A Dream of Morocco

Home sweet home. My family is running around the house as usual, making  last-minute Christmas preparations as I sit in front of the TV, sipping hot chocolate and taking in the warmth from the crackling fire in the living room. I look out the window, in a trance from the whistling wind. Snowflakes gracefully sprinkle on the lawn, creating an eerie feeling of a muffled world. I begin to reflect on my time in Morocco when I suddenly hear a cacophony of car honks and vendor solicitations.

The sound of ‘Salam alaykum’ pervades my senses.  The call for prayer begins and I realize I am still in Morocco. I haven’t left. In fact, I’ll be studying in Rabat for another semester. The Christmas chaos, crackling fire and peaceful snowfall were all figments of my imagination.

Of course, I will miss my family, friends and all the holiday traditions this winter, but I think the opportunity to stay in Morocco to travel is not to be missed. As I’ve tried to demonstrate through my posts, there is no better educator than travel. As someone who has been lucky enough to come to Morocco, I realize that it would be foolish to cut my time short by venturing home for the holidays.

So here I am, still in Rabat, but this time living a different life. My life as a student is on hiatus, and now I’ve taken the role of an English teacher to young children in the Hay Al Koura neighborhood of Rabat. Compared to the city center, this part is a third world. No tourists come here. Families live in barracks and children roam the streets instead of going to school. Yet still, I find myself falling in love with Morocco even more. Despite the meager conditions, the people are friendlier than ever. Here, no one tries to rip me off. Instead, they invite me in for couscous and forbid me to leave until I’ve had three rounds of tea.

There are no words that could satisfy a proper description of my semester in Morocco, but I’ll cap this blog by making an attempt.

Thank you Director El Addouli, Nisrine, Fatima Ezzahra, Majid, Rachid and all my professors for being an incredible staff. Thanks to my classmates for being an amazing group and actually being the best IES Rabat has ever seen. Our walks to the Hanoud, time at La Plage and weekend trips will never be forgotten.

In my first blog post I gave a figurative cheers to having an awesome semester in Rabat. Now, here’s a cheers to the memories (please excuse my cheesiness). ‘Till next time!’

“As long as you’re in Morocco, don’t be amazed.” ~ Professor Majid