Moroccan-style Mock Wedding Ceremony

AMIDEAST-Rabat is hosting around 27 students from various American universities for their spring semester abroad program, and I was invited to the “mock wedding” a few weeks ago. The program organizes cultural events for the students so that they are able to sample various aspects of Moroccan culture during their time abroad. The experience was so fun and I now have a greater understanding of the work that goes into a Moroccan wedding.

Traditionally, Moroccan weddings take place over seven days with both sides of the family involved in preparing the food, buying seven different outfits for the bride and groom, and hosting family members from out of town. Nightly parties and feasting occur as family, friends, and neighbors gather to celebrate the beginning of the couple’s new life together. AMIDEAST organized a shortened version of the semester abroad students of one evening with musicians, food, dancing, and traditional singing. The students drew random names to determine members of the wedding party, and the day of the wedding the bride started getting ready hours before the rest of the guests.

My host mother graciously lent me her beautiful kaftan, traditional Moroccan dress, which she wore for the birth of her most recent grand-daughter. Kaftans are floor length dresses with long sleeves in beautiful colors and designs. The male version of the kaftan is called a djellaba (jell-ah-ba), and is a less flashy version of the kaftan. My dress was white with silver beading and embroidery detail, and my host mom even lent me matching shoes! I was so excited to wear it that night to the party, and to see the other female student’s kaftans as well.

We gathered in one of the classrooms at AMIDEAST for the event, and were greeted by Moroccan musicians dressed in traditional loose-fitting clothes. The singer started off the first song as the drummers and tambourine player followed suit. The loudest instrument was the set of castanet-like instruments made of iron that were played in quick jumpy rhythms. All of the musicians danced and sang as they played, moving around the room and catching the attention of the guests. Moroccan guests who entered the room began clapping to the familiar rhythms of wedding songs, and the Americans eventually joined in.

As the music continued and guests greeted and complimented each other on their “mock wedding” clothes, a female student ran down the hall squealing, “She’s coming everyone, she’s coming!” Well, this could only be one person…the bride. Everyone rushed to bring out their cameras in preparation for her grand entrance. As she walked down the hallway, the musicians changed the rhythm of their song to a heavier rhythmic process-like pace. The bride was accompanied by four female attendees dressed in green and gold robes with matching gold pants and slippers. They carried with them a gold padded platform attached to two long planks. As they entered the room, they lowered the platform, allowed her to step in and sit down, then hoisted the platform up on their shoulders and proceeded to parade her around the room high above the crowd. She looked absolutely stunning in her emerald green dress with gold beading and gold jewelry. Once the attendants reached the wedding couple’s table at the front of the room, the platform was lowered and the bride disappeared. When it was raised again, the groom had replaced the bride and a second processional began around the room with increased singing and clapping.

After the wedding processionals, tea and cakes were served and traditional henna was available for the female guests. Henna is a plant based product that temporarily dyes the skin, allowing the design to last for up to two weeks. The bride’s henna design was created by one of her attendants, and included gold glitter. Both her palm and the back of her hand were decorated, and traditionally the tops and bottoms of the feet are also decorated for Moroccan weddings.

After several group photos, the music and dancing continued until late in the night. It was a wonderful experience and I am sincerely glad that I attended. During the following week, everyone was wishing the “married couple” a happy life!

[photo credits to Doha Ait Ahmed of AMIDEAST-Rabat]

Arrival to Morocco, First impressions of Rabat

Morocco!

I have now been living in Morocco for a month and am settling in quite nicely. On my very first day arriving in Casablanca I was met at the airport by two Amideast representatives holding a hand-written sign that read "Amideast Intern". I instantly felt welcomed into the country. I was very excited to meet them and get to know basics on Moroccan culture during our one hour drive north to the capitol city of Rabat. I met the Amideast host family coordinator as soon as we arrived into the city, and then we drove to my host family's house. They live in an apartment in Rabat Centreville, the main downtown area of the city. I can see the walls of the old medina, or historic neighborhood, and a large public park from the third-floor balcony. It is a 15 minute walk to the beach, and a simple 10 minute bus ride to the more lively part of downtown with cafes and fancy shops. There is always lots of traffic outside our apartment building with the daily market and main busroute nearby, which makes for an exciting place to people watch.

In my host family I have a host mom who is a retired custom's officer and a host sister studying finance at the local university. She is in her early 20's and goes out with her girlfriends often to cafes and to the medina to look for fun things to buy. It has been great to hang with her and meet her friends. They speak French and Arabic at home, and my host sister has an intermediate level of English to help me out if I get stuck somewhere. Each day I take the city bus to work at Amideast, where I am working as the Educational Advising Intern. Although I am interning for the same organization, my tasks here in Rabat are more focused towards educational outreach and maintaining our resources in the Advising Center. When students come to the center with questions on studying in the US, taking the TOEFL exam, or getting a scholarship, they come to me. I am able to advise them in English, and am also slowly working my way into advising in French as well. I make mistakes of course, but generally the students understand my main ideas and are happy to receive the information. I also have the opportunity to travel as an Amideast representative to college forums in the region, which has been a fantastic experience.

Rabat is an interesting city to live in, and I am making the most of my evenings and weekends by venturing out and exploring new places. I love the mix of French architecture and traditional Islamic architecture than can be found sometimes in the same neighborhood. The mosaic designs are incredibly beautiful, and can be found in many places of the home. Moroccan textiles reflect a similiar busy pattern with wonderfully vivid colors. My favorite part of the city so far has been the corner shop juice stands where you can get a glass of fresh squeezed orange juice for about $.40.

Again, great people watching and friendly guys who run the shop. Before coming to Morocco, I honestly did not know much about this North African country. I have done some research since I have arrived and now have a better understanding of the political system and the country's foreign affairs. I am learning more and more about the culture every day through meeting new friends and making new connections. One thing that is important to remember is that Morocco is a safe place and that there are no talks of "revolution" here. Life is good and I am enjoying every moment of it.