So, even though I’m long gone from Morocco and back home in California, I feel like I should make some sort of closing statements to the semester.
Coming back to the US was definitely a surreal experience. When we landed in the airport in Paris, one of my friends said that she felt like we just went forward in time because of how high tech everything looked and because of how nice and modern everything was in comparison to Morocco. For example: bathrooms. It was strange to have a big bathroom with all western toilets and soap dispensers and automatic sinks and hand dryers. It was familiar but at the same time it seemed too rich and superfluous. Which was a strange feeling, because it was like feeling that everything you had been used to your whole life was all of a sudden too rich and too modern. There were a lot of things like that. Coming into JFK airport in the customs line for US citizens was the first time in four months that I had overheard multiple groups of people speaking English. It was kind of a shock to realize that I could understand a stranger’s conversation, but it also made me giddy because I realized that I was finally back where everyone spoke my language and I didn’t have to work to translate everything everyone was saying. I was so giddy about being able to speak English that I think I talked way too much to all the airport workers in JFK and to the guy I sat next to on the plane. It was like I was suddenly very, very competent at conversation with a stranger because we magically spoke the same language and I didn’t have to stumble through all of it in French.
When I got home to California, everything looked super decadent and rich and modern. It’s hard to describe. Everyone’s cars were too new and big, everyone’s clothes were too modern, the roads were too nice and well lit, there were so many signs (there are really no signs for anything in Morocco – people just ask each other for directions on the street), all the houses were way too big and nice – too many rooms, too many bathrooms, and it was weird how everyone had their own room and own space. Real beds. Huge kitchen. The list goes on… basically everything felt just huge, clean, decadent, and sterilized. I think the first night I was here I was still kind of shell shocked by all the English being spoken around me and how everything looked to strange, but then realizing that I’d lived with all of that my whole life and never had a second thought about it.
I think I like a lot of aspects about Moroccan culture better than American culture. I like that neighbors will come over to visit without calling – they just show up at the door for lunch or tea and stay a couple hours, and maybe watch some TV and take a nap there too with the family. I also like how friendly and personable everyone is on the street, in taxis, anywhere. It seems a lot more comfortable and human somehow.
Not to be cheesy, but Morocco definitely gave me a new perspective on what humans need to live and be happy. I got so accustomed to my host family’s tiny apartment, the gross and old streets, the garbage everywhere, no air conditioning or heating, walking everywhere or taking a taxi, and people just talking to you out of nowhere. At first all of that stuff seemed kind of hard to live with, but after a while you don’t even notice it, and then it became normal. And after being able to live like that for months, it makes the people who think that they need air conditioning/the heater all the time really selfish. Also, it makes the people that think they need their new ipod, TV, phone, car, computer, and whatever appliance seem really spoiled. I think the difference between the Western way of thinking and the rest of the world’s way of thinking is that in the West, people think that money can buy everything, and that they deserve to be completely comfortable and entertained if they can pay for it, whereas in the rest of the world it’s different – people have less money, but they’re happy with what they have. They don’t have the same need as Americans to be constantly comfortable and to have everything be accessible and easy. It seems like Americans are always looking for new ways to be entertained and happy and new ways to make their lives easier, whereas the rest of the world just accepts discomforts as a part of life. I think it’s wiser and better to be like the rest of the world. It’s more realistic, and you don’t have that same sense that you’re entitled to a perfect, happy life. It makes you accept your conditions and try to find happiness within those restraints, rather than here, where people will tell you that you can change your life and make it perfect if only you work hard enough. It’s a culture that promotes “getting ahead” and the perfect job, family, and life if you work hard enough at it. The other side of that, however, is that you’re constantly dissatisfied with what you have, and you’re always looking to leave what you have behind and find the next, newer, better thing.
Sorry that this just became a rant about American culture. It sort of applies I guess.
Anyways, in all, I think Morocco gave me a much needed view of how people can still be very happy and fulfilled without all the gadgets and stuff and nice lifestyle that Americans think they need. Basically my only leftover culture tick, I guess you could call it, would be that I still find myself preparing how to say some things in French before I talk to a salesperson or waitress or any stranger basically. It’s still so incredibly weird to know that everyone around you speaks your language and to know that you can be perfectly understood by anyone. Other than that I’ve gotten used to life back in the US and I’m definitely happy to be home! And I think I have never appreciated my friends and family so much as when I was in Morocco and they were my only connection to home and my language and culture and everything. So thanks to everyone who talked to me while I was there – it kept me sane and connected to home.
So, that is the end of my time living abroad and I guess the end of this blog too. Thanks for reading all of you who did. I’m still sort of surprised that anyone found all of my ramblings interesting. I’m glad that I made this, though, because I think it was a good way to share some of my experiences in more detail than I would have been able to share just in conversation or email. And hopefully I encouraged instead of discouraged you to visit that part of the world if you ever get the chance.
Alright I guess that wraps it up. Bye everyone, thanks for reading!
