So this is how it is. . how’s the sound?
Beautiful, it sounds great, God. . I feel sleepy It’s like a therapy Some people feel that this podcast is a therapy, so they open up.
. True, especially with the headphones and being able to hear my own voice. .
it feels like a meditation Usually, I introduce the guest by their name and start the podcast Okay But honestly in your case, I should introduce you in a different way, but I couldn’t memorise everything, may God be with you Let me list what you do, Ihsan bin Alloush, social media influencer, Moroccan journalist, human rights activist, ambassador of good intentions for the European union in Morocco You’ve created a platform on social media, called “Netaawnu”, which provides training and volunteering for the Moroccan youth You’ve been chosen as the most influential young woman in the World Government Summit and the united nations population fund You’ve created the campaign “Koulouna ekhwat”, you work as an entrepreneur, you’ve had many rewards, and you claim that you’re a shy person All of these achievements and yet you’re shy? First of all thank you so much for that great introduction, it’s an honour to be a guest on your podcast Regarding whether I’m a shy person or not. .
I changed a lot recently. . Look the experiences I’ve had, which are few and modest, have changed my personality I don’t consider myself a shy person today, on the contrary, I can speak in front of people and I can speak with you and make this interview - Great, but let me mention this, you’re only 25 years old - True All of this and you’re just 25 years old?
May God be with you I want you to tell me about what inspired you and motivated you to help people and participate in social activism You’ve been to camps for Syrian refugees, you’ve went to Africa, you have many fields which you like to volunteer in How did you start as a young woman? Tell me about the beginnings Look at the beginning, as you said, I was a shy girl and I couldn’t speak in front of a camera, yet my dream was to be a TV presenter But because I was shy, I mean I couldn’t even talk in front of my professors in the expositions, I’d think how could I possibly become a presenter if I have a shy personality? So that’s why I started my channel, in order for it to help me get rid of my shyness, and for people to know who I am so I get used to speaking on camera and speaking to people But by God’s grace, my destiny was different, the thing that helped me most… I love trying new things and learning new stuff So my first experiences were simple at school and during Ramadan, we used to distribute supplies for the poor, we were a group of friends doing that But my first humanitarian experience was with Syrian refugees in 2017, we went to Hatay, and we were supposed to tell inspiring stories and motivate the Syrian refugees But the complete opposite happened, they motivated us and gave us hope and strength, and that experience changed me, especially since I was young Then my second humanitarian experience was in Nigeria in 2018, and that experience changed me a lot, it’s the most humanitarian experience I’m proud of having been through If the opportunity came to me again, I would do it all over True, tell us about this experience, you’ve met a kid called Abdel Salam, and you went there with doctors as the people had some disease in their eyes and they couldn’t see I saw your videos on the experience, what part of it impacted you the most?
Look, we went on the Nigerian experience thinking that there was going to be media coverage, however, bios project team couldn’t make it on time So the bioS team wasn’t there, and there weren’t any nurses, so I assisted the doctors, there were 3 doctors, I helped them with the medications and such They’d tell me do this and give me that, and there was no room for error - So like a nurse - Exactly, and at the same time I was covering the event Now regarding the story of Abdel Salam, it was… Oh my God, I get goosebumps when I think about it They had operated on many people there, and they put bandages on their eyes, after which they were supposed to gain their vision again, so it was very emotional So there was Abdel Salam, he was supposed to gain his vision after they removed the bandages, and he was a child who had never been able to see Cataract makes you unable to distinct between a chair and a human What’s it called? Cataract, called the “White water” in Arabic, so this disease makes you unable to distinct between a chair and a human, you can only perceive motion So he had never seen a person’s face in his life, and when they removed the bandages, he didn’t make any reaction We thought he was going through a shock, and I felt I had to step in to help him So I told the translator to tell Abdel Salam to come to me, so I opened my phone, and I was sure he had never seen his own face - So I opened the camera. .
- Selfie? Yes and I was holding him in my hand, he was shaking as I told him that this is his face, and he was laughing hysterically - He started moving his hands like this. .
- To see the motion of his hands Exactly, it was an insane moment, and his father was very happy, and he told us he had carried him all the way to the hospital So we thought their home was close to the hospital, so we went to their home in order to surprise his dad and the village It took us 8 hours on the road until we reached their home, so the father had walked 3 to 5 days on his legs carrying his son for him to be healed So that situation was… I remember it now and still get goosebumps So we arrive to their village, and the people there don’t have internet, we set out from Maghadi which is in the south of Nigeria And the village is very far, and it was the first time that the children there had seen a white person The things I saw there… I felt like it was a different world, and I knew that that was what we needed to do If another opportunity comes, I would take it and grant my social media platforms and my time and efforts to these people, because their voices need to be heard At what age did you go to Nigeria? Had you already made your Youtube channel? Yes, I had my channel, I went there in 2018, now I’m 25 years old, so we need to calculate that.
. But your content sort of changed after Abdel Salam Definitely That experience impacted you heavily, but before, in 2016, you used to write letters for yourself, and say that in 2018 or 2019 I will accomplish this and that So you’ve had this sense of responsibility since you were young, that you want to do better, and you used to read them every year I always used to do this, because I’ve always had this mentality that what I am today is different than what I am tomorrow or next year is different than what I am tomorrow or next year So the idea was for me to see how much I’ve accomplished every year, if I were to ask you “Hikmat, how much did you change? ” aside from the old picture, you’d say I’ve done this and that, that’s how results are measured But for me, I’d make speeches for myself, for my future self specifically and I’d wish her all the luck and for her to achieve this and that And every time, when the next year arrives, I’d get this weird feeling that there truly is a connection between my past self and my future self Nice, so you’d leave that letter and read it the next year, and you’d write the goals you wanted to have accomplished by then True, and this made me change completely throughout the years, we’re in 2022, and when I read my letters from 2015, I say that it’s impossible that that was me The ideas and principles I had, It all changed honestly, and I learned that every person can gain a better personality with time and do more things and be more motivated When you see that you haven’t accomplished what you were meant to by this year, give yourself time and say you’ll do it by the next year And so on and so forth, it’s a process, trust the process What kind of goals did you set out to achieve?
And how did they evolve, what were the first goals you’ve had? My first goals. .
It might be becoming independent from your parents, there’s this Moroccan saying which I’ve tried to memorise, it says “as I please” or something to that effect Yes, I wanted to be financially independent, even though I would still be living with them, but I wanted to be financially responsible for myself And thankfully I’ve been able to achieve that, around 4 years ago when I was in college, I was able to afford many of the things I needed And my father couldn’t accept that, he’d tell me that he’s responsible for me and that I’m his little girl You were still young But I wanted to try for myself and see what I can do, whether I was up for the responsibility, and thank God, I was There are many goals which changed, there are many goals which I thought were far from my reach but have become tangible And there are goals which I thought were impossible but are now possible, and there are goals which I thought I had to achieve, but I lost interest in them So you now have experience in goal setting, and every year you’re evolving the types of goals you have Of course, and maturing and growing up plays a big part in that But this maturity is already present with you, in the way you think, to do what you do one should already have experience These types of things are usually done by companies like us, we set out goals we need to achieve by the new year But you were still a teenager, a kid, and you were setting goals for yourself which you committed to, from where did you learn that behaviour? I learned that by myself, and let me tell you why, regarding my journey with timidness, I’ve healed my shyness by myself I used to talk to myself on the camera and in the mirror and in my letters, and I’d always ask myself what I could do to get better So this whole process allowed me to get to know myself on a deeper level, and this is something many young people and people in general don’t do They don’t know themselves or their goals or what they could do, they’re always lost I always had this idea, that you shouldn’t ask other people about you or your future or your objectives Ask yourself, and you might not find answers from the first time, nor from the second day, nor from the first or second year It’s a process, and every time you get a piece of the answer, so as time went by, I discovered that those times where I used to talk to myself a lot changed me drastically They made me a whole different person, as I told you, when I read those letters from 2015 I feel that it’s impossible that a kid wrote them 2015 is a long time ago, around 7 years, but those letters were very important for me and it was worth it And the experiences you’ve had, they’re in part ideas of your own, and in part actual field experiences which change you and create new goals Like the experience you had with Abdel Salam, the blind kid who saw the world for the first time, that impacted you heavily So these experiences are shaping new goals for you, and I’ve noticed that you started creating new goals and new experiences You go and live these moments, or rather whole days volunteering, and you try to live the life of a steward or of a farmer, and you’d film those experiences So aside from the volunteering that comes from associations like the United Nations and others, you now do your own personal volunteering Tell me about these experiences, because I’ve noticed that your content is evolving, especially on Youtube, I look at the dates and compare the quality. .
There’s a big difference I started Youtube in 2016 or 2015, and now my channel is very different from what it was then I always wanted to try to change stereotypes, stereotypes on nationalities and religions and cultural differences And I decided to talk about something different every time, so at first, I made my first video which was day in the life of an autistic person And we have many stereotypes around autism, we think that it only comes in one form But we’ve never gave a chance for an autistic person to speak, to express himself and his view of the world and his perspective So I wanted to see the world through an autistic person’s eyes, so I spent an entire day with him in order to share their perspective with the rest of the world, so that's one aspect of this I did the same with people who have trisomy, they're really nice people We always hear about them, but we've never tried to hear what they have to say rather than hear about them So I spent an entire day with them, and the video that came out was super nice, it honestly is one of the best videos I've made I've also done this with people who are handicapped, and it wasn't about their sad stories, on the contrary We covered their success stories, like a Sudani student in Morocco, may God bless him He's one of the most successful students, he did really well at university and finished his doctorate So I wanted to focus on their successful experiences, in order for them to be inspiring for the non handicapped There are many other things we've done, we've tried to experience several fields of work We tried to be farmers and researchers in agriculture We tried to portray the different aspects of the farming industry Because a farmer is not just that, he's a researcher and a contractor It's one of the fields about which the youth have no clear idea, so we did that in order to maybe push some people to get into it Because in Morocco we need farmers And you also gave the farmers an opportunity to share their perspective and opinions And maybe share them on social media with you Of course So you call them your friends, like a girl in Africa which you call your friend for example Of course And the language barrier was funny for me, all your answers were "hmm, mmhm" when they talk to you You couldn't understand what they were saying but you wanted to communicate with them So how was. . you were supporting yourself financially at the beginning You were travelling a lot, and travelling for you was a way to get to know.
. The cultures Yes the cultures and the countries and the food and all that But even regarding food, I saw that you were picking meals on the cheaper side to show people that you can get a meal for just a dollar It's affordable, true So it's… you're truly different from most of the social media out there We film videos when we're having sushi or expensive steaks Whereas you're looking for meals which could help out people and especially the poor and the people in need I always saw myself as a model. .
not an inspiring model, not like that I'm a model for the youth, as I show them that the way could be easier, they could have a chance As I told you, my goal was to be financially independent from my parents So I used to save money and wouldn't let them pay for my stuff, even though they're more than capable Thankfully we're one of the families which have never been in need, but I wanted to try to make it by myself So I started my journey, I've been to Japan and to Korea, I've travelled to many countries And my goal was to discover the cultures, and at the same time to discover food which is affordable for everyone, foods which anyone can buy I love discovering cultures and changing the stereotypes around those cultures Recently I've went to Ethiopia with the African union The idea we've had about Ethiopia was wrong, I filmed a bunch of stories there, and people were shocked to see what Ethiopia truly is We've had a wrong idea about Ethiopia for a long time, but the country has evolved since then So let's give these countries a chance to change the stereotype which is built around them True, and about your other campaigns, like the blood donation campaign you've done And you're also fighting for awareness about climate change and the environment When were you nominated as the ambassador for the European union? You mean the goodwill ambassador of the European union? In 2020, during the lockdown Oh right there was Covid, you were very sad then No… we had an awards ceremony and a closing ceremony, but we did them online It was an exceptional experience honestly , but I'm glad I've had this experience, it taught me a lot And my term as the goodwill ambassador will be done by the end of 2022 A couple months ago I was a mentor the upcoming goodwill ambassadors, I was training them and we've shared experiences together So it was a great experience overall, it taught me a lot Perfect, so when you say you're a mentor, are you also responsible for searching for the future goodwill ambassadors No that's not what I do, because in their eyes it's a competition that's held by the european union They advertised for it and started looking for the new ambassadors, which have to be content creators So many people participate in this competition, and the union chooses the mentors I was chosen as the mentor in Morocco, and other people are chosen as mentors in different arab countries Is there a yearly pick for a new ambassador?
Every 2 years, because a goodwill ambassador's term lasts for 2 years Great… You've made a lot of awareness campaigns regarding the fires which are occurring And regarding the environment, and some campaigns regarding the end of the world And other campaigns about sustainability, you've learned a lot and have made a lot of videos How was the engagement with. . The environmental campaign?
Yes, how are people reacting to that, especially the girls and boys your age who are mostly concerned with Tik Tok And with the more entertaining sides of social media You have millions of followers and your view count is really high So do you find that society, and even the young people, are interested in these cultural topics which concern countries and humanitarian activism Are the followers engaged in all that? The engagement differs, because there are easier ways to get people engaged, and there are harder ways like the content we do But the engagement is there, because people are thirsty for knowledge, and sometimes the information doesn't reach them Regarding climate change, I've made videos with Friedrich Ebert, and I've participated in the Abu Dhabi sustainability week, in the "we are committed" campaign And other campaigns with the UNFPA and others So when we work on such campaigns, we think of ways to get the attention of people The reports are made about things which most people don't know about, and this report is made yearly Last year, the UN made this report about climate change and the environmental issues And many experts from all around the world participate in making that report Last year's report was the worst performing report out of all of the previous years So I thought that if people didn't know some information, let's simplify it and deliver it to them So that's why I made a video with Friedrich Ebert about whether the end of the world is coming soon So that's why I made a video with Friedrich Ebert about whether the end of the world is coming soon but it's for getting people's attention so they know what's going on in the world Most of us focus on our basic lives and our families and whatnot But if the planet Earth were to be destroyed, there would be no more family and no more country So let's work on the essence, which is preserving the planet, and at the same time focus on our regular lives You have a great style, it might be because you're young, but you speak to the young generation in a unique way Most of these topics aren't entertaining for the youth, but you deliver them in a different way, a simple and exciting way How much did social media help you out in this? It helped me a lot, and the people on there taught me a lot too I won't lie to you and say that I started out perfect, not at all I deleted my old videos because they weren't good But look, I take pride in my humble beginnings I used to try many things before I stabilised on this content I used to try many things before I stabilised on this content So I used to try a lot, and to this day I feel that I can do more But the people have helped me learn how to deliver the message in a better manner People's comments are important, but I don't allow them to affect my content People's comments are important, but I don't allow them to affect my content I always make the content which I believe in and which is in tune with my principles But at the same time, I'd listen to what people have to say about how I can change.
. Change the way and the style. .
Yes to deliver the message in a nice way which they like and with which they can engage So that was the mix. . - You benefit from what people have to say - For sure So you choose the topics and the content itself, but the way you deliver them might change Of course Regarding language barriers, do you find that difficult or easy to overcome?
Now you're delivering your message to the Arab world, and perhaps to the whole world So how are you making that work? I mean now we're talking in the common dialect to be able to… But I feel that you're understanding the Moroccan dialect Yes I can understand it, if that's how the Moroccan accent is then that's very good There are a lot of words which are… Look I talk in a pure Moroccan dialect, but I add many words from the common arabic dialect A mix It's not a mix, most of it is Moroccan dialect, but we try to talk slowly and elegantly Talk to me in a pure Moroccan accent which I can't understand Ask me a question and I'll answer in a Moroccan accent - Okay I’ll ask a new question - Go for it You've touched on topics which concern certain people, like "My life without a purpose", you've put that as a title for a topic And you were teaching people that we should have goals which we set out to achieve Aside from the common goals regarding the environment and the big humanitarian issues You were also touching on the topic of family, and how a daughter should treat her mother, how the mother-daughter relationship should be You've spoken about these societal topics, so go ahead and talk about them in Moroccan There were many videos which I wanted to make Young people send me a lot of messages on Instagram, messages regarding them being unable to deal with certain things and issues, many different types of obstacles they’re facing So I tried to make these people's personal stories as model stories to portray for other people But I wasn't, I was talking about stories which I've received I talked about bullying in schools, I talked about the mother-daughter relationship And I also made the story of "My life without a purpose" That video was on one side a portrayal of how the youth who don't have goals are feeling And on the other side it was to help them find a solution for that There isn't one single solution, there are many solutions, and you won't find your answer with me or with any person The solution is within you, you find it when you're in your own head and when you make time to be with yourself First of all, it's the best language, the best dialect in the world - You understood everything? - Everything, it was all clear - I told you - Keep speaking with that accent So you're a young girl, and you're getting topics from people who are.
. Delivering them to me Yes, they're sending you a message regarding a problem which they have and ask you for a solution - So based on your life experience… Are you married? - No Okay so you don't have kids and experience in such things I'm not undermining you, on the contrary, you have a lot of experience, but where do you get this information from?
Which information? Like when someone comes to you with a heavy societal topic, how do you acquire experience in that? Or rather which ways do you use to help people with certain issues in their social relationships?
I mean you touch on issues between siblings and how they should treat each other, and the relationship between a mother and her daughter Look I try not to touch on topics which are far from my experience And at the same time, I like to share my own perspective on the topic I speak on the topic of the mother-daughter relationship, but I've never spoken about the relationship between a husband and his wife I have no experience in that, but I have experience in dealing with my mother, so I can share that experience with people Same goes to experience with my siblings, so I can talk about how siblings should be with each other And what problems could arise between them and how to solve those problems So I try to talk about things which I have experience in So you share your personal experience in these things Yes, but without talking about my personal life, because my personal life is distant from what you see on social media - The difference is big - Very So we were talking about the stereotypes we develop when we don’t have enough information about certain regions and countries Let’s talk about bullying, which is very prominent on social media because of the differences in accents and skin colours You wear a Hijab for example, did you find it difficult as a girl who wears a Hijab to gain fame on social media? Did that create any obstacles or difficulties for you? At the beginning, it’s always hard, and it’s perhaps because we’re expecting something specific yet we find it’s something else entirely Or perhaps because you’re zoomed in on and people are noticing you Results vary from the beginning until now, but what I get the most support for is this very topic Many people and many young girls like me who wear Hijabs, who look a lot like me, want to travel around and watch conventions and participate in society So they see that I’ve done a lot of that, and they realise that the Hijab is not an obstacle for that - They get motivated - And I tell them that the Hijab is definitely not an obstacle, neither are your looks nor your language nor your skin colour The obstacle is the person who projects a bad stereotype on you, so.
. Perfect, so you’ve inspired many young girls from your generation, with the content you’re making and the successes you’ve amassed - Bravo, we are very proud of you - Thank you so much You’ve been chosen as one of the 100 pioneers for the Arab youth, you didn’t tell me about that Yes in the World Government Summit, it was a great experience honestly, they choose a bunch of young people, the Arab Youth Center chooses them to be specific And they choose them from different fields, mine was media and social media, there were people who were in music and medicine and engineering We also had writers there, so there were people from many fields, so they sat us on tables and gave us different cases They assigned a case for every 10 people for them to treat it from several perspectives, you know, because we were from different nationalities and backgrounds So the results varied immensely And by the way, we weren’t just participating in the World Government Summit, we also went on a platform with the minister of Youth Shamma And I was there with a bunch of inspiring young people I presented one of the initiatives of the Arab Youth Center known as the young Arab leaders initiative I presented on the platform in front of thousands of people, most of which were ministers and ambassadors, and there were also some presidents and elders The types of people in front of which you cannot make a mistake, so the night before that, and this is the first time I tell this to anyone The night before, I was shaking and was telling myself “Ihsan, you’re going to mess this up” And you’re a shy girl I was a shy girl, and this was in 2018, so my shyness would sometimes come out of nowhere So I told myself “Ihsan, you cannot mess up, there is no room for messing this up” So I looked at myself in the mirror until dawn, and I’d say to myself “Ihsan, what choice will you make? Do you choose to be the best version of yourself, or do you choose to be thrown out of the platform?
” And I’m a Moroccan and I was very young, but I put myself together and said that I needed to focus And one of the things that helped me the most was telling myself that I, Ihsan, is a strong girl who can speak with utmost confidence So I asked myself “Ihsan, do you like acting? ” and I said yes, I was talking to myself in the mirror So it went like “Ihsan, do you like acting? ” “Yes” “Can you please act this out confidently tomorrow?
” So tomorrow came, and I went on the podium, but I was shaking, however once I got into acting the role, the shaking stopped Neither my legs nor my hands shaked anymore, and I was carrying my paper with utmost confidence, and my turn to speak came up So I said “I am Ihsan Bin Alloush, I am a trained journalist” and I was talking in classical Arabic, and I had memorised all the text So I presented the video we had made during our visit to Sheikh Muhammad Bin Zaid’s castle as the youth media leaders And I was responsible for presenting the video on the platform, so I presented everything smoothly, and everyone clapped for me And afterwards, I asked myself “Ihsan, what just happened? Who was that? ” And I knew I wasn’t acting, I was portraying the best version of myself which I showed to myself before showing the world Even though I’m shy and get scared and shake in front of people, I can still show the best version of myself I used to always present this best version of myself in front of the mirror, so I made myself present it in front of everyone else So I said let this be the starting point for me to become a confident speaker in front of everyone So this small role I acted out between me and myself showed me abilities I never knew I had And that made me confident in myself, within limits of course, but it taught me how to know my own value So that was one of the events which made me realise that I’m the one who puts value for myself, I don’t wait for people to value me Being shy is caused by people, it may be the result of bullying in school or of bad experiences which led to being bullied So before we solve the image of bullying, let's solve the past If people were bullying because of certain things we were unable to do Let's start to do these things which people deemed us unable to do So once I started discovering the answers for my past, I became able to get rid of my shyness So that's my advice for any person who has any deep rooted problem We are the result of what happened in our past, it's like we're carrying a load which we need to reduce, correct?
So once I got rid of my shyness, many doors opened for me, and I realised I was able to achieve many things And I feel that we always make excuses for ourselves If I met my past self, I'd say to her "Ihsan, I've achieved this and that in 2022", but she wouldn't believe me And why is that? Because the 2008 version of Ihsan used to think it's all very hard, she was very shy and used to make excuses which she believed in Once you discover that these excuses are fake, and that you can get rid of them Rather you have to get rid of them, you can change your life completely Ihsan, you taught us a valuable lesson, what you did was you changed the mirror We all have 2 mirrors in our lives, and you used the real life mirror which you can see yourself in You looked into it and saw your true person, and you spoke to that person Sometimes we choose the other mirror, the one in which people are giving us a false image of ourselves We're asking them to give us validation and to say good things about us We go to people who don't deserve us and who don't actually encourage us --So we perceive them as if they're our mirror, so we create this false image of our true mirror Of course, and unfortunately, we believe what other people say about us more than we believe what we say about ourselves Other people see the image of you which they want to see, but you're the only one who can truly talk to yourself, whether in the mirror or at night When you sit with yourself you realise that only you can perceive your true, deeper self So when I was presenting in front of the mirror the night before the actual presentation That was the real me, whereas my shyness was a made up image of me by other people It was a false result contrary to what my true self is So I had to correct that, and correcting it helped me a lot - Congratulations - Thank you I'm very happy that you're the first Moroccan girl which I have on the podcast Tell me a bit about Morocco, I'd like to go there Sure, but look, if we start talking about Morocco we might not end the podcast No problem, I'd be glad Which side do you want to know about Morocco? It's a very diverse place Every region differs completely from the other regions, regarding the aesthetic and the traditions and the language and the accents and the clothes and the food We have a very diverse menu of Moroccan foods, which you might have heard of There's also a huge diversity regarding the Moroccan clothes, there are wedding clothes and parties dresses, there are caftans and takshitas and jabadors and gulabs We have a lot of different clothing items, and the same diversity applies to Moroccan weddings There are the Fes peoples' wedding traditions, they have a unique culture The Amazighs people also have a unique culture, so do the people of the north and the people of the south and the desert So we have a great diversity, especially in the weddings, the Moroccan women wear several types of outfits, like the caftan and other things I don't know if you've ever seen them Of course I have, I work in fashion and photography, caftans are very nice Even the bride, she wears Fesian clothes or Tetouanian clothes, which are completely different from the caftans And they carry her in a palanquin as they call it, like a princess, she even wears a crown Our weddings go on for hours, and the bride has to change clothes several times Our traditions are truly beautiful, I wish that everyone in the arab world and the entire world experience our traditions They should appoint you as Moroccan ambassador, hopefully they do There are much more things we can speak about Does the food differ from region to region?
We know couscous and tajin, those are the popular ones - Are they also popular in Morocco? - They are, Bastilla is also popular - Bastilla? - "Keyn" means it exists And Bastilla means in a bucket?
No, Bastilla is a Moroccan dish, there's chicken Bastilla and fish Bastilla, you should try to make it By "hout" you mean fish yes? Yes, it means fish, it's one of the best Moroccan dishes Keep this podcast on record so that when you come to Morocco, you can try out these dishes We also have the rfissa, it's an amazing dish, oh my God Don't make me think about food! You made me hungry We also have harira, we have many Moroccan dishes which I feel don't need marketing, as they market themselves But people should eat Moroccan dishes in Morocco, because the taste differs immensely I tried Moroccan food in many countries, and I feel that it's different, I couldn't pinpoint the differences, but they didn't feel right - Here we say that it's the cook's breath, it differs - Yes I have to go to Morocco, and what I know most about Morocco And believe me that applies to all people who are Moroccan, if I tell them that I want to go to Morocco, they say that I am most welcome And that they want me to stay at their place, generosity is one of your people's virtues We are very hospitable, if you come to Morocco and tell anyone there that you're from another country He'll greet you warmly, everyone is very hospitable And as I said, there are differences between regions when it comes to accents If you go to Marrakesh, they'll greet you in a Marrakeshi accent, even if you don't understand them, and the same applies to the people of Fes And by the way, I'm from Taza-Al Hoceima Hoceima is an Amazighian city, and my father originates from the Taza suburbs, So I'm a mix of Arabic and Amazighian, and I learned to talk in the Amazighian language because my parents speak it Give me a phrase in that language I'll give you, but you need to know that this language has many differences Between the southern Amazighs and the northern Amazighs and the middle Amazighs So they differ greatly, and they even include regions in Algeria and Tunisia and Libya I'm from the northern Amazighs, and I cannot understand the southern Amazighs, you see the diversity?
It's a whole different language There might be some common words, but the tone and way of speaking differs - Even in songs? - Yes even in the songs - What about that song which went very viral - Which one? "Jayi tesfar w tekhdar.
. " That's in Arabic! It's not Amazighian - But you said you wanted e to speak in Amazighian?
- Yes please Should we continue the interview in Amazighian? Please do, I understood the Moroccan accent already, let's see the Amazighian now Okay so ask me a question And you had a conference in Sharjah, tell me what you were doing in Dubai Okay let me say it in Amazighi [. .
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