The Moroccan exchange

A four day vacation to a third-world Muslim nation does not sound like the typical weekend excursion of an American student living abroad. Turkish toilets, public baths, the five pillars of Islam? These parts of Moroccan culture are things to which most American students are unaccustomed.

Morocco, which is located on the northern tip of Africa, is close to Spain, only nine miles away via the strait of Gibraltar. With such a short distance separating the two countries, it is difficult to comprehend why the Spaniards hold such strong stereotypes against the Moroccans. All of the teachers, students, friends and “family” that I have here in Spain wished me luck before I set out to Morocco on Oct. 8, as if I were going off to war.

I, a Marist College exchange student, and fellow students flew to Tangier, where there were people in different styled clothes, as some work the traditional gandora (which is similar to a gown), some wore t-shirts and jeans, and while others wore a gandora with jeans underneath. At first glance, it seemed to me as if the people of Morocco were a bit confused.

On our first day in Tangier my group and I ate lunch with a few female Moroccan students. We asked one of the girls, Hajar, “Why are some people dressed traditionally and some people modernly?” Hajar told us that Morocco, especially in Tangier, is in the midst of modernizing, and it is having an effect on the younger generation.

Hajar personally takes her religion of Islam very seriously and obeys the five pillars: belief in Allah and his prophet Mohammad, prayer five times a day, giving to the poor, fasting during the month of Ramadan and a pilgrimage to Mecca during one’s lifetime. Hajar said that there are many kids who consider themselves Muslim but don’t abide by the pillars daily. This reminded me of many of my friends and I who consider ourselves Catholic but don´t exactly make it to church every Sunday.