I arrived in Rabat one week ago, and so far its been great.
People assume I am Berber because of my appearance, so it’s been easy to blend
in and avoid the sexual harassment that usually plagues foreigners.
My first few days in Morocco were spent getting to know my
host family, the people at my placement, and exploring the city. I didn’t
expect the crazy driving (I thought Tallahassee was bad) and how no one really waits
to use a crosswalk when the light is red. There is so much history preserved
here and it’s really amazing to walk by gates and walls that have been around
for hundreds of years.
My host family is very kind and we have been communicating
through a mix of Arabic, English, gestures and pictures, and the food is amazing.
I started my placement on Monday, and I’ve learned a lot so far by speaking with people and getting firsthand stories, that ended up being radically different from what I found online. I thought it was interesting how nearly every article online was positive and glossy, while after talking to several people I was able to get a "backstage" and more personal perspective on the realities of this issue and what the media doesn't want the public to know.
I’ve also gotten
the opportunity to sit in on a beginner Tamazight language class at my
placement, and I’m hoping to pick up on a least a little bit.
Things that surprised me so far:
The weather—I was prepared for the weather to be very warm,
but because the city is on the coast it is quite cool, especially at night
The language—Moroccan Arabic is very different from the Arabic I become familiar with at FSU. The Arabic spoken
here is a blend of French, Tamazight, Spanish and Arabic, which makes it really
different. People are able to understand me when I speak because modern
standard is used in media and communications, but I have a hard time figuring
out what they are saying when they respond in colloquial. Needless to say, I am
very thankful that I’m staying with a host family because it has helped me to
learn a lot of vocabulary at a quick rate.
I'm looking forward to the rest of the week and getting more involved with my placement. It's inspiring to see a dynamic group of people so motivated and dedicated to their cause. Until then, ma salaama!
Thanks, Pamella, for sharing these insights! It's so great that you have Arabic skills to draw upon and now you're adding all of this dialectical vocab. I agree about the importance of staying with the host family--when I lived with mine in Turkey, it was so extremely valuable for picking up vocab and just forcing me to actually communicate.
ReplyDeleteThanks especially for discussing Tamazight; I actually knew nothing about it, even though I am quite interested in language, so I had to do some google-researching. I am excited to hear how those classes go. The script looks really intriguing and the sociopolitical uses/history of the language are also really fascinating.
How are your English teaching classes going? At what level are your students?
Yes! Staying with a host family has been fantastic and I've learned so much with them than I ever learned in class because I actually have to speak, also dinnertime conversations are interesting because it forces me to form sentences and think quickly.
ReplyDeleteThe classes kind of died down as the summer wore on and Ramadan approached, unfortunately. But, nearly all of the staff at my placement have Berber roots, so they have also been helping me to learn Tamazight. I taught a very beginning adult English class, but since there are no more classes (and many people went out of town) we have been meeting in someone's house with a few people and going over some English basics a few times a week.