The language of the colonizer

Before going to Morocco, everyone assured me that Moroccans speak French -- it is a "francophone" country. Since I've been here, I've discovered that most do, but depending on class and background, some really fall short of the mark.

Example: yesterday I went to the MegaMall to buy work clothes and a winter coat. After trying on about 10 shirts, I gave the clothes back to the young salesgirl in piles -- ones I wanted, ones I didn't want, and ones that I either did or didn't want, depending on the other sizes that they had (this last group I wanted to verify myself).

She promptly wadded the clothes I wanted on top of a display and wandered off. By the time I was ready to check out, she'd put away the brown shirt I wanted. I asked her to get the brown shirt (the "chemise marron") and she went and got a grey dress that hadn't fit.

I run into this a lot -- the French that people speak really isn't passable, but pretending to speak French is the only way for a lot of people to get ahead.

Most folks grin from ear to ear when I tell them that I'm learning Arabic. I guess they've just, as a people, spent so much time trying to learn the language of another people/culture that the idea of someone being interested in their own langauge is somewhat revolutionary.