Day 79: Morocco

Six Reasons Why I Love Morocco

It has been quite awhile since I posted, not do to lack of material, but rather the opposite. The last few weeks have been packed with some of my best and worst moments in Morocco. I traveled across the country for a week with friends over fall break, welcomed family to the Maghreb, and experienced the fantastic kindness of Moroccans again and again. But I also witnessed the slaughtering and skinning of two sheep on my terrace, spent way to many hours on buses, slept on top of the sheets in questionable hostels, and got quite sick. The highs and lows left me exhausted, and honestly, a little homesick. My best memories were overridden with the bad and I was finding it hard to get my “balance” back. To help myself out, I wrote this list of things I love and will certainly miss about Morocco. Happily, this therapeutic exercise, time with friends, and a return of my health has put me back on track to enjoy the last month of my semester. So here it is…

Six Reasons I Love Morocco

1. Mint Tea

A staple of Moroccan culture and a sign of the country’s abundant hospitality, mint tea is everywhere in Morocco. Whether enjoyed at my homestay with my Moroccan family or at a café with friends the tea always represents a delicious and relaxing break to my day. 

2. Hanoot Guy

A Hanoot is kind of like the Moroccan equivalent to a convenience store. The store space itself is always tiny but the shelves climb all the way up the walls and are stuffed with cookies, candy, chips, soda, yogurt, tuna, jam, bread, fruit, cheese, toilet paper, deodorant, shampoo – anything you can think of really! The man who owns the hanoot next to my school is possibly the nicest and most patient individual I have ever encountered. At least once a day I buy something from him – water bottle, kitkat, Pringles – and every purchase leaves a smile on my face. Hanoot Guy, as we have come to call him, happily puts up with my shabby darija and always has exactly the snack I am looking for. On more than one occasion a student has left something (lunch, book, cell phone) amongst his produce and only to see it emerge from behind his counter on the student's next visit to the hanoot. 

3. Café Culture

Moroccans love cafes. Its one of the many holdovers of French colonialism, but one that, along with fantastic pastries, is appreciated by all. It is perfectly acceptable to linger at a café for hours after ordering only one cup of coffee, or better yet to hop from café to café all afternoon in search of wifi, plugs, or some quiet, as we students tend to do. The pull of the café is so strong that my Moroccan Literature professor has conceded and allowed our class of four to meet in the café next to school. Any of my study abroad troubles melt away with a perfectly steamed café au lait and a croissant au chocolate. 

4. Dollar Dirham Exchange Rate

One dollar = 8 dirham. Delicious rotisseries chicken, fries and bread from Atlas Chicken = 25 dirham or $3. Two nights in a charming riad/hotel in Essaouira with on suite bathroom = 250 dirham or $31. It is incredible. Not sure I will ever re-adjust to the dollar, let alone the Euro. 

5. The Language Blend

Keeping up with four languages (English, French, Classical Arabic, and Moroccan Arabic) has severely limited my ability to speak (or think) comprehensively in one. Consequently, I tend to blend all of them in crazy combinations like, “Bishel for ca?” (Bishel = how much in Moroccan Arabic and ca = this in French) or “La, shoukran (No thank you in Moroccan Arabic) juste le the pour moi” (just the tea for me in French).  Luckily, Moroccans tend to do the same. It is totally normal to here Arabic, French, English, even Berber used in a Moroccan conversation. For me, this mélange is a symbol of the cultural acceptance found throughout Morocco and a fantastic testament to the incredible Moroccan capacity for language acquisition. While the mix leaves my brain (and tongue!) constantly confused, it also gives me a unique opportunity to communicate. Moroccans are always willing to talk with me in any language or, more often, languages that work.

6. Emails From Friends and Family Back Home

I have certainly missed my family and friends here, the distance has allowed a rare form of communication to emerge – the written word. The emails I receive here, whether short notes typed in only a few keystrokes, or long epistles with the smallest details, always give me an amazing sense of joy. I relish the sense of contact with the U.S. - that strange OTHER country that at times really does feel 3,786 miles away. And typically, the act of writing forces my correspondents and myself to be more expressive. Stories get funnier, emotions get stronger, and I feel a greater sense of connection. And while the letter may have been replaced by the email, the sense of excitement when a new message arrives in my inbox has certainly been maintained. Best of all, the messages stay safely stored in my inbox – accessible at almost anytime and a lasting record to my experience in Morocco.