By Rose Puntel, FCRH ’13
Things always sound different than they actually feel. That sounds kind of silly, but it is true. In fact, that statement encapsulates my study abroad experience. I am currently studying in Morocco. When I used to think about Morocco, I could not envision it. Some ideas would spring into my mind such as deserts, Islam, Arab Spring, the oppression of women, etc. My overall mental picture, fed by stories, the media and the warnings of many of the adults in my life, was of an exotic and dangerous place, on the edge of European, African and Middle Eastern cultures.
Now that I have lived in Morocco for over two months, I no longer rely on that mental picture. I am studying in Rabat, Morocco’s capital, in the Council on International Educational Exchange’s (CIEE) Language and Culture program. The language experience alone has been both incredible and intellectually humiliating. I attempt to communicate at various times in French, Moroccan colloquial Arabic (Darija) and Modern Standard Arabic. I struggle to manage these three languages, but the average taxi driver in Rabat can juggle all three fluently, while often simultaneously speaking a little bit of English as well; this is quite a humbling experience.
My time in Morocco, from interactions with taxi drivers to conversations in class, has stirred up a lot of questions about the inconsistency and power of ideas. Melissa Smyth, FCRH ’13, is also studying here in Rabat, but in a different program. Last week, we had coffee together, and discussed the Western ideas of Morocco and how they help perpetuate a neocolonialist relationship between the West and Morocco. Melissa and I have both noticed that many spaces and people in Morocco try to conform to the storybook picture of exotic Morocco for the benefit of tourists. As a photographer, Melissa is working to portray the side of Morocco that does not conform to that same narrative.
Although I am not a photographer, I have often wondered how to reconcile adequately the reality of my experience with basic stigmas and stereotypes. My experience here has certainly been different than what I had imagined. I have spent the night in the Sahara Desert and been in medieval castles. I have noticed various post-colonial struggles, like the problem of which languages are taught in school, or the difficulty Morocco is having in claiming and instituting its own workable form of democracy. I have witnessed protests. I have prayed alongside my Muslim host family. I have noticed the huge gaps between the rich and the poor and have been particularly amazed by the sharp contrast between rural and city life.
I might have expected all of these from my pre-arrival mental picture of Morocco, but the experience as a whole has gone beyond that image. I wish I could explain the experience more clearly, but it is not something I can tell you in a newspaper column. In fact, I don’t even believe some of the things I’ve done and seen. Things always sound so different than they actually feel. That sounds kind of silly, but it is true.
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