GRIP, Internships Abroad Sooner Than Later

August 22, 2019
By Anika Bull, CAS '21

Association de Lutte Contre le Sida - Rabat, Morocco

Wandering through the streets of Rabat, my roommate and I, both blonde students speaking to each other in German or English, clearly stood out as foreigners. Whether it was our first day in Morocco or five weeks into our program, we were greeted with “Welcome to Morocco,” as if we had just arrived for vacation. No matter how long we had been in the country, we were always initially addressed as tourists: transient visitors who would soon be leaving again and whose interest in the people and the country was often assumed to be more superficial. Our image as foreigners created a challenging environment to fully integrate with the culture and community of Morocco, as many of our initial interactions were based on the assumptions and stereotypes of what a “typical tourist” desires out of their time in the country. It would have been easy, comfortable, and would have required little effort to simply fall into a touristic lifestyle for two months: walking around with only Penn students, taking pictures of monuments, speaking only English, etc.

This, however, would have greatly inhibited our ability to more deeply grasp the culture, customs, norms, and history of the country, and ultimately would have made it difficult to make the most of our time in Morocco. In fact, I strongly believe that it is only through stepping out of the tourist bubble that one can make the GRIP experience most meaningful.

After spending eight weeks in Morocco, I think the first and most fundamental tool to be able to do this is through conversation. At the beginning of your stay in a foreign country or in a host family, it can sometimes be difficult to push yourself to have conversations with locals, especially when there is both a language and cultural barrier. However, it is during this time, particularly the first week or two, that it is most important to drive these conversations and to learn as much as possible.

For example, I was lucky enough to start my GRIP experience during Ramadan. This meant that every night for the first week and a half, I would have long dinners and long conversations with my host family about their customs, their work, and their traditions. My younger host sister would teach us words to use in everyday life, how to count in Darija, etc. I learned an incredible amount through these first conversations. The knowledge and greater understanding of the culture and the key phrases I learned in Darija became building blocks for all my future interactions in Morocco. I found that when I made the effort to try to communicate in Darija with locals, people often appreciated the effort, recognized I was in Morocco for reasons other than in the typical tourist capacity and were much more inclined to then pursue further conversations. The efforts made during the first two weeks allowed the following interactions and conversations during GRIP to become much more meaningful since it was easier to escape the typical tourist-local patterns of interaction.

For anyone who will be going on GRIP, I highly advise taking the initiative in the first one or two weeks to have as many conversations as possible and to learn at least a couple keywords in the local language (e.g. while I speak French and many Moroccans speak French, the majority are most comfortable in Darija, thus learning a little Darija made a huge difference). With each conversation and interaction exponentially building upon the last, the sooner you start the better.

The Global Research and Internship Program (GRIP) provides outstanding undergraduate and graduate students the opportunity to intern or conduct research abroad for 8 to 12 weeks over the summer. Participants gain career-enhancing experience and global exposure that is essential in a global workforce. Placements and funding awards are available.