Thursday, November 8, 2012

Learning about Morocco



This month for World Travelers Club we learned about the North African country of Morocco.



 Learned about travel by camel...and did you know that camels have 3 eyelids???
Lydia learned about Henna tattoos.

She learned that henna is a plant.  That it was once used as hair coloring before commercial hair dyes were available.  In some cultures, henna tattoos are used to ward off evil.  And some cultures believe it blesses a family with good fortune.
We mixed according to the instructions...and waited....

But it still turned out weird.  We tried to make a turtle on her arm.  She hated the feeling of the henna paste.  So she washed it off.  After about an hour, there was a slight orange color to her skin.
So I gave up and we just copied some of the designs on her arms....she was happy then.


Joey learned about Leather tanning....this is a tannery in Fez.  They still do it the same for hundreds of years.  Fes is famous for its leather products and most of it comes from the leather bazaar (souq) in old Fes. The tanneries have been in operation since medieval times and little has changed.  This is one of them.
Joey and I visited a friend on Sunday who tans leather and she explained the process that is used in our country, which is similar and yet a bit different than Morocco.
He was not thrilled with touching a dead animal.
 He also watched this great video:

These are the facts that Joey discovered during his research online:
  • They have lots of racks of animal skin
  • They wash the skin
  • They change the water each day
  • They use natural acids
  • It takes a long time to make the leather.

The girls really liked the Mosaic art...
They made special boxes and created their own mosaic tile design on top.





And what would a Geography study be without cuisine....

Moroccan Chicken

Very yummy...a little over cooked, but still good.



2 comments:

  1. I think touching the animal would have grossed me out too! I love the henna art. What a great variety you have included in this learning unit! Thank you for linking up with us over at NOBH!

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