Masheemooshkeel Past Review
By A student (Communications Management and Design, Ithaca College) - abroad from 02/06/2012 to 05/11/2012 with
SIT Study Abroad: Morocco - Human Rights, Social Justice, and Cultural Transformation
I learned to live where my feet are and enjoy and appreciate the moment; Family is central to societal functioning and a very important unit; You cannot push your own cultural assumptions on others; Cultural relativism is critical; There are bigger things to worry about than sweating the small stuff
Personal Information
| How much international exposure did you have prior to this program? | 1 month - 6 months |
Review Your Program
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* Overall educational experience
Academic rigor, intensity, resources, etc. |
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* Host Country Program Administration
On-site administration of your program |
The staff was phenomenal! |
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* Housing:
How satisfied were you with your living arrangements? |
Home stays were a great experience, but all varied and no student could predict whether or not s/he would be with a more or less affluent family, cultural differences, etc. But the one-month ISP period allowed us to live in our own apartments, which was another great experience. |
| * Food: |
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* Social & Cultural Integration:
How integrated did you feel with the local culture? |
I never felt like I totally belonged because I always stood out as a tall, white, blonde American. However, once I began learning to local dialect of Arabic, I grew more confident shopping in the souks, ordering food, taking taxis, traveling around the country and conducting research for my ISP. |
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* Health Care:
How well were health issues addressed during the program? |
Many students got sinus infections, stomach bugs, food poisoning and traveler's sickness. It was really hard avoiding these illnesses and curing them took lots of natural flushing and time. |
| * Safety: |
Females receive more street harassment and the protests that were ongoing and trickling over from the previous year's Arab Spring were still present, so knowing how to (and not to) interact with state police forces is important |
| If you could do it all over again would you choose the same program? |
Yes
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Finances
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* Money: How easily were you able to live on a student's budget?
(1 = not very easy/$200+ on food & personal expenses/week, 2.5 = $100/week, 5 = very easily/minimal cost) |
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| * Was housing included in your program cost? | Yes |
| * Was food included in your program cost? | Yes |
| Not including program expenses, about how much money did you spend on food and other expenses each week? | $0-5 |
| Do you have any general money-saving tips for future study abroad participants? | Eat what the program gives you! You learn about the cultural, local food and traditions and it's no extra expense to you. Cook with local ingredients from the markets during your ISP period - you receive a stipend for food, living and travel. Learn how to budget so you actually save money and don't end up in the negative at the end of your trip! |
Language
| * Did your program have a foreign language component? | Yes |
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How much did the program encourage you to use the language?
0 = No encouragement, 5 = frequent encouragement to use the language |
My host family spoke French and Darija, and my youngest host sister only spoke the local dialect so I spoke Darija with her. I also used the language while shopping, in taxis and ordering food or traveling to more rural areas of the country where they most likely didn't know French and definitely not English. |
| How would you rate your language skills at the beginning of the program? | Intermediate |
| How would you rate your language skills at the end of the program? | Intermediate |
| What was the highest level language course you had completed prior to departure? | AP French in high school, no Arabic |
| How many hours per day did you use the language? | |
| Do you have any tips/advice on the best ways to practice the language for future study abroad participants? | Talk with host families, other students, shopkeepers, and anyone local! They will appreciate your effort to talk in their language, not their colonizer's (France) or in English |
Other Program Information
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* Where did you live?
Select all that apply |
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* Who did you live with?
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* Who did you take classes with?
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| About how many local friends did you make that you will likely keep in touch with? |
A Look Back
| * What did you like most about the program? |
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| * What could be improved? |
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| * What do you know now that you wish you knew before going on this program? | Morocco is colder than I expected in the winter/early spring! Females are treated much differently than males. |
