After living in Morocco for a few years, I gradually adopted some of their cultural habits. I only noticed these changes recently, during my last visit to Lithuania where I had some issues adjusting to my own culture.
Let’s start with the most famous Moroccanism….
….Inshallah
In Morocco you will hear “Inshallah” everywhere: making appointments, promising, buying, arranging your everyday life. “Inshallah” in Arabic means “God willing” or “if God wills”. “Inshallah” refer to events that one hopes will happen in the future.
In Islam people are thought not to make definitive statements about the future, since only God knows what will happen. For Moroccan, often, “Inshallah” is just a figure of speech or, like one blogger noticed, it is the same as British always saying “brilliant!”.
“Inshallah” is also a polite way to say “no” with a possibilty to be “yes”; in this way you can prevent yourself from disappointment if things don’t work as planned (as it happens often in Morocco). Moreover, “Inshallah” for me means more like “going with the flow”, living a life without fixed rules, routine and arrangements; leaving a room for a change in plans. Or simply surrendering to what we cannot control in life – life itself. With “Inshallah” I became less stressed, chill, and really enjoying the present.
However, to master “Inshallah” is a challenge and you have to alter the whole mindset! In the beginning I was so frustrated when I want to arrange a meeting and my friends say “Let’s do it tomorrow, “Inshallah”. I was always, like, so you either have time or not, don’t say this “Inshallah”! If you can’t fix the fridge today, just say it, dont say “Inshallah”!
Then, after living in Morocco for a while, I understood that things don’t happen the way they do in Europe. Especially, in the summer, when the heat is unbearable, and even if promised, maybe you will not have the energy to meet. “Inshallah”.
P.S: “Inshallah” doesn’t work in the travel industry. I am happy Moroccans understand our Western mentality and try not to be “Inshallah”. No wonder why many hotel and travel companies are managed by foreigners or Moroccans who lived abroad and understand that “Inshallah” doesn’t exist everywhere
How “Inshallah” are you, dear reader?
