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Tangier, Tempe, and Takeaways

Ashley Zafaranlou

Tangier, Tempe, and Takeaways

It has almost been four months since I returned from traveling and not a day goes by that I do not miss my study abroad experience. Reminders of the trip pop up in the most random places. I was walking out of Hayden Library the other day and Charlie’s Cafe was featuring a “Seville Panini” which hilariously featured almost zero traditional Spanish ingredients. While wandering through a cosmetic store, I saw a 4oz bottle of “pure” argon oil selling for $100, which is approximately 984.9 dirhams worth of misinformation. The women who work at the argon oil cooperative in the High Atlas Mountains told us most mainstream name-brand argon oils are not actually pure.


During my most recent Netflix binge, I was watching CNN’s Anthony Bourdain: Parts Unknown and an episode came on about Tangier, Morocco. My favorite silver fox (Bourdain) is roaming the streets of Tangier, explaining how artists from all over would escape to Morocco for artistic inspiration. The episode opens with Moroccan tea being poured as the call to prayer wakes the city. Bourdain walks through medinas and cafés that throw me back into my own exploration of Morocco. I found myself thinking, “Wait, I think I was at that exact medina. Yes, that shop vendor looks familiar. I am pretty sure he overcharged me for my headscarf.” Obviously I know that the vendors and eateries are not the exact ones I visited, but they seem all too familiar.


A question I am frequently asked is how my preconceived notions about Morocco compared to the actual country. Truthfully, it is difficult to remember what those original notions were because they were shattered after the first day of the trip. It was amazing to see how my thoughts and research transformed after every city we visited and this made me realize how different my assumptions would be had I not actually visited the country.

One of my educational takeaways is that I now understand why a lot of international development projects fall short. The statistics and research we rely on to understand other countries are not qualitative, and the variables of measurement are not always representative of a country. When there is a lack of communication with local communities and a failure to understand their values and needs, we cannot expect to create successful sustainable solutions.

Upon my return to the United States, I am definitely more critical of the society that I grew up in. I am not necessarily being critical in a negative way. I am simply being more investigative. This semester I have been learning a lot about food systems, and how our society puts such a high value on local and organic foods. If our food has the slightest physical imperfection, we begin to question if it is even edible.

In Boumia we visited an apple farm owned by the Akki family. The Akki family produces apples that are smaller than the ones we see in our local grocery store, which made it difficult for them to export internationally. They were incredibly proud that their apples were certified organic. The family hopes the certified organic label will allow them to expand to other markets, like the U.S., where consumers will see the label and pay more for what they believe to be a product of higher value.

Meeting the Akki family inspired me to research more about the norms that shape our food systems. I am currently collaborating with other sustainability majors and non-majors on a project that has been accepted into the Wege Prize competition. The project my team is developing is to be a cross-sector collaborator, which would tackle the wicked problem of behavioral norms concerning food waste in large-scale agriculture by incorporating the circular economy model into the globalized food market. This project is just one example of how my trip has influenced my education here at ASU.

Paul Bowles, an American composer and author who lived in Morocco for 52 years, wrote, “Another important difference between tourist and traveler is that the former accepts his own civilization without question; not so the traveler, who compares it with the others, and rejects those elements he finds not to his liking.” I am the traveler that can’t stop comparing my country with the ones that I visited this summer, and I can no longer accept my own civilization without question.

Being back home makes me crave the sense of community and hospitality I was exposed to in Morocco. In Tempe I can’t call every guy Muhammad when I forget his actual name (Moroccan normality). I also can’t stay up all night to watch the sunrise and go to bed at 6:00AM like I did in Spain. The memories are endless. My trip to Spain and Morocco taught me more than I could have envisioned and has left me questioning what else the world has to teach me.