I wish I’d never put up this template, because now every time I look at it, I feel like I’m slacking for not publishing the ghost story. I tell myself it’s because I have to sketch up a little diagram, get the details in order – but the truth is, I’m kind of lazy. If something strikes my fancy, I can plug away at it for hours, but if it should be done, I can hardly bring myself to think about it. The only way I ever accomplish anything, actually, is by making myself little to-do lists every day. My husband spotted one once, and he said, “What’s that?” I explained the concept, but he just said, “Why don’t you just do things as you feel like doing them?”
THAT, my dear readers, is one of the things that makes me raving, blithering, insanely mad about living in Morocco. For example, his family owns a hotel. If I was the boss – and believe me, the suggestion has been made – I’d have a to-do list for that damn place stretching from Tan-Tan to Oujda. Instead, I have to make suggestions, apparently to the air, because nothing ever changes. I’ll mention something like, “Listen, we need new brochures.” The response is, “Yes, yes, inshallah, we’ll be doing that soon.” I might suggest, “Instead of buying toilet paper at a marked up cost every week in town, why don’t we contact the TP factory in Casa, tell them of our massive yearly TP needs here, and ask them to cut us a deal?”
“Yes, yes, inshallah, good idea.”
In the meantime, business goes down, because they don’t understand the concept of competition that’s beginning to make itself known in Morocco. Other hotels are providing better amenities and better service, while ours trudges along in the 1970s. AAAAAAAAAAA! If it didn’t have a great location and decent food, I think we’d be sunk.
And the reason for this complacent attitude? I think I know. Last year I met the owner of a small maison d’hote, struck up a chat with him, and at some point I casually said “Inshallah” after some comment. He went into a tirade about how that one word was the primary cause of many of Morocco’s problems, and if people would just get off their asses and do something, instead of having tea and envying their neighbors, things would rapidly improve.
I disagreed with him on half of that – I still say inshallah, because I never know what fate will throw my way, but the to-do lists are my way of living the “God helps those who help themselves” maxim.
SimplyMoroccan
January 19, 2007 at 4:51 am
Inshallah isn’t the point. You can be determined to do something, make a change, and you then have to say inshallah, because you “never know what fate can bring”, and that’s like: we’ll work on that, with the help of God. But when you just plan (or unconsciously intend) to procrastinate, then inshallah maybe just a frustrating expression, just meant to say “alright alright!”
For the hotel, it’s because it’s a family business that things tend to be a little bit tied up. In Morocco, we have this problem of having families concentrated in one business. Hence, the management system is boring and slow, and no new competences are really allowed to be part of the head team.
It’s not enough to count on the location and food. They can think of developing other competitive aspects yes, that’s what you are saying too). Maybe you can hold a responsability position there being part of the management, instead of just making suggestions “in the air” (– sounds like a typical Moroccan expression to me!). It will do good to the hotel, and make you less frustrated about living in Morocco
matthew
January 19, 2007 at 9:38 am
I’m an American living in Fes. My take on “inshallah” is that there are two extremes in which people say it depending on the circumstances and a range of meanings within the two poles. On one end you have “I am definitely going to do this unless God himself intervenes and prevents me.” On the other extreme, “The only way this is going to happen is if there is profound supernatural intervention, but I love you too much to say ‘no’ and embarrass/shame you.” The trick is learning which version or where on the spectrum the current use lies.
Don Veto
January 19, 2007 at 11:47 am
Have you ever heard of IBM? It means Inshallah, Bukra, Maalish ; meaning god willing, tommorow and sorry / it’s ok. Its the standard response for anything over here.
Felix
January 19, 2007 at 12:46 pm
Don – Ha, I like to say the top three responses in Morocco are “Mashi ana” “Maarftsh” and “Matsudunish.”
Matthew – Hi, thanks for stopping by! What do you do in Fes? I think you’re right about the range of meanings, but it just seems to be weighted on the “No I’m not really going to do this” side. At our hotel, I think they like some of my ideas, but it’s hard for them to break out of their rut. That goes the same for a lot of situations I’ve encountered, especially with the bureaucracy – I’d love to get an “inshallah” from them that really meant something positive!
SM – Thanks for the calming words, LOL. I get equally frustrated about things here in the States, so maybe it’s just my personality, LOL. My husband’s very laid-back, so he balances me out. Anyway, I’ve tried to make myself useful at the hotel in other ways – for example, I once started doing all the “factures” with my computer, instead of the old handwritten way – that backfired, because one of the brothers was skimming money off the profits, and didn’t want me (or his father!) knowing how much!
Maryam in Marrakesh
January 19, 2007 at 1:22 pm
Umm, Liosliath, I was wondering, do you want to come out and manage our guest house? The job has your name written all over it;-)
Felix
January 19, 2007 at 2:12 pm
Maryam – You know, if you were even 10% serious, you’d find me at your door with a little suitcase in hand, heh. Who _wouldn’t_ want to be involved in the start of such a great project?
I have some other agencies that have offered me positions in Marrakech, too – mainly helping them increase their exposure in Western markets, etc… I haven’t seen any contracts or offers of salary, so I’m not holding my breath!
Paul O Mahony
January 20, 2007 at 3:16 pm
Its great to learn new words like Inshallah. I can hear myself using it in meetings. ‘I’ll start it next week, inshallah’;-)
Like your new blog design.
Aimee
January 20, 2007 at 3:26 pm
I agree with Paul. The next time my boss asks on Friday at 6pm whether something can be done over the weekend “Inshallah” seems like an appropriate response. Love your blog, BTW.
matthew
January 21, 2007 at 4:47 pm
Felix: I’m doing cultural research and writing a book on Moroccan culture as revealed through humor. (Yes, I’ve been following the Nichane magazine story closely…) I’ve also started a small business here, but it’s just getting going and I don’t expect much to happen with it before my book is complete sometime in the Fall (inshallah).
Maryam in Marrakesh
January 21, 2007 at 5:37 pm
Liosliath- We are really trying to figure out how we are going to manage this guest house b/c we are not in the biz. We thought maybe of trying to get someone fresh out of hotel school to come and set up all the systems for us and manage it for a while in exchange for room and board and some kind of stipend (b/c we are broke and you know how that goes). I don’t know what you think about that. And who says I am not at least MORE than 10% serious about you coming out to help…
Felix
January 21, 2007 at 11:15 pm
Paul – Thanks! I know that changing the design so often can thrown readers for a loop, but I can’t help it – I like variety.
Aimee – Let me know when you try that on your boss! Make sure you give him a very obtuse look like, “Everyone knows what THAT means.” Thanks for the compliment, BTW.
Matthew – That sounds VERY interesting – I looked at your website, will you be adding your bio etc… soon? A blog would be even better, ha ha.
Maryam – Hmm….that’s an intriguing possibility. The wheels are turning in my head, but I’ll email you instead of boring everyone else with our plans for world domination.
Jill
January 22, 2007 at 8:29 am
True story:
A friend of mine went to a small car dealership in Casa to rent a car. He spoke to the owner about an inexpensive Fiat. The owner, thrilled at the prospect of a foreign car renter, pushed my friend on a more expensive car. In the end, my friend just wanted a car, so he asked if one would be available on Wednesday. The owner said “Insha’allah.”
Do you think the car was available?
Drives me crazy too. Hamza and I had a big discussion about it awhile back and I told him that only “Yes, inshallah” or “maybe” were acceptable answers, not just “inshallah” on its own.
matthew
January 22, 2007 at 1:12 pm
Felix: I’ll add more stuff to the site as things get going. I’m still getting the office put in order, designing letterhead, and mundane things like that. Adding a blog…hmm, that’s an idea I will consider.
Others: I actually ask people now what they mean when they say, “Inshallah.” If I were at the car rental agency for example I would have asked, “Does that mean you will definitely have a car for me unless God decides to end the world or are you saying you have no idea but you hope that maybe a car will magically appear here on Wednesday for me?” Usually it gets a big laugh if I remember to smile and use a friendly tone of voice while saying things like that…and I generally get better service as well.
eatbees
January 24, 2007 at 1:32 am
A to-do list is still just wishful thinking, just organized wishful thinking! And it keeps us busy while we’re waiting for things to fall from the sky.
Felix
January 24, 2007 at 1:46 am
EB – I actually am much more productive with my lists – don’t forget that we all have our little tricks to give ourselves the kick in the pants we need to get something done. For example, the Fubright app I finished – I would have never done so had I not made to-do lists for all the different parts of it.
Jill and Matthew – Yes, I can see that others are aware of this cultural difference, ha ha. I’ll try the jokey way next time and see where it gets me…
Jeni
January 24, 2007 at 5:58 pm
Ah Lili, I love reading your blog. And boy do I agree with you as a fellow type-A personality that the “insha’allah” thing drives one mad! After some time in Kenitra, I finally decided the translation of that word (in my definition list) was NO because it certainly didn’t result in YES very often!
Felix
January 24, 2007 at 7:28 pm
Heh, thanks. I’m a lazy type A, but the lists are helping…
Aimee
January 24, 2007 at 8:36 pm
Hmmmm . . . lazy type A sounds like me too, as I have been reading your blog at work since returning from my first trip to Morocco and secretly thinking about coming back. You’re welcome, btw. I’m just a little sad that I missed your early postings.
SimplyMoroccan
February 1, 2007 at 7:36 pm
Hey everyone.
Trust, it’s not always negative when someone says inshallah, just pay attention to their tone.
I just wanted to come back to tell you, Felix, that my inshallah when you asked about the possibility if writing in Arabic script in my blog. It was an inshallah that meant: “I really do want to, and strongly intend to, but I just need some time”.
I chose the beginning of this month because these last days I was trying to be up to date for the French version. To keep it short, it’s done, so you can check it out
@ Maryam: How about someone fresh from a business school? ^^
Berberman
February 7, 2007 at 8:49 am
hi all,
Inchallah is a good pretext when you don’t want to do something. It’s also a manner to say that we are never sure about anything in this country!!