When choosing between learning a new language and learning to bargain, I would choose bargaining. Growing up, I started learning Spanish in high school, but speaking the language was difficult for me, even though I was ok as reading it. So when it came to learning Moroccan Arabic, I was quite confused, especially since I could not understand it in writing, since they do not use letters like in English or Spanish. On the other hand, bargaining seemed quite normal to me. While at home we do not bargain for good, I would say that I bargained for other things, like when I was younger, I would bargain with my mom for more time watching TV or explaining why I should be allowed to have something, which left me comfortable asking the shopkeepers today for lower prices during bargaining.

Today, when we had the Arabic lesson, I did not use many skills other than carefully listening to what the instructor was saying. However, I think the best practice of the Moroccan Arabic for me is when we were practicing it with each other and especially in my host family with the host dad because he does not speak any english while the host mom and children all talk to be in english, so it has been nice learning some words from him and then practicing them while in the home so it is less pressure.

On the other hand, when it came to bargaining, I used my negotiation skills that I have developed over time, but I would say that coming from a mock trial background in high school, I was able to keep calm when bargaining for different goods, so I would not go above the price I wanted to pay for something. When putting this into practice, I would say that persistence is important. Today I went and bought a scarf in the souks, and the guy offered it to me at 120, and then I said 80, and we went back and forth until he said 100, and I said I could do 90 at the highest, which in the end he accepted. However, when we were looking at handbags, I would ask the price, and then they would say it, and when I would try to bargain, they would not really move and just say handmade, so I would leave. I think that one of the issues I had and am still working around is that the shopkeepers all tell you a story about why it’s a certain price, but then you go next door for the same thing, and it’s a different story, so I think finding the best place to buy from is a bit challenging because you don’t want to miss a good opportunity.

I would say my most successful purchase of the day was from a shopkeeper who sold handmade, painted clay pieces he made himself, and it was not only for the successful negotiating part. When we went into the store, you could tell the stuff was made by hand because you could see the imperfections, and then when we asked the man how much, he said like 30, and we asked for 15, he said the lowest he could go would be 20, which we took. While that was a success, the interesting and successful part, in my opinion, was the conversation with the shopkeeper. He talked to us in very good English, and when we asked how he learned English, he told us about how he first learned classical arabic because it has rules and then he started learning english from tourists and then he read books to further understand, which I thought was interesting because he wanted to learn more than just enough for work, but he wanted to deeply understand which is not something I have found with many others here they seem to learn for necessity rather than want and understanding. He also talked to us a bit about our lives and asked us about ours as well. While this was such a simple conversation, it meant a lot because I was able to see a bit more into the daily life of the people in Morocco and what makes them who they are, because everyone has a different story.