Gabbi Goes to Morocco

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