-We are loud. Not just me, although I am admittedly an exceptionally loud person. But when you hear a group of Americans talking, the overall volume of their voices is decidedly louder than voices of the Europeans or Moroccans in this school.
-We are different. Our country is large and widely diverse. Even in this group of exchange students we have hippies from Washington, southern boys, girls from New York City. There are Muslims, Christians, Agnostics, Mormons and Catholics. America is a country with people who grew up in large cities, or tiny towns, people who are from all ranges of ethic groups. There is no typical American look. We are all shades and from all different groups.
-We have lots of choices. Even going to the smaller supermarkets, such as the one in Big Timber, population several thousand, I could walk down an entire aisle containing only cereals. Here the store in a town of twenty thousand may only stock two types of cereal. It seems so much simpler, and choices are so much easier.
-We artificially sweeten everything. This is something I’ve noticed since leaving, and have confirmed with other expats I met travelling in Europe. So often I heard “The food in America is sweeter”. Also, with the exception of the few processed foods you can buy here, I pretty much know where my food comes from. The chicken I eat in the Marche has brothers and sisters live and clucking two stalls down. Large, whole goats, heads still on, hang form the butchers shop. And I’m pretty certain they don’t contain corn syrup.
-We love our guns. Last semester, a facebook friend from back home commented on a photo my German friend had posted of me. At lunch the next day, my German friend said in a shocked tone “Who is that guy with a GUN in his profile picture?!” I then sat and thought about all my facebook friends who would have guns in their profile pictures. Off the top of my head, I could list about ten. My roommate was shocked to learn that my family owns multiple guns. I’m not going to sit and defend the morality of such a thing, especially in light of the shootings in Ohio. But we, as Americans, take our right to bear arms very, very seriously.
-Our public transportation system sucks. Why is it possible in a place like Morocco to take a train across the country, when we cannot do that in America. I could further rant about the lack of sustainability in our transportation system, while fitting it into my distaste of the American suburb. But that would take an entire blog post, possibly an entire blog.
-We do breakfast best. Ok, there are a few Englishmen that would disagree. But they eat beans with breakfast. Which is weird. Nothing beats bacon, eggs, hash browns, toast, pancakes, and good ‘ole drip coffee. I just may eat breakfast for every meal when I return.
That’s all I have on America, perhaps I’ll think of some more later.
In other news…. Spent last weekend in Fes. Bargained in Arabic. Met a crazy old guy, who became our friend. Bought a guitar, which I WILL learn to play. Sat at a café where I was the only woman present. Ate a camel burger.
These things that were so exciting a new last semester have become more routine, but no less wondrous. I’m headed to Marrakesh (8 hours by train) for the arts festival this weekend. Am preparing for midterms and looking forward to spring break. Am truly, deeply, completely in love with life, flaws and all. Am thankful for my wonderful and supportive family and the people who made this adventure possible. Also, I’m thankful for those of you still keeping up with this blog.
Hell yeah America!!!!
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