Moroccan Culture Series
Election Night Extravaganza

There is a wonderful little American cultural center/library near our apartment called Dar American, where my husband and I read US papers and borrow books in English when we're too tired to think in French any more. Yesterday we went to get some new books and were helped by a librarian we hadn't met before, who gave us invitations to the Election Night Extravaganza sponsored by the US Embassy in Morocco, on 7 November 2000, 9pm to dawn.

The invitation mentioned such goodies as mock elections and debates, displays, analysis, breaking news, and American food. If nothing else, we were intrigued by the promise of "spécialités américaines," wondering what exactly that might consist of (hot dogs? McDonald's takeout?), so we headed over to the party.

It was held at the Hyatt Regency, a beautiful and opulent hotel. On our way in, we had to go through a security point and choose our candidate, whereupon we we given a pin. Apparently this counted as our "vote" in the mock election, but if they announced the results of that, we missed it.

When we arrived, a brass band was playing marches by John Philip Sousa. After that, the program said that there were "telephone calls to Moroccan journalists in the U.S. on a study trip about the elections," but we stayed in the other room, chatting and watching the debates. 

The mock debates were great. "Gore" and "Bush" had scripts, of course, but they discussed numerous topics including the Israeli-Pakestinian conflict, while the real presidential candidates loomed on TV screens around the room. "Bush" had a pretty good Texan accent at work, which was kind of fun.

There were a lot more people that I expected, the majority of them Moroccan. The "spécialités américaines" turned out to be hot dogs, hamburgers, pizza, and Caesar salad (and were quite expensive).

We didn't stay until dawn, so we didn't get to find out who the new president is while at the party, but it was an interesting introduction to life as an ex-patriate. I had no idea that American embassies and consulates held such extravagent events to celebrate the presidential elections. I wonder what the State of the Union party will be like....

Index to Moroccan Culture Series

Want to become an ex-pat? Visit Mary A. Shumacher's Job Searching: International site.

Need to know more about the elections? Try the Current Events: US site, guided by Clare Saliba.

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