Submitted by Rachel Dunscomb on the 2017 winter session program in Morocco sponsored by the Department of Languages, Literatures and Cultures…
Looking out at an archaeological site and botanical garden in Rabat, the capital city of Morocco, we could see on the left the ruins of an ancient Roman forum and a crumbling Berber mosque on the right. As the others explored the ruins, I couldn’t help, but think of how incredible it is to see the layers of history and melding of cultures spread out in front of me like that. The United States is often considered a melting pot of different people, but Morocco also has so much diversity and history that I never before considered. In Rabat and Casablanca, everything seems to be in both French and Arabic. So many of the signs are in both French and Arabic and everyone speaks those languages as well as English.
However, when we got to Chefchaouen (a beautiful city in the Rif mountains in northern Morocco) more people speak Spanish since they occupied this area rather than the French.
When signing up for this study abroad program, I wasn’t really thinking about what I was getting myself into. I just thought “ooh Morocco, that’ll be cool.” I wasn’t expecting to find so much history, diversity and culture. I should have expected this much depth, but I wasn’t thinking about it at all. After only a week of being here though, I can’t believe we don’t talk about Morocco more. There’s so much here that’s so incredibly unique to this country. Why don’t we drink this tea all the time? And why don’t we have this kind of architecture in America?
However, one thing among many things that I’ve found intriguing since arriving here has been the unique combination of so much diversity and yet still a strong sense of oneness as Moroccans. Here in Chefchaouen, there are a number of sections of the medina (the old city) that we’ve toured.
A couple that I remember are the Jewish section and the Andalusian section. Back during the Spanish Inquisition, Chefchaouen was a refuge for people fleeing the Iberian Peninsula so the Jews and Muslims here lived together peacefully for centuries. Our guide described the word medina as coming from both the word for community and the word for religion, I believe, and I think he mentioned how it shows that religion here has to do with respect for the community and living peacefully together. Yet, in an earlier lecture we learned that no one can revoke their Moroccan citizenship and it’s nearly impossible to become a citizen of Morocco besides being born of two Moroccan parents.
While Morocco isn’t a perfect country since there’s no such thing, I think there’s a lot that can be learned here in Morocco. As a student studying abroad, I’m here to learn about human diversity and different cultures, but despite our differences, it’s important to keep in mind that we are all a part of a global community and essentially one people. That sounds really cheesy, but I feel like even though back in the States I’m all about the global community, it’s hard to feel a connection to people you’ve never actually met and my mind has been kind of blown by coming to Morocco.
But if America learns nothing else from Morocco, it should at least learn how to make this tea. It’s fabulous.
