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South Shore Drill
Team Tours Morocco!
From March 17-24, 2005, the South Shore Drill Team
visited Morocco and performed in Casablanca, Rabat, and Marrakesh.
The tour group included 41 members of South Shore Drill Team, ages
13-21, and ten staff and parent volunteers. The trip was organized
by Chicago Sister Cities International and underwritten by the Comer
Science and Education Foundation.
Our young performers prepared for the trip by becoming familiar
with Moroccan customs and learning dance routines to Moroccan music.
Chicago Sister Cities provided three orientation sessions to help
the youth learn what to expect in Casablanca. The teens' important
role as ambassadors for the United States was emphasized by drill
team staff.
The Chicago delegation on the trip included a dozen students from
Walter Payton College Prep and representatives of the organization
Seeds of Peace, which promotes world peace by bringing together
young people of different cultures.
Chicago and Casablanca have been sister cities since 1982.
The South Shore Drill Team members enjoyed meeting kids their age
from Morocco and seeing the sights. The team received many compliments
on the members' behavior. While some were nervous about their first
airplane ride, they all had a great time and are ready to travel
overseas again!
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Photos by DeMarco Small
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Enjoying
a dinner in the woods and sampling McDonalds in Morocco
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| "What made the first
day good was when we went to a big dinner to welcome us to Morocco."
— Denzel Shaw
"Man, were the people of Morocco
nice to us! They treated the boys like kings and the girls like
queens."
— David Winters
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| Hanging
out with team members and making new friends…. |
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"I
made a lot of friends. I even have a pen pal now." —
Natalie
Jones
"The
most fun I had was when we went to visit people in their homes.
They made us feel welcome."
— Anthony
Cain
"Over
all Morocco is a kind-hearted country with caring people that will
like you for who you are, not what you got."
— William
Charles
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You never know what you'll see on the streets
of Morocco!
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"We went to this
restaurant with karaoke. There was so much stuff that I didn't know
about people on the drill team, like the fact that they can sing."
— Crystal Williamson |
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Creating excitement with each
performance!
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"People
climbed trees to see our drills. It made me feel good inside that
people actually appreciated us."
— Antonio
Lee
"When we performed for the city it was amazing, the crowd was
amazing. I love performing and to see the looks on the faces of the
audience; it feels like we're connected."
— Anthony
Cain
"On
the last night we went to a party so everyone could say good-bye
to each other. We danced and did a show. Everybody had a lot of
energy for the last show in Morocco."
— Matias
Purnell
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| Experiencing a different
culture…. |
 "I
always wanted to go to another country and learn new things and meet
new people. I really enjoyed myself in Africa." — Greg
Morgan
"After our show and parade on Sunday, we
got to go play basketball, get on the computers, and play soccer.
I was one of the ones who was playing soccer, and trust me, it is
a whole lot harder than it looks." — Khela
Winters
"The Drill Team made history, because on March 20, 2005,
in Rabat, we marched in the first parade ever held in Morocco."
— Corvette
Shores
 "At
the end of a show in Marrakech, they had fireworks for us, and they
lit up"SSDT - CHICAGO". It was beautiful." —
Lorenzo Dunn
"It was exciting because I've never been
anywhere near an airplane or airport, so it was cool. The overall
trip was a once-in-a-lifetime experience for me." —
Laquan
Afolayan
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