This past week, I had my spring break from classes, so, for a couple days, I went with my roommate to Tangier, a city in the north of Morocco. Tangier is located on the coast of both the Atlantic Ocean and Mediterranean Sea. It is a really important city in Morocco because the ferries that take people and goods from Morocco to Spain depart from Tangier. In Morocco, they have a couple of high-speed train lines, including one that runs between Rabat and Tangier. This particular train line is named the Boraq, and is named after a mythical pegasus-like creature from the Quran that carried the Prophet Muhammad.
Because of its proximity to Europe, most people in Tangier speak Arabic, French, and Spanish, compared to the people in Rabat, who usually speak only Arabic and French. I learned Spanish all through middle and high school, so that was helpful for me while visiting because I could use Spanish as a second language if I didn’t know the words in Arabic. Like so many people abroad, when visiting local shops and restaurants, most people are very excited if you can speak in their first language, even if it is limited.
