Morocco is a very unique country for several reasons. The first is its strategic location in the northwest of the continent of Africa, just 14 kilometers south of Europe. This beautiful country is bordered by the Mediterranean Sea in the North, the Atlantic Ocean in the West, Algeria to the East, and Mauritania to the South. For this reason, Morocco is a crossroads where cultures, civilizations, and ethnicities meet.

Once upon a time there was a man who had three daughters and, wishing to depart on pilgrimage, asked each of them what he should bring back for her.

“Gold and silver bracelets crusted with gems,” said the eldest. “Gilded slippers,” said the second. But the youngest asked time to reflect before she answered. As soon as she found herself alone in her own chamber, a Rouhaniya (a fairy) appeared before her, saying: “Ask your father to bring you The Kaftan (traditional piece of Moroccan clothing worn by women) of Love Spotted with Passion.”

Once upon a time, there was a rich merchant in Fez who was in despair because he had no child. Also, his advanced age seemed to forbid him any hope in this respect. But his desire was so great that he asked one of his friends, who lived at a great distance, to come to visit him and to give him advice. This friend was a magician. When he had consulted his art, he said: “ You will have a son.”

Once upon a time, there was a poor carpenter whose wife died in childbirth, leaving a daughter on his hands; in truth, a beautiful baby, but one whose upkeep was a grave burden upon her father, and who therefore seemed to have been born under very sad auspices. How could the unfortunate man take care of his child when he had no money, no relations, no slave, and was worn out by his work?

Reading and reflecting on the fairy tales, myths, folktales, proverbs, and sayings from another culture help us gain insight into that culture in ways we otherwise may not glean. Let’s look together at on such tale, called The Fatal House, taken from Tales of Fes.

When visiting a foreign country, many people come as tourists, excited to visit the world-renowned places, eat the local food, and move around as easily and efficiently as possible. However, it takes additional effort to visit a place as a guest, striving to know local people, understanding the culture and norms, and experiencing authentic life.

William Gudykunst said, “One of the major factors influencing our effectiveness in communicating with people from other cultures is our ability to understand their culture.” Communication is about more than just the words we say; it is about both language and culture, what we communicate through words and actions. Here at Crossroads Cultural Exchange, we believe that we can't separate learning language from learning culture. As one of out teachers says, "Culture is the spirit of a language."

Right after Êid al-Fitr in early May, we received our first group for a cultural tour of Morocco. Twelve people participated in The Navigator Program, which we designed in order to give people the opportunity to not only learn about culture in general, but also to gain experience with the cultural concepts we discussed. We call this program an “immersive educational experience” because it’s more than a tour; the group explores Morocco while also learning how to navigate cultures.

People from cold-climate cultures tend to value structure, efficiency, and getting things done in advance, whereas people from hot-climate cultures tend instead toward responding to life as it comes and value relationships over punctuality.

As I was researching the topic of hospitality, I was struck by how many proverbs and sayings there are about hospitality that sound very negative. It seems like while hospitality is a beautiful idea, in practice the reality doesn’t always live up to the expectations. While we have been living in Morocco, we have learned so much about hospitality in hot-climate cultures.

Hot-climate cultures tend to be relationship based, utilize indirect communication, have a strong group identity, seek inclusion, have a long history, and are described as high-context. In warm cultures, relationship is the basis of everything, even in professional settings. Relationships as the most important value impacts many other aspects of the culture. Time on the clock is not as important as the face sitting in front of me.

What do we mean when we use the word culture? And what is the point in even talking about different cultures? Merriam Webster has a few different definitions of culture. First, culture can be "the customary beliefs, social forms, and material traits of a racial, religious, or social group; also : the characteristic features of everyday existence (such as diversions or a way of life) shared by people in a place or time.”