La Rentree (The Return)

Here in Morocco, they have something we don't have, which is more than going back to school, although that does occur and is included. It's a larger social event also marked by the return of parliament in October. Living in Morocco requires several things: 1) Developing the muscles for happiness, working at it. Learning to become aware of what you're experiencing and how this fits in with the larger picture of your life. 2) Transforming yourself. Transforming yourself to transform the world around you. How to adapt to a situation, see yourself as part of two cultures, and give something that will last. Keep adapting to realities here–that holidays can come without warning, that life proceeds at an entirely different pace and in a manner to be discovered. Last year, school was called off here during the solar eclipse. It was thought it would be harmful to children. Not because they would be staring at the sun, but for more traditional, superstitious reasons. Women, for instance, could lose their virginity if exposed to it. 3) Relate your experience to life in the States. Your friends and family there won't probably see you except as a frozen image in space, won't want to hear about Morocco for more than a few minutes when you return. Women will always ask about the veiling, men about the violence. Here one is often caught between relaxing and making the most of the slower pace and greater availability of time and the sense that we're wasting time, being unproductive. Frustation can set it. A useful phrase here is "In sha'allah" (God willing). However, one American here became known as the "No In sha'allah" person. Funny! These ideas came from Lucy Melbourne, a dynamic Fulbrighter teaching at Muhammad V University in Rabat. The picture is of a bird in a kasbah alcove–something on the lighter side.