Why Morocco?

As I'm sitting here trying to write, I am on the rooftop of an apartment building. To my right I am distracted by the panoramic view of Tangier, behind me I can see the southern coast of Spain across the straight of Gibraltar, and to my left, my friend is faithfully praying his first prayer out of the five times he'll pray today, as he faces east toward Mecca.

I arrived in Morocco exactly a week ago and the past week has been non-stop for the most part. It is usually about 3am, or sometimes later, before I put my head down on the pillow. Before I tell you a little bit about my week, I would love to give a little overview of why I am in Morocco in the first place, what I am doing, who I am with, and also about this blog. The purpose of this blog is twofold. First, it is an organic setting where I can write to please no one. As most of you know, the first and foremost reason I am in Morocco now is because of school. With that, I have a lot of academic responsibility. This blog will allow me to write not for my professor or any other academic motive, but instead to share my experiences, allowing you to read a more organic writing without any filters or intentions to please. The second purpose of this blog is for you reading it. Of course I can keep a private journal and write exactly the same things, but that's no fun when people like you want to hear a little bit of my experience. So with that, we begin together...

I must back up more than a year. In the Spring of 2008, I studied on The Scholar Ship, an ocean-going university that sailed across the world, while porting in more than 10 countries. Of the 150 students on the ship, there were 35 countries represented, one of them being Morocco. I became friends with several of the Moroccan students as we played soccer on the ship, had classes together, and traveled around several countries where we were at port. As I look back, this was really the catalyst for my love and curiosity for Morocco, Islam, and the Arabic language. I had the incredible opportunity to be hosted by some of my friends in Morocco last April and May. What can I say.... a year later, I made the decision to move back for 6-7months! I hope that through my writings, you're eyes will be open to the beauty of Morocco, it language, it's people, and its religion. When I say the word Morocco, I dont know what comes to your minds.... maybe images of a line of camels walking across endless sand dunes of the Sahara, or the snow-capped Atlas mountains that cut diagonally across the country, maybe the maze-like ancient Medinas in each city, the colorful bazaars, souqs and markets, or perhaps the famous Moroccan architecture that make palaces, mosques, houses, and stores in Morocco all photogenic. Although all of these are beautiful snapshots of the country, they fail in comparison to the Moroccan people. I'm not going to lie, I've been to more beautiful countries (in my opinion), like South Africa or the Seychelles. But without a doubt, of the 40+ countries that I've been to, Moroccans take the gold medal in my books. I thought when I was here last, I received unprecedented hospitality and warmth. Coming back just over a year later, it got even better! As these next few months unfold, I am sure you will read countless stories of the incredible hospitality I will experience. I hope that through my writings you will be able to see and experience vicariously the amazing people that make Morocco the beautiful country and culture that it is! Before I get ahead of myself on the hospitality of the Moroccan people, I would like to write a bit more of why I came to Morocco.

As a Global Studies undergraduate student at Azusa Pacific University in Los Angeles, I HAD TO spend 2 semesters off campus. Of course, I choose to do a third (The Scholar Ship). One of my (required) semesters was spent living in inner-city Los Angeles (Inglewood to be exact), while doing academic work Monday/Wednesday/Friday and an internship Tuesday/Thursday. During this program, students could not have cars, so we took public transit (buses, the metro, etc.) everywhere for 4 months. It was one of the richest experiences of my life! That semester, called LA Term, was not only an experience in itself, but also a preparation for this Global Learning Term (GLT). Each Global Studies student at APU has to do a GLT. It is a 4-8 month study abroad term overseas. Unlike just about every other study abroad program, each student chooses ANY country in the world (minus those our wonderful state department politely advises us not to go to). While in the country of the student's choice, we do not study at any host university, but instead we do all our academic work on our own, with 30+ page guides provided by our professor. It is each student's responsibility to find a local (this cannot include ex-pats) family to stay with during their term, as well as find an "intercultural internship" in which we will work with a locally-based NGO or Non-Profit organization for 1-4 months, and also conduct research on a topic or issue chosen by the student. For example, right now there are students in Thailand researching about sex-trafficking and sex-tourism and its effects on women and children, students in Latin America and Africa researching the causes and concerns regarding street children, and others researching sanitation and ecological issues in Indian slums. This is a brief overview of the GLT and Global Studies program through APU. Depending on the time spent in the country, we will take a minimum of 3 "classes" (remember, everything is on our own) and some will take up to 5 classes. Each student is in a different country, for the most part, and has spent 4 (or more) months researching relevant issues and general information about their countries, people, and culture, and have plenty of academic material to make this semester engaging, challenging, and yet rewarding. Unlike most study abroad programs, we are required to go beyond scratching the surface in order to get to the depths of our host countries, cultures, people, and language. In doing so, we hope to develop cultural competencies and an analytical framework and understanding that marries academic material to personal experience.

Those of you who know me can imagine that this program is like a dream come true. Faced with the decision to choose ANY COUNTRY in the WHOLE WORLD was like being that kid in the candy shop. The hard part was that I could only pick ONE candy, but the good news is that I got A LOT of it! I had narrowed my choices down to a country in the Islamic world, preferably Arabic speaking. Because of my previous experience in Morocco and my friends that I left here last year, I choose to come to Morocco for 6-7 months. Although Moroccan Arabic isn't as pure as other dialects, such as Lebanese, Gulf, or Egyptian, Morocco provides a unique opportunity to study religion, language, and the influence of the West. Morocco's geographic location allows for a unique study. Morocco is the gateway to Africa, from Europe, and this very idea is fascinating. Situated on the north-west tip of Africa on the Straight of Gibraltar, Morocco is only 13km away from Spain, part of the EU, representing a massive western (and global) influence that is found in nearly every corner of the country. Unlike the other North African countries, Morocco's proximity to Europe creates a fascinating clash of the East and West, traditional and progressive, Muslim and Christian.

I think now, more than ever, there is a need for people from the West, especially America, to learn about Islam and continue (or start fresh) building bridges across the two major cultures. I would even go as far as to say that this is a very special time in history when the two major religions of the world are coming face to face. I don't mean to get political or anything, but seeing clips and reading over Obama's speech to the Islamic world, given at the University in Cairo, was history in the making. I believe Obama is doing a great work by reaching out to the Islamic World. Many Americans believe Islam to be America's enemy. Regardless of whether you believe this to be true or not, negative stereotypes against Muslims are widespread (in America and outside America) and Obama is making a valiant effort in making friends with them, enemy or not. Obama is fighting against these negative stereotypes towards Muslims, and is asking Muslims to do the same. Nothing is going to change unless I step across the cultural and religious barriers, the same barriers that call my Muslim brothers and sisters my enemy, and befriend them as one of my own brothers and sisters. My first day in Morocco, I was talking with a (Moroccan, Muslim) man in Spanish who said, "Todos somos hijos de Dios. ?Porque no podemos comer juntos en la misma mesa?" ("We are all sons of God. Why can't we all eat together at the same table?") He was referring to Americans, Jews, Christians, Muslims, Palestinians, Atheists, and everyone else. Although there may be some theological disagreements with this statement, I also see the beauty in fact that one man is fed up with all of the war and fighting over greed, religion, and money, and is simply asking, "can't we just all get along?". Before I left for Morocco, people were asking me where I was going. When I answered Morocco, I received common responses. One of my favorites was, "Morocco..... wow..... be careful! some people over there are.... you know.... not very nice". "The truth is," I wanted to say, "that the people in Morocco are much nicer than they are in the States." But I felt like that would have been a little too much for this person. "There's no way people in other countries could be nicer than us in the US" would probably have been her response. So, I smiled, nodded, and laughed a little inside. Despite the numerous responses, "Be careful of muslims!(the most common one) Aren't you scared to be a Christian? Are you going to be target because you follow Jesus?" and other nonsense warnings, I packed my clothes, gathered my research and academic material, my Bible and Qur'an, and packed everything. At LAX, I was kindly informed that my 30kg (70lbs) bag was overweight and I had to pay an extra US$70. I know I'm going to learning a lot... so I tried to justify that most of my bag is books and therefore worth the pay. Too bad my scholarships didn't cover my overweight baggage!

After looking back on my first week here, I know that these several months are going to be amazing! Tomorrow, I am traveling to Fes (about 6 hours south of Tangier) to start my Language program. For six weeks, I will be studying Arabic at Arabic Language Institute in Fes (ALIF). It is a six week intensive course in classical Arabic. The challenge will come when trying to make the connection between the classical Arabic or MSA (Modern Standard Arabic) to the Moroccan Dialect, Darija, as it is a mix of Arabic, Berber, French, and Spanish. Similarly, I will be doing my best to learn French, while continuing to practice my Spanish. (For those of you who don't know, Morocco was colonized by the French, and therefore the two official languages here are Arabic and French.... but most people in the north speak Spanish--being close to Spain and all--and a few speak English.) These next few months will be also be challenging, as I am constantly surrounded by people who speak a different language than me, practice a different religion, and come from a completely different culture than me. But that is the beauty of it!

Until next time,

m'a salaama ("with peace")

Ryan