The language barrier in Morocco has not posed as great a challenge as expected, I have actually loved communicating in a mix of formal Arabic, Moroccan Arabic, and French to make myself understood. Culture shock was never really a problem for me and I have felt incredibly welcomed by every Moroccan I meet. Street harassment, while not something I appreciate, has not colored my time here. The biggest challenge during my time in Morocco has been something totally unexpected: walking the line between tourist and resident.
Making way from home to school through the vegetable souq , I smile at several of the vendors who know me from buying goods with my mama. I almost always run in to a neighbor and we stop kiss each other’s cheeks three times and chat about family and the day. In Rabat, and especially in the old Medina where I live, I feel like part of a community. I may look different and not speak Arabic or French fluently but that has not prevented me from becoming integrated into my host family. From their kindness and generosity in showing me around, helping my Arabic, and introducing me to lots of friends and family, I feel at home in Rabat. I know how to get around Rabat and can haggle with a cab driver who assumes I am a tourist. I have become friends with the local Moroccans who run my favorite surf shop. I am so grateful for this ease I feel living in a very far away and foreign city.
Outside of Rabat, however, I am still a tourist. On visits to Fez, Marrakech, and many smaller cities in between I am always overcome with a level of discomfort. I may still be able to communicate in Arabic and French, but I have no community in these cities. I don’t know my way around. Further, the reason I came to these cities is to visit historical and very touristy sites such as the Fez medina and Jemaa al-Fna square in Marrakech.
Exploring in a group of American friends I feel so conspicuous. We draw a great deal of attention and the comments and stares from local Moroccans increase. I attempt haggle down the cost of a blanket in Arabic but the shopkeeper just smiles and switches to English. He doesn’t take me seriously and because I am clearly a foreigner hikes up the price. I get frustrated when a taxi driver in Marrakesh wants to charge me 50 dirhams for a cab ride that I know should only cost 7 or 8.
I recognize that I am clearly not Moroccan. I am an American college student who has the privilege the of living in, learning from, and exploring Morocco for four months. I can’t expect people to treat me like a local, but when choosing this specific program I was impressed by the focus SIT put on having students be fully immersed in host culture and life. This is certainly the case for in Rabat. I feel well integrated because while I still stick out I can move around the city inconspicuously and communicate easily. But once I am outside of Rabat, the reality of my foreignness is apparent again.
Navigating the line between feeling like a community member and resident of Rabat, but a tourist in the rest of Morocco has been my greatest challenge while studying abroad. In reflecting on this experience I have questioned the differences between Moroccan cities like how Rabat is not a tourist destination but Marrakech is and how this plays into my different feelings. But more deeply this experience has made me question what the difference between tourist and resident really is? In my case it is related to being welcomed in to a local community.
