Hi blog! My morning started similar to yesterday with my host mom waking me up to an assortment of breads and mint tea for breakfast! After making it home last night on my own, I was given a key to the house so I could continue to come and go on my own which was very exciting! Today at CCCL we had several sessions on politics and religion and the role of women in both these areas. I’m living with a host family of only women, so it was especially interesting to compare what we were being taught today to what I have been experiencing at home with them.
In Morocco, religion seems to be very strongly linked to power. King Mohammed VI acts as both the president and the leader of the faithful, often using religion to make decisions and interpret old laws. Although religion can be very effective in persuading people to take a specific stance on an issue, it can also add more complexity and frustration. There becomes a lot more layers that people in Morocco have to sift through for a decision to be made. This makes even more grateful that this is not a problem I face in the US and that there is a much clearer separation between religion and politics. Still, as I continued to learn today, while Morocco is an Islamic institution it also quite secular. There are Sunni and Shia Muslims who believe in having more or less of a direct relationship with God. Some women prefer to dress more modestly while others less so and this can change in different contexts (like my host mom who only chooses to wear a hijab when leaving her house). In Judaism, there are also different levels of religious intensity, but I feel like people at the same level to tend dress more similarly and there is less individuality.
As years pass, it seems like the relationship between women, religion, and politics continues to evolve. I learned that there are several women’s associations (some more feminist and others more conservative) who continue to remain very active, some advocating for women’s independence and others fighting for women to continuing staying at home. I really admired how in depth the women at CCCL went into these topics today and how honest they were about the dynamics that exists. I can tell how much they value education, and it motivates me to continue stay even more involved in politics in the US.
I ended my day reading a book at the beach near the Kasbah and then head back for dinner with my host family. After today, I am definitely feeling even more appreciative of my host family and all the opportunities I have had (including coming here)!