--HOME STAYS,including a note on alcoholic beverages and a note on gifts--
While the UGA Moroccan Maymester program is resident in Marrakesh the participants will stay
with Moroccan families. The homestay is perhaps the most intensive aspect of this program;
both linguistically and academically. It offers a rare and potentially rewarding
experience, that few people will ever be able to share. Much of the program will be spent
in the company of each participant’s “family;” the learning experiences this “space sharing”
affords are considerable. The following comments are offered towards giving you a basic
means of optimizing this experience.
Moroccans, in general are a warm and hospitable people. The American Language Center of
Marrakesh asked for volunteer families that would be willing to provide room and board and a
culturally nurturing environment for a group of American students. The families you will be
spending much of your time with are thus your hosts, and you are a guest in their homes.
The program has allocated a weekly monetary allotment to cover the basic expenses but this
sum seldom equals the total outlay made by the family during your stay with them. This is
important to keep in mind, for you are NOT a “paying guest” with special rights or
privileges NOR is the homestay residence a hotel. It is thus expected that you will be “one
of the family” and partake in the general ambiance and harmonize with the ways of the
household.
As mentioned above, Moroccans are a warm and hospitable people. Moroccans in general like
people, and live in a people-centered world. Moroccan concepts of personal space and time
may differ from our own. You may therefore at times wonder why you are being treated like
“the center of attraction,” this is in fact a form of what is considered polite behavior for
Moroccans. It is a way of showing interest in their guest and their readiness to serve your
needs. This kind of social etiquette and learning to interact within the climate of a
“people centered culture” will be central to your homestay learning experience. The
language classes will concentrate from the beginning on social skills and the basic adab
(social etiquette) of greeting, showing appreciation and thanking people. The concept of
adab is founded on mutual respect. Adab can often be key to “weathering” any uncomfortable
social situations. Should you find yourself feeling uncomfortable in a given situation at
“home,” stay calm, and keep smiling; then ask either Prof. Godlas or Prof. Honerkamp about
it the next day. In a very real sense we are all ambassadors from America. How we reacted
and interacted with our homestay “families” will be remembered and talked about long after
we have returned to the States and taken up our lives. It is for all these reasons that it
is important to always look for the best interpretation for what you see and remember your
adab.
Alcoholic Beverages:
Although alcoholic beverages are available in Morocco, we discourage your consumption of
them there. Drinking alcohol is more than simply an intoxicating beverage in Morocco, it is
also for the most part a symbol signifying disregard for traditional Moroccan culture.
While available in Morocco, alcoholic beverages are consumed only by foreigners, by those
Moroccans who are distancing themselves from Moroccan culture and who are attempting to
demonstrate that they are more Western than they are Moroccan, and by those unfortunate
Moroccans who, like alcoholics in the West, lose themselves in a life of alcohol. Homestay
families come from all walks of Moroccan life, but they will all be Muslim families since
Morocco is 99% Muslim. Alcohol and pork products are not consumed in Muslim households. It
would be extremely bad adab to bring alcoholic beverages into a home or to go out drinking
and come home intoxicated or smelling of alcohol. This would be both against the ways and
values of the household and would also be setting a bad example.
Gifts:
Should you ever want to bring something small to the home as a gift, it is best to bring
pastries, fruit, or flowers. Gifts are always appreciated, but based on mutual respect and
not as an obligation. The bonds formed during homestay often remain strong over the years.
Who knows, you may be back, so leave only the best impressions behind you.