As it stands today, I’ve spent two and a half months in Morocco. I feel as if I’ve spent a long enough period of time here to share some of what, in my opinion, are the more interesting cultural aspects of this country. There are certainly a number of things here that would make any American do a double take. After all darling, we sure aren’t in Kansas anymore.
Fast food:
-McDonalds is not exactly a fast-food joint. It’s the chic, expensive hot date location! Here, you’ll find the girls dolled up in their best sparkly djellaba robes, probably out with their [...]
Study Abroad Bloggers
All posts by Meredith Schuessler
Tuesday, November 17th, 2009
Culture Shock
Tuesday, November 10th, 2009
Ruins, Music, Mountains
Traditional lectures have ended, and my Arabic final exam is on Friday. There’s about a month left of my program. With the end of classes comes a lot of cramming for Arabic (I took a year’s worth in two months, perhaps overly ambitious?) and preparation for my independent research project. I’m working on putting together a research proposal on potable water resources, finding an advisor, and trying to schedule meetings with various national and international offices, community organizations, and translators so that I can begin my research next week. I also have to figure out my living and transportation situations [...]
Wednesday, October 28th, 2009
I miss my goats… even though I ate one.
I spent the last week experiencing a different Moroccan lifestyle in the small village of Loutichina, population ~300, tribe of Ouled Brahim. This rural village, located in central Morocco outside of the cities of Khourigba and Boujaad, bases its livelihood primarily on subsistence farming and raising livestock. The majority of the older population here is uneducated and illiterate, although some of the men have second- or sixth-grade educations and can read a little Arabic. Their younger children are now more often going to school in the next towns, which is encouraging.
During this week, my class spent plenty of time at [...]
Tuesday, October 13th, 2009
ثقافة التناقضات A Culture of Contradictions
On Friday, we were given the day off for classes, and were told to all head to Casablanca, train tickets already paid. We had a list of suggested things to see, including an organization for women, an organization for street children, a national library, the Hassan II mosque which non-Muslims may visit, and a meeting with a Moroccan woman hiphop artist.
Some girls and I chose to go spend the afternoon at Feminine Solidarity, a well-known association established in the 1980s by a passionate Moroccan woman named Aicha Ech-Channa and two other women. This organization was created to aid single mothers, [...]
Continue reading ثقافة التناقضات A Culture of Contradictions »
Monday, October 5th, 2009
All Over the Map
So much has happened since the last time I wrote!
I spent one weekend with friends in Tangiers, in the north of Morocco. You can see across the water to Spain on clear days.
We had three days off school for Eid el-Fitr, the celebration at the end of Ramadan. After a grueling, hot, sticky five-hour train ride, we found our little hotel, El Muneria. This is where William Burroughs purportedly wrote Naked Lunch, and Allen Ginsberg and Jack Kerouac used to stay. We had Kerouac’s room, with the beautiful view of the beach.
Last week my class went on a week-long expedition [...]
Wednesday, September 16th, 2009
Four Dynasties, One Weekend
New shoes, a techno mix tape, hennaed hands, and 129 photos later, I returned to Rabat with my classmates. We spent this past weekend touring Meknes, Moulay Idriss, Volubilus, and Fes, and I arrived home to a special day in Ramadan. Although my days here are always too busy and I still miss things from home, I’m finally beginning to adjust to my life here in Morocco.
For a quick photo tour:
-The Thursday gate to the Jewish quarter in Meknes
-After lunch at a great home/petite hotel in Moulay Idriss, a tiny town on a hill. -
-The ruins of a Roman administrative [...]
Friday, September 11th, 2009
“You are not a global citizen.”
“…You are an American if you have an American passport.”
What a shocking statement for an International Relations student making the effort to study abroad and integrate into the host culture! We’re beginning to question and discuss our role here and what we intend to learn. Here in Morocco, I’ve finished my week of program orientation, moved in with my family, and officially begun my classes, which by the way are fantastic.
My wonderful new family consists of my mama Majida, my baba Abdelwahid, and my four younger حتوات (sisters), Iman, Kowtar, Aya, and Lemya, ages 14 to 4. We live in [...]
Friday, September 4th, 2009
“If you meet someone through family or friends, here we call it arranged marriage.”
The past few days have been an absolute whirlwind.
I write this now in my hotel room in Rabat, serenaded through the huge open window by the noises of city street traffic, the vague chatter of people, and loud Arabic music being piped from somewhere outside. Did I mention it’s past midnight, and this city is still buzzing? Welcome to Ramadan.
To start from the beginning, my first impression of Morocco was: brown. I flew from JFK through Madrid to Casablanca, seeing the brown patchwork of land from my window seat, and from there I met the rest of my classmates and [...]
Monday, August 24th, 2009
الأفكار قبل مغادرته Thoughts Before Leaving
Earlier today I was in the middle of a conversation with a new acquaintance, a Moroccan man introduced to me by a family friend in light of my upcoming semester. While we were chatting about Morocco, we began talking about the languages, and he asked me if I could write. At the time I assumed he meant if I was literate in Arabic, Morocco’s official language, and replied that I had studied the language for a year and was learning.
However, looking back on the conversation, it struck me that 38 percent of Moroccan women are illiterate in any language in [...]
Continue reading الأفكار قبل مغادرته Thoughts Before Leaving »
Friday, August 7th, 2009
المملكة المغربية The Kingdom of Morocco
My venture to North Africa begins in a mere three weeks. I can tell you that the anticipation is fantastic – I am thrilled at the idea of getting away from the home comforts of suburbia and the Bucknell bubble to explore a drastically different culture. Starting Sept. 1, I will be spending my fall semester abroad in Morocco, with the SIT program entitled “Culture and Society” (soon to be retitled “Multiculturalism and Human Rights”). I’ve got to figure out how to pack three and a half months of my life into one suitcase and a backpack by the end [...]
