Na’na- The most fun word to say in Arabic. It means mint.
After a few weeks of living in the outskirts of Morocco, I have had the amazing opportunity to witness a legitimately wonderful culture. Here are a few random observations I have made.
1. Hospitality (if you haven’t already heard about theirs) is a BIG thing. When I say hospitality, I mean clear your calendar for a full day outing with a new friend, their entire family, two desserts, veggies, fruit, tea, and a huge main course (four entire chickens big). Make time to enjoy each other’s presence, laughs, conversation, and don’t make any plans for afterwards because by one day I mean dawn to dusk- the people here, although they have a solid routine, are amazingly interruptible. The people here are so outgoing, and quick to offer any selfless act of service which we should take back with us in the states. Neighbors stop by with food, and strangers on busses engage in conversation, while others make full day ‘programs’ of things to do, like offering tours or cooking classes.
2. Taxis. Be prepared to either wait an hour after grocery shopping to flag one down, or be ripped off. This is one area where if you are not a local, you might get tricked. So be street smart and make sure they turn on the meter. Taxis are fairly cheap.
3. If you yourself would like to be hospitable, make a meal with a LOT of flavor. Cook in excess. And don’t peel the fruit / cut it up when serving it ( the American way) …they say the fruit tastes better if you have to work for it, which is lovely. And when serving tea, one person gets the ‘tea’ duties, and you gotta pour it the Moroccan way, make sure there’s some foam on top!
4. Advice from one man driving by in a car, “ Live the Moroccan life, leave the American culture behind, do as the Moroccans do. And stay in the light.” Interpretation: watch and learn from the locals and don’t go down dark alleys.
5. Timing. Did they say they were coming at 10 a.m. on a Monday? That could mean 8 p.m. Wednesday or next week. BUT it could also mean 10 a.m. on a Monday. You never know with this one.
6.Busses. Rush hour is not the time to take one. If you find yourself being pushed onto a bus, it’s rush hour. And if you are not a Moroccan I would suggest paying before sitting, even one minute of lag time may lead to you paying 7x as much. But don’t worry, fellow bus riders will fight for you against the ‘system’, and sometimes they will win. Also, try to find a window, as a long or particularly hot bus ride can easily lead to motion sickness. Sitting on the ground is not culturally acceptable, no matter how nauseous you may be.
7. Crossing the road. If you would like to cross the road, don’t hesitate and just go for it when the moment presents itself! There aren’t crosswalks and the cars are very good at dodging humans.
8. Unexpected show ups are pretty normal. In that regard, make sure to keep your house fairly clean, because you never know when a guest might be coming. And it’s always fun to not have a pair of underwear hanging outside your window while having a conversation.
9. Cafe culture. People go to cafes on the reg. with groups of friends and hang out for hours. Any night of the week, and at any point of the day, you will see restaurants or cafes always with people. I love how relational everyone is here.
10. Speaking of relational, family is very important here. They usually eat meals together every night, and on weekends those dinners include extended family and sisters, brothers, aunts or uncles who live in other areas around Morocco.
11. Affection. This culture is very affectionate. Girls will be holding hands walking down the road, guys will give each other twenty second long hugs, and you will receive generally 2-3 kisses when saying your hellos or goodbyes. And you don’t ever leave a group without going around to each and every person, even if seven may have just shown up, they get a goodbye too!
12. Goodbye does not mean goodbye. After saying your first farewells, you may find yourself sticking around for another hour or two of fun… again timing varies.
People are quick to show off their talents of song or dance. Basically anyone who sings here is an amazing singer.
13. Phones. People here are very popular and it’s normal for a person to receive a phone call every five minutes if they have a lot of friends.
14. The era is very mixed. You can see a horse or donkey pulling a cart, but turn the corner and you can see a VW or Mercedes. At the same time people can have a closet filled with traditional Kaftans and leather jackets. They hang on to tradition while moving forward all the same… pretty cool!
Pray for:
So, this place is pretty unique and amazing, probably my favorite so far, but at the same time the atmosphere is spiritually heavy. There is a war, not in the earthly realm, and it’s going on every day. There are very few christians here, and some have gone a long time thinking they were the only one out of a couple thousand Moroccans before meeting another. For the few christians who do live here, I cannot even begin to imagine what it must be like. Our team has only been here three weeks and feel the weight. The Islamic religion is ingrained into the very core of life here, and Christian Moroccans are not free to share their beliefs of Christianity unless someone asks specifically about it. Worship and church is always hush hush, and the oppression of a very real enemy is apparent. Keep in prayer those who already have Jesus in their life and are raising their household in a culture that is so against it, and be praying for those who hear about Jesus for the first time. Pray for them to keep asking questions, keep being curious, and to have dreams and visions of Him! It happens and we can be expectant and hopeful that God will bring many more to Himself. Thanks so much friends and fam for all the support 🙂
