For myself, this trip means a great deal. Now I know when I say that it may make one think “Well, this trip is a huge deal for everyone traveling, what makes it different for you?” I will tell you what makes it different for myself. You see, I have already somewhat of an idea of what environment I will be immersed in when I land in Rabat on Saturday. Somewhat. Being half Moroccan and having experienced a taste of the culture through the few relatives I have that live in the United States, along with my father, I know the basics. I know that خبيز و اتاي (Bread and Tea)  is the life and soul of Morocco and that greetings between Moroccans, especially friends and family, will take you at least one to two hours, depending on how many kisses are involved. But even with simple things like this that I know, I still know there is a astronomical amount that I do not know.

As we all know, Moroccan people are known to be hospitable, friendly, and welcoming.  I know this from the experience I have with my جدى وجدي (Grandmother and Grandfather) visiting the US many times over the years, and they never ran out of love and support for me and always brought us gifts from Morocco. It was a great experience whenever they came to the US and I looked forward to their visit. Speaking with this experience as my background, I believe that my experience with other Moroccans and society in general will be just as enjoyable as with my own family.

With being in a new community, there are concerns that many people have when attempting to acclimate to a new environment. For myself, my main concern is the language barrier that I will have between myself and people who live in Morocco.  Although I do understand Darija to some degree, and I can speak it to some degree as well, I definitely have much to improve on while in Morocco. The interactions between the people whether it be in the markets or at the masjid or just on the streets will allow me to make great strides in my “fluency” of Darija.

In a way I feel that this another “restart” for me. What I mean by this is that it is not necessarily erasing what I have known in my past, but instead it will be me continuing the same journey I have always been destined from birth to travel, but instead will have potential for new paths in life, thanks to this trip to Morocco.  Just the fact that I have never been out of the country , and have only flown on a plane once before, shows how big of a step this trip is in my life. Just like when I first came to WPI, the feeling of uncertainty and yet excitement I felt that first day of freshmen year, I share the same feelings now as I type this the day before my departure to Rabat tomorrow night.

For me personally I did not have any second thoughts on the trip to Rabat until recently when I had a rough term academically and debated if this is the best thing for me to do the term right after my extreme struggle. After some thought, I realized that I should look at it from another angle. I should not view this trip as just an academic trip but as a way to reset and refocus myself on my goals in life while gaining a new life experience that I may never get to experience again.  I think this trip will be good for me academically, physically, mentally, and spiritually and allow for me to come back to school stronger and better than ever.

I hope that when it is all said and done, that I will be able to to truly understand my “other half”, what it means to be Moroccan, and experience all of the different aspects of life that differ in my Moroccan side of the family and Morocco as a whole and compare to life here in the US. I wish to be able to express to my father, a pure Moroccan man who has not traveled back to his homeland since he came to the United States over 30 years ago, what changes have occurred in the country since he has been there, and relay all of the good things that have happened in the rapidly developing country that it is, and allow him to visit the country through my words and thoughts without physically being there. If I can do this while evolving and maturing as a student, son, and most importantly as a student, then I will consider this trip a major success. I am looking forward to accomplishing all of these goals while in Rabat, Morocco.