April 24, 2008
Subscribe to Commodore Nation magazine / View Archived Issues
I get several typical responses when I tell people that I spent this past summer studying Arabic in Morocco. People typically say: “Wow, that must have been amazing” or “How was it being an American in a Muslim country?” and even…”Where is Morocco?”
Before traveling to Morocco, I was extremely nervous. I had never been outside of the country before, and I was traveling alone to a country where I barely spoke the language. But I knew that it was something that I wanted to do and that it would change my view of the world forever.
When I first arrived in Morocco after a 7 1/2 hour flight, I was scared to death. I did not know anyone, and everyone kept speaking to me in French. Now mind you, I speak no French whatsoever. This continued to happen throughout my two-month stay in Morocco. People always spoke to me in French instead of English or Arabic because they assumed that I was West African instead of American or Moroccan. As time went on, I became more and more comfortable in my surroundings.
I studied at Al Akhwayan University in Ifrane, which is a small, prestigious university in a small town outside of Fez in the Atlas Mountains. It was a beautiful campus, although it was not reflective of the typical Morocco by any means–it looked and felt more like a small European town rather than a small town in a Muslim country.
My real exposure to Morocco came through my roommate and my travels throughout the country. My roommate and I bonded immediately. Luckily, she spoke great English and was willing to help me out. She also introduced me to her friends/family and even posted notes around the room to help me learn my new vocabulary words.
I also built some lifelong friendships with my fellow American classmates. We had some incredible experiences. We visited the cities of Fez, Meknes, Tangier, Casablanca, Rabat and spent two nights in the Sahara Desert in Bedouin tents, walking the streets of medieval cities, bargaining in the suqs (markets), attending the international music festival and hiking/swimming through the cascades of Chefchaouen.
Morocco was an experience of a lifetime. It humbled me as a person and exposed me to the world outside of the U.S. and the West. It gave me insight to a culture and people that are so different and yet so similar in so many different ways. Morocco definitely changed the way I perceive the world and the way I see myself in it.
So in response to the typical responses that I get when I tell people that I spent this past summer in Morocco: Yes, it was absolutely amazing!; I was perfectly safe; and Morocco is a small country in Northwest Africa that you should certainly visit one day.
