An exhillerating, exhausting introduction to the Magrheb February 26, 2023

Academic rigor, intensity, resources, etc.

Intensity of the Arabic language and sociology/history courses was low. We were more or less handheld through our Introduction to Arabic course (that said, it was always a fun, enjoyable class), and the content matter and presentation in thematic courses wasn't much more rigorous. As much as I loved my professors, the value of the experience was derived outside of the classroom.

On-site administration of your program

Outside of the final week and a half of the program, I didn't know the housing director's (? not sure what her title was, but essentially her role was to manage students' needs) name. And we met the chief director of the program for the first time during the farewell dinner. Taieb, et-Tibari, Asmae, and the rest of the professors and staff who we engaged with on a daily basis were absolutely wonderful. Administration, however, was mostly nonexistent until a COVID scare and mass-mobilization of students over lack of food stipends. To their credit, the latter was granted, but throughout the program students encountered several issues relating to housing, health, etc that went unfielded.

How satisfied were you with your living arrangements?

Homestays were good, even with outdated information regarding family rosters. The hotel we were housed in for the first and last weeks was servicable. The only issue people encountered was a lack of sufficient financial support and guidance for housing during the November ISP period. I found abnormally affordable single-person housing at the site of my internship, but my plans for this period would likely have been unviable had I not been so lucky.

Homestay food was fine. Restaurant scene in Rabat is less than stellar. And we were mostly on our own during and after ISP period.

How integrated did you feel with the local culture?

I don't have the energy to write about this. What is integration? As much as I could, I grew comfortable with the Moroccan environments in which I lived. I established as much of a rapport I could with my host family and other actors I met on busses, at the gym, on the beach, etc. By the time I returned to Rabat after ISP, I almost felt as if I was returning home. While language and cultural barriers were and always will be an ubiquity, I felt more or less at ease as a white American male. My positionality, however, is key: it is far easier for someone of my identity to walk around Morocco unbothered than others.

How well were health issues addressed during the program?

Neutral or N/A as I personally never encountered issues. Vaccines were not required.

Rabat is extremely safe for men.

While it wasn't always comfortable, clean, or easy, I loved my time in Morocco and already reflect on it with a tinge of nostalgia. The program gave me a unique four-month opportunity to engage with an unsanitized view of Morocco in which I explored race relations, geopolitics, Islam, and dozens of other thematic topics on a daily basis. I had a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity to engage with migrants sans papiers at the continent's last frontier of migration near the Spanish enclaves of Ceuta and Melilla. And I learned more about this particular part of the world, the world at large, and most fundamentally myself than I would have had I spent the term at my home institution. I have nothing but good things to say about Taieb and et-Tibari, and look forward to returning to Morocco in the future.

(1 = not very easy/$200+ on food & personal expenses/week, 2.5 = $100/week, 5 = very easily/minimal cost)

0 = No encouragement, 5 = frequent encouragement to use the language

We were certainly encouraged to employ Arabic in our homestays, around Rabat, and while on ISP; however, I and other Intro to Arabic students came into the program without even knowing the alphabet, so outside of ordering food and telling people how my day went I wasn't able to do much. This isn't the fault of the program, but the nature of language learning and our schedule.

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• Host Family

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• Host Family

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• Americans

• The professors: Taieb, et-Tibari, Asmae in particular
• The experential nature; I was forced to be independent, even as I was in my homestay but especially during ISP
• The WORLD CUP!!!

• Administration communication and availability
• Expectations re: language; intro students should not be expected to mobilize Arabic during ISP (to be fair this was not really an issue in practice)
• Increased housing and food stipends during ISP

The Nearly Native or Trail Blazer