Moving to Morocco someday - some advice? :)

topic posted Thu, August 10, 2006 - 7:15 AM by  April
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any suggestions/advice on obtaining a job, a home, etc? If i decide to move for a year or two, or substantially longer like 10 yrs (enough for citizenship)?

I am an arabic musician (percussion specifically riq, and oud and buzuq, some violin), and a lover of arabic and african culture and language. Is work difficult to find for a musician? I also have a BA in forensic psychology (i know, very different). would this be of any use in morocco?

Thank you,
April
posted by:
April
New York City
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  • Re: Moving to Morocco someday - some advice? :)

    Sat, October 7, 2006 - 9:45 PM
    Hi April,

    This is a topic I think about quite a bit too, since I also may end up living in Morocco some time. My husband is Moroccan, and comes from a family of musicians (www.chakibhilali.com).

    I also play Arabic music (qanun), but I cannot imagine I would be able to make a living there with my music. The musicians there have been studying their music since childhood, are incredibly good, and don't make a good living. Most of the live music is Chaabi, played by a guy on a keyboard and a violin.

    On the bright side, there would be good opportunities for studying music there. Large cities will have several music conservatories, where you can go and learn quite inexpensively, and join an orchestra.

    I've toyed with the idea of getting ESL certification, as teaching English does seem like the most practical option. But in the meanwhile, I just keep chipping away at learning Moroccan & standard Arabic, and saving money so I can sit around and just learn music for a while :-D

    Kylie
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    Re: Moving to Morocco someday - some advice? :)

    Wed, December 20, 2006 - 2:26 AM
    The only way to teach English here is that you have to have a Bachelors (in anything) and have your TOEFL. I am tutoring people in English because I don't have the credentials to teach at a school. You can make money tutoring, but the problem with this is that the Moroccan government doesn't recognize this as an official job and thus you can't get residency papers here by just doing this. Therefor, you have to leave the country and re-enter it every three months. (A US Passport gives you an automatic three month Visa for here)

    If your husband is Moroccan you will have no problem staying here then, because as your spouse it can be done. Of course, this involves a ton of paperwork to make it legit but it will get you out of the leaving every three month thing.

    Jobs here in Morocco are not good. The best thing to do is to teach English or open a business. The government makes it so a business can only higher a foreigner if there is not a Moroccan who can do the job.

    If you are a musician, I don't know how difficult this would be to find work, but I don't think that you would be able to make a living doing that here. You would definately have to have a real job too.

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