Morocco- A Backround

Studying abroad was one of those ideas that came to me fast, and I acted upon it immediately, and now, in only a few hours I will be boarding a plane and flying to Morocco. Morocco if on the North-West coast of Africa, bordered by Mauritania to the south, and Algeria to the east, and Spain to the North. It is a Muslim country, but not necessarily Arab. Due to Morocco's proximity to both Europe, the Arab world, and Sub-Saharan Africa, it has become a mixing pot of cultures that become more unique as you travel throughout the country.

From what I understand they speak a dialect of Arabic call Darija, which is around 60% Arabic, while the rest is a combination of French, Berber (Native Moroccan), and some Spanish. All formal business, commerce, and news media is conducted in Formal Arabic, or French.

One thing that I think is important for non-Arabic speakers to understand is the significant differences in the dialects across the Arab world, while it is very common for an Arab speaker to understand more then one dialect, many of them are unintelligible and a Moroccan would not necessarily understand an Egyptian, unless one of them switched dialects or communicated in formal Arabic.

After 10 days of living in Fez (the country's cultural capitol), I will be returning to Rabat (the actual capitol) which is where I will be living for the fall semester with a Moroccan host family. I am anxious to begin my journey, and to experience a culture that I imagine is very unlike the Western world.

I will do my best to update my blog every couple of days to keep everyone in the know about whats going on here in Africa.

God Bless

Arabic word of the Day:

المغرب

Al-Magreb

Morocco