Ayeleti Magrebi Kabira

Saturday was supposed to be a relaxing day at home. I slept in til 9:30, stayed in comfortable clothes, and ate Mama’s delicious meals. It sounds relaxing, however I was not expecting to have tons of relatives over as well! Similar to my family back in New York, cousins, brothers, sisters, aunts, uncles, and grandparents just show up, unannounced, and expect meals and entertainment. Of course, Mama says “mashi mooshkil” ("no problem") and invites them all in with open arms. 

Mama’s sister Rita and niece Koutar sleep at our house every night. However this weekend, Mama’s sister in law, two more nieces, and 6 of my brothers' cousins slept over as well. They range between 6-14 years old and are absolutely adorable. There are 5 girls and 1 boy, named Ali, and they are all over me every time they see me. They jump on my back, tickle me, and ask me hundreds of questions about life in the United States. They loved playing games on my iPad, especially Temple Run, and look through thousands of my pictures on my computer, always asking questions about my family, friends, and the travel experiences that they see in the pictures. The three oldest girls, Zineb, Malak, and Marwah, all speak english because they attend private school in Agdal, a wealthy area of Rabat. They all hope to visit the US and study at an American university. We stayed up til midnight playing Moroccan card games.

The aunts, great aunts, and grandmothers basically eat, talk, and laugh all day long. They are some of the warmest, happiest people I’ve ever met and they never fail to make me the butt of their jokes. They have all welcomed me and have incorporated me as part of the family, demanding that I return to Rabat every year for at least a month. They call me their nephew, grandson, cousin, and Mama calls me her “grande bebe”. It feels so much like my big, beautiful family back home and I feel lucky to have them! 

The topic of Islam came up with my aunts, as they all want me to say the shahadah and enter into Islam. I explained to them that I’ve read the Qur’an and have marveled at its beauty, and that I studied Islam last semester at Colgate. I am always very happy to talk about Islam with them, because it is interesting to get their perspective as Muslims. They hate, and I mean hate, radical Islam more than we do in America. Muslims in Morocco are Sunni, and they believe only Shi’ites are responsible for terrorism and violence, which is somewhat true. They do not believe that Shi’ites are even valid Muslims. They are more adamant about the divide between Shi’ites and Sunnis than between Islam and other religions. This was a very interesting perspective that will certainly stick with me for a while.