The Art of Linguistic Roulette

So many different languages are tossed around in daily life in Morocco that I turned it into a fun little game I like to call Linguistics roulette.  This game is particularly enjoyed by the taxi drivers of Tangier.  Some of them speak Formal Arabic, Darija, French, Spanish, and English, and some of them speak a wild combination of any of the aforementioned languages.  The most common combination in Tangier I have found is Arabic, Spanish, and French.  When in cabs I find myself inadvertently switching in a lot of Arabic for the Spanish I am trying to produce.  It is a great brain exercise and it will allow me to become more fluid in both languages over time.

Morocco definitely gives you plenty of opportunities to hear various languages and because our host brother has a different person, or people, over for dinner every night we get plenty of practice hearing a lot of different accents and languages.  I think there have only been one or two dinners in the month that I have been here where a new person did not join us for dinner.  Our dinners usually take around an hour and a half and we talk about everything.  Some family – friendly topics are discussed but that usually only lasts for about the first 15 minutes or so and then it deteriorates into god knows what. 

The topics we discuss in class are among the same lines in that we just seem to talk about anything and everything.  In the past week, we have discussed the differences between Greek and Middle Eastern theatre, the relationship between Islam and international politics, the Iranian nuclear deal, and the conflict between formal Arabic and the various dialects across the Arab world.  I felt engaged in all the aforementioned topics but most especially in the theatre and language discussions respectively.  My interest and passion for discussions of language was obvious but my involvement in the theatre reading really surprised me. 

Mom, this paragraph is for you.  I assume most of you know about the classic Greek tragedy, which focuses on the destiny of the hero bestowed upon him by the Gods.  Well, Egyptian theatre is all about choice and about the main character being a hero because he can make the tough everyday choices and change his destiny.  The concept of free will that exists at the core of these plays is challenged a lot by so+*me authors like Vonnegut and believers of fate but I sort of like the idea of a hero simply being a guy who can make tough choices.

Speaking of tough decisions, traveling to Al Hoeceima this past weekend was full of them.  Not really but sometimes smooth transitions between paragraphs are few and far between.  Deciding between taking a 6 hour taxi or bus through the mountains was annoying, nonetheless.  We ended up choosing the taxi because it was cheaper but the ride there definitely left room for improvement in the comfort department.  The city itself was kind of disappointing in all honesty because I had heard that it was a beautiful beach town but the only impression I got from it was a smaller Tangier where I did not speak the language of the majority of the people.  We did do a 13 kilometer hike through the mountains where I experienced some of the most beautiful scenery in my life so that was definitely the highlight of the trip.  The pictures I took are breathtaking and can be found on Facebook for those who want to see.

Back to the language issue, the majority of people there spoke a type of Darija I had not heard before or the Berber language, Tamazight.  Both of which proved problematic for me, barely able to understand even the Darija that is spoken around me every day.  You'd also be hard pressed to find people who even understood the Fusha or formal Arabic that I speak best.  But being exposed to a new dialect really opens the door for incredibly enriching cultural exchange, as my language partner told me.  That was part of a bigger conversation we had about issues between the various dialects and Arabic and the Fusha that is taught in schools.  I told him that to bridge the gap between all of these Arab countries that essentially speak different languages, Fusha is not sufficient and he agreed. Then, I moved on to discuss improving the quality of translation systems between different dialects and make them more accessible to everyone.  He then responded that he believed that solution would allow for better cultural exchange in addition to methods such as watching movies or reading magazines and newspapers from the target country.  Overall, one of my favorite discussions of the trip so far and very productive at the same time.  

In my opinion, the discussions I have had with people in Tangier have been very interesting and very beneficial for both me and them.  One night, a college-age girl and her brother came upstairs to our apartment to study with us.  Her being a student and English and us as students of Arabic produced a mutually beneficial study session.  We talked a lot about our studies and why we studied the languages that we did and I just had to applaud her courage for coming upstairs and talking with us because those sorts of interactions with the people are what sets this program apart from others with similar goals for the participants.  

In one of my classes last week we had a great conversation about whether or not money could buy you happiness which I feel I have talked about a lot in my two study abroad experiences.  The reason for this is because conceptions of wealth and possession are slightly different in every culture. While, of course everyone would like to not worry about money in an ideal scenario, some cultures (notably Western culture) places more emphasis on material possessions.  Going off of that, these discussions are probably important just to show people what is valued in other cultures and that it is not always money.  

Anyway some meaty fixings for the brain with this post so comments are welcomed, encouraged, and desired.

As always thanks for reading.

-Johnny M