You don't speak French??

Moroccans are amazingly talented when it comes to language. Most Moroccans are bi, tri, or quadrilingual, with Darija (Moroccan Arabic) as a primary language, followed by French for anyone who has gone to school. Most menus, signs, packages, or day-to-day interactions I encounter involve French...which is also one of my biggest challenges living and working in Morocco...as I have never taken a French lesson in my life.

People assume because you are a foreigner that naturally you speak French. While I often get people hollering "hola" to me on the street or "Spain! Spain Futbol!" (many Moroccans think that I am/look Spanish) Moroccans can not for the life of them understand why I don't speak French. Nearly every single day, someone will start rapid-fire speaking to me in French upon which I reply "Je ne parle pas français"... which is then follow by a look of incredulity. I can understand a lot more than I can actually speak, but I still definitely struggle. The inevitable question that follows is..

Well WHY don't you speak French?? (asked to me in French of course)

My reply (in my head of course) is well why don't you speak Japanese? Why not Swahili? Or better yet, why not English? The answer is, of course, because you have never learned but because I am a foreigner I must have learned how. My actual reply is a smile and shrug of the shoulders, "Je parle espagnol, portugais et anglais. Français- no. " But that is rarely good enough, after another 5 minutes of inquisition, they generally tell me I look Spanish, or Italian, or Mexican, but not American. Which is then followed by an invitation to come over on Friday and eat couscous at their house. While this may sound a bit ridiculous, I have had this same interaction over a dozen times. I generally  laugh and say "OK, shukran!" (thank you in Darija) which typically elicits a satisfied grin and a handshake.

I know that I need to improve my language skills, et peut-être qu'un jour je améliorer.