- Most stores and restaurants do not have change on hand for large bills and also do not take credit cards. Making exact change is something I’m definitely not used to!
- People do not normally use toilet paper, although it is sold here - instead they use a bidet (a small hose) to wash off after using the bathroom. Thankfully we have access to toilet paper!
- Moroccans have a casual attitude towards littering, maybe because there are also not a lot of public trash cans. Recycling in terms of a formal system is nonexistent, but people tend to recycle plastic bottles to use as pitchers and bags on their own.
- I know I mentioned before that Moroccans can be pretty indirect, but in some ways they are also generally more blunt. My host mom said that her oldest daughter is getting fat because she eats a lot while the oldest daughter was in the same room, and a stranger told my friend once that my Arabic is worse than hers in front of my face!
- Celebration of birthdays is forbidden by Islam but people tend to throw parties anyway.
- If you are a guest, people will go out of their way to give you the best food or cuts of meat and they always encourage you to eat more and more!
- Bartering is the norm for everything in the souk, not including food. My host family and speaking partner insist on joining me every time I want to buy something because they know that I’ll be given a higher price since I’m foreign.
- The concept of time is different here. My family will say that we’re just going for a “quick” errand or to walk around “for a little bit” and we’ll end up being out for over an hour. Walking in a large group also tends to be at a slow pace which further prolongs outings.
- This may be just my family, but the parents tend to be pretty independent from the kids sometimes - as in they’ll leave without telling the kids where they’re going and when they’ll be back. The kids then ask us, and we’re not any more in the loop than they are!
In other news, we are now 5 hours ahead again - the time change took place Saturday night. I'm looking forward to these last few weeks!