Marhaba, Shokran

The two most frequent words that I heard in Arabic were marhaba, meaning welcome, and shokran, meaning thank you. Marhaba was said upon entering every home, classroom, shop, or space. If you cross any type of threshold, someone will welcome you. Marhaba. When people used English, marhaba would translate as "you are welcome." The proper response is of course, shokran. In typical American English usage, we reverse these two statements: thank you; you're welcome. In Morocco the default opener is welcome.

So to the people of Morocco, I need to offer my gratitude.
To my teacher host Ayoub, shokran.
To the kind teachers and principal of the Excellence High School, shokran.
To the students, so filled with ambition and idealism, shokran.
To the gracious politicians, Saharan and Amazigh villagers, and those who smiled at me when I passed, shokran.


To Dr. Pullen, my head of school, thank you for being excited for me and affording me this wonderful opportunity.
To the Teachers for Global Classrooms program run though IREX, thank you for choosing me and training me to take full advantage of this fellowship.
To my travel partner Travis and the other ten members of my Moroccan cohort, thank you for your stories and inspiration.
To the US State Department, thank you for providing funds for this travel experience.
To my colleagues at Saint Stephen's, thank you for stepping into my classroom and filling the gap during my absence.
To my wife, thank you for telling me to do this travel adventure despite the great inconvenience it caused you.

Shokran.