Part One: Marrakesh the "Red City"

My last travel in Morocco before returning home. I had a week and a half off from Arabic classes and two other students from ALIF center and I ventured off to the south once again. Katie goes to ASU and is graduating in May and Jay just graduated from Harvard with a degree in comparative religions.

We began in Marrakesh...the "red city", which was shockingly infested with tourists given that it is the off-season. Following the advice of an ex-Peace Corps volunteer who was also a student at ALIF, we stayed at a little hotel called Sindi Sud in the narrow labyrinth of the medina right off of the famed Djemaa el-Fna or "Square of Infinity". After our 8 hour train ride from Fes, we wondered down to the Kutubia Mosque and surrounding gardens and stuck around to hear the Maghrib call to prayer. We dined in the square along with many locals who were breaking fast, and were attacked by all of the food-stall owners trying to coral us into eating at his booth rather than the 50 other identical stands surrounding his. We settled for a spot on the outskirts with optimal people-watching potential. After slurping down traditional harira soup with huge wooden spoons, I ate the vegetarian couscous which was garnished with big hunks of meat and flavored with an odd spice that I couldn't place. I washed it all down with a glass of hot spiced tea consisting of clove, ginger, cinnamon, and ginseng. Intense stuff.
Let me just insert here that the entire time that you walk around the the square, you are continuously harassed by kids trying to sell you flowers, men yelling "ça va?" in your direction, beggars asking for money, café owners, henna artists, snake charmers, carriage drivers, musicians...pretty much the entire population is trying to bully you into giving them money. Absolute chaos. We reached such a state off annoyance and furry (which Katie coined "medina rage") that we would have to escape back to the hotel to relax.
Our second day in Marrakesh we wandered outside the square to the Kasbah district to visit the Saadian tombs. The Saadians ruled Morocco in the 16th century and established Marrakesh as the capital and also constructed some magnificent buildings and mosques in the meantime. There are over 100 Saadian elite buried in and outside of the tombs. The architecture was most impressive; however, the atmosphere was soured by the herds of European tourists being regurgitated off of their tour buses into the site. Needless to say, we left soon after we arrived.
While trying to find the Palais el Badi, an old Marrekeshi palace open for viewing, we got ourselves lost well outside of tourist country. While wandering aimlessly, we discovered a graveyard that was virtually deserted albeit a few beggars and where there was maybe a million or more laid to rest. Seeing these millions of headstones all facing towards Mecca uniformly row after row was strikingly moving.
After taking a taxi back to the hotel (we were really lost) we lounged on the terrace to satisfy our mid-day laziness. After a catnap, we wandered down yet another Ave. Mohammad V past the beautiful and eerily clear cyber-park to the Jardin Majorelle. The garden was created by French painter Jacques Majorelle whose cobalt blue villa now houses a museum of Islamic art. Wandering amongst the bamboo forest, cactus gardens, lotus pond, and palms was truly magical and a wonderful escape from the city. I could have spent an entire day there...enjoying the rich blues and greens, lush bougainvillea, trickles of fountains, and elegance of cats.
Day three we traveled via a hired and unnecessary land-rover to the Cascades d'Ouzoud, over 150 km north-east of Marrakesh. The waterfalls are about 100 m high and the tallest in Morocco. After dodging eager guides we guided ourselves some 20-odd meters to the top of the falls. We took the path less traveled down to bottom through muddy olive groves rather than the stone steps on the opposite bank which were lined with souvineer stands and cafés, putting a bit of a damper on our desire to be in nature. The falls were even more stunning from below: about 6 streams thundering down the moss-covered rocks into a huge pool about 2/3 of the way down which then emptied the rest of the way in one huge cascade. A slight mist rose from the bottom casting a faint rainbow over the waterfalls...just as picturesque as it sounds. We packed a nice picnic of La Vache Qui Rit, bread, dried fruit and nuts, and yogurt drinks which we ate on a shady rock facing the cascade. On our way back up to the top, Katie spotted the famed Barbary Macaque my dad has so intently hoped I would see, just off the trail. There was maybe 7 or 8 of them - the small ones leaping about playfully on the elders and in the trees. Soon, other tourists flocked around us and we all observed intently; the monkeys were entirely unfazed.It was sad for me to see how tame they had become and suddenly it was clear to me just how easy it is for them to be captured and made into attractions in the Djemaa el-Fna in Marrakesh...slaves to the tourist dollar on chains and ropes. I enjoyed watching them in their real habitat a while longer before heading the rest of the way up the falls.
I was glowing the whole drive back to Marrakesh, thrilled from having finally seen the falls I had heard about for months and also from seeing the Macaca sylvanus which my Dad's enthusiasm for had inevitably been passed along to me. It was strange seeing those apes...standing with a Hawaii-scale waterfall behind me, red, rocky mountains a'la Sedona, AZ to the right of me, and a hairy troop of monkeys in front of me. I couldn't help but ask myself, "where am I again?"

The Ecstasy of a Mosseum

On the 29th of September I headed down to Dar Batha in the medina along with thousands of other Fassis to the annual Mosseum of Moulay Idriss II (the founder of Fes). A Mosseum, is basically a pilgrimage to the tomb of a respected Muslim man. All different Sufi orders from around the area were there in their respective garments, many of them toting instruments as well. There were many children in the streets, some of the assigned to holding richly colored velvet flags. All the brotherhoods (and a camel) assembled themselves on the narrow street outside Dar Batha, some of them breaking out into song and dance...swaying back and forth in their trance-like rhythm. One of the brotherhoods carried rifles; another carried large wooden sticks. Another group carried large cylindrical silver platters on their heads. There was the gnawa group in their blue satin tunics adorned with shells and complete with Rasta-esque dreadlocks hanging down from their ghza (small hats). I stood by them for a long while, watching them play their music and take turns dancing inside the circle they had formed in intricate, almost break-dance like movements. Everyone began to proceed together down the street and all the groups began playing at once; one group's beat overlapping into the next. A small, elfish-man with bright pink lips balanced a large silver contraption on his head. A group of men played small flutes...feeding off of eachothers tones and melodies while dancing in circles...smiling and elated. Suddenly a women from the crowd, jelaba and hijab and all, joined them in their dance, shaking it like nobody's business. The men behind them were dancing with drums, spinning them in the air and twirling them on their arms and legs.
It was complete madness in the street...Sufis and Fassis everywhere...dancing, singing, watching, reporting...The energy was amazing...like the intense energy I felt at the Sacred Music Festival my first week in Fes. Crowds of people swaying back and forth, back and forth, chanting praises to Allah, sweating and drunk off the moment.
We too started to dance...and sway...and smile...sometimes you just have to let go.

Down in the Dunes

I took a weekend trip down to the Sahara with some friends from school last Friday. The drive is about 8 hours South of Fes and doing the trip in only a weekend was pushing it but in the end, incredible worth it. We drove through the Switzerlan-esque town of Ifrane which is extremely green and also has very white winters. We continued south, through Er Rachidia and continuing on along the Ziz Valley which is a rich valley of palm oases fed from the Ziz River. The road was dotted with old, crumbling kasbahs and millions of palms heavy with dates. In fact, on Saturday we went to the Annual Date Festival in Erfoud. There were piles and piles and boxes upon boxes of dates along with some informational booths on dates and other agricultural goods from the region. Finally we made our way down to Merzuga. When you first reach the desert, there are miles nothing but flat, rocky earth covered in this black fossilized marble. Then, just like that, the alluring red dunes rise up from the rocks. We set out on a camel caravan around 4pm and stopped to watch the sunset as some of my companions rolled down some dunes. We reached the camp sight during the last breath of dusk and ate a delicious Berber meal, which was like a tomato-beef stew with eggs and onion. All we really wanted to do was star gaze and so we did. Of course they were spectacular and the Milky Way was clearly visible. We watched a couple of satellites mosey across the sky and just enjoyed the crisp desert air. I couldn't help but break into song singing "Night...and stars above that shine so bright...the mystery of their fading light ...That shines upon our caravan" to the ammusment of Victoria and Margot. Some of our guides started up a drum jam session, which was mellow and wonderful to hear. I miss all the drumming sessions everyone would create in Tucson...I never realized how spoiled I was by them. We fell asleep under the stars, content and frankly a little dumb-struck by it all. Then there was the sunrise...I forget how great you feel after waking up with the sun! We hiked out into the dunes, barefoot, and silently watched the sun break over the horizon...making me grin from ear to ear like a love-struck fool. But it was a brief ecstasy for soon I was back on Bilal (my camel) and heading back towards Merzuga. I hope I can return to the desert before I leave Morocco. It felt so good to be away from the noise and confusion on the city...so good to have a wide open space to play in. I hope you can get a taste of the deliciousness of it all from the pictures. Peace.

Ramadan Mubarak!

The holy month of Ramadan has begun! There is a certain wonderful energy that can be felt on the streets here. Everyone is more aware and concious of eachother and themselves, struggling to maintain their inner and outer fasts throughout the day. It truly feels like Ramadan, and I am elated. I wish to all Muslims who are fasting this Ramadan a peaceful and healthy month in which we can all focus on the divine and furthuring our spiritual journeys in this life. For those of you who don't know about Ramadan or fasting, I am posting a couple links to some informative sites: one on the BASICS
of Ramadan and on which is more IN DEPTH.
Please check them out if you are interested. Also, I found an interesting website on the Health Benefits of Ramadan.


Ramadan Kareem everyone! God bless.
Salaam,
Angela