Farewell to semester 1

I had the realization that I forgot to link to my final Rockin’ Morocco column for fall semester’s last issue of The Dickinsonian. A real tragedy, I know. So, here it is!

Teaser:

Everything’s wrapping up here, and my first semester in Rabat is about to come to a close. I’m in the throes of “finals” writing my “research papers,” and am prepping for “presentations,” (in quotes because these words don’t quite have the same meaning here) but for some reason, finals week just does not have the same level of stress as it always does at Dickinson. I’ve heard that from a number of friends abroad—I guess this must be something inherent to studying abroad. This week I have not found myself staying in the library until closing time, then heading over to Althouse to work until the sun comes up. Maybe it’s because my grades this semester don’t factor into my GPA, maybe it’s because the academics aren’t nearly as rigorous as say Professor Fratantuono’s Global Economy class or maybe it’s just the more laid-back day-to-day Moroccan attitude.

In seek of inspiration for my last column for the semester I just reread my very first Rockin’ Morocco column to try and remember what I was thinking and feeling at the beginning of my time here. The ant invasion of my room feels like such a long time ago. The weather was so hot then that I needed to sleep in my underwear, now it’s so cold that I have a heater in my room. Needless to say, the ants are long gone.

Ok so it's not that cold... Sunshine and 70 degrees during DECEMBER! It has gotten colder since this picture was taken but nowhere near a Carlisle or Denver winter.

What have I learned since arriving in Rabat last August? I have learned my most valuable lessons outside of the classroom. I had heard this before, but this idea has been reinforced over the last few months. Here are some of my precious pearls of wisdom, some expected, and others not as much:

Read the rest of my column in The Dickinsonian.

Thoughts on Friendship in Morocco

Still am having major remorse for not keeping the blog updated–therefore, it’s time to post another one of my Rockin’ Morocco columns! This time I explored how friendship is conceived a little bit differently here and how I discovered this through my Facebook interactions with Moroccan friends and acquaintances:

A Moroccan acquaintance I met the other night out in Rabat friended me on Facebook. Then, once I accepted his request, he proceeded to go through all of my tagged photos and “like” a fair amount. I know he was comprehensive in his Facebook stalking because he even “liked” a photo from my high school senior prom. Creepy, right? That picture has got to be 400 or so photos back from the most recent. I thought his Facebook behavior was a bit intense and kind of weird, but now that I am making more and more Moroccan friends, the exact same thing keeps happening. Even more, I cannot sign on to Facebook and have my chat set to online without being bombarded with instant messages from my new Moroccan friends, some of which I have only talked to once before.

Why are Moroccans (or at least the young Moroccans who I have befriended) so hyped up on Facebook interaction and stalking? A part of the answer could be that the technology is just taking hold here. In a way, the Moroccan youth has become obsessed with getting online, since access to the Internet is increasing more and more and capabilities for communication are expanding. There are new ways to get in touch and stay connected that were not options for previous generations. However, based on my time here, the Moroccan Facebook behavior that I have experienced could cinch on something much more than technology; it seems that friendship and even space are conceptualized very differently in Morocco than back home in the U.S.

Read the full column here.

Me and an acquaintance at Amideast's mock Moroccan wedding. He really wanted to take a picture with me. My host mom lent me that traditional kaftan I'm wearing. It looked great but didn't breathe so well.