To talk simply on what has caught my eye since arriving in Morocco would require far too much time and space on the page to be remotely useful to anyone interested in the distinctions of larger scope that permeate life in Fez. As such, I will refrain from examining all the little gems that are so bountiful and easy to point out. Those are for the curious explorer to discover on his or her own. Furthermore, I am in no position to comment on the most significant of them, as the time I have been here in Fez has only allotted for my discovery of what I’m sure is a practically negligible percentage. Instead, I will try to articulate the experience I have had in being witness to the dramatic yet almost subliminal distinction that exists in the overall interaction of society, one that manifests itself in a variety of ways and one which I have come closest to describing as a sort of beehive.

The first manner in which I found this beehive-esque society to manifest itself was in traffic, both automotive and pedestrian. What first caught my eye was the manner in which pedestrians disregarded the boundry between sidewalk and road completely, and walked through moving traffic as if the cars were simply other pedestrians. Similarly, the cars moved in between lanes and and pedestrians as if they themselves were simply strolling through the street. The consistent disregard for conventional rules and distinctions adhered to in a far more significant manner in the United States caught me off guard upon my arrival, despite having read about it previously. Something I said to a friend while walking across the street was that the cars and their drivers act as if under the delusion that they are pedestrians and not the drivers of very dangerous vehicles. However, as such a paradigm is both understood by and embedded in everyone else, the result is a remarkably effective system of traffic, one that appears to be completely natural to citizens, which is why they appear to be at complete ease in between lanes of cars moving at no slow place. The only native I have seen that expressed visible discomfort was a girl who could not have been any older than five years of age, staying close to her mother while passing one of the many chaotic circle intersections that are scattered throughout the city. It is within these circles that the beehive truly comes to life, a whirlpool of activity that requires both complete attention and caution as well as daring from non-natives in order to navigate it. The functioning of such a system comes from the universal understanding that all participants are constantly both self-aware and aware of their surroundings, an understanding that cannot be safely assumed to exist in traffic “philosophies” like that of the United States. Strangely enough, though it has only been a week, I have found myself becoming more comfortable navigating this hub of jaywalkers and cautiously aggressive drivers that further add to the buzz that permeates Fez.

Now, in the eyes of an outsider (including myself upon first witnessing this phenomena), such a seemingly unorganized and chaotic system must endanger its participants far more than any other more regulated system. However, as of yet, I have not witnessed a single instance in which a car or pedestrian was in an accident. As such, I must challenge the notion that such a system is an absolute threat to the safety of everyday people trying to navigate the streets of Fez. After all, as is most likely the result of the heightened awareness required to navigate such an environment, I have yet to see a single pedestrian–and more importantly, a single driver–on their cell phone while navigating the street, or being otherwise distracted. Such is an almost omnipresent occurrence in (New York in my personal experience, and) the United States. Now, I am not making any assertions that one system is better or safer than the other, but the apparent functionality and safety of such a system can teach us that maybe we need a little more chaos in our lives, if for no other reason than to keep us on our toes.