Morocco is an Islamic state and the majority of the population is Muslim. Mohammed King VI tried his best to modernize the country while keeping the Islamic touch alive and his efforts have finally paid off. Efforts are made to keep the country move forward along with the teachings and education of Islam so that people do not go away from their religion. For this purpose government has started a website, radio and TV channel and it has actually paid off. Well, some ceremonies and discussions are held in the presence of some elite Islamic personnel so that things can work out properly in the course of spreading Islam and making the country modernize at the same time.

Moroccon Language

Arabic and French are the official language of Morocco. However, Arabic is spoken by the common people while French is taught at schools. This is why French is broadly used in higher class and government. In some cities, English is given due respect and people mostly communicate in English. Spanish is very common in the northern areas of the country. The majority of the people belong to Berber background. Though these people have converted to Islam but still some touch of the background is seen in their culture and traditions.

Islamic Clothing of Morocco

Clothing is different in different regions of the Morocco that are mostly influenced by the Spanish, Turkish and English culture. Men in Morocco mostly wear djellaba which is a long, loose, full sleeve attire with a top covering. On some special occasions men prefer waering a special red hat known as tarbouche or Fez. In Morocco both men and women wear yellow colored heelless leather slippers known as Baboosh. Women also prefer wearing high heel sandal as they add to their beauty and elegancy. Women mostly wear bright colored dresses that are full of embellishment. Their dresses look amazing and are popular around the world.

Moroccon Food

Food is very popular among Moroccons and they are fond of eating. Some sort of healthy soups called harira; fairly sweet empanada having beef of dove; cuscus containing semola, egg, hen, lamb or maybe greens; Tajine made out of lamb or even poultry; fowl stuffed with walnuts, semola and also raisins; the particular roasted animal meat associated with lambs known as mchoui; as well as the candies from the kab-el-ghzal and almond tend to be a few of the delightful meals of Morocco that would captivate just about any customer.

Moroccon Social Life

Morocco is Islamic state where the principle of democracy has strong hold and it is much appreciated by the Moroccan. In the society every men and women are given equal status without any discrimination so that the cycle of life may keep on moving trouble free. People are allowed to follow their religion and Moroccan respect the views and beliefs of every citizen. This country has modernized and one can say that it is losing its Arabic touch.

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As promised in my last blog, I will discuss the reasons for the cultural misconceptions like the ones i  I mentioned in my last blog post that was in the form of questions and answers. These misconceptions are due to the image that the West has of us Arabs of the Middle East. I’ll talk specifically on Egypt, of course since I am an Egyptian.

I will start with the cultural misconceptions that the west have about us regarding the culture and the country itself, I’ll leave aside any religious or terrorism related misconceptions, because this is a whole other story and will need a post of its own.

One of the main reasons is the media, and I’m not talking about the govt. or the news, I’m talking about simpler media, movies and shows. All the movies show the Middle East or especially Egypt as this huge desert that has the Pyramids and the Sphinx in the middle of it, which nomads living in tents riding camels. This, as discussed in the last post is false. The first movie that comes on the top of my head is Transformers 2, I have nothing against the movie, I am a big fan of Optimus Prime, I am just talking about how they viewed Egypt, all what they showed is a desert with palm trees. So this is a pretty good example of why the West thinks that got is just a big desert. Another movie is Jumper, when he was jumping to different places, Paris, they brought the Eiffel tower, Italy the coliseum, and of course when it came time for Egypt, a huge desert with the Sphinx standing the middle.

So it is no mystery why Western people see Egypt this way, it is what the media gives them, as for the reason behind this, I doubt that it is because the movie creators don’t have the knowledge that Egypt is a civilized country with more than a desert. It can be probably this is the image that western people have, so they don’t want to change it, I don’t know. But the media should start to show the Middle East and Egypt in a more truthful point of view. So I don’t really blame the Western people about having these cultural misconceptions, but I certainly blame the media for delivering this picture to the viewers in the West. But this is the case for most countries; it is a known fact that the media is the basic source of stereotyping anywhere, whether is cultural or religious stereotyping, in our case, Arabs of the Middle east, it is both.

But as for the religious and terrorism related misconceptions, it is not only movies, it’s the whole political system and news system of the West, but as I said it is a whole other story, so tune in on the next blog. I will discuss these misconceptions, the reasons behind them alongside the real facts behind these misconceptions.

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