Abroad Outlook: End of Week One

Another week older, 30 words in Darija smarter. I am done with the end of my first week in Morocco.

From the beginning, I've had a schedule. School all day, then I hang out at night. This makes it really easy to adjust and so far, I've had no problems (knock on wood).

Darija

For this first week, we've been learning Darija. Darija is the Moroccan version of Arabic. I thought Moroccans only speak Darija, and that it was a mixture of Classic Arabic and French. Actually, Moroccans speak a mixture of Darija and French. Most people know little Classical Arabic.

The Darija we've been learning is basic, survival Darija. We learned to introduce ourselves (what's your name? where are you from?), take a taxi, order at a restaurant, and how to bargain.

We had a test yesterday. I think I nailed it, but i don't know for sure.

I've been trying to practice my Arabic, but I'm also practicing my French which is an unexpected surprise. The "business" language in Morocco is French, not English because the world does not revolve around English speakers, fun fact.

We've been learning Darija all together. But starting tomorrow, we split up and we start learning the classic Arabic.

In-school Cultural Activities

Everyday, along with the Arabic classes, we have speakers come and we have culture discussions.

We had some people come and talk about culture differences. We've had a speaker on social activism. We've had a speaker on Islam (my personal favorite). And yesterday we had a tour of Rabat.

Touristy Tour of Rabat

Yesterday, after our Darija Test, we went and looked at different places in Rabat. I can't remember any names or facts about them, but I took a bunch of pictures.

Out of School Fun

I have also done things after school.

One night I went out with some of the Americans and their host siblings. I've hung out with my host sister and her friends a few times. Eating lots of food, having lots of fun, and making lots of memories.

We also went to an elderly home to seve Iftar and eat with them. It was fun and a little strange, but almost everything is just a little bit strange.

The time at the old people home was good practice of my Arabic. It was hard because my Arabic is so limited and almost no one spoke English. But one of the ladies that works at the school was told me I did a great job. I was talking to ladies left and right. I even made a joke in Arabic that got some laughs. It really boosted my confidence in my ability to speak Arabic.

Today was our day off. We only get one day off a week. It really is an intense educational experience. Today we went to the souq and to a museum. I saw some beautiful contemporary art by Moroccans. I've seen a lot of art in my short 17.5 years on this earth, and I really enjoyed the exhibit.

In the souq, my friend used his newly learned bargaining skills. I did a little bit but not much. I let my host dad do most of the bargaining for me. I got gifts for my American family that I cannot reveal yet, but I got really great prices on them. I love souqs because everything is so cheap, I feel like Bill Gates.

Later today, we went bowling. Most of the Americans and their siblings came bowling and then we got ice cream. It says a lot about our group that when we only get one day apart from each other, we choose to hang out still.

The Experience So Far

The biggest part of the experience I was looking forward to (other than Arabic) was having an exchange experience with other exchange students. In Egypt, I was the only exchange student that lasted through my year.

In Rabat, there are 11 other students plus our American Resident Director. It's really great having other people to relate to and use as support.

It's also really nice to have a host sibling at my age. This allows me to hang out with her friends and do things with her. If this was a longer experience, I would have other opportunities to make friends. But the school in Morocco basically pairs us up with a student our age so we have people to hang out with because otherwise we'd be pretty bored.

Morocco itself is so beautiful. Rabat is much smaller than Cairo, but then again everything is smaller than Cairo. Our resident director said it the best "there's just something about Morocco."