When I first chose to attend MUDEC a few months back, I viewed it as an opportunity to experience all the wonders of studying abroad while still maintaining a certain comfort level for myself. Studying abroad is without a doubt the most ambitious experience I’ve taken on to date, but when I chose a program, I wanted to maintain some sense of normalcy in hopes of allowing myself to be more adventurous during my time abroad. I think my trip to Morocco last weekend shows that my plans have worked out so far to a tee. When I hopped on the plane from Chicago to Luxembourg, I never would have dreamed of traveling to Africa, but after doing so I have to say that it was probably the most eye-opening experience of my life. Walking around the markets in Marrakech I realized not only how similar Europe actually is to life in the United States, but more importantly just how much we take for granted in our everyday lives.
In traveling to Europe I expected there to be some sort of a major culture shock that I would have to deal with, but to my surprise I’ve never really felt that uncomfortable over here. The only real difference, for me, is that I can’t understand everyone around me, but lifestyles are more or less exactly what I’m used to at home. However, after spending just over an hour walking around Marrakech, Morocco, I realized just how different Morocco and Africa really are from everything I’ve ever known. I remember turning to one of my friends about halfway through our tour of the market and saying, “I’m on culture-shock overload right now,” and I think that pretty much expressed all of our feelings. Everything was so cramped, so dirty, and about as third-world as I could have imagined. Mopeds zoomed by us at every turn, and we even saw someone run into a child at one point. The vendors hounded us constantly in hopes of bartering a price for some of their goods, and after a short period of time I felt absolutely overwhelmed. Marrakech, the fourth largest city in Morocco, is actually a fairly popular tourist attraction and one of the nation’s main tourist cities, so I was expecting somewhat more of a “touristy” atmosphere. However, what I saw was a fairly accurate depiction of Moroccan life. There were definitely tourists in the area, many there to experience the souk, Morocco’s largest traditional market, but everything was certainly different from anything I’ve ever experienced. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Marrakech
Marrakech is also very interesting from a geographical perspective. One of the first things I noticed was that the city was laid out much like a typical European city, consisting of both an old city surrounded by a fortified wall and also a new city outside the wall. Our guide told us that this was characteristic of most Moroccan cities, but what stuck out to me was that, in contrast to a city like Barcelona, the old wall is still standing. The old cities in all of the European cities I’ve visited certainly feel like the “old city,” but they are also very modernized and up-to-date. In Marrakech, however, I felt like I was stepping back into an old Medieval city. Living conditions, for the most part, were far below anything I’ve ever seen in the United States or Europe, and everything just seemed dirty. It was very easy to see the contrast between industrialized Western Europe and the mainly agricultural economy that still defines Marrakech. While Europeans were tearing down their city walls, industrializing, and modernizing, countries like Morocco were standing frozen in time. It truly felt like I was stepping back into the pre-industrial world. Despite a large tourism industry (the market we visited, much to my surprise, is one of the main “touristy” areas in the city), Marrakech has failed to modernize in any of the ways we would typically expect to see. Outside of the old city the buildings are newer and some new resorts dot the landscape, but everything is still by and large very primitive. It’s incredible to see the difference that industrialization has made for those nations who have already embraced it.
If someone would have told me at this point last year that I would be visiting Africa on my study abroad tour, I probably would have thought they were absolutely insane. Even as I got on the plane from Madrid to Marrakech, I was still unsure of what I would think of the experience. It would be a lie to say that visiting Morocco was the best or most enjoyable experience of my trip so far, but it was without a doubt the most eye-opening and the most important, I feel, in changing the way I look at the world. The standard of living in Europe is basically identical to what we’re all used to in the United States, but in Morocco I was able to catch a glimpse of the third world, and it truly gave me a new appreciation for all of the things (such as clean tap water) that we in Western civilization often take for granted. Seeing Morocco has truly made me appreciate all of the luxuries that I have come to expect as commonplace, and I feel like a trip there would be very beneficial for any future MUDEC students.
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