By lacymyrman
As part of the AUCP: Bridge to the Mediterranean program in Marseille, France, we take a trip to Fez, Morocco to learn about the people whose culture is influencing the landscape and overall culture of the south of France. From 15-22 November 2015, we stayed with host families, practiced our French and Arabic, learned about the rich culture and history of Fez, and the role of Islam in everyday life. I am grateful for the experience and have outlined some major themes that were interesting to me. Also, I got to spend my 21st birthday in the Saharan Desert! How exciting is that? I describe the experience at the end of this lengthy blog. 🙂 Enjoy!
AFRICA:
To start, I finally went to the African continent! As someone who grew up with a lot of Africans and being influenced by African cultures (particularly West and East African), the idea that I was walking on the African continent kept popping up in my mind, albeit North Africa, Africa quand même. For anyone who knows me, this is particularly exciting for me.
MOROCCO:
Morocco is a country rich in history, religion and culture. And it's true that one cannot separate religion from the culture, nor the religion from the politics entirely. It is woven into all of the history. Morocco is 98% Muslim I believe and the other small populations are Jewish and Christian (there are small quartiers, neighborhoods occupied by these populations in Fez. In the past, they have been taxed higher, but I don't think this is the case anymore.). Of course I have to put up the social justice mirror, so... Imagine what it would be like to be the minority religion like that in a country... now apply that feeling to your own country and how people who follow minority religions may feel.
FEZ - MEDINA:
I stayed in Fez, which is the oldest and largest Medieval city in the world and it still functions that way, at least the old city does. It is a UNESCO protected city and there are no cars allowed inside. Everyone one would need is inside the city. In fact, the world's first and longest continuously running University s in Fez!
FEZ - NOUVELLE VILLE & HOSTS:
The new city, on the other hand, has large fountains in the center of roundabouts, plenty of American food chains and large shopping malls. Throughout my stay, I stayed one night in a hotel, one night in the home of a new friend Hafssa, two nights in the new home of my friend Jihad Ussef (and yes her name is Jihad - I'll speak on this more shortly), one night in the Saharan Desert (I'll also speak more on this more further down), and one night in my old home of Jihad.
HOME LIFE IN FEZ:
HOMES, COLLECTIVITY, & FAMILY
Architecture in Fez in BEAUTIFUL! All of the mosaics and detailed decoration were amazing. The homes that I stayed in were beautiful and welcoming. A commonality amongst the homes I stayed in was that there is always a large living room with couches surrounding the center. Everyone spends a lot of time here. Anytime one comes in, mint tea and coffee are offered. My second family spent hours here everyday, all together. It was a large family - father, mother, Jihad, her younger brother, her older sister and her husband and their young son Youssef - SOOOO ADORABLE! From 5pm until midnight at least, everyone sat together in the living room, drinking tea, discussing, listening to the radio, helping one another with studies, playing with the young one, etc. The sense of togetherness and collectivity is so pronounced. It was kind of refreshing to watch her brother play with his nephew, her brother-in-law help her brother with his science homework, and the girls help their mother in the kitchen, etc. Jihad's family was so kind and friendly. They welcomed me into their home at such short notice and were nothing was wonderful.
TIME ALONE: minimal.
I was given Jihad's room to sleep alone (otherwise everyone sleeps in the same room, I was told by other students). Everything is shared as well. Everyone eats together and from the same plate. Showering isn't something done as commonly (I went a week without a shower). Commonly, families will go to the Hamman together. I did this with Jihad and another student. It's a large place where people bathe themselves (and their friends and family). Women are typically completely naked - I went topless. That was experience on its own.
Jihad's family was very traditional and it was a quite different experience from my first family. Hafssa's family was very liberal and outgoing. They spoke English a lot (which is why I chose to switch families), but I loved all of them. I was instantly welcome and I plan to visit the family again in the future. <3
LANGUAGE
Aside from Jihad and her sister, they mostly all spoke Arabic so it was fun to listen to discussions in Arabic where I could actually pick out some words here and there that I understood. 🙂 Jihad's father also tried to speak French to me and even some English a little bit and it was so sweet. I could see he was really trying to find the words because he wanted to get to know me and learn from me just as much as I was there to learn from them. I was the first American that Jihad and her family had ever met. At one point they discussed Daech, I couldn't understand any of it really since it was all in Arabic, but it was a very heated conversation and what I was informed was that their opinion is that Daech is not real Muslims and its terrible. Pretty standard. I wish I knew more Arabic because I could've really learned from that conversation I'm sure. Well, more opportunities will come to learn from Arab speakers. 🙂
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BIRTHDAY & THE DESERT:
I had originally bought a ticket from Marseille to Barcelona for my "Birthday in Barcelona" weekend but the dates of my program's Morocco trip were changed and so instead I had a much better, and more unique experience. I went to Merzouga which is only 17 miles from the Algeria border (although the border between Morocco and Algeria is completely closed and is one of the longest closed frontiers in history).
I arrived in Merzouga around the sunset, rode a camel (I named in Harold) under the stars in the Desert. OMG are the stars incredible! The trip to our campsite was just over an hour and man is it strenuous and painful to ride a camel. Imagine doing that for hours, days as a nomad or a merchant traveling from Berber lands in North Africa to the Kingdoms of West African, like Timbuktu or Djenné in the Mali empire! It was through this way that Islam spread to West African nations as well. It's so interesting.
We ate dinner in the Desert, made by our Berber guides, played drums and danced, and slept in tents. I'll have you know, it is quite cold in the Desert at night. The next morning, the plan was to wake up early to see the sunrise and to climb the large dune of sand, but I was unfortunately left in the tent so that didn't happen, but it's okay. I'm still quite fortunate to have visited the Desert either way, especially for my birthday! Not many 21 year old, American college students spend my 21st birthday in that way. Also, not many Moroccans who are not native to the area have ever gotten a chance to go either - it's about an 8 hour drive non-stop from Fez to Merzouga (we made stops of course).
The next day, more quality time with Harold (the camel). I unfortunately did not get a chance to spot a Scorpion (ya know, since I'm a Scorpio and all lol.). But I DID however, find an ADORABLE widdle goat. Everyone was chatting with the Berbers and looking at little trinkets to buy and I wandered off to a fenced area where the camels and other animals stayed. And being me, I spotted a baby goat amongst the sheep and carried the little guy with me back to the area where everyone else was - I had been talking about goats all week. lol. But, I still got the best birthday gift I could've asked for. 🙂
My stay in Fez was informative, eye-opening, interesting, warming, welcoming, and just an introduction to Moroccan culture.