Family in Morocco

My host sister pouring water over my head  in order to brush my hair in the Hamam was a very significant moment for me. I realized that as water was gushing over my head and I saw these big eyes of my 10 year old host sister looking back at me smiling, She didn’t know English and I didn’t know much Arabic but the family experience that we shared, language didn’t matter, love and kindness transcends language. That I felt safe in a foreign home because I felt taken care of. My host mother felt responsible to wash and scrub me as if I was her own child. That type of relationship is rare. I was welcomed into their private space. into their sacred space and I felt honored. Witnessing that type of human interactions and loving gestures made everything else in Morocco worth it. My host family set the tone. We shared meals together, watched TV, laughed  and played games together. The mother and host sisters helped me with Arabic homework and I gave them English phrases to learn. It felt very easy and safe in a nervous time for me.

Morocco to me was two things, love and community. I saw more kindness and generosity by strangers and friends on the street than I had in other countries I visited. I believe that rituals such as tea create a space for people to exhibit such behaviors. One of the most significant lectures at CCCL was images and identities that existed in Morocco related to public and private space. In Morocco, it was expressed to us that people presented themselves differently related to type of space surrounded them. The clothes, the relationships and even the way their walked and talked changed, sometimes significantly based on whether a person was in the marketplace (the medina) or in their living room eating breakfast with their family. I actively noticed the type of space that we were in, every new location we visited. I acknowledged that we in a very privileged position to get the opportunity to witness both public and private spaces while traveling in a country. To get to speak with “the grandmas” about their tribal nomadic upbringing and the decisions that they made to leave the lifestyle was a very vulnerable moment. To be allowed to have a sacred tribal initiation ceremony performed on the group and all of the rights and privileges which go along with being a member of the community was incredible.

I fully understand that our field course to Morocco was an very unique experience, without Mokhtar and his relationships to the people, to the land and the way/how he was raised we greatly benefited from. That is a very privileged position. I will take away how peaceful and kind the people treated us. Whether that is because we were tourist or whether that was a true representation of how society actually is, I might never know but I will always have a truly beautiful perspective of Morocco.