1- Cat-Calling
By far the worst challenge and biggest culture shock of moving to Morocco has been dealing with the cat-calling. I had heard my friends talk about it when they got back from their studies abroad, but I think it’s one of those things that you have to experience yourself to truly understand.
As a fairly light-haired, white woman, I definitely stand out from the usual crowd in Morocco. But to be fair, in almost every city I have ever been to (not to include Iceland bless the men there) I have been cat-called. However, in Morocco… it just feels different.
Here in Rabat, I get less cat-calls and stares than I have in other cities I have traveled to in Morocco. When I went to Tangier for a weekend, it almost felt like an entirely different experience simply due to the more aggressive cat-calling. I was hit on by many waiters at a restaurant and bar my friends and I went to, and while walking through the Medina I was called Lady Gaga, but that time I just had to laugh cause I mean who gets called Lady Gaga.
2- Staring
This is similar to the cat-calling, but kinda different.
Again, it seems to me that most of the staring is relative to whatever city you’re in. When I was in Tangier I noticed more blatant staring than I do in a normal day in Rabat.
I first noticed this when I was in the Souk, or local market, in Tangier. I had noticed recently that when I walk anywhere I typically watch my feet and I don’t look up too much. This is because 1) the sidewalks are trash and super uneven and 2) I really dislike making eye contact with men here. So when I was in Tangier it was the same. I didn’t notice the excessive amount of staring until my friend (also my roommate) who I was traveling with pointed it out to me.
Both of the girls I was traveling with have dark brown hair, and they both remarked that I was getting significantly more stares just due to my lighter hair. And after they brought it to my attention, I started looking up and she was right, people would watch me walk the entire block. It was unsettling, but no one made any unfriendly gestures, it was just staring.
I guess it’ll be something I either learn to ignore or get used to.
3- Refusing to speak Arabic to me
I understand that when Moroccans see a white girl they would assume that I would speak French before I speak Arabic. That is a safe assumption seeing as most of my program is made up of white girls studying French. However, what really grinds my gears is when I speak Arabic and the person I am trying to engage in conversation answers in French. Even if I tell them in Arabic that I do not know French, people have still responded to me in French.
As far as I can tell, I have noticed a cultural aspect to knowing French in Morocco. It seems that in most social situations, knowing French is a sign of higher social status and education. So I’m not sure if this has anything to do with it, but I hope as I get better at Arabic that I will be able to talk more with the local Moroccans.
Well these are my three hardest challenges/culture shocks that I have faced in the first month of being here. If anyone out there has any other experiences from some time they spent in Morocco, let me know I’d love to hear about it!
