Marriage.... It's a big deal.

So I wanted to write a short post commenting on the concept of marriage in Morocco. So I havent been in Morocco for too long of a period of time, but this is one cultural concept I have caught onto pretty much right away. As soon as I could say and comprehend ANY phrase in Tashlheet my host mother started asking me when I was going to get married and have children. At first I laughed this off, but the comments persisted. There was a man in my training group, Martin, who happened to live on the same side of town as me. We used to walk to and from school together, simply out of convenience, but my mother (and apparently other women in the village) thought differently.

She used to ask me relentlessly about whether or not I was going to marry Martin and if I wasnt, was I interested in marrying a Moroccan. This continued for the entire time we were at our training site and frankly it turned into a joke in our minds, but im not so sure my family was joking.

This marriage situation continued even into my post. The second day I was at post, I made it my goal to meet with the Caid, hes some sort of important government official and I deemed it appropriate to introduce myself. My friend Maria and I went to the Caid's office and met with him briefly, but frankly he was a little annoyed with my lack of French but the purpose of going there was accomplished. He was a really nice guy and I think will be a great allie to me in the future. As soon as we left the Caid's office we hear "MARIA" "MARIA" coming from another government building, apparently he knew Maria. So we walked over there quickly and just as soon as he introduced himself, he started speaking English. He asked me all kinds of questions about what I was doing, where i was living, ect. About 10 minutes into the convo he started talking about how his wife was disceased and how he was looking to get married again. He said he thought I would be a good wife for him and literally asked me if I was interested in getting married. Thankfully Maria caught on to his english proposal, stepped in and hurried us out the door. That was only the first encounter of many to come. I have been proposed to by taxi drivers and people in the souk, even if the men are married, they always have a cousin or brother or son looking for a wife!

At first I was a little put off by this sort of forward talk about marriage, but when I sat down to think about it, it makes perfect sense. Many of the people who live in my region are born to get married. That is not saying they dont do other things too, but literally their lives "being" when they get married. Im sure they are just asking because they are curious as to why i am not. Most women in town my age are married, and I think they are just interested in what life is like not being married. All in all it has been quite an eye opening experience and I dont mind the marriage questions even one bit, for now anyway. One person at a time I explain that I have school to finish and places to travel that I want to do before I am married, maybe one day word will get around, but frankly I doubt it.

For the time being I just take it as flattery and move on, at least they are interested in the work that i am doing and asking questions. This is much much better than being ignored.

Love you all.