Reflections on her trip to Morocco with US BRIDGE students
Morocco is one of the most fascinating countries I have ever
visited. Throughout the years I have had the opportunity to
travel and explore different countries. Morocco was one of the few
countries that offered me the chance to understand how we are all
different and similar at the same time.
Moroccoís culture embraces a variety of traditions and customs that
make this country unique and distinctive from others. I was so
fortunate when I was selected to accompany four of our best students on
a journey to Morocco. I was anxiously awaiting the day until the day I
finally left to Morocco. We traveled to five different cities including
Rabat, Marrakech, Meknes, El Jadida and Casablanca and enjoyed the
wonderful beauties Morocco had to offer.
We were stunned to see how united families are and how people try to
spend as much time together as possible. The Moroccan families we
met seemed more functional than the ones we know in NY. The families we
stayed with taught us so many things about their culture, such as how
to eat with our hands, how to dress the typical Moroccan way, they
explained to us the respect they have for Islam, etc. We felt so
comfortable that we didnít miss home at all.
Our host families did the impossible to make our staying pleasant and
comfortable. We were more than delighted to engage ourselves in daily
family activities that were not so usual for us, such as waiting for
children to arrive home at 9:00 pm from extra hours, gather all
together and eat dinner while watching TV, talking about the things we
did during the day, planning weekend activities with the family, etc.
Besides the culinary benefits we enjoyed, we also admired the music. We
used to walk around the different citiesí downtown areas, Medinas,
listening to music and comparing it to the one of our original
countries. Morocco shows such a variety of everything in general that
even music from the Caribbean was being played on the streets.
The Moroccan children we met expressed their interest in coming to
America to fulfill their dreams and continue with their college
education. We discussed the differences and similarities between
the American and the Moroccan educational system and how even though
there is a lack of resources, Moroccan students struggle to do their
best and succeed in their studies. We had the chance to visit
different classes in different schools and participate in forums and
discussions that were not so fructiferous at all times.
In one occasion we were part of a Human Rights discussion in Marrakech
and we talked about how human rights are interpreted differently in
different parts of the world. Some students in Morocco did not
feel so comfortable talking about freedom in particular due to the war
and other political differences and disputes happening around the
world. I still remember vividly how a Moroccan student said ìWhy
do Americans want to attack Arabs ever since 9/11?î this question arose
after we started to talk about discrimination. I also remember
how Judith, one of my students, replied to that question and said ìthe
fact that youíre an Arab and Iím an American doesnít mean we canít be
friends.î This was so emotional because after being involved in
this discussion for over forty minutes, we were finally able to break
the ice and move on to a more positive conversation.
Overall, my trip to Morocco was a life learning experience. I had the
time of my life and I can truly say that I will be visiting Morocco
again very soon. My students loved the experience and they
definitely grew as individuals and learned how to respect others
regardless of their preferences. I really hope we can continue to do
this program next year and give the opportunity to other students to
explore and learn about Morocco and itís culture.
