My Moroccan Welcome

Hello all! First of all, thank you to everyone who has helped me get here and who is interested enough to stop in and check out what is going on with me.

I have been here three days and I can already tell that this will be one of the best years of my life. I am quickly falling in love with Morocco, and mostly because of the people. I was picked up at the airport by a guy named Housni, a contact of a contact (Shamefully I haven't gotten a picture with him yet, but will post one when I get one.) He took me to his home and though he and his family are Muslim and this is the middle of Ramadan, in which Muslims are not allowed to consume any food or beverage during the day, he bought food for me (and refused to let me pay, and then unfairly convinced the cashier in Arabic to not let me pay since I don't know Arabic), and his mother cooked me up a wonderful mid-day meal. He proceeded to offer me beverages and snacks throughout the rest of the day while he introduced me to Moroccan music and answered my questions about culture and Islam.

Since Muslims cannot eat, drink or smoke during daylight while observing Ramadan (which is a one month period starting mid-August and lasting until mid-September), they go out and have a breakfast meal at 7pm, followed by a dinner-like meal at midnight. During this time there is a lot of activity and nightlife ( and A LOT of smoking, as they cannot smoke during the entire day.) Housni took me out with a friend of his, and after we had a typical Ramadan meal, we hung out at a cafe and conversed about life until it was time to go home and eat dinner (which we had around 1am), which his mother prepared and was delicious.

Above is the wonderful meal prepared for me. It consisted of a lentil soup, some pancake-like thingies drenched in honey, some very sweet desert munchies, dates, grilled cow liver, and a must-have in Morocco, peppermint tea (very sweet.) I think I'll love the culinary delights here because they have an even greater sweet tooth than me.

The next morning I departed for Rabat, where I will study. Housni connected me with his friend Simo here in Rabat, and he has taken care of me ever since. I will be starting Arabic classes tomorrow at a language institution until University classes start in late September.

Thus far I have been amazed at how nice the Moroccan people, how genuine their humane and loving treatment of each other is. And it's not just towards foreigners that they are so sincere and kind, but towards everyone. Though homosexuality is punishable by law with prison time, this is not a homophobic culture. In fact, males as well as females greet each other with kisses on both cheeks. Guys are always with their arms around each other or with hands on the other's arm or shoulder while talking. Male friends even hold hands while walking and talking. This is truly a personable, social, loving culture in which people feel a greater connection to each other than to their daily tasks and domestic worries. This is my perception after three days. It may change once I become intimate with the culture, but I'm definitely enthused by what I have seen so far.