That’s a very interesting comment about Morocco. I guess that superficially – or rather, stereotypically – Mediterranean cultures appear to be all about extroversion (hand gestures, loud conversations, little personal space, etc).

Yet it is quite true that these cultures have a healthy respect for age, experience and wisdom. Their social norms also tend to discourage oversharing of personal information.

I know that people who relocate to my hometown in the South of France are often surprised to find the locals more introverted than their Northern counterparts.

As to feeling pressured to act more extroverted… yikes! I can’t imagine how uncomfortable and exhausting that must be – very glad to hear that Morocco suits you better in that respect.

For example, the United States is basically a youth-oriented, extroverted culture. Being an introvert, yes, I always felt more pressured to “act” extroverted. I am able to do this for a few hours of teaching, or at a party. But then I need some alone time to recuperate!! True extroverts don’t seem to need to recuperate in the same way.

Now I live in Morocco. I’ve found Morocco to be an age-oriented, introverted culture. Of course there are extroverts, but as an older introvert, I actually feel far more comfortable here.

This is a very interesting question you’ve raised here.