 Social Life
|
|
By this
point you might be thinking “What do Moroccans do for fun?” lf
you’re looking for night life, you’ve come to the wrong country.
Most people do not even walk on the streets after 8:00 or 9:00 at night.
It’s amazing to watch the mass exodus of people from the public spaces
once night falls. Furthermore, some host parents feel that it is dangerous to
be out at night, and expect you to stay in after dinner.
During the
day, you will find that much socializing occurs over a cup of mint tea. Jeneen
and Matt found that cafes were good places to watch and meet Moroccans
socially.
The
Dartmouth group in fall 1995 affectionately referred to the ALIF garden as
“the love boat.” It seems that the garden is a neutral zone where
certain norms no longer apply: you will see more Moroccan “couples”
than anywhere else in Fez. You, too, may discover your social life revolving
around this space—spending long afternoons on the benches, sipping
glasses of mint tea with Moroccan friends, discussing and arguing about various
topics.
Playing
pool was also a favorite in 1995. Although pool halls mainly attract a male
audience, women were welcome. One place to check out is the deaf (yes, deaf!)
pool hall near ALIF. If tea and pool sound a little too mellow for your tastes,
there are dance clubs in some of the larger hotels, but the entrance fees are
pretty stiff.
Jeneen
found that some of the tennis clubs in Fez were not only cheap and clean but
also open to the public. If you like to play, definitely bring your racquet and
a pair of sneakers. There were also rumors of pubic swimming pools, but no one
on the 1995 program took advantage of them. (The ’02 group definitely
took advantage of the swimming pool at the Hotel Zalagh. Also, the garden at
that hotel is a good place to study.) Lastly, you can become a member of one of
the local athletic clubs and practice anything from aerobics to martial arts.
|
Living with your host family
After
living in a hotel for a week you will be ready to meet your families. The
families vary greatly, but you can be assured that you will be able to
communicate with at least one family member, whether in French, English,
Spanish, or whatever language you speak. Most of the families have never had a
foreigner stay with them, so they are just as excited and nervous as you. Some
families will have students your age (often enrolled at the American Language
Center), some won’t have children, and others will have small babies. You
may or may not have your own room, given that many people can sleep comfortably
in a large. Families will range from lower middle class to very upper class.
Some of us lived in very large homes and had our own bedrooms and bathrooms;
other students were given a small corner of the family room and bathed at the
local hammam. There are benefits to both situations. In the case of students
living in the same space as the rest of the family, they will benefit from an
inescapable closeness and will witness every aspect of Moroccan life. Students
who end up in large houses will feel a little more isolated, and may experience
more moments of loneliness and disconnectedness.
Moroccans
have a very different concept of personal space and time alone. Whether you
have your own room or not, you will have very little privacy. In Jeneen’s
case, her little brothers and sisters would come into her room whenever they
wanted. Matt’s host parents thought it was strange that he studied so
much. Many families will want you to go with them to weddings, naming
ceremonies, circumcisions, and to tour other cities. If your family does this,
consider yourself blessed. If they don’t, be proactive and curious. You
are in Morocco to learn, and this is the best way to do it. You will not have
time to do everything, but try not to miss out on truly Moroccan adventures.
Host families generally insist that you not bring Moroccan friends to their
homes, as they feel, often correctly, that a foreigner may not have the
necessary discrimination to differentiate between trustworthy and
untrustworthy Moroccans. In addition, many families may not be very flexible
about allowing their guests to return late at night without prior warning.
They will typically be more protective of female students, treating them
almost as daughters.
Socializing in the ALIF garden.
|
If
you want to meet with other Moroccans, the ALIF garden is an excellent place
to socialize. Women in particular will at first be swooped down upon by
Moroccans—particularly men—eager among other things for
friendship, and English practice. Hold yourself aloof from those who act in
this un-Moroccan manner, but gradually get to know lots of people in the
garden. You can swap Moroccan practice for English practice, or ask advice on
facets of life or purchases you need to make. Remember women are generally
friends with women; men with men.
|
FSP Group Dynamics
Because
you are part of a Dartmouth FSP experience, particular considerations about
group dynamics are worth further discussion here. Due to your status as
foreigners, you can expect to be thrown together with a wider variety of
students than you usually associate with at Dartmouth. You’ll spend lots
of time with your colleagues simply because you are all strangers in a strange
land. Animosities and annoyances with others do continue, however, and you are
advised to keep yourselves and each other in check. Floundering group
dynamics—such as backstabbing comments or outright avoidance—can
make for a hassling, stressful situation abroad. Be considerate of your
colleagues: if someone needs a partner to go to Meknes, why not go? If someone
wants to walk the Medina and you don’t have another appointment,
it’s likely you’ll learn more than you would hanging out in an
Internet café.
With a
group limited to 15 students, there’s no particular reason for
fragmentation or exclusion. Most individuals will need at least some support
from the group and will want to share letters from home, talk about boyfriends
or girlfriends, and complain about how much they miss Hop fries or whatever.
Each person, on the other hand, will have to determine what balance between
host family life, travel time, and hours spent hanging out in the ALIF garden
needs to be. As the weeks go by, be considerate of the choices your friends
make.
Keeping a
journal will be of particular value in sharing experiences with others. Jeneen
and Matt read each other’s writings on several occasions, offering
windows into events and situations the other didn’t have the opportunity
to experience. Discussions about Morocco-related life are much more productive
than sessions of “What I miss about home,” which only serve to
reinforce homesickness. Try to avoid such talks. Reinhart in particular thinks
that conversations referring to “them” or asserting that
“they” are such-and-such always go badly. If you are going to
generalize, say so: “All Moroccans are…” Of course, when you
start this way, you frequently realize an untenable assertion.
|
|
| Back to the FSP Guidebook Index |
 |
|
|
