On Hanging Out and Storytelling

So, uh, what exactly are you doing in Morocco?

The answer will depend on my mood.

The formal answer: "Conducting field research for a book on cultural change and the role of women in Moroccan society."

My real-world translation: "Hanging out and storytelling."

For the next year (or so) I'll be in Fez meeting women and finding out who they are...what makes them tick...their hobbies...their interests...their fears...their histories...their dreams...the role they play in their family and society...the basis on which they make decisions. I want to know them.

I don't want to do in-and-out interviews. Instead, I want to hang out with them...drink tea with them...go shopping with them...cook with them...dance with them. I want to have friends and to be a friend.

These women (inshallah) will come from different backgrounds...different parts of the city...different socio-economic statuses...different levels of education, ages and occupations. They'll reflect (to some degree) the diversity among women in Fez...and there is much of it.

And then I'll tell their stories.

I'm writing a book of which each chapter will be a portrait and will tell the story of one woman...who she is, how she got that way, and how that plays out in her life. I'll include 10-15 women in the book. I fully expect that the stories will speak for themselves and highlight shifts and tensions in Moroccan culture, without much prodding.

I really don't have a political agenda. Based on relationships that I've made in Morocco previously, I have some hypotheses of what I'll find, but I don't want to spin anything. I'm going for truth through simplicity. Of course, I myself can't be removed from the picture. These stories will be told through the blue eyes of a young single Christian American woman. Anyone who claims they can be an unbiased writer by ignoring who they are or where they come from is either lying or delusional. I have to call it like I see it.

So that's the general gist of it. The first 3 months will be all Arabic language study. I'll basically be doing the same thing I did last time I was there, only this time the government is footing the bill. I'm ok with that.

In December I'll be turned loose on the city of Fez. Oh geeeeeeez...