Over the past weekend I went to Morocco through "We Love Spain", a traveling program directed toward foreigners in Spain. Many of my friends went on the trip to morocco through this program a few weekends ago and gave great reviews about the trip. Originally, I had decided that I was to only travel within Spain so that I could truly see and understand Spain. However, with my friends' reviews and knowing that I would probably never go to Morocco in the future, I signed up for the trip.
Even though I was with a big group of people, around 150 people, I felt kind of lonely. I didn't have my own group of friends, weird for me. I generally tend to have a small circle of close friends. For a first, I was a floater between friend groups. However, I did meet a lot of great people, especially three girls with sarcastic comedy and similar attitudes towards American behavior abroad. Sometimes, though, it's good to be alone. I learned about myself.
I have definitely confirmed that I am different from most American girls, in a good way, in my opinion. I am definitely a liberal arts students. I have an open mind. I enjoy learning. I like meeting new people, especially people from different cultures. I can wear a basic tee-shirt and comfortable jeans without makeup or hair products and feel pretty. I can conduct a research study on pubic hair removal in male and female college students. I'm not saying that I'm better or worse, rather that I am different from many Americans. Inside my Bates bubble, I don't feel different. Now I realize that Batesies are not the typical Americans. Liberal arts students are not the norm.
Studying abroad has opened my eyes to how different I am from the majority of people in the United States. Though, I am proud of my differences. I am who I have always wanted to be, greatly due to my experiences at Bates and studying abroad.
So, I traveled through Morocco with this program, trying to embrace and enjoy my independence. I loved Morocco! My first thoughts were of confusion. At this point in my life, I understand a great deal of Latin/Hispanic culture. However, I understand nothing of Moroccan culture. A whole new world was unveiled to me. Some Americans commented that the city of Tetuan looks exactly like Spain. While there are definitely similarities, of course, due to the very strong presence of Muslim architecture in Andulasia, and the close proximity of Morocco to Spain and to Europe in general, Morocco is very different esthetically. Morocco uses much more white (for heat control), more ridged U shaped arches, domes, bright colored ceramic tiles, geometric patterns, and not to mention that cities are based between mountains. My favorite city was Chefchaouen. I felt like I was in an ice fairy land. I say ice because everything was painted blue or white. I say fairy because the doors were probably around three and half feet high. The design is meant to help with the heat. The best part of morocco, for me, as a tourist, was the amazing shopping. The products are of good quality and diverse. The leather bags, colorful plates, fun jewelry, tea cups, scarves, blankets ... are amazing! I wanted to buy everything. During my weekend, we were led on tours by a Moroccon man. I was glad that Americans didn't make any rude comments in reaction to some of his statements. It was very important, and hard at times, to keep an open mind and remove all of my ethnocentrism. I was mostly struggling with his speeches on the role of women to serve the husband. Even with the conservative nature of Moroccan culture, I was confused by the mix of liberal and conservative behaviors. While some women covered all of their body, other women wore normal clothes and just covered their hair. In a holistic medicinal shop, where we had a tour, the sales people targeted couples for an aphrodisiac tea, very directly addressing their sexual relations in an open nature. I felt a strong desire to stay in Morocco to better understand this controversy, though not for too long, considering my status as a female and my consistent need for good medical services. On our way down to Morocco, we went to Gibraltar for half a day. Gibraltar is a city in southern Spain that is actually owned by England. In this fascinating city, I was intrigued by my tour guide's statement that he is neither British nor Spanish. He is Gibraltan? Gibraltian? He says people from Gibraltar greatly fear that Spain will one day own the city, claiming that he would rather be British than Spanish... Still am not exactly sure why, though maybe for current economical reasons. People there speak neither Spanish nor English, they speak Spanglish. It's also interesting that many Spaniards claim the right to this land since it is in Spain, but at the same time defend the Spanish land at the top of Morocco. Anyway, The main attraction at Gibraltar is the Big Rock where you can interact with monkeys! Basically, the best day of my life because a monkey hopped on my shoulder. Dreams do come true! Overall, I loved the trip. Both Gibraltar and Morocco are great visits and worth the time and money.
Kizoa slideshow: Gibraltar + Morocco - Slideshow
