McDonalds in Morocco

Before leaving Marrakesh, I couldn’t resist eating at the McDonalds in the train station. Before you hate me, realize that in the States I avoid McDonalds at all costs and might eat there once a year if I’m unlucky enough. However, I couldn’t pass up the opportunity to see how an American corporation successfully integrates into a foreign culture. First of all, the McDonalds’ in Morocco are much nicer restaurants than those in the States. A meal with a burger, fries and coke is around 53 DH, which is the equivalent of about 7 USD. While that’s only a little bit more expensive than what you would pay for the same meal in the States, you must remember that Morocco is a much poorer country than the U.S. and that for 7 American dollars, you can eat at a nice sit-down restaurant. Those who eat at McDonalds are generally part of the emerging Moroccan middle class and they embrace western culture, wearing designer jeans and name brand sunglasses while talking on flashy new cell phones.

On the menu McDonalds has some similar items, such as happy meals, the Big Mac, and the Big Tasty. However they also have some new inventions such as the McArabia and the Gamba Burger, which has a shrimp patty.

In addition, their “large” meal is the size of what would be considered a “medium” in America. After a prolonged debate with myself, I decided to order the Gamba burger, whose patty is made with shrimp rather than beef. It was actually really good, and if they served it in America, I might eat at McDonalds more. Although McDonalds is called “fast food” it takes much longer to receive your order here than in the United States. But on the upside, the quality of the food is higher and better prepared. All the meat is killed according to Halal, the Islamic religious doctrine that outlines how food must be killed and prepared.

All in all, I think that the McDonalds’ in Morocco serve much higher quality food. The employees are better groomed and a little classier than the average McDonalds employee. I would imagine that workers here are paid relatively well, unlike in America, where working at McDonalds is at the bottom of the barrel as far as well-paying jobs go.

My First Night in Morocco

I’ve been in Morocco for a little over a week now. We arrived last Thursday night around sundown and saw our apartment for the first time. It’s an enormous two-bedroom two-bathroom apartment on the 8^th floor of a 9-story building. Each bedroom has its own balcony from which we have an unobstructed view of the Medina (old city) across the river. Right across the street is city hall and the Plaza de l’Independence, a large plaza with fountains, grass and trees. We have a huge kitchen with granite countertops, however there is no dishwasher, oven or microwave. Because it is uncommon to find gas lines in Moroccan buildings, two small propane tanks fuel our water heater and stove. We also have a little TV with cable, however only a few channels are in English or French. The living room is huge; about 500 sq ft. The apartment floor is tile throughout. I have photos of the apartment on Flickr that you can check out. We also have a Moroccan lady who comes 6 days a week to cook and clean. She arrives around 10 or 11 am and cooks until about 4 pm every day except Sunday. We have home-cooked lunch and dinner nearly every day. On top of all that we have access to the roof, which has a beautiful 360 degree view, with the Medina visible on one side, and the Ville Nouvelle (new city) on the other side. We’re one of the tallest buildings around so we have a fairly unobstructed view of everything. I doubt there’s another building in all of Meknes with as amazing of a view as the one we have.

 

We arrived right in the middle of the holy month of Ramadan. Ramadan is one of the five pillars of Islam, during which every good Muslim must fast from sunrise to sundown. (However exceptions are made for pregnant women and those who are traveling.) Muslims don’t even drink water despite the beating sun and 95 degree heat. Non-Muslims are not expected to fast, but restaurants and cafes are closed throughout the day and eating or drinking in public is extremely rude. That first night, after looking around our apartment in awe, we ate the home-cooked meal awaiting us on the table. It was a Moroccan stew of beef and green beans with a salad of lettuce, cucumbers and bell peppers on the side. A few minutes after we sat down, we heard an enormous explosion. We rushed to the window and saw a pillar of smoke rising from what looked like a drab green military truck on the other side of the plaza, a few hundred yards away from our building. The first idea that flew to my head was a car bomb. Any American who had just arrived in an Arab country would be finicky and jump to the conclusion of terrorism. We later found out that because it was the holy month of Ramadan, the city fired a cannon at sundown (around 6:45pm) when it was okay to eat, and again at 2 am, to announce that there were only 2 hours left to eat before fasting must start again. It’s been going off twice a day for a week now and it still makes me jump every time I hear it.

Why Choose Morocco?

While most college students studying abroad go to countries like England, France and Spain, I chose a country that few Americans can even locate on a map. In fact, if they know what continent it's on then they're already ahead of the game. (Just so you know, Morocco is on the northwestern tip of Africa, just south of Spain.)

I chose Morocco because I wanted to study in a country that would provide stark contrasts to the western view of life and hopefully challenge my perspective of the world. And in the brief time I've been here so far, I've realized how living in the richest country of the world provides a completely different way of looking at the world compared to that of a much poorer country.