Inside Student Blogs

Sean Conard Rabat, Fall 2011

Sean Conard is a born-and-bred native of Green Bay, Wisconsin. He escaped to the fields of Iowa to attend Drake University, where he thrives as a junior, majoring in International Relations with a minor in Business. This Bulldog stays busy with multiple activities on campus, acting as the co-Editor-in-Chief of the Drake University independent Newspaper, an active member in the school’s improvisational comedy troupe, a game-day volunteer for the sports marketing department, and the host of a weekly radio show on the campus’s radio station. Sean is journeying abroad as a novice, having never left the United States before. Experiencing a non-Western culture and language will be a challenge that he has been planning for over a year, beginning his Arabic studies last fall. He hopes to learn more about himself, Morocco, and the world as a whole while in Rabat, and also to drink fantastic mint tea!

Sean's Posts

• An American-Moroccan: A Year Later

  11/29/12 • (0)

  I feel like if IES asked, I could write a reflection post on my time in Morocco every day. My time abroad is not just a monolithic period of time that I memorialize, but a series of experiences that permeates my everyday, American life.

  Morocco, Rabat, Returning, Study Abroad, Travel

• Home, Home Again

  1/09/12 • (0)

  If I could summarize the last two weeks of my life with a single word, it would be “weird.”

  Morocco, Post-departure, Rabat, reflection, Study Abroad

• #ThisIsMorocco

  12/14/11 • (0)

  We all knew that our study abroad experience would be unpredictable and Morocco has more than satisfied our need for unpredictability. Beginning in the first few days of orientation, the phrase popped up (its exact origins are unknown) as a response to any ridiculous moment that reminded us that we were nowhere near home.

  Fall 2011, Goodbye, Morocco, Rabat

• I Choo-Choo-Choose Train Travel

  12/04/11 • (0)

  But there is a unique feeling one gets while traveling by train. We are very lucky to have Morocco’s cheap and relatively efficient train system to traverse the country. One can go round-trip from Marrakech to Rabat (about a 5-hour ride each way, and there are shorter and cheaper fares as well) for around $30, and for most Moroccans this is the only long-distance travel option.

  Morocco, Rabat, Study Abroad, trains

• Thanksgiving in a Country That Celebrates It Weekly

  11/28/11 • (1)

  Turkey Day hit the United States today, but it passed throughout the rest of the world without so much as a whisper. Admission: Thanksgiving is my favorite holiday of the year, even trumping Mr. Kringle’s December juggernaut.

  Fall 2011, Homesickness, Morocco, Rabat, Thanksgiving

• Sean’s Blog—Now With Science!

  11/14/11 • (1)

  I have many good things to say about the Moroccans I have met. A majority, upon first meeting, have welcomed me warmly into the country.

  Fall 2011, Morocco, Rabat, Science!, Study Abroad

• Lessons From Europe

  11/11/11 • (1)

  Fall Break finally came to IES Rabat, and we 28 students could not have been more thrilled to take that break from our super stressful and difficult lives studying abroad in an exotic location halfway around the world.

  Europe, Fall 2011, Morocco, Portugal, Rabat, Spain, Study Abroad

• The 4 “C”s of Morocco

  10/27/11 • (0)

  I’d say I’ve gotten to know Morocco pretty well in the past two months. I feel like I can talk as a minor expert on the country, in that I can now identify its location on a globe.

  Fall 2011, Morocco, Rabat, Study Abroad

• Café, Coffee, قهوة

  10/13/11 • (0)

  Normally, I hate clichés. I don’t want to be like everyone else (hence why I’m studying abroad in Morocco), because I’m a unique snowflake and I’ve been told so since kindergarten.

  Caffeine, coffee, Morocco, Rabat, Study Abroad

• It’s Not All Travel and Happiness

  10/07/11 • (0)

  My advisor told me before I left that studying abroad is like a roller coaster; there will be ups and downs, but the goal is to hang on while you can and enjoy the ride.

  Angst, Morocco, Rabat, Study Abroad, The Bad Times

• Regarding the Time I Walked Through the Medina Without Pants

  9/21/11 • (1)

  Nothing (emphasis on the NOTHING) can prepare you for the cultural bolt-from-the-blue that is a trip to the hammam.

  Hammam, Morocco, Rabat, Study Abroad

• Cavities: The Least of My Problems

  9/12/11 • (0)

  I’m fortunate enough to describe myself as fairly well-adjusted to Morocco so far. I’ve picked myself up off the canvas quite well since I took that early punch of Traveler’s Sickness.

  Fez, Morocco, Nomnomnom, Rabat, Study Abroad

• No, Seriously–Don’t Drink the Water

  9/06/11 • (2)

  For someone who’s never left the U.S. before this month, it feels like a dream. In fact, the only bad memory of the country I’ve had so far is my fault.

  Fall 2011, Morocco, Rabat, Study Abroad

• Fall in Rabat: Testing My Brevity, Melanin, and Gastrointestinal System

  8/30/11 • (3)

  There are a lot of clichés I can use to describe my prelude to studying abroad in Morocco this fall. I think an emotion that would be more accurate right now is something along the lines of “scared like i’m the last survivor in a horror movie.”

  Morocco, Pre-Departure, Rabat, Study Abroad