Integrating into a community can be hard at the beginning but after awhile it becomes easier. In order for me to successfully integrate in Moroccan communities, it was important that I knew Morocco’s culture. Culture is a way of life of a particular people group. It determines what is right or wrong, acceptable or unacceptable, important or unimportant.
My first important form of integration into my Moroccan community, was learning how to greet people. Not the American way, but the Moroccan way. Greetings in Morocco say a lot about the people and how they perceive each interaction.
Imagine that you are walking in the park and you see your friend walking towards you. You and your friend say hi to each other but continue to walk past each other, not stopping to have a conversation with each other, or if you do stop its for a quick conversation. Although this is common in America, it is rare in Morocco. Now imagine, that you and that same friend see each other again. This time, instead of saying hi and walking past each other, you both greet and have an extensive conversation. Now this is more common in Morocco.
An interesting aspect of greetings in Morocco is the space between the two individuals. In the U.S., if you were to greet someone with a hug, you would retreat back to a comfortable distance once completing the hug. This distance might be a few feet to several feet. In Morocco, the comforting space is smaller than the U.S. I’m not saying people stick face to face, but their isn’t the same level of discomfort with closeness as in the U.S.
With greetings, one thing that I have definitely become accustomed too is the cheek to cheek greeting. This is something that I have done only a few times in America. But now in Morocco, I do it everyday. I do the cheek to cheek greeting when greeting a girl. Whereas with guys, its more of a head greeting. So guys head each other on each side. Of course its not in an aggressive, hard way. Girls do the cheek to cheek greetings with girls and guys. Now really good friends will go cheek to cheek multiple times.
Integrating into a community can be done in many ways. However, to be successful requires an understanding of the culture that is being integrated in. It can be fun and you can learn a lot from integrating.