My friend, Mouad, is pictured in the feature image of this article.
I am a part of many different communities here in Morocco, and my community of Moroccan friends is one of them. Of course, it was quite difficult at the beginning to make friends here. When you are in a foreign country and don't speak the language very well, it may be difficult to connect with locals at first. Fortunately for me, Moroccans are very friendly and also eager to make friends.
Other communities that I am a part of are my yoga community, my community of French learners and my host family community.
In a previous post, I talked about attending a yoga retreat at Bab Zouina. Since I love to do yoga, I found this yoga community very soon after I arrived in Rabat. My teacher, Alex, works at a tomato production company in Rabat. In her spare time, she teaches evening yoga classes and organizes retreats like the one I went on. Through yoga, I have met many Moroccans and foreigners including Turks, Spaniards, Frenchmen and other Americans.
A few nights a week, I take French classes with the Institut francais du Maroc (The French Institute of Morocco). My class is an international class meaning that all of the students are expats. All of the students come from countries other than Morocco. I have learned a lot about countries like Ethiopia, Madagascar, Gambia, Syria, Egypt and Canada from my friends in French class.
Last but not least, is my community of Moroccan host families. I first lived with a Moroccan woman named Nadia when I lived in Meknes. Nadia introduced me to her three lovely daughters, and for two months, I tried different Moroccan foods and traveled around Meknes with her.
