Submitted by Kaylee Wolfe on the 2017 winter session program in Morocco sponsored by the Department of Languages, Literatures and Cultures…
On our sixth day we traveled to the city of Chefchaouen, also known as the “Blue City,” where the picture below was captured. It is called the Blue City because all of the homes are painted blue including some streets and the walls. Compared to Rabat, Chefchaouen is a smaller city where I found the people to be more hospitable. When we would go out and walk the market a lot of people greeted us and some said “Welcome to Morocco.” Additionally, there were a lot of people who would ask us how we like Morocco and were interested in getting to know a little about us. To my surprise, I learned that a majority of people speak both French and Arabic fluently as there were occasions in the market I was spoke to in French rather than Arabic as I anticipated. Overall, I have been learning new things about the culture and language and am excited to continue learning and experiencing the Moroccan lifestyle.
Thus far, I have been in Morocco for a week and it is a beautiful country that I am growing increasingly fond of by the day. Before arriving in Morocco, I had images of what I thought the country would look like, but it was not exactly how I imagined. For example, in some ways the landscape reminds me of Florida, specifically the palm trees and lush land. After arriving in Casablanca, we traveled to the Hassan II Mosque which is the third largest Mosque in the world. While touring the mosque, it was surprising to hear that it only took six years to build this magnificent piece of Islamic architecture. A fun fact about this particular mosque is that the roof is able to be opened during the service in which thousands come to pray. I have been learning interesting things about the Muslim religion, for example, there is a specific way in which people who come to pray must cleanse themselves and once in the mosque wearing shoes is forbidden. After learning about the culture, I am very excited for the next couple weeks and the new experiences it brings.
