Amideast Morocco Past Review

Academic rigor, intensity, resources, etc.

Amideast had a reputation for having a heavier workload and higher expectations than most study abroad programs. It still was not as high as my home institution (Oberlin), but it occasionally felt like a burden when I wanted to travel on weekends. Still, doing research for one of my classes forced me to go out and talk to Moroccans and create friendships and experiences of a lifetime (cheesy and cliche, but totally not an exaggeration). I wouldn't have gotten that with less rigorous programs, I think. Teaching methods were different, but it's all part of the experience. All my professors were Moroccan but I think there was one American and one British prof that taught too. Moroccan teachers are strict and lecture much more than American liberal arts profs...I didn't like that, but I am glad I experienced it instead of just getting a typical American teaching experience transplanted in Morocco.

On-site administration of your program

Doha, the program manger, is just the best. Amideast is an extremely neat program because it's not just an insulated study abroad for rich white kids. They also do programs for Moroccans, and it's exclusive to North Africa and the Middle East so they're very tuned in to the issues of the region. The program is almost entirely staffed by Moroccans but many have also lived and worked in the U.S. Somehow Amideast also has mad connections within the country...a leading women's rights activist came to speak to our small group; one of the professors is a human rights activists who worked for a newspaper that was recently shut down; we got to visit Parliament; they place students at various non-profits to teach English and volunteer, etc. This was definitely the huge highlight of Amideast. I was highly impressed.

How satisfied were you with your living arrangements?

My house was about a 25 minute walk to Amideast (or 10 minute / 50 American cents cab ride when it was raining). Similar distance, maybe a little closer to downtown Rabat. Didn't need to buy anything. My host family (this can be applied to Moroccan families in general, I think) are welcoming to the extreme. My roommate (another American student on the program) were immediately part of the family but also a little special (we had the impression that Amideast gives them a pretty large amount out of our program fee as payment for housing and food, though money is never talked about). The apartment was small but we had our own shared room. Even though my Arabic was beginner and my French was not quite fluent, we talked quite easily, even started debating politics and religion by the end of the semester (that gets dicey, but I like to think of it as cultural exchange...). Amideast host families are supposed to have the basic comforts (real toilets, etc.) but it probably won't be what you're used to: hot water was via a propane tank in the bathroom and we only used it for twice-weekly showers..."food safety" isn't really a concept in Africa if you offer to help prepare dinner...our family had a washing machine! But it electrocuted me once and also there was no dryer. But I have never taken washers and dryers for granted in the two years that I've been back. Long story long...my host family is WONDERFUL, we are still occasionally in touch by e-mail two years later, I hope to visit them again in the next year. Most students on the program had similar experiences, or at least ended up in similar experiences--the pairs who were mismatched were quickly switched once Amideast was made aware of the situation.

I gave up being 6 years of vegetarianism when I went abroad because I thought it was be too difficult. It's true, Moroccans don't understand vegetarianism, but one student who was fluent in French, had a very accommodating host family, and enjoyed cooking managed to stay vegan (but ate a lot of bread). The special meals are delicious (couscous, tajines, pastilla, etc.) but some of the everyday food we ate got very old after so many months. The low-quality bread and laughing cow cheese...can't bring myself to eat laughing cow ever again.

How integrated did you feel with the local culture?

Just go on all the Amideast field trips!! They know what they're doing. Identify a few places in Morocco you want to see that Amideast doesn't take you to and make them happen! I recommend Essaouira, the Sahara, and maybe the mountains (never made it there but I wish I had). Do something awesome for spring break, it's so cheap it's practically free to fly anywhere in Europe and when are you going to have the opportunity to be this close to the Middle East again?

How well were health issues addressed during the program?

It seems sketchy...if you're female, you'll be followed by men. But it's rare to be touched, and just about unheard of for anything untoward to happen. Take cabs instead of walking at night, don't get drunk, go in groups, and you'll be fine. I feel that Morocco is safer than Europe. As for healthcare, I did get mildly sick once--I had a horrible cold when I was camping in the Sahara and when we came over the mountains on the way home, my ears never popped. I couldn't hear anything and I was supposed to fly to Spain for spring break the next week so I asked the program manager to help me find a doctor. Amideast has a list of English-speaking doctors and I was able to get an appointment quickly. It took about 10 minutes, she gave me like 3 prescriptions, and it all cost me nothing because of the health insurance I got through the program. I couldn't read any of the directions on the prescription bottles but my host mom took extremely good care of me.

(1 = not very easy/$200+ on food & personal expenses/week, 2.5 = $100/week, 5 = very easily/minimal cost)

A meal at a casual restaurant is a few dollars. A taxi ride across the city is less than $1. A round trip train ticket from Rabat to Marrakesh is about $30. A low-end hostel (but still clean and safe) can be had for $10 a night.

It is not an immersion program. I later participated in a one-month immersion program for French and improved even more than in the 5 months I was in Morocco. If language acquisition is your primary goal, Amideast may not be the program for you--it is well-rounded for both language and cultural knowledge. Culture/politics/history classes are all taught in English. Program administrators all speak very good English. Your fellow students on the program all speak English and generally converse in it. You're going to spend about 70% of your time speaking English. That said, it was rare to speak English to anyone outside of fellow students, program administrators, and some professors. My host family (and I think almost all host families) spoke no functional English. Relatively few people in Rabat spoke English. Even when we traveled and encountered people in the tourism industry who spoke good English, we would generally speak Arabic or French with them. I was a beginner Arabic student so my Arabic classes were mostly in English, but the advanced classes are in Arabic. I also took a Francophone literature class that was entirely in French. We had "language partners" arranged through Amideast, Moroccan university students but they mostly wanted to improve their English. If I had not had an American roommate in my host family situation, I probably would have spoken more Arabic and French, but nearly all students are placed with roommates. My advice: you can choose your roommates at the beginning of the semester or let Amideast choose for you. They did a poor job with many people (I got lucky). Try to find someone with similar language skills (in BOTH French and Arabic) and ask to be paired with him or her. Otherwise, the roommate with the stronger language skills tends to develop a better bond with the family. Also host families almost always speak both French and Arabic but strongly prefer one over the other, so if one roommate is strong in French but weak in Arabic and the other is strong in Arabic but weak in French, one will really struggle with communicating with the family because the family will usually only use one of the languages to talk amongst themselves...best to match roommates as closely as possibly in terms of language skills and preferred French vs. Arabic!

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• Host Family

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• Americans
• Host Family

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• Americans

• Amideast's connections with people, organizations, etc. in country
• Host family!!

• A couple of the classes were not extremely enjoyable. Professors sometimes gave dry lectures.

The Avid Adventurer