Placement Information

The school that we chose is called George Washington Academy. It is an American based school within Morocco, Casablanca.The school is a trilingual school where the students speak English, French and classical Arabic they pride themselves on having both cultures co-exist within the academy. The staff at the school are from diverse background and different countries. The majority of the teaching staff are from America and Canada but have a lot of experience teaching in different countries around the world such as, France, Israel, Spain, South Africa, India, New Zealand and Australia. As it is a private school they have set fees which include:

Membership Fees 2009-2010

This placement would be a good choice to make by someone as they would get an insight of the Moroccan and American education curriculum and atmosphere. It would be a great educational experience where you can build your personal skills too in the long term.   

Accommodation

For our accommodation we chose to stay at the Business Hotel Casablanca. The staff at the hotel are very friendly and helpful but there is only a limited amount of English. Rooms are very clean and big, room service is available at a price and rooms are cleaned everyday. The accommodation was approximately 20 minutes maximum to and from the school. However Casablanca offers many affordable accommodation options which you can book as a package holiday with your flight costs. You can use websites to help you compare and get quotes such as:

www.travelrepublic.com

www.thomson.co.uk 

www.expedia.co.uk

 The view from the window from Business Hotel, the busy streets and buildings which are busy till very late at night, very lively.  

Transport

The best way to travel is by Taxi, the best Taxi service is Petit Taxis which are small and red and only cater for three passengers. If you wish to travel long distances then you will need to catch a white taxi, although these are more expensive. You all so need to ask them to put the meter on otherwise they may charge you more. To investigate other parts of Morocco you can travel using the bus service or train services where they can take you to Rabat, Agadir, Marrakesh and Fez, which are the best travel destinations.  

The Petit red taxi.                                                       Traditional way of stopping a taxi in Morocco. 

Social life

Casablanca do offer a nice community atmosphere if you know people there, however you need to be careful if going out late. Casablanca offers the world's second largest mosque known as the Al Hassan II Mosque which is beautiful. You can also visit restaurants which are very nice and stylish, they also offer nice shopping areas known as the Habouse and Madina, however you do need to Barhta with the shop owners as they try to charge you more. You can also go to the beach known as the La Corniche where you can explore the waves and beautiful weather. 

All the amazing stalls of Casablanca within the Madina and Haboose. The beautiful Al Hassan Mosque at the worlds tallest minaret at 689ft.  

Things to do, things not to do

Try not to talk to people you do not know, especially men as they stare at you because you are foreign. Also prevent yourself from going out too late as it is not safe to go out alone etc. Try to write down contact numbers in a dairy in case you loose your phone also put your belongings in the hotel safe and keep your suite case locked when going out. 

Useful Contacts

Business Hotel: Casablanca-Anfa Boulevard Abdelmoumen, Morocco +212 022 47 47 09

Hospital Ibn Rochd/ Casablanca- Anfa Phone number: +212 22 26 51 02

Cell number for a duty officer who you can contact in case of an emergency if after scheduled hours at Casablanca: +212 61 17 23 67

School contact details: www.gwa.ac.ma/  Address: GWA, Km 5,6 Route d'Azemmour - Casablanca, Morocco | Phone: (+212) 522 953 000 Email: contact@gwa.ac.ma

Before you go

French is mostly used in Casablanca, as well as Arabic. Make sure that you have basic french and arabic phrases such as "can I go ....." or "how much...?" or "where is the beach?" etc. Taking a dictionary with you may be very helpful too. 

Arranging costs for travelling approximately and is done before plenty of time of placement:

-Travelling/flight to country: £150.00

-Accomodation for 18 days: £450.00

-Travel costs from Airport: £24.00

-Travel costs to placement and hotel everyday: £4.00

-Costs for sigthseeing/visits: £30.00

-Food cost everyday per person: £7.00

-Insurance: £10.00

However costing for everything depends on whether it is a group or an individual booking.

No visa required

Costs