Settling into our new life in Agadir has been a process and we’re feeling more ‘at home’ in southwestern Morocco now that we’ve been here nearly 3 months already. The word Agadir means fortress in Tashelhit, one of the three Amazigh (Berber) dialects spoken in Morocco. Along with Moroccan Arabic (or Darija), Tashelhit is a main language in this greater Souss-Massa region of Morocco due to the large Amazigh population, especially in rural areas. The Amazigh (or ‘free people’) were the original inhabitants of North Africa long before the arrival of Arab migrants from the Middle East who spread the Arabic language and religion of Islam.

The old city fortress of Agadir still stands on a hill overlooking the city upon which the national motto, “God, Country, King” is inscribed and lit up at night. With its sandy beaches, palm trees, and modern resorts, Agadir feels a lot more like southern California than a traditional Moroccan city with the ancient medina and medieval architecture you can find in places like Marrakech and Fès. The sunny climate is mild and temperate without extremely hot or cold weather and it’s a very pleasant place to live.

Agadir’s modern feel is largely due to the largest earthquake in Moroccan history that occurred on February 29, 1960 and destroyed most of the city, killing 15,000 people and leaving 35,000 homeless. Rebuilt with more modern and nondescript architecture, Agadir has become the largest seaside city in the country and a hub for international beach tourism with many Club-Med style resorts lining the Atlantic and a wide brick ocean promenade that goes for miles. Further up the coast, the small beachside town of Taghazout and the beautiful city of Essaouira are destinations for surfers and kiteboarders. We are about 3 hours south of Marrakech by bus and 3-4 hours north of the city of Guelmim, the “Door to the Sahara,” where I lived for part of 2006 during my dissertation research.

This fertile region provides much of the agricultural produce for the country and the selection of fresh fruits and vegetables at local markets is amazing and astonishingly cheap! Dates, figs, olives, pomegranates, walnuts, almonds, honey, fresh mint, parsley, and coriander are just a few of the weekly staples we are able to pick up at the souk (market) of Inzegane, a smaller town on the outskirts of Agadir. We do our weekly shopping there with the expert help of our housekeeper Amina who knows where to find the best quality and bargains and cooks up delicious tagines (vegetable and meat stews simmered with spices in a conical clay pot) and Friday couscous.

Since we were last in Agadir in the summer of 2015, the city has changed in a few striking ways. For one thing, several sushi and taco restaurants have popped up, which is something we never saw in Morocco before! Construction is moving rapidly here and we are living in a quartier (neighborhood) full of high rise apartment buildings going up all around us. There is also a large presence of impoverished sub-Saharan African migrants from various countries who have landed here in search of employment and passage further north to Tangier to make it over to Europe. They are frequently on the streets begging at traffic lights and selling goods by the beach, and the Moroccan reaction seems to be a mixture of disdain for the newcomers and sympathy for situations that have led them here.

Our weekly routine has taken shape with the kids attending 3 different schools in our neighborhood. Gabriel’s school is French with 3 hours per week of instruction in both Arabic and English (his favorite subject!). His 1st grade teacher, who happens to be Madame Boyer, comes from France and everyone thought Gabriel was her son at first since they share a last name and blonde hair! He has a few friends in class who speak English and help him to understand what is going on.

Luca’s pre-K class is taught half in French and half in Arabic by Moroccan teachers so he is boldly making his way through the Arabic alphabet and singing many adorable songs en français! Genevieve (aka “Laila,” her Moroccan name taken from her middle name Lila) attends a crèche maternelle or day care for kids from 9 months to 2 years old at a Moroccan private school next door to us. Her main teacher, Maman Suad, speaks French and Moroccan Arabic to the children so she is getting lots of exposure to the new languages as well. Since we arrived she has sprouted her first 5 teeth and taken her first baby steps! Pretty soon she’ll be off and running…

Micah teaches English as a Foreign Language to Moroccan students at the American Language Center where he is getting a glimpse into the zeitgeist of Moroccan teens in Agadir.

I started taking Arabic classes twice a week at Dar Si Hmad, a local community development organization run by a Moroccan anthropologist. For my Fulbright research, I am affiliated with Université Ibn Zohr where I collaborate with my academic mentor, Prof. Abderrahim Anbi, a sociologist who specializes in rural Moroccan society and single mothers in Morocco. Micah and I will be giving guest lectures at the university next semester for a master’s program module on connections between Morocco and sub-Saharan Africa.

My research project is focused on the experiences of Moroccan women seeking assistance with family law issues, including domestic violence, divorce, and child custody. I have met with two women’s rights associations here in Agadir, Association Voix de Femmes Marocaines and Union de l’Action Féministe / Centre Annajda SOS, that provide counseling and shelter for women in crisis situations. I will be interviewing women who access the services to follow their cases.

There are 3 other Fulbrighters here in Agadir this year so we have some American company. Anna and Maya are English Teaching Assistants at a business school and Derek is a PhD student in epidemiology researching the impacts of air pollution on children’s respiratory health. Coincidentally, Derek and I both previously worked for the World Food Programme in the same office in Labé, Guinea in different years. Small world, indeed!

Micah and I are also looking into the growing argan oil industry in this region of the country and plan to interview Amazigh women who work in rural argan cooperatives around Agadir to find out more about the impacts of their participation. The endangered argan tree is native only to this southwestern region of Morocco and the oil obtained from the nut (known as “liquid gold”) is used for culinary and cosmetic purposes. Argan oil has many nutritive properties and has become a lucrative global commodity and an important source of revenue for rural communities. The work of obtaining the oil is very laborious and traditionally done by rural women who collect, crack, and press the nuts to extract it.

Outside of school and work, our afternoons and evenings here are filled with many beachside walks with our trusty double stroller and baby carrier and frequent trips to the hanout (corner grocery store) and the café downstairs from our apartment where we know all of the waiters by name and baby Genevieve receives many kisses from all of them. She just celebrated her 1st birthday there!

Stay tuned for tales of our October visit to meet my parents in Marrakech and our fall break trip up north to Tangier and Spain…

View of Agadir from the fortress hilltop