Pre-Departure

T- minus 8 hours until I leave for a month-long homestay to Rabat, Morocco.  I'm so excited to learn Arabic in a classroom setting and be able to immerse myself fully into a multi-ethnic culture.  Rabat is the capital of Morocco, and, as I learned during my research over the past few weeks, is a mixture of French, Moorish, and Islamic traditions.  From all the diverse programs that CIEE has to offer, I chose the Arabic Language and Moroccan Culture program because I love to learn languages and learn about different cultures, and the Arabic world is one I've had little contact with.  During the program, we will be attending Arabic language classes during the mornings and in the afternoons and on weekends, we will be immersing ourselves in Moroccan culture.  My goal is to be able to read casual Arabic and be able to hold a conversation with locals.  As of right now, I know just a few basic phrases in Arabic and Darija (the Moroccan dialect of Arabic).  Unlike a lot of my peers attending this trip, I have no formal experience with the language, but I think that motivates me more.  As of right now, I'm most excited to meet my classmates and my host family once we land in Morocco.

I decided to study abroad this summer because I'm entering my last year of high school, and I've always wanted to do a study abroad, but never had the opportunity.  My family has hosted five foreign exchange students, so I've been on the hosting end, but never the attending end of a study abroad.  Over my spring break, my mom and I were looking over my schedule, and found that I had an entire month of summer available, which is a rare, if not a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity.  I started looking at study abroad programs on my phone, and decided I wanted to go to Morocco.  Since then, I've told my close family members and my AP Spanish Language teacher.  My Spanish teacher was very excited for me, but warned me that learning Arabic is very different from learning Spanish.  My parents were very excited for me, as they've both learned Arabic throughout their lives and my dad has been to a lot of the Middle East.  I've prepared for this trip by learning some basic phrases in Moroccan Arabic, and brushing up on cultural etiquette.  It will be Ramadan for the first 4 days I'm there, so I've learned about suhoor and iftar and the religious meaning behind fasting.

I imagine my first day abroad to be chaotic, what with the 16+ hours of flight time I have (through 3 different continents) , and a bit of a sensory overload.  I'm anxious to meet my host family and get settled in to my new home.  I am so excited to see all of the new sights that Morocco has to offer and meet my instructors and classmates.