Submitted by Thomas Elia on the 2024 Winter LLCU program in Morocco…
In the second week of our travels in Morocco, we finally settled down in the city of Tangier. We met up with our host families as soon as we arrived and my roommate and I were greeted by our host family with inviting smiles and welcoming hugs. Once we reached their home, we were introduced to the rest of their family, including the three brothers, whom I have since grown more and more close with. The biggest obstacle that I have had to overcome with this experience so far is the communication barrier. Having only taken a single elementary level Arabic class so far, my skills in the language are not as advanced as I would have wished for them to be. Because of this, however, I feel more encouraged to develop my skills more quickly so that I can better communicate with my host family. Even after just a few days with this family, I felt right at home. Every meal that we have had with the family has been delicious and unique, from chicken tagine and couscous to liver sandwiches. They have taken time out of their lives to host us, teach us about their culture, their dialect of Arabic and much more and I am extremely grateful for that. Looking ahead at the coming week, we are spending the second half of the week and the weekend in Granada, Spain. When we return back to Tangier we will only have about 3 days before we leave our host family and head south for the last week of our trip. These past two weeks have flown by and I can only expect the next two to go by even more quickly. With this in mind I can only be present and thankful for the situation I am in and the people I am surrounded by. Here’s to new experiences and new friends! (Submitted on January 16, 2024)