A very popular experience for Semester at Sea Voyagers in Casablanca was the SAS-arranged dinner with a Moroccan family. Students were met by the families aboard the MV Explorer, where they took their hosts on a quick tour, and then left with them for dinner in their homes. I spoke with Nancy Abbott, a student from the University of San Diego, who relayed her experiences to me. Her group consisted of four Semester at Sea students. They were picked up by the mother of the family, Sauda ben-Moussa. Following the tour of the ship, Sauda took the students on a driving tour of the city where they were able to see the great mosque, both the new and old medina, the beach, and some of the lively parts of the city. Dinner started at around 9:00. Nancy described the house as very modern, set in a nice part of town, and comparable to an American home. The family consisted of a mother, father, a 23-year-old son, and a 25-year-old daughter and her husband. Despite the many cultural differences, such as being able to eat with your hands (which I’ve been told everyone enjoyed), Nancy said that she and her shipmates felt very comfortable and that it reminded them of being at home. The family was very interested in what was going on in the States and had a genuine appreciation for American culture and values.
Tucker Whitcomb, Cornell
Tucker was with a group that spent a night in a nomad village. He and a few friends met a Moroccan university student who was ecstatic about the opportunity of talking with American students. Their conversation ranged from politics, to history, to economics. One thing that Tucker realized were the differences between the American and Moroccan styles of education. From what he gathered by talking with this student, the Moroccan system is based much more on theory than in the U.S. For example, when the conversation turned to politics, the student did not ask about specific policies or current events, he wanted to learn what the Americans thought of the writings of Karl Marx and other political writers. For the Moroccan, “Talking to Americans was a dream come true,” according to Tucker. For the SAS students, it was a very revealing experience about life for some of their counterparts on Morocco.
SAS Student
I wasn’t able to catch the name of this student, but I really liked what she had to say. She was speaking with someone back home who asked how she could really get to experience the culture of a country. After her time in Morocco, this SAS student had her answer. While she was waiting for a bus, she sat down next to an elderly man who struck up a conversation with her. She said that it was an incredible experience and that she learned so much more about life in Morocco by just sitting at the bus stop than she ever could have learned by traveling around the country and visiting the sites.
Joshua Bernstein, University of Maine
“I want to talk about us,” Josh said as he took the microphone. He described the various places around the world that Semester at Sea Voyagers have come from, and how this group of 700+ people is now “beginning to form a family of sorts.” Faces are becoming familiar, which he described as very comforting fact when you are exploring a foreign country. “I was so happy and relieved to see family - Semester at Sea faces.” Josh recognized the turning point our community is at right now, but he also alluded to the fact that we are still in the beginnings of our journey together. He told an interesting short story to show how we need build on our great start, which I’d like to share with you.
There was a carpenter who was about to retire, but his boss asked him to build just one more house before he ended his career. The carpenter reluctantly agreed, but because he was in a rush to retire, he did not pick out the best materials as he usually did, but instead used whatever the store had. He also did not give the same level of care or attention to detail that he had always taken in his work before. The carpenter just rushed through the project as fast as he could. When the house was finished, the carpenter’s boss met him at the front door and handed him the keys – “This house is a gift to you in honor of your retirement.” The carpenter was completely taken aback. If he had known the house would have been for him, he would have put in just as much effort as he always had.
The community that we are building on the MV Explorer is ours. Every “wall” that we build, every relationship made, will contribute to a stronger and more meaningful experience for every SAS Voyager.
Photo #1 by SAS Photographer John Weakley
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