Recurring jokes in my host family and village that I don’t really think are funny at all but everyone else gets a kick out of:
- The first week I told them that I liked all Moroccan food except olives. Now whenever I’m introduced to someone new in the village, the fact that I don’t like olives is part of the introduction. And invariably, if olives are on the table at a meal, someone will jokingly tell me to eat the olives, and everyone will laugh. I thought this would get old, but we’re a month in and it still appears to be pretty funny.
- My family found out that I knew the word for “butt” in Arabic (which I know pretty much only because it sounds a lot like “zucchini”) so now they love to point to their butts and ask me what it is, just to hear me say the word.
- They taught me the word “mismuma” which means something like “trouble-maker” or “bad kid”, and they love to hear me call someone this. So several times a day, whenever one of my sisters does something even remotely mischievous or mean to another one, my host mother will turn to me and ask “Who is mismuma?” And no matter who I answer, they think it’s funny.
- One of my host sisters is named Noura, which happens to be my Moroccan name as well. So people love calling out “Noura!” and watching both of us turn around. And they love coming up with adjectives to put after “Noura” to differentiate us: (old/young, new/old, one/two).
- (This one I actually find pretty funny too:) They like to wait until after dinner a lot of the time to tell me what I just ate. Probably a good idea, since I might not have been too thrilled about eating brains, testicles and udders. (Surprisingly not that bad - they all taste and feel like mushrooms.)
