I’ve been thinking a lot about what I will take from my time in Morocco. Not necessarily physical things like souvenirs (I only brought a backpack so souvenirs are not a feasible option anyway), but rather, concepts, understandings, habits. What are things that I have learned here that I hope to carry with me throughout my life? How will this time be reflected in my future behaviors? Will there be things I do that originated from my time in Morocco? I certainly hope so.

I hope that I won’t have let this experience pass me by, that I allowed this time to shape me, to change my behaviors, to teach me new things. In the hopes that I will come home to a person who, if not changed in their core, has begun to change their behavior, I have decided to make a list of the things I hope to adopt when I get home.

Firstly, cumin is great. Here, rather than salt and pepper shakers on the table, there is salt and cumin. If I have learned anything in Morocco, it is the value of cumin. I have cumin on my eggs, my fries, my veggies. It’s such a versatile spice, and I plan on keeping it on my table next to the pepper. Thank you, Morocco, for bringing me cumin.

Secondly, the level of generosity and hospitality is like nothing I’ve ever experienced before. I grew up in the southeastern part of the United States, an area of the country that is often revered for its practice of hospitality. I am used to people bringing over casseroles after church, young kids mowing the lawns of their elderly neighbors, and pulling over on highways to see if the stopped vehicle needs assistance.

For most of my family and the people I grew up around, this level of generosity comes as easy as breathing. It’s a natural part of life, an unspoken expectation. Morocco shares the same habit, almost more so than the southeastern region of the United States. Sitting at a coffee shop last weekend, I went to the front to pay. I only had a 200 dirham bill to pay for my 30 dirham coffee.

The shop had no change. Immediately, the shop owner suggested I just come back tomorrow to pay, when they would have changed. There was a level of trust that was just awarded to me, one that I had not earned. The shop owner just chose to trust me, to do me a favor despite having no understanding of my character. The default setting here is to trust someone, something that does not exist at home. At home, there is a level of distrust that colors much of what we do. But, I’d rather live my life having trusted too much than too little.

Another thing I’ve been exposed to in Morocco is the prioritization of familial relationships, whether an actual family member or a coworker or a friend. It seems to me that there's something really special about family. Sometimes, we get so caught up in our daily grind—work, school, social media—that we forget to pause and appreciate the people who are always there for us.

Prioritizing family relationships might seem like a no-brainer, but it's amazing how easy it is to let it slip through the cracks. It feels as though Morocco as a whole puts these relationships at more of the forefront than the United States. I hope to bring back this kind of prioritization to the United States.

Finally, I hope to let this time in Morocco keep inspiring me to reach for similar opportunities in the future. I hope that I do not regard this as a box that I have checked, but rather, an experience that has inspired me to seek out more opportunities in this field, to dive even deeper into development work. I want to keep pushing to see new things.