Study abroad is so interesting because no matter how much homework you do on the host country beforehand, some things can only be fully realized directly. A Turkish toilet, for example, is not one of those things. There’s nothing experiential about a 6-inch wide hole in the ground with no flushing mechanism. It’s better just to Google it.
On the other end of the spectrum is privacy. The lack of privacy in my Rabat neighborhood can be unnerving and is probably the thing about Morocco that is most immediately different from life in suburban Los Angeles. The main pedestrian streets are crowded at all hours of the day; there’s rarely a side street or obscure alleyway that is devoid of kids playing soccer or teenagers chatting. Many homes in the old medina, like mine, consist of a single large room, a kitchen, and a “water room.” There are no separate rooms for the parents and children, nor functioning doors from which to shut out the world on bad days. If someone burps, farts, snores, or sniffles, everyone else knows. My house even lacks a roof over much of it: it’s an open-air atrium, and sounds rush in from all corners of the neighborhood.
Click for photo: Rue Mohammed V at peak hours, a major street in the Rabat Medina and right by my house.
Click for photo: Two kids on a bicycle is a common site though motorpeds smog up most of the old city. Donkey transportation is nowhere to be seen in metropolitan Rabat.
Click for photo: The only wide roads, public squares, and parks in the city were constructed by the French and feature colonial fountains, lampposts, etc.
As you might imagine, this alters everyday life pretty drastically. Gossip travels fast, so fast that the locals know more about the whereabouts of my American friends than I do. Simple tasks like changing clothes become a challenge, and having a private cell phone conversation is just not possible (most people choose to text message instead). Romance gets complicated, especially when newlyweds decide to move in with their parents.
The affects of all this are magnified for Americans, who value individualism, privacy, and are used to plenty of “me time.” From an emotional standpoint, this privacy thing can get a little rough at times. Let’s just say that blogging is quite therapeutic here—a few minutes all to myself—but just a few. While writing this blog on microsoft word, my Moroccan host father looked over my shoulder twice, wondering what I was doing on the computer and if I was feeling okay.
Comments (4)
Hey Mike, Turkey huh? Wish I was there. I remember reading about that lack of privacy in Arabic class, how it's abnormal to be alone or to want to be alone. I'd probably die/go crazy without being able to just sit around, alone, for hours on end when I want to.
Posted by: Chris Ocasio at September 19, 2007 2:29 PM
Yeah dude, its the hardest thing for me so far. Thanks for commenting--just to clarify, the toilets here are called Turkish toilets after those in Turkey--but they are here in Morocco. One day Ill make it to Turkey inshahallah...
Posted by: Mike Snyder at September 20, 2007 12:50 PM
Hi Mike!
We don't know each other, well, not yet :P I was reading your blog and it's amazing how I can feel the difference between the "old" medina and the "new" medina.
By the way, I'm a 23 years old moroccan, living in Casablanca.That's just to clarify my points of view.
As you can imagine, "life" changes from country to country, and also from city to city and obviously from neighborhood to neighbrhood.
You seem to live in the old medina of Rabat, hay chaabi, the kind of neighborhood where privacy doesn't exist at all! But it's not the same everywhere. Even concerning colleges and highschools :)
Well, this comment was just to make the contact, so if you want some "moroccan" explanations about "phenomenas" here, just ask ;)
PS(Islam does not interfer with everyone everyday's life, don't know if ya gave importance to it, but while doing their prayers, there are other moroccans that don't and they're not "devious". Nowadays, religious things are not as much important as in the past decades. Just as a joke, mom and dad are true muslims; praying, fasting Ramdan, mom's wearing a veil and so on... But I'm not what can be considered as a "good" muslim, I know that god exists, whatever everyone calls him he exists, that's all! Not fasting, don't even talk about praying :P But it's not a matter and my parents are ok with that. I just told you my story to show you that you're living an exceptional experience, what you're living now does not apply to all moroccans :)
Sorry for my poor english, it's just the third language I speak :P
Hope to hear from you soon)
Truly,
Mohammed Amine ^_^
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