How It's Done In Morocco: Greetings

To illustrate more cultural aspects of Morocco and elements of our day-to-day lives here, I'll be posting a series of 'How It's Done in Morocco' messages. As in any culture there are no absolutes, and of course there are exceptions and differences, but these are cultural interactions that we observe on a daily basis, so I would argue they are a strong part of the society.  Greetings in Morocco are wonderful.  Many people greet by kissing on the cheek (sometimes one on each cheek or if they haven't seen each other for a while, 2 sets of one on each cheek)  Mostly men with men, and women with women, but I have seen on a number of occasions men and women greeting this way in public and I've especially noticed it with the younger crowds (who I get to observe constantly as we are situated between a couple of schools and happen to have a 'secret' or at least private garden seating area behind our apartment that draws them nightly!)

The physical greeting has variation, as it is also commonly a simple handshake. The verbal greeting is a list of questions inquiring about the other, their health, their family, etc.  Most often you hear 'Ca va bekhair?' which is a French-Arabic hybrid along the lines of 'Are you well/Is it going well'? Also Labas? Which is asking 'Are you not bad?' And sometimes many more questions. The typical response is similar to our 'How Are You?' where an in-depth and even honest answer is not necessarily the goal, but the politeness of asking is what is important.

But the ultimate in Moroccan greetings is one I haven't seen from others in Arab or any other cultures.  When Moroccans are too far away to greet each other as I have described, they wave or raise their hand and then touch their right hand to their hearts. THEY TOUCH THEIR RIGHT HAND TO THEIR HEARTS!

It is absolutely the sweetest and most lovely human gesture you can imagine and it KILLS ME!  I was in a taxi today and the driver saw a friend on a motorcycle at the stop light: smile, say hi, hands on hearts.  I was walking to the post office and our local mini-market guy was standing outside for a breather and from across the street I gave him a little wave and hello and he nodded + hand on heart.  It is constant and instantly fills you with warm fuzzy joy when you see it.  That's how it's done in Morocco.