 Hello everyone! My name is Habiba and I am very excited to be here with you today to share with you a couple of things about my home country, Morocco. I was born and raised in Morocco before moving to the United States where I am right now. In fact, I'm talking to you from the beautiful states of Arizona, but that's not what we're going to talk about today. Today, we're going to talk only about Morocco. We're going to talk about the geography of Morocco, the climate, food, culture, people of Morocco. I hope that you find this to be fun and informative and if you have any questions, I will be happy to answer them. I love Morocco. I'm proud to be a Moroccan and it's always fun for me to sit down and talk about Morocco. So before we start, I want to show you the flag of Morocco. In fact, that's what I'm wearing today. This is the flag of Morocco. It's also behind me. If you're not familiar with Morocco or you don't know where Morocco is located, it's in the north side of Africa. When you look at it in the map, it's very close to Spain and it's bordered by two major oceans. On the north side of the country, Morocco is the Mediterranean Ocean and then on the west side of Morocco is the Atlantic Ocean. So by way of having two major beautiful, rich oceans bordering Morocco, it is providing Morocco with a lot of natural resources. Now, the size of Morocco. Morocco is not a large country and if we were to compare it to Alaska, for example, Alaska is almost four times larger than the size of Morocco. So that gives you an idea about the whole country. But even though it's a small country, it's very diverse, very rich in resources and there are a lot of things going on in there. Now, the climate in Morocco. Let's just say that the Mediterranean climate is very similar to the climate in Southern California, which is always pleasant weather most of the year. And that is the area in the northwest side of Morocco. And that's where 95% of the population is living because the weather is nice and the climate is better. In the Sahara, that's where the climate is arid and dry. And as you know, the western Sahara is a major part of the country. Not a lot of people living in the Sahara, but it's an important part of the country. And I will talk about that in a little bit here. Mountains. Yeah, that's my favorite part. I love mountains anywhere, especially in Morocco. There are two main mountain ranges in Morocco. There is the Atlas Mountains, Central Morocco, and then there is the Reef Mountains in Northern Morocco. The Atlas Mountain Range is huge and it actually even goes beyond Morocco to other countries in North Africa. But it does have sub-ranges like the on-tie Atlas, the high Atlas, the middle Atlas. And this area of the country is so very beautiful. There is even the highest peak in North Africa in the Atlas Mountain Range. It's called Mount Tupacal, standing at an elevation of 13,674 feet, almost a 14er. And by the way, a 14er is what you call a mountain that is 14,000 feet, which we have a lot of them here in the United States. And by the way, the Atlas Mountain Range is a sister range to the Appalachian Mountains here in the United States. So that solely defies the relationship between Morocco and the United States, which is a strong relationship, by the way, because Morocco was the first country to recognize the United States as an independent country back in 1777. And by doing so, there was a treaty of friendships signed between Morocco and the United States. Now let's talk about people of Morocco. As of 2019, at least 37 million people called Morocco home. There are different ethnic groups in Morocco. There are Arabs, and this is the group of people who came from the Middle East back in time. There are the Amazigh or Berber, and those are the natives of not only Morocco, but other countries around North Africa. And then we also have some other ethnic groups from East Africa. And so by way of having different ethnic groups, you will see that people have different skin colors in Morocco. There are groups in the Sahara and other ethnic groups in the Reef Mountains. So it's very diverse. It's got a lot of different people in the country. And that takes us to languages in Morocco. So many languages are spoken in Morocco. Now we have two main official languages. When we go to school as kids, we learn Arabic, standard Arabic, and then we learn French. And the reason we need to have French as an official language in Morocco is because Morocco was colonized by France. And outside of Arabic and French, there is the Moroccan dialect called Darija. And Darija is the dialect that is spoken widely around Morocco. And then we have the Amazigh language. And then we have another language spoken by people who live in the Reef Mountains. And then we have some people speaking Spanish in the north of Morocco and then the south of Morocco. And the reason being is Morocco was also colonized by Spain and Portugal at some point of time. So so many languages are spoken. But like I said, when we go to school as kids from primary school up until high school, we learn in both Arabic and French. And then when you go to college, depending on what major you choose, if you choose to go to medical school or for an engineering degree, it's going to be French in high school. If you choose to go for a degree in Arabic literature, it's going to be in Arabic. And when it comes to English, we do in public schools, I'm talking because there is a difference between the curriculum in public schools and then the curriculum in private schools. In public schools, we take a few English classes in high school and few English classes in when you go to college. And so for me, for example, before moving to the United States, I kind of had to learn English by myself by watching movies and listening to English music. I want to talk about religion in Morocco. The majority of Moroccans or people who live in Morocco identify as Muslims, but there are other minorities of Christians and Jewish and other people who follow different spiritual and religious beliefs. But the majority of the country consists of Muslims. So by way of being a Muslim country, there are different things that you will see if you happen to visit Morocco. There are mosques all over the place. Almost in every neighborhood there is a mosque, just like churches here in the United States. Some women will be wearing a headscarf if they choose to. So you will see that some women are wearing headscarfs, some of them are not. And Fridays are actually religious days, just like Sunday here in the United States. So on Fridays, people would go to the mosque for a group prayer around midday. And it's very common for families to make a very popular dish called couscous. So every Friday, families would make couscous and it's basically a dish with couscous, vegetables and some sort of meat. Growing up, when I was a kid, we would go to our grandparents' house. Grandma would make couscous and then we would gather in there and share that meal together before going back to school. And I found Fridays to be really fun. And the other thing is when I was going to school in Morocco as a kid, we would go from 8 to 12 to school and then we have to go back home to have lunch. We wouldn't have lunch at school and then go back to school between 2 p.m. up until 5 or 6 p.m. But it's different during the month of Ramadan. The month of Ramadan is a religious month in not only Morocco but a lot of other Muslim countries. And Ramadan is actually a month in the Islamic calendar. So the Islamic calendar has a month called Ramadan. And during this month, it's a very important holiday. If you ever visit Morocco during Ramadan, things are going to be different. So Ramadan is 30 days long and basically people would fast from dawn to dusk. So you would refrain from eating or drinking water from dawn up until the sunset. But when the sun sets, you are allowed to eat or drink. Now this practice is not done by kids. So you would only participate in fasting when you get to puberty age. So when I was a kid, I always wanted to fast and I asked my parents why am I not fasting. I want to fast just like you. But it was a very fun month because we get to take our food with us to school. And instead of going to school from 8 to 12 and then go back home to eat and then go back to school from 2 to 6 p.m. We would just go to school from 9 up until 3 p.m. And we would take our lunch with us. And I really enjoyed the fact that I can take my lunch with me to school and share it with my friends and classmates and just have fun eating together. So Ramadan is a very important religious holiday. During Ramadan, a lot of businesses and restaurants are going to be closed during the day if you happen to visit Morocco. So it's very normal. People are fasting. Not a lot of people are going out to eat. So businesses are going to be closed and then they do reopen after the sunset. Also on the 27th of Ramadan is a fun celebration where kids would dress up and put on Moroccan traditional wear. Girls would get henna tattoos in their hands and guys would go and get haircuts and you would go and gather with family. And it's a fun celebration on the 27th of every Ramadan. Now let's talk about food. And that is my personal favorite part. And that's what I miss the most about being home. The Moroccan cuisine is one of the best cuisines around the world. It's very diverse, very tasty and I would love me some Moroccan dishes. So we'll talk about some of my favorite Moroccan dishes. The most popular one is Tajin. Actually Tajin is the name of the pot where you cook this dish. That is a Tajin right here. That is a Tajin. That's what it looks like. This is a pot you would place everything that you have to cook in this Tajin. And usually it's vegetables with meat. We have two popular Tajins. If you ever go to Morocco or if you can find the Moroccan restaurants where you live, you definitely want to try them. Chicken Tajin. And chicken Tajin you would cook chicken with pickled lemon, green olives, Moroccan spices like saffron. We use a lot of saffron in Moroccan cuisine. And there's another type of Tajin with meat, either lamb or beef with prunes, almonds and sesame seeds. And the prunes are caramelized. So it gives it a very nice mix of savory flavor and sweet flavor. We do have the popular Moroccan mint tea which is my favorite tea. It's very popular in Morocco. We have Moroccan mint tea in pretty much every Moroccan household. Three times a day breakfast after lunch and sometimes around dinner. Moroccan mint tea is really tasty. I was actually thinking about making some before filming this video, but I totally forgot. So this is an example of what a tea set looks like. This is where we make the tea. This is how we would pour the tea. There is another interesting dish in Morocco called Tangia. Not the Tajin, but Tangia. And this is very popular especially in Marrakech. Marrakech is a very touristy city in Morocco. And if you ever visit Marrakech, they have this popular dish called Tangia. It's a pot that you would fill with meat and spices. And it's cooked underground. So very tasty. I tried to make it once here, but it didn't go so well. Because you definitely need that underground oven to slow cook it. Really delicious. Marrakech is a very touristy city. A lot of people who come visit Morocco for the first time choose to visit Marrakech. So that takes me to talk about the capital of Morocco. The capital of Morocco is called Rabat. And the largest city in Morocco is Casa Blanca. This is where most of the businesses are. A lot of job opportunities. So it's very common for people after school or after high school to move to Casa Blanca for better opportunities. Now let's talk about how people dress in Morocco. I mentioned that some women choose to wear a headscarf. That's very common. Now times are changing. So you will see a lot of people just dressed casually with the jeans, sneakers, t-shirts, or some casual tops. But we do have a lot of beautiful traditional wear that is different from one region to the other. Casually men and women both wear a dress called jileba. So jileba is worn by both men and women. It's just a long dress that covers all of your body. It's very practical to be honest. If you are rushing to run an errand, you just throw it on top of whatever you are wearing and you're good to go. For special occasions like engagement parties, baby showers, weddings, women usually wear either a koftan or taksheta. And there are so many beautiful designs for how these takshetas and koftan look like and they change every single year. Men would usually wear either a regular suit or they would wear a jileba. And there is a different traditional wear in the southern Sahara which, by the way, if you might be asking if indeed there are camels in Morocco, yes, in the southern Sahara, it's very common to come across wild camels and if you visit Morocco as a tourist, you can take a tour in the Sahara desert and you can go for a camel ride which is really fun. Now, in the southern regions of the country, there are different types of wear. Women would wear something called mulhafa. So mulhafa is a piece of cloth that is very large and they use it to cover their body and then there is a gandora is what men would wear. It's usually blue. And then they also wear turbans to cover their face from the sand, especially if they are riding camels in the desert. If there's any sandstorm that might hit, they are protected from the wind and from the sandstorms. I have five questions that I'm going to try to go through and answer them to the best of my knowledge. The first question, could you explain some of the components of culture in Morocco, clothing, food, language, religion, customs? I think we touch on pretty much most of these. For the customs, I would like to share about weddings in Morocco. Weddings in Morocco are so much fun. Back in time, people would celebrate weddings for up to four days, if not a week, non-stop, one week of celebrations, but things are changing right now and people would celebrate for no more than two days. And usually there is a day called henna day. This is where the bride gathers with her friends and family and it's usually just for women, so she would put on a nice green outfit, accessories, makeup, and that's where she gets henna tattoos with her friends and family. And then there is the wedding day. And the fun part that I want to share with you about the wedding day is that the bride actually gets to change her outfit multiple times, sometimes up to five times, either different colors for the dresses she's wearing or different outfits representing different regions in Morocco. So she would wear a dress from a specific region in Morocco and then another dress and then towards the end there will be a white dress as well. And the bride gets carried in a table. We call it a maria. So a group of five to six men would carry her up on their shoulders and just walk her around the venue where the wedding is taking place. That's about weddings in Morocco. Okay, so the next question that I have here, could you explain the environment, geography of Morocco? I think we talked about climate, natural resources, animals. Okay, so I'm not very well versed when it comes to wildlife and animals in Morocco, but for the natural resources the key resources in Morocco is the phosphate minerals, zinc, manganese and as far as the economy, the main pillars for the economy in Morocco are agriculture, phosphate minerals as well as tourism. Tourism is a very important component of the economy in Morocco. What are some common hobbies or activities that people, kids participate in? I think it's different from one family to the other, depending on how well off they are, but for middle class it's very common for kids to play soccer. If you are visiting Morocco you will see that kids are playing soccer in the street all the time. It's very common, especially boys. You don't see much with girls, but if a family is well off they can put their kids in private clubs and pay some extra money. Martial arts are very common, so kids would practice karate or taekwondo. I took some taekwondo classes when I was a kid, so it's really just different from one family to the other, but I would say soccer is very common. Next question, what global issues affect Morocco? Even if Morocco is a beautiful country and I love Morocco it's still a third world country and there are so many problems in the country. Especially because agriculture is one of the main pillars of the economy in Morocco. Poverty, access to health care, access to education, especially in secluded communities. When I was talking earlier about the mountains or the high Atlas Mountains, communities living in those areas usually don't have access to education and if they do, kids have to walk miles and miles every single day, which becomes a big challenge, especially when it gets cold up in the mountain. They don't have access or easy access to health care, especially because the infrastructure does not support those secluded areas. There are even regions who don't have access to potable and drinkable water. There are a lot of people who don't have access to electricity, so let alone the internet. A lot of problems, unfortunately, that come to mind when I think about challenges that the country is facing. And the final question, what is your favorite part about Morocco? For me personally, I love the fact that even if Morocco is a small country compared to states here in the US or other countries in Europe, it's still very diverse, very, very diverse. Just a couple of hours drive from north all the way to south you go through mountains, lush forests, and then beautiful oceans that are perfect for surfing and nautic activities. And then you go all the way down south and it's the western Sahara. I love the diversity in the country. I also love food. Food is one of the things that I really miss about being home. I miss people, warmth, generosity and how accepting they are. I hope that you found this to be informative. And if you have any questions, please feel free to reach out to me. My email address is WeAreTrackingPals at gmail.com and I will be very happy to answer any questions that you might have. I very much enjoy sharing with you. Thank you for letting me share with you. And I hope that you can make it to Morocco one day. Visit, explore the country. And I wish you a beautiful day ahead of you. Take care.