One thing that was a big shock to me in my first couple of months of being in Morocco is how proud people there are of their country. In my first interactions with many Moroccans, I would generally walk away noticing how highly they spoke of their country and how proud of their accomplishments they are. A majority of conversations I had in my first month would almost always find its way onto the topic of how Morocco made it to the World Cup semi-finals in soccer just two years ago. Moroccans are proud of their culture and really appreciate foreigners making genuine efforts to learn about or practice what they know.
Coming from a country where lots of people are quick to point out what’s going wrong with the country rather than where certain parts succeed, it was a noticeable contrast right off the bat. I think it’s a really positive thing that people are proud of their country in Morocco. I believe that focusing on the positive is an extremely important aspect of life. By having people constantly focus on the positives of the country around me it heavily influenced the aspects of the country and culture I focused on. The positive attitude around me helped me focus more on the positives such as great food, good soccer, friendly people, and beautiful and unique cities. I thought it was incredible to see a united love for a country as that has not been something commonly found in America for around a decade.
Looking at this experience from someone from Morocco’s perspective makes a lot of sense. I think mainly because Morocco is not the most known or popular country in the world it means a lot when someone makes a genuine effort to learn about or already knows something about the country. A lot of people I came across expected me to know very little about Africa and were genuinely surprised and happy when I was able to prove them otherwise. I always appreciate when I find someone else that has a similar niche interest so I can only imagine it is a similar feeling to that for Moroccans.
This exercise really helped me reflect on a cultural difference that I immediately noticed, but didn’t spend any time further thinking about it. I see this experience helping me greatly in the future. If a scenario arises where I am working with a Moroccan I know an easy way to connect with them. I think this could also apply to a majority of other countries in the world. By learning a little bit about another culture or country and being able to converse with someone from that country about it, I believe it could help me connect deeper with coworkers, potential clients, or customers.
Ben Mangum