An Eye on the Arab World

 marHaban! For two months this past summer I had the opportunity to study Arabic in Tangier, Morocco as part of a language-intensive federal scholarship program “CLS” (Critical Language Scholarship). While I had been studying Arabic the past two years at Loyola, this summer marked my first experience living in an Arabic-speaking country where I was […]

I still find myself eating with my hands and adding unreasonable amounts of milk to my coffee.  Occasionally a “shukran” or “Alhamdulillah” slips out, and I often recall the Moroccans and their similarities or differences with Americans as I consider this or that social theory or anthropological study.  Via Facebook and email I’ve harbored my […]

The weekend before last was a dash to Tangier way in the North to Chefchaouen in the mountains and back to Rabat. Tangier was extraordinary, the most beautiful big city I’ve been to in this country though a very European town in general.  We spent Saturday wandering the city with friends from the CLS group […]

EDUCATION Generally Moroccans grow-up speaking one of two languages, Darija or Amazigh.  Darija is the Moroccan Dialect of Arabic, influenced heavily by Amazigh and French.  Never taught in school, Darija’s spelling isn’t standardized and certain vocabulary and pronunciation change within the country.  Amazigh is the name applied to a diverse group of dialects spoken by […]

Last weekend was an arduous journey to reach the little town of Merzouga near the dune sea named Erg Chebbi.  The first leg of our journey was a train ride to Meknes (which took two extra hours because our train caught fire. Classic Morocco), followed by a nine-hour bus ride.  We didn’t have a hotel […]

The weekend before last was a journey I’d long been waiting for, Fez and Volubilis.  We were also in Meknes for a bit but we were all exhausted from the schedule so I’ll just say it’s a fine city to take a nap in. Fez is famous for its leather, and I was happy to […]

Marrakech began with Western decadence: steaks, Cuban cigars, and the company of great men, a nice escape from the constant work and simple meals of a typical week. Saturday morning we went to Eureka valley, an awesome sight and a fine place for rock climbing.  Classic Indiana Jones-style bridges everywhere and delicious tanjine (specially marinated […]

It’s been a while since the wedding of my host sister but I have to talk about it and perhaps my forgetfulness will filter out the less important aspects.  There is no set pattern for a wedding in Morocco, but in our family the celebrations began days beforehand.  Relatives set up camp throughout the house […]

My name is Chris Benson and I’m studying History/Sociology/Anthropology (people) at Loyola University Chicago.  This summer I received a scholarship from the State Department to study Arabic abroad, and chose Morocco after the recommendation of professors as an exciting and fascinating country.  They weren’t lying. The adhan (call to prayer) begins with a single “Allahu […]