Gabbi Goes to Morocco

My trip to Morocco was an impeccable experience for a multitude of reasons. Not only was it the first time I have been outside of North America, but it also pushed me out of my comfort zone and showed me a world that I never knew about.  One of the main things that I would like future me to take away from this experience is what we learned about Islam. Today, many Americans have many misconceptions about what Islam is and the basic beliefs of the religion. While the media largely perpetuates this idea, many Americans do not bother to actually look into the facts or go to Muslim countries and experience the culture. From the very first lectures we had in Morocco in addition to reading  Dreams of Trespass , we learned that the media is incredibly inaccurate in its portrayals of Islam. In fact, not only are there Sunni and Shia Muslims, but there are also many different schools within Islam that can determine one’s individual views and beliefs. For example, Morocco follows the Mali

Geopolitics , or the study of politics as influenced by geographical factors, impacts the day-to-day struggles of Moroccans in a multitude of ways.  Morocco  ( See image below )  can be divided up into seven different regions. Each region has their own climate with the Atlas Mountains extending down from Fes to the South of Morocco. In having a mountain range within a country, it can make travel very difficult for its citizens; affecting how Moroccans travel within the country. Furthermore, it can also protect the Western half of the country from the East.  Next, across North Africa and the Middle East (see image below ), Islam remains the dominant religion, with Morocco being included in this majority. As we saw throughout our trip, religion is connected to almost every aspect of Moroccans’ daily lives. This is reinforced by Morocco’s political system in which the King is the Commander of the Faithful and Islam remains Morocco’s official religion. In Fatima Mernissi’s book,  D

For centuries a group of people named the Berbers occupied and ruled Northern Africa  (See image below) . While the Berbers had existed for centuries, the mid 11 th century was a turning point. During this time, Ibn Abdullah as-Samin gained power by pulling together tribes in Western Sahara and calling himself a spiritual leader. His goal was to spread a “true” understanding of Islam and turn the Berbers into “proper” Muslims. As mentioned in the documentary, “ The Kingdom of Morocco, ” the Almoravids eventually took over the trading hub, Sidula Massa. In taking control of water and trading gold, the Almoravids were able to spread the “proper” form of Islam to the Berbers.   The Almoravids spread across Northern Africa with as many as 2,000-foot soldiers and began to look for a place to settle. Eventually, the Almoravids set up an entire city, the region of Marrakech , with outstanding architecture and even one of the biggest hamams in Morocco, possibly the Islamic world. Howe

While Morocco is a very different culture with different cultural dynamics, in some ways, it is quite similar to the United States. The piece of information that surprised me the most was in regards to the food and drinks that can be found in Morocco. In Culture Smart, York explains, “there is no dearth of restaurants in country… Casablanca, Rabat, and Marrakech are filled with restaurants of just about every variety, from Senegalese to sushi to KF C (see image below) ” (York, 108). I knew that Morocco was a globalized society and that they had food from all over the world, but something about having a KFC in Morocco just really shocked me. I think this is because Morocco tends to have foods that are good for your body and often are not as artificial and KFC is quite the opposite. Another piece of information that surprised me was when York explains that alcohol, especially beer  ( see image below ), is widely available within the country (York, 110). This shocked me because given th

In America, we often times say that value our right to privacy. Indeed the U.S. Supreme Court has made landmark rulings arguing that we have a constitutional right to privacy . While human beings have an innate propensity to affiliate with other human beings, humans also cannot tolerate extended physical contact with others and do have a need for privacy. However, how much privacy one needs, varies significantly across cultures. The U.S. and Morocco are two countries that have drastically different views on privacy. First, in his book on communication, Dr. Neuliep lays out four different types of privacy: solitude or being away from observation of others; intimacy, being with another person but away from the outside world; anonymity, or the state of being unknown in a crows; and reserve, or unwanted intrusion. The type and degree or privacy desired depends largely on the type of behavior in which one engages, the culture, and the individual personality traits. Dr. Neuliep argues t

Cultural dimensions or worldview tendencies describe the effect of society’s culture on the values of its members. There are six main cultural dimensions: individualism-collectivism, uncertainty avoidance, power distance, masculinity-femininity, long-term orientation, and indulgence (see image below) . Every culture has their own unique interactions of cultural dimensions. The values and norms of a culture both impact and are a product of cultural dimensions. In the United States, we tend to value individualism and personal self interests over collectivism. One of Hsu’s postulates of basic American values asserts: “an individual’s most important concern is self-interest, self-expression, self-improvement, self-gratification, and independence. This takes precedence over all group interests.” Furthermore, America, like many other individualistic cultures, is uncertainty-oriented, meaning that we will directly engage in activities that will seek information to resolve the uncerta