
2) buy real pants
3) stretch.
4) DON'T WEAR COTTON

These weekend trips have been spectacular, each one distinct and thrilling in its own way. But I have to say, the last one is winning out thus far. I still feel giddy thinking about it. 

This weekend will be a much needed break. I am going to relax, sleep, and get to know some new places in Rabat. Oh, and study for midterms. BOO. 

I have been thinking a lot about home and what it means. Feeling so lucky to be where I am and to have a place and people I love back home. 

Things continue to be hard and good all at once.

With LOVE. 

sonya.

* in MORDOR

** Next stop - Kilimanjaro! ha.