As I look back on my time in Morocco and prepare to leave next Friday, I'm reviewing my capstone project and everything that I've learned, the people that I've learned from, and how my perceptions have changed.
This is the first time I have been away from America for this amount of time, and living with a host family really exposed me to what everyday life is like in Morocco. Besides increasing my language comprehension, it magnified my ability to understand the culture, from the staples to bread to the nightly prayers. This experience has been extremely valuable.
While my internship was not as engaging as I expected, because we mainly just worked on the website, came up with promotional strategies and applied for grants, the site visit to the Sahara was an amazing experience. I also got to learn a lot about the situation of Amazigh women in Morocco by speaking to urban Amazigh activists. I leave Morocco truly inspired by people who, although dissatisfied and disillusioned with their country, refuse to leave. They will not stand for hypocrisy and will do whatever it takes to ensure that Amazigh people are well represented, even if it means being arrested and beaten multiple times.
By observing Rabat closely, the protests, the citizen-government dynamics, the homeless people on the street, the ill and crippled people asking for money, the extremely laid-back lifestyle and
I've been able to make connections with a lot of the EDGE material to understand and make sense of these situations. I've also been trying to see Morocco as clearly as possible while being aware of my initial bias, while at the same time building relationships with people at my placement, host family etc. and hearing their stories and opinions about how their country works.
The most memorable thing to me about Morocco has been the way that people care about each other. Not just for family members, but how they win friends almost instantly through their smiles and how they make people feel. I will really miss this about Morocco, but at the same time I am encouraged to approach others at home with the same attitude and mindset of genuine interest, even if they are strangers.
This is the first time I have been away from America for this amount of time, and living with a host family really exposed me to what everyday life is like in Morocco. Besides increasing my language comprehension, it magnified my ability to understand the culture, from the staples to bread to the nightly prayers. This experience has been extremely valuable.
While my internship was not as engaging as I expected, because we mainly just worked on the website, came up with promotional strategies and applied for grants, the site visit to the Sahara was an amazing experience. I also got to learn a lot about the situation of Amazigh women in Morocco by speaking to urban Amazigh activists. I leave Morocco truly inspired by people who, although dissatisfied and disillusioned with their country, refuse to leave. They will not stand for hypocrisy and will do whatever it takes to ensure that Amazigh people are well represented, even if it means being arrested and beaten multiple times.
By observing Rabat closely, the protests, the citizen-government dynamics, the homeless people on the street, the ill and crippled people asking for money, the extremely laid-back lifestyle and
I've been able to make connections with a lot of the EDGE material to understand and make sense of these situations. I've also been trying to see Morocco as clearly as possible while being aware of my initial bias, while at the same time building relationships with people at my placement, host family etc. and hearing their stories and opinions about how their country works.
The most memorable thing to me about Morocco has been the way that people care about each other. Not just for family members, but how they win friends almost instantly through their smiles and how they make people feel. I will really miss this about Morocco, but at the same time I am encouraged to approach others at home with the same attitude and mindset of genuine interest, even if they are strangers.
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