On Diversity

Last weekend I visited the town of Ifrane, the location of my Community Based Training. This was the town where, after only five days in country, I was place in a host family to begin my total emersion in Morocco. Having now spent three months in my final site, I realize Ifrane, despite being no more then five hours drive from my final site, is very different. This brought home the idea that Morocco is diverse. From the languages spoken to the traditions observed no town is the same. Even the volunteers nearest to my final site are in towns that emphasize different languages, such as Tamazight instead of Darija, and expect different social norms to be observed amongst the locals. Variety is the spice of life, but who knew there would be so much variety that I would have to learn two different words for bread (hobs, agraum) and water (lma, amen) to communicate in different towns, seven miles apart.