My first week in Morocco has been a lot of fun especially since my stay has coincided with the end of Ramadan, the Muslim month where people fast during the day. In fact, today is Eid, which is the holiday where everyone breaks the fast.
Before Eid, we went to the Medina – which has a distinctly Andalusian style to its buildings. Most of the architecture in this area dates from the 17th century when Muslims from Spain’s Andalusian region arrived here. The area has a beautiful view of the sea.
We enjoyed special Moroccan tea and talked about the purpose of our trip and international travel. We also talked about our host family and what we liked about them. My host brothers Taha and Ameen have been very hospitable and kind. They have provided me with transportation every day to my language school. They speak English extremely well and are very inclusive in their group, while maintaining a vast appreciation for our privacy. Ameen is constantly introducing us to new food and aspects of Moroccan culture. Ameen wishes to visit America later in his life – he has never left Morocco in his life and cannot wait to travel abroad. Today, as part of Eid celebrations, we visited some homes and gave gifts to those who needed help such as widows. Then we went to a family get-together where we ate food and talked to the rest of the family. Most of the family had a limited understanding of English, so we communicated using the basic understanding of Darija we knew and then Taha would translate for us. Later we talked to Taha’s cousin who knew more English than others in the family while two little kids ran around the home. We played songs that we all could recognize on the guitar – we had a great time with the entire family.
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