Nine Things That Shock An American in Morocco

9 Things That Shock Moroccans about Americans

DUNCAN DE LAFELD
We’ve talked about some of the things that shock us, but intercultural dialogue is a two-way street, and there are plenty of things that we Americans do that amaze and offend our hosts. It’s easy for us to see the offense or shock in the things I described earlier that Moroccans do because they run contradictory to our culture. Here I’ve tried to present what shock Moroccans in as offensive a way as possible to try and simulate the way many Moroccans would feel them. I won’t be completely successful in that, but suffice it to say that they take every one of these as seriously as we do what shocks us.

Morocco is a land quite unlike the United States, and therefore it should go without saying that there are many instances when the American visitor will be shocked with what he or she observes, whether they be major cultural assumptions or minor idiosyncrasies. This list is an attempt to document some of those instances for the purposes of cultural understanding. I should say that none of these are rules, nor do they happen all the time. They do, however, occur with enough frequency as to be significant. I have striven to be an advocate for the people of Morocco, and I will continue to do so, and. At the same time, however, it would be wrong to assume that all aspects of my host culture are wonderful.I find a lot of the following to be offensive and I’m not going to pretend that they aren’t. Consider this – like everything else I have written here – as merely a record of my observations on some of the more delicate issues.1 - Moroccan culture puts great emphasis on the separation of sexes and their private areas. As is well documented, Islamic tradition frowns on the interaction between unrelated men and women, and even in places such as hammams where there is strict gender segregation, people still wear their last line of clothing. This is why it comes as such a shock to see so many people (nearly universally men) relieving themselves in public. Granted, this is just as shameful of an act here as it is in the States, but that doesn’t stop it from happening all the time. You’ll see men walk around a corner, behind a rock, or next to a tree and just let loose. That’s the way guys do it in America, but the biggest difference is that men here really don’t block off the visual path to what they’re doing. In fact, it’s so common that there are many street corners and external walls that have “urination forbidden” spray painted across them.

2 - Perhaps the majority of visitors will pass through completely oblivious to this, but it’s one of the most uncomfortable of situations for a volunteer or anyone else who submerges themselves in Moroccan culture. There is absolutely no hesitation when it comes to hitting children. It’s supposedly disallowed, but the guardians and teachers at school all carry a special hard rubber tube for keeping students in line, and families keep a special reserve of shoes, belts, and backhands for their children. Hitting in general is a lot more common here. A friend will often grab another – with much more aggression and zeal than we’re usually comfortable with – slapping and mock (or not) throttling each other. This carries over to children. A common game (similar to Peek-a-Boo in its mundaneness) is Slap-the-Young-Child-Upside-the-Head. It’s never done with any great force, but often enough that you can’t feel good about it. The real downside, though, to all this corporal punishment (aside from the child abuse) is that when not enforced, children often run amok. A good half of my Dar Shebab classes and school visits are spent in telling the students to pay attention. A Moroccan teacher would just put the beating stick on the table, and it wouldn’t be an idle threat.

3 - A PETA activist might have a conflicting time in Morocco. Unlike animals in the massive industrial farms of America, Moroccan livestock is pretty universally free-range. Herds of sheep and goats roam through town and the surrounding countryside, chickens run freely through streets and parks. There really aren’t enough resources to permanently keep any significant head of anything in one place. This doesn’t necessarily mean, though, that Moroccans have any great respect or love for animals. Dogs and cats also roam the town with impunity, but they are in no way welcome guests. A favorite game of children is throwing rocks at them as they scurry from trash pile to trash pile looking for food – as almost none are house pets, and even fewer are fed by the houses where they live. The children who live in my apartment community are fascinated by my cat, and run after her whenever she comes out of the house. Sometimes they’ll run inside to get her. And I don’t think they want to hurt her, but they tend to swat at her in the same way that people might dare each other to touch a snake. Some people want to like animals, and some even do take care of the ones that live in and around their houses. There are a few references to the prophet Mohammad’s fondness for cats, though dogs are generally considered dirty and it’s said that they scare off angels that would otherwise enter your house. In reality, they just don’t have much exposure to animal friends – even the idea is laughable to most people that I talk to about my kitten – and so they don’t have any idea what to do with them. I don’t know what to do with babies, but then again, I don’t throw rocks at them, either.

4 - We eat a lot in Morocco, and often. And when we eat, we eat fast. I mean, lunch is over in about fifteen minutes and that’s the biggest meal of the day. You can imagine, then, that we’re sucking down quite a lot air in this race to the bottom of the plate, and you’d be right. That’s my hypothesis for why Moroccans burp so much. And perhaps because they burp so much they don’t seem to think too very much about it. Some people will say “hamdullah” (“thank God”) afterwards. More often than not, you’ll just hear a massive explosion of stomach gas and then everyone continues whatever they were doing without much notice, kind of as though someone had just coughed. I was once close to teaching some young kids about burping the alphabet when one of them let loose a pretty big one, but something – good sense, probably – held me back.

5 - George Costanza once remarked: “I guarantee you Moses was a picker. You wander through the desert for 40 years with that dry air. You tell me you're not going to have an occasion to clean house a little?” He was talking, of course, about picking one’s nose, and he couldn’t have been more right about either the effects of desert dust storms, or the sociological tendencies of the people who suffer them. There is dust absolutely everywhere in Morocco – even in places like Freedonia that are about as un-desert as possible – and everywhere you look, you’ll find someone digging for nose gold. Snot rocketing, too. It’s startling for us, being so prudish about nasal penetration, but there’s no shame associated here. It’s about as ordinary as wiping your eyes.

6 -The biggest reverse culture shock I’ve suffered so far has been from care packages and the packaging. Everything is vacuum packed and double-sealed for freshness. It’s so unnecessary, and it’s one of the major contributors to America’s garbage problem. We’re working on it, though, through education and public trash disposal. Packaging really isn’t an issue here, but littering is epidemic. Opening a candy bar? Just drop the wrapper where it is. Finished your Coke? Toss the can in the bushes. No one’s even going to think about it, let alone say anything to you. The most common foliage in Morocco is black plastic bags. I once had a kid who tossed the little piece of saran wrap that came with his peanut brittle no the ground. I told him to pick it up. He looked at me with such incredulity you’d have thought I told him to eat it. I repeated myself and he actually ran away. I had to just about beat this child into putting his trash in a trashcan, all the while, Moroccans were watching me and helping, but more out of a sense of compassion. You could tell that they didn’t care, either. Unless it’s for complaining. Freedonians love to talk about how ugly their home is because of trash, but I’ve never seen anyone do anything about it. I pity the environment volunteers.

7 - Most people don’t have showering facilities in their homes, and most people don’t take showers anyway, they go to the hammam. It costs money, though, and there is a very strong dislike for spending money in the poor regions of this country. Consequently, it’s not rare to find someone who only goes to the hammam once a week, usually in conjunction with ablutions of their Friday prayers. The rest of the time, they just make do. This, combined with the fact that people have both relatively much smaller wardrobes and a much more labor-intensive process for cleaning their clothes, means that there is a general funkiness in the Moroccan air. You can’t get away from it, especially in the summer, especially in taxis. Added to this is the most unfortunate byproduct of Ramadan: “fasting breath.” Most Moroccans don’t brush their teeth any time of the year, but it’s so much worse when they don’t eat breakfast and have something to cover it up.

8 - Moroccan men and women don’t have much opportunity to interact with each other – an obvious byproduct of gender segregation – and yet they still suffer from the same biological need to procreate as the rest of us. Consequently, you’ve got a country full of horny guys who don’t know how to talk to women. This problem is compounded by (a) horniness can be resolved legally and morally only through marriage (read: neither frequently nor expediently), (b) prostitutes are more socially acceptable than self-love, and (c) it is generally accepted that men are incapable of controlling their sexual impulses. This last point is accepted not only by women but by the men themselves, and thus they often feel no shame in voicing responses to their baser instincts. Take, for example, an attractive woman walking down the street. (“An attractive woman” could be “a woman with a pleasing physique,” “a woman with an unpleasing physique but wearing pleasingly revealing clothing,” or “a woman.”) The frequent response will be for the man to express his approval of her physique, choice of dress, or chromosomal fortune with the intention of this leading to her having sex with him. He will most often hiss, but sometimes whistle, call out to her, gape, or even give her a little pinch. The general philosophy is that if any of these succeed in getting her attention – “turning her around” in the local parlance – and he’s well on his way to enjoying all the pleasures he can imagine (a reason for him to be severely surprised and disappointed if she walks away). This is especially true of Western women, who are generally perceived as dynamos of sexuality. If she doesn’t turn around and provide instant gratification, she must be having a bad day. Try again tomorrow.

9 - Moroccans are famous for their hospitality, and in no way is this more shockinly clear than in their giving of invitations. It's not uncommon for you to be riding in a taxi or talking with some vendor in the souk and for him to invite you back to his place. Where we come from, there's usually only one reason for this, and no matter what people tell you, it's usually not coffee. In Morocco, this is just a normal part of the equation. This is partly because we're visitors in their country, partly because they're interested in learning more about us, partly because they may want to show off their new friend or ask for help in getting a visa, but mostly because their social code requires it. It doesn't matter if they're rich or poor, or if they've known you a while or you've just met. If I accepted every invitation, I'd probably never cook again for my entire service. And this grates on a lot of volunteers, who usually want a little peace and quiet after a long day of servin. For the most part, people you've just met don't expect you to call them up (they'd take you in if you did, though), and people you already knew are understanding if you don't take them up on it. But if you don't come around from time to time, you're going to have some 'splaining to do.

Set as favorite

Bookmark

Email this

While MoroccoBoard.com encourages discussion on all subjects, including sensitive ones, the comments posted are solely the views of those submitting them. MoroccoBoard.com does not necessarily endorse or agree with the ideas, views, or opinions voiced in these comments. This is a moderated forum. Comments deemed abusive, offensive, or those containing profanity may not be published.

Trackback(0)

TrackBack URI for this entry

Comments (10) add comment

Subscribe to this comment's feed

guest said:

...
Thank you i was on my way to Morocco and this really helped.Although i still did go to Morrocco i did experience most of these.I did notice the trash and the stench of the people around me.I did not have a shower for a couple of weeks because i refused to take it with others.You article hit alot of points.I did ge asked to peoples house alot but my advice is go for a weekend not a lifetime.

04/01/12

REALLY OFFENDED said:

offended
thank you so much DUNCAN DELAFELD. I JUST WOULD LIKE TO LET YOU KNOW THAT YOUR ARTICLE IS A BIG INSULT TO ME, TO ALL MOROCCANS AND TO PEACE CORPS STAFF. I DID NOT EXPECT IT FROM YOU. YOUR ARTICLE IS FULL STEREOTYPES AND CLICHES

01/21/12

jennifer said:

...
You forget to add one...trying to obtain a visa to go to morocco. We planned a weekend away to morocco for a group of people with 6 different nationalities. The embassy (in switzerland) was not only rude, but also refused to answer the phone for 3 (!) weeks. Provided inconsistent information and proclaimed they had other things to do than to answer our questions. I have travelled all over the world and although I have come accross the strangest types of behaviour regarding visa applications (ever tried china?) this must have been the worse. It is one day before departure and 5 people have no visa yet (despite applying over 1 month ago, whereas the embassy said it would take 10 days.) I am sure I will enjoy my holiday, but in all honesty,never again

11/25/09

a guest said:

...
To the Author,
I want to thank you for shedding the light on some of the bad habits we Moroccans are accustomed to. You were very articulate and precise in your discriptions and I really appreiciate that a non Moroccan points to these anomalies.
Moroccans culturally like to hide things and act as if they do not exist. They need to understand that by exposing what you have very eloquently described are issues they need to face and correct.
Every Moroccan would agree with you 110 percent, unfortunately they take your article as an insult and they would rather hear it from a Moroccan. You were so truthful, they rather go after your statement of " understanding between people" rather than debate the very true statements that you have made.
I for once would wish to see more people Moroccan or not pointing to these problems, the more you place people on the spot the more you see them behaving.
As a Moroccan, i had wished to disagree with you but I honestly could not, because you hit the nail on the head and I would hope that you would contribute with more articles. We Moroccan need to hear people like you.
I'll stop here,otherwise, i will end up saying that I love you.
Sincerely,
Guest.

10/16/09

a guest said:

...
Jessica,
You are right. Moroccoboard did Morocco no favor by posting this article. And not only that, you couldn't even comment on it. As if someone ties you up and slaps you on the face.

10/16/09

a guest said:

The biggest shock of all: this article was written by a US Peace Corp volunteer.
Dear Author,

No one is confused about your article. It is very clear.

Your writing comes off (regardless of your intention) as a thinly veiled diatribe that shows contempt for Moroccan people - in particular, people living in poverty. People you were sent to Morocco, on behalf of the United States, to treat with dignity and respect.

They say in their mission statement, "MoroccoBoard strives to empower the Moroccan American Community to attain a higher level of visibility and to increase its political reach, and to become fully active in the American political process. MoroccoBoard seeks to exert a positive influence on US-Morocco relations."

I am not sure how posting an article that paints Moroccans as nose picking, littering, bad-breathed, dirty, stinky, abusive, perverts helps empower the Moroccan American community.

Humor is a good thing and I am the first to laugh at a good joke or quality satirical writing. But this article was bad humor at Morocco's expense and a poor representation of US Peace Corps members who generally treat the people in their host country with a little more respect.

sincerely,
Jessica

ps....You explained in your comment that this article is part of a two-part series and you have more info on your website. But when reading an article, the reader shouldn't have to cross reference other websites and wait months for additional parts of a "series" to understand what is being expressed. If Morocco Board asked you to use the article, you should have insisted they publish the whole series if that is necessary to express your point of view.

10/15/09

a guest said:

...
Your opinion is surely a result of your limited exposure to Moroccan culture mixed with a pre-existing stereotypical approach to everything NOT American. You are entitled to your view though I disagree with it.

But what I have a problem with is the claim of promoting cultural understanding by listing out everything negative about Morocco. The last time I checked; calling someone a nose picker, dirty, smelly, prostitute, horny, burps a lot, ….etc is considered an insult. I am not sure this is a valid methodology to promote harmony and peace between cultures.

10/15/09

a guest said:

A Response
It would seem that there is some confusion as to the purpose of this article, which I would like to clarify. This article is the first half of a two-part series on what is shocking between our cultures, the second being a list of those things that we Americans do here in Morocco that shock or offend our hosts. Furthermore, this is only a small installment in a two-year series on my experiences here in Morocco.

These other articles, however, are not published here on the Morocco Board. I am not a contributor to this news service. Rather, shortly after publishing this article on my own personal site, www.moroccanroller.blogspot.com, I was contacted by the moderators of the Morocco Board who requested to publish it here. As it was - and still is - public record on the internet, it made little difference to me if other sources publish it as well.

Separated from its context, it is understandable that someone might picture me as an angry Morocco basher. These things that I have ennumerated above are all shocking to me, though to be "shocked" does not necessarily mean to be "offended," and I would encourage readers to re-examine this article and note when it is that I offer a description and when I make a value judgment. As Ahmed so clearly points out, the same could be said by a Moroccan in America. He makes one glaring error, however, and that is in thinking he would have to restrict his search to merely the ghettos or trailer parks.

For the moment, my responsibility lies in experiencing all there is in Morocco and conveying that to my fellow citizens. This includes the good and the bad. When I return to America I will have to face the problems still entrenched in my society, and I invite anyone to come and hold the mirror to our faces. I am not a voice for Moroccan tourism, nor am I concerned with protecting people's feelings over presenting the truth as I perceive it. I am comfortable, however, in believing that my record lies heavily in favor of Morocco and its people, it is merely a shame that the Morocco Board contains only this sample.

But it is a shame easily remedied, one has only to visit my blog (www.moroccanroller.blogspot.com). For the moment, let it suffice to say that the decision to live in Morocco for two years is easily the best I have ever made, and I am extremely content. I challenge anyone who disbelieves me to read my writings and prove me wrong.

- The Author

10/15/09

a guest said:

Can't believe this is coming from an ambassador of the US in Morocco
This is unacceptable. I understand this person is a US Peace Corps volunteer who belongs to a program that was created to promote understanding between the US and the world. With such an article, he is doing everything that is against his official federally-funded mission: to promote peace and understanding between peoples. The author of this text needs to be reported to his US peace corps supervisors. Hope Moroccan newspapers do not pick on this and translate it into Arabic because it will infuriate Moroccans living in Morocco, which can be hazardous to his security and the security of other fellow PC volunteers.

10/14/09

a guest said:

Ahmed Tantan
"This list is an attempt to document some of those instances for the purposes of cultural understanding"

I am not sure your list lives up to the premise of "cultural understanding", It's more like cultural bashing. This list is based on your personal experience and analysis of the situations you encountered, and in no way shape or form represents the overall image of the daily life in Morocco. There was no attempt to promote any kind of understanding in your article. You showed no efforts to put yourself in the shoes of those you were bashing to at least try to “understand” why they do things the way they do. Frankly I find your article quite condescending and full of stereotypes.

Imagine, if I compiled a list about life in any of the American Ghettos or about the thousands of communities in the trailer parks, I bet I can list far worse situations than the ones you eloquently catalogued about Morocco.

I accept that you are free to express your opinion or talk about your experiences however you like. But I am not sure I agree with your claim of “promoting cultural understanding”
By Ahmed Tantan

10/14/09

Write comment

Submit classified free

guest said:

REALLY OFFENDED said:

jennifer said:

a guest said:

a guest said:

a guest said:

a guest said:

a guest said:

a guest said:

a guest said:

Contributors

Who's Online

Latest Comments