The King Decrees...

There are many things that make Morocco different from America or even Turkey. Since I've been home I've gotten lots of questions about my life in Morocco, what is it like there.  There are way too many differences to even begin to list them.  I did see the other day a very obvious example.  As I was driving to Roanoke, there was a sign to merge left due to construction; we all diligently moved over, following behind a slow truck; only one guy came around to pass.  Myself and several cars followed behind the truck well before we saw the cones indicating the lane was ending.  In Morocco, there would not have been signs, just the cones at the last minute, and everyone would have used both lanes until the last possible moment, possibly making an extra lane.  I'm not quite ready to go back to the chaotic Moroccan driving.  

The biggest differences between Turkey and Morocco is that Morocco is much more conservative; Turkey is much more modern and secular.  Even the government in Morocco follows long instilled tradition, they have a king.  King Mohammed VI rules Morocco; this is not Britain, his word makes laws official.  For several holidays this past year, we waited for the king's official decree before we knew when the holiday started.  I just read on a new blog I found, The View from Fez, that daylight savings ends in Morocco on July 31st.  Why so early?  Because Ramadan, the Muslim month of fasting, will begin then.  Summer is one of the hardest times to fast, obviously due to the heat.  We found out the end of daylight savings last year on my second day in Morocco as we wondered why people were late picking us up.  A phone call informed us, well they decided last night to end daylight savings.  In the spring when we began daylight savings, it again was sudden, and apparently Morocco didn't tell the rest of the world.  For example my brother's flight times never indicated that they had changed, we finally called the airline who was able to confirm the time change.  At least a king cuts down on the red tape!  "So let it be written; so let it be done."