Never a Day Goes By

Missing the land of mint tea and fresh dates always.

I survived kayaking in Galway.
Capsized twice.

I have wanted to write a blog post about being home ever since my plane landed back on US soil on June 6th. It's now January. One year ago today I left on a plane and haven't really come back since.

I left Morocco on May 14th and not a day goes by without me thinking of it. I think about the places, the people, the smells, the sights, my Moroccan families and my friends. It's still weird to see English everywhere, and not have to think in three different languages trying to do simple tasks. Montpellier, Vermont's capital, has it's welcome sign in both English and French, and my heart jumps with joy every time I drive past it.

The Swiss Alps were 100% worth the bus rides from hell.

Since I last posted, I have gone on some great adventures. I traveled in England, Ireland and Italy for a few weeks after my program ended in Morocco. I had a great time meeting new people in hostels and making memories with them. I also got to see some of my friends who worked with me at camp in England and Ireland. Then I took three buses over 28 hours to journey to Zurich, Switzerland to see the Swiss Alps and continue by train to Rome to meet up with my parents. I got to explore some of the greatest historical venues and eat some of the best food in Rome and Sorrento. I finally got to jump in the Mediterranean, something I had lived so close to for months, in Capri the day before I flew home.

And something I never thought would happened did... Donald Trump is now President Trump. Last year people were asking me about this orange racist who was trying to be President of the U.S. I thought he could never be president, how could a complete narcissist with authoritarian tendencies be voted President of the Land of the Free through a fair and free election? Flash forward to now and we found out how free our elections really are.

Cliffs of Moher

Leaving the U.S. caused me to think in ways about our country that I never really had to think about. Yes, I tend to be very cynical to say the least while at home. Every American I talk to I will probably tell them to wake up and realize how flawed our country is and yearn to move abroad (because it's always greener on the other side, right?)

When I left my outlook was completely different because I realized how actually flipping awesome our country is because of the values we supposedly ascribe to — except now that it's banning people for religion and jailing journalists. But really that's the government, the will of the people is stronger. Progress won the popular vote, and "a  2015 Washington Post poll found that 78 percent of Americans favored equal consideration for refugees regardless of religion."

All of these things have made me reflect on some of the most amazing conversations I had abroad that challenged my conceptions of the U.S.

One day Moroccan journalism partner, Salma, and I were talking. She asked me where my family came from. I explained my European mutt-ness: family from England like when America was first discovered, Italian and Irish immigrants when those mass migrations were happening with some Norwegian sprinkled in there. She was in awe. She described her family tree Almazigh (the politically correct word for Berber, aka North African people before the Arabs took over) and Arab. I went to explaining how America is this crazy mix of everything, and really embracing the diversity is what makes it great.

This question also came up when trying to figure out what American food is, really. Burgers and fries? But when I yearned for "American food" it was really for Chinese take-out and Pad Thai, because "American food" is just like the American people, a mix of everything (and I guess throw in some chemicals and GMOs to make it extra tasty — JOKING fresh organic food will always be better.)

Always take invites to private parties.

In England a bartender questioned me about the Constitution. Because it reinforces Americans' gun-loving tendencies it must be bad, right? No, I rebutted. Yes it does protect the right to bear arms, but that it also gives us the rest of our freedoms. It is a living document that will change with the times. Yes law-makers take more time to create and implement laws than tech guys take to come up with some of the crazy new things; however, history is on our side.

The good guys tend to win because of the freedoms allotted by the Constitution. As we age as a country we get a clearer version of what "We the people"means. "We the people" originally was limited to white land-owning men. Thankfully now it includes me and every other person. Though there is still mass inequality we are trying, and growing as a people.

One example is the feminist movement, which is also the one I most familiar with. First there was First Wave Feminism, where women fought for equality in the eyes of the law, gaining the right to vote. Then there was Second Wave Feminism in the 1960s and 1970s that fought for women's rights as humanizing women and their experiences; putting domestic violence, sexuality and reproductive rights front and center. Both movements were mostly by and for straight white women. Now we are in the midst of the third wave of Intersectional Feminism, where we are realizing that women can't have total equality without everyone else also having equality. That's why the Women's March put out the most progressive platform for what started as a women's rights march to date.

Millions of people came together yesterday for women's rights, migrant's rights, educational rights, environmental rights, healthcare reform and against bigotry and hatred. The progressive platform of the march advocated for people of all genders, sexualities, races, religions, abilities and socio-economic standings, understanding none of us are free until we all are. It's time to get to work #intersectionality #womensmarch #mybodymychoice

A photo posted by Maddie Hughes (@mhughes_9513) on Jan 22, 2017 at 6:36am PST

Going abroad in 2016 was extremely eye-opening and the most amazing and humbling experience. Two years ago I was inspired to go to someplace I never thought I would go (at the sophomore MJD meeting which I was asked to speak at this year and am SO excited to.) A year ago I took the leap of faith to go someplace where I didn't know the language, mainstream media told me to fear and someplace people questioned every time I told them where I was going (and yes I might have let some people continue when they misheard me as saying I was going to Monaco.)

When promised to be in a Moroccan movie we were taken
to some really nice private beaches, though never made my
film debut.

I strongly urge everyone to visit someplace that is out of your comfort zone, no tour, no extensive planned agenda. Talk to the locals, embrace the confusion, it always brings adventures. Sure I did some crazy stuff looking back. If I didn't embrace the adventure would I have really gotten in that white van with some of my friends after being promised that we would be in a Moroccan movie? Would I have gone to a private party for a dance festival? Would I have befriended street acrobats that helped my friends and I figure out the appliances in our apartment? Would I have met and heard stories from Syrian refugees? Probably not. These are all real stories that came from embracing the unknown.

I joke that because I lived in a country controlled by a *cough* Constitutional Monarchy *cough* (but really just Monarchy,) that I can survive this presidency and its propaganda. However, it's really the lessons I learned about getting out of my comfort zone that will help. That could mean traveling and meeting people that are different and hearing out their opinions, which will help you to grow. Or, maybe getting more active in civics — attending protests, calling your representatives (there is even an app for that), volunteering for causes close to your heart or actually going out to vote (Midterms AND the Presidential Election.)

Talk to people, question your nationalism. That's what I'm doing in my latest big project: my senior seminar book on bilingual education, which was inspired by experiences in Morocco, obviously.