Fall in Morocco

When October rolled around here in Morocco, something felt off. Back home in Maine, this is my favorite time of year — crisp air, colorful leaves, cozy sweaters, apple picking, pumpkin carving, and every kind of fall food imaginable. But in Rabat, the traditional New England fall isn’t really a thing. There are no hayrides or cider doughnuts, no rows of pumpkins outside the grocery store, no smell of fallen leaves in the air. I found myself missing that sense of seasonal change — the comforting shift that comes with fall in Maine.

So, I decided to bring a little piece of it here. I reached out to my language school, Roots Academy, to see if I could host a small fall activities night. They were incredible — immediately on board and so excited to help make it happen. I invited other Fulbrighters and their families, and together we planned a cozy evening to celebrate the season we were all missing.

We made apple crisp (with a few improvisations on ingredients), simmered mulled apple cider, and watched Hocus Pocus — because what’s a fall night without the Sanderson sisters? I couldn’t find pumpkins anywhere, so I picked up butternut squash to carve instead. It felt like a funny, make-it-work kind of solution — until Youssef, the director of Roots, surprised us by finding real pumpkins! That small gesture meant so much; it was like a little bit of Maine autumn had found its way to Morocco.

Me and one of my colleague's children making the topping for our apple crisp!

What made the night even more special was sharing it with the Moroccan teachers at Roots. They joined us for the food and the laughter, curious about our strange traditions of scooping out gourds and baking apples with cinnamon. It was one of those simple, joy-filled moments where culture and community overlap — where something familiar becomes new again through the eyes of others.

Even without the crisp air and changing leaves, I found fall here — not in the landscape, but in the warmth of people, the sweetness of shared food, and the comfort of creating something that feels like home.

Me holding my jack-o-lantern on Root's rooftop.

My pumpkin and my butternut squash after carving!