Day 1: All around Fez

I felt safer in Fez.  We've been to Medinas in Rabat, Marrakesh and Fez and I thought all these would just be the same but I noticed that the people in Fez are less aggressive.  They tend to smile more than the others as well.  I also noticed that some of the sellers here speak English so it was easier for us to bargain. 

As soon as we arrived in Fez Yamanda, we just dropped our bags, waited for Thami (our guide) and off we went to a seven hour walking-tour around the labyrinth medina.  According to Thami, there were over 80,000 souks in the medina.  It was soooo large that it’s easy to get lost in it. You can’t tour the medina via a car as the alleyways are so narrow.  Also, it is best to do the tour on foot as you will be able to see and experience more of the city.  

Hammam Experience -- felt like a fish being scaled :-)

Had a great first face-to-face meeting with our clients Monday morning at one of the Government Ministries. It felt like we were at some government official meeting.  According to one of my teammates, it was like we’re in a peace treaty meeting with other government official from different countries. The meeting was led and hosted by Abdelmounaim Guessous who is the Minister of Economic Affairs. We had translators interpreting the presentations for us since most of the conversations were in French. Our team was divided into 4 groups and our clients are as follows: The Ministry of Agriculture, The Ministry of General and Economic Affairs, ARDI Foundation, and Moroccan Women Mentoring/Networking.  I was assigned with the Moroccan Women Mentoring/Networking organization and I am partnered with IBM Australia’s representative, Tracey Pickersgill.  We were tasked to make a 2 year strategic action plan for the organization and make recommendations for marketing, communication and financial sustainability.  I took a shot of our meeting place and here’s how it looks: