Home-Stay Day 3 - Final Day and Observations

Home-Stay Day 3

The Home on Day 3

We woke up to breakfast on our last day to our final traditional meal of bread and assorted jams, olives, and butter. After, we took a walk down to the river, which you can read more about below as I have separated it out. When we arrived back at home to pack our things to leave, we had to go through much convincing that we needed to leave as an invitation for lunch at a Moroccan home is very hard to turn down, though we were grateful for the offer. Upon leaving, the mother got one last photo with us, and both wives (the two brother's families live together) gave the traditional kiss on each cheek. Saying goodbye to an unforgettable weekend was difficult. 

Walk to the River

Our walk to the river was filled with people on their way to and returning from the Sunday Souk; in fact this village's nickname literally means Souk on Sunday. Most souks are all weekend, but this village has such a small souk that it only occurs on Sunday. The streets were bustling with people on this day; the streets came alive. Along the side of the river, donkeys could be seen everywhere. People riding donkeys across the small river was a common site. A man made money off of us by telling us to take a picture and then insisting upon money. Not the first time this has happened here. The area around the river was bustling. Cafes were busy for lunch time. People set up shop to sell on the streets to sell anything from live turkeys to Converse shoes. A man washed clothes in the river, while others crossed the river on their donkeys. Some children played in the water while others washed items. Downstream, a herd of cows crossed the river near where some excavation was happening. Standing in the river-bed, no matter which way you turned there was a site to be seen. We met a young boy who spoke almost perfect English - in a small Berber village such as this it was amazing to find someone who spoke any English. He said that he learned it all from watching American movies. I have to admit this was impressive - if learning a language was as easy as watching a lot of foreign films, by now I would know Spanish! Unfortunately, language skills do not come as easily for some of us. 

Community and Family Observations

There was a lot that I learned on this trip. I am going to attempt to concisely summarize some of the most important here as my blog on the home-stay comes to an end. 

Meals

I feel as if meals are part of what brings these village families together, as well as much of Morocco. The traditional seating that is much more like long couches around a room and eating around one table with one large plate of food brings a sense of togetherness that I don't feel in the US. We are accustomed to sitting in a single chair, eating off of our own plate. In Morocco, this is much different and I think it is part of what makes the families strong - the sense of togetherness around meals. Also, at least for me, the structure of the day around meals is much more prominent in Morocco. This family in particular worked like clockwork. 9AM breakfast, 2PM lunch, 6PM Kaskra, 10PM dinner. I don't think I've ever met a family in the US that all eats together at specific times in the day. Here, much of daily life focuses around eating and this schedule. Also, eating from the same dish, though from your wedge in front of you, I believe also helps bring people together. Even from an observational standpoint, I believe this family looks more engaged during their meals, talking about their day or whatever it may be, than families in the US who all eat from separate plates. It may be completely unrelated, but I honestly believe that the style of seating and eating is truly part of what draws these families together.  

The Village at Night

One of the observations I made very quickly is how much women sit around outside their homes and talk with one another. One night we sat watching the one mother weaving a rug on her loom. Children played in the streets with one another at night. No one was worried about their children being kidnapped - they all looked after the children like one of their own. I loved the sense of community in the village - how everyone came out to talk to one another and let the children play. As time went on in the village, I also began thinking about the other side of this. The women came out because they did not have anything else to do. The house work was done and the food was cooking. In the village, there was not much else to do than talk with one another or weave on the loom. What at first I loved became darker as I realized why it occurred. They didn't know much about what else was in the world, nor would they most likely ever have the opportunity to explore it.  For the most part they were uneducated; the ones who were considered educated for the most part had only gone to school until 6th grade - or possibly high school. I also got this sense from the hammam (which you can read about in my last post). The women could sit there for hours socializing - my shower? Usually lasts about 5 minutes. I wish that communities in the US could have the same sense of community as this village had, but I realize that we don't have this feeling because we have busy lives full of opportunities, unlike most of this village. 

Greetings

Walking around the village at night with all the children out may be a slower process than you think. Why? Because the traditional greeting between women is the kiss on each cheek. When walking around the village at night, it is almost guaranteed that every child will come up to you at least once to greet you in this manner. It wasn't even uncommon for children to get back in line to greet us again when there were so many children waiting to greet us that they formed lines. For the most part, this was amusing, except when the little boy that always had boogers all over his face kept getting in line!

From Edge to Edge 

One of the first things I noticed when arriving in the village was how you could actually see the edge of town all around. I don't think I've ever been in a place where I can stand at one edge of town and distinctly see where it ends on the other end. This should be apparent in some pictures I took from the roof of one home on the edge of the village. There is a distinct line where the desert turns to established buildings, and it is visible from one edge to the other. It makes me wonder what it's like to live a life confined to such small borders. They don't have transportation to the next village for the most part so most of these lives are lived within the village itself, with exception of course. It was one thing to spend a couple days here, but I wonder what it would be like to live your entire life here. To me, I think I would go crazy. But, if I didn't know any different would I be okay with it? If I thought that was all there was to life, would I be happy with it? 

Conclusion

As simple as that. In just 48 hours, your perception on so much of life can change. You learn a lot about others and in the process about yourself too. This is an experience I would not trade for much else. More from Morocco soon!

Home-Stay Day 2 - The Hammam and more

Home-Stay Day 2 - The Hammam and More

A full day with my host family. So so much food and wonderful cultural experiences.

Morning

The day starts later than our typical day in the US. Though, I must admit, it probably fits most college students better. Breakfast was served between 9 and 10 AM. Per usual, this was the traditional bread and baguettes served with an assortment of jams, butter, and olives.

The Hammam

After breakfast, I took a visit to the local hammam with my host mother and her youngest daughter. The hammam is the public bath house. Locals go to the hammam typically once per week and spend two to three hours (sometimes more) washing and socializing. During my home-stay was the perfect time to go to the hammam, since I had the host mother to go along with and show me the hammam she uses instead of ending up at one of the many touristy hammams that do not give you the true hammam. Arriving at the hammam, I did not even recognize it. It looked like any other door in the long buildings were people live in more apartment type living spaces within a larger building. The first room you walk into, after paying approximately 1 US dollar to enter, has spaces to leave your belongings - considering this is the last time you will see any clothing on bodies in the hammam. Though, many women in this particular village did leave underwear on - as I chose to follow after! From there you proceed through the cool room into the hot room. The rooms are steamy with water in the air and women lounge around on the floor on mats and stools. We filled our buckets with water from the taps and found a place along the wall to sit. We began to wash and I took in the images of the hammam, being discrete of course. Women sat and caught up on their lives, often while helping to scrub each other's backs and arms. The women here bring soap and a scrubby type glove to scrub down with and typically a black type soap. They spend much time scrubbing old skin off, which starts coming off fairly easily in the hot steam room, all while socializing. The hammam is just as much about socialization as it is hygiene. Soon, we became too hot for the hot room and moved to the cool room to finish bathing. The hammam was an amazing cultural experience - it was a great opportunity to see an aspect of Moroccan life that is central to their unique culture. I was surprised how acceptable it was for all of the women to bathe together, naked, when out in public they are covered from head to toe. Another surprise? How okay I was with being in a public bath for almost two hours! This was something I never thought I would get myself to do - but I am so glad that I did!

Lunch, Kaskrot, and Dinner 

Yes, that's right. There were still three more opportunities to eat with this family during the rest of the day on top of breakfast! You will never go hungry staying with a Moroccan family. As soon as we got back from the hammam, lunch was served. Again, a traditional chicken tajine - delicious as always. After, the family went to take a nap as the heat of the day at this time (around 2PM - "old time") can be exhausting on the body. It did not seem like long after the nap that we were soon summoned for Kaskrot, the "afternoon" snack served around 6PM. This again was bread with the assortment of jams, olives, and butter. After kaskrot, I took a walk around the village, most of which you can read about in my next post under the  section labeled community and family observations. Dinner, around 10 PM old time (the village does not observe day-light savings time, their time is referred to as old time, which is never changing and at this time of year an hour off of those in larger cities), was a special meal. The closest thing I can relate it to is a quiche; eggs, vegetables, and chicken were cooked together and cut into squares to be served with, as always, bread. Also, roasted peppers and the traditional Moroccan salad were served. The Moroccan salad is another one of my favorites here; it is in fact more of a pico de gallo than a salad. Consisting of finely diced tomatoes and onions (and in this case also some peppers), it is eaten with a spoon or bread and sometimes served with an olive oil. To drink, was the traditional mint tea, which I can never get enough of! So delicious! 

I learned may things about village life during this day, but will combine it to the next post on my final day with my host family. Stay tuned for more!

Wad Ifrane Home Stay

Home-Stay Host Family

Wad Ifrane Home Stay - Day 1

This weekend I am staying in a village in Wad Ifrane with a Moroccan family. Upon arrival, we had a delicious afternoon snack of msemen, a type of flat-bread fried to be crispy on the outside and soft on the inside. Msemen is one of my favorite foods here in Morocco and the homemade version was absolutely delicious. Per usual, the bread is served with an assortment of jams, butters, olive oils, olives, and cheese spread. Drinks are coffee (mostly milk, with some coffee) and the traditional mint tea served sweet. The mint tea is absolutely delicious and I am thankful for the Moroccan hospitality that never lets my cup of tea go dry.  Also, Moroccan hospitality never lets your plate get empty either! You have to eat slow - and even then, more and more food will be pushed in front of you. The afternoon tea was delicious and after we settled into our room and visited the Peace Corps volunteer in the village.
Dinner in Morocco is very late. We sat down for dinner around 9:30PM. We had a chicken tajine that was to die for. Tajine is served, like may meals here in Morocco, on a large central plate with bread used as the utensil. You eat from the wedge in front of you using the bread to pick up the food. Tajine consists of vegetables, potatoes, and meat roasted together. As a visitor, the best chunks of meat always find their way into your wedge even if they weren't there to begin with. As a visitor in a Moroccan home, you don't have to worry about being hungry - you have to worry about having room for the next thing being offered to you! Which in the case of dinner, as delicious fresh pomegranate. I have a new love of pomegranate after dinner tonight - they truly are the Skittles of the natural world.

Something I've never considered

One thing that I've never considered since I've lived in urban America all my life is public works in less developed countries. Imagine my surprise when I found out that even though there is a seemingly similar toilet  in Morocco, that I am not able to flush my toilet paper. Their system is just not set up to handle that added material. Though, this is only a predicament you run into when there is actually a toilet. On many occasions, I have found the simplistic hole in the ground in a very tiny room sufficing for a restroom. I've learned that you can't always assume things are the same just because they look the same - and breaking habit of something you've never mentally had to think about before is incredibly difficult. Just a small thought for the day. More pictures soon!

Volubilis

Volubilis

Aqueduct system outlet 

Holding area for water from Aqueduct

Mosaics

Roman style columns

Olive Press

Volubilis, now in ruins, was a Romanticized Moroccan city. It is not a true Roman ruin, as many believe, but is instead a Moroccan city that took after Roman ways. Today, Volubilis is a UNESCO World Heritage Site and contains some of the best Roman ruins in North Africa. Though some Romans did live here, the majority of the population was Berber, and after the earthquake and re-population of the city rule was taken over by Berber chiefs. It was interesting to see how the city was divided between the upper class living and the lower class. The larger homes had elaborate mosaics on the floors, large rooms, and even fountains. The lower class living still had mosaics, but were smaller and more simplistic. 

Olive oil separation system 

Remains of lower class houses

The surrounding lands produced many olives, and the city had massive olive presses to make olive oil. There was even a system built directly into the stone by which the olive oil was separated into it's classes (eg. Extra virgin). One of the most interesting things for me to see was their water system. Water was brought in through an aqueduct from the hills down into the city, where it could be collected from a holding tank. It is amazing to me that such a simplistic system could be designed and implemented in a manner in which it provided adequate water for an entire city. Walls surrounded the city for taxation purposes and the gateways contain the traditional Roman arch. No matter where, Roman ruins such as these amaze me. They always leave me wondering how people could have constructed such massive buildings and walls from stone with primitive technologies. 

Archways to enter the city

Upper class home, fish "tank" to store food live

Baths 

Upper class home pool

Hassan Tower

Hassan Tower, Rabat

 The Hassan Tower is the remains of a minaret that was started in 1195. The minaret along with the mosque were never completed, because work halted when Sultan Yacoub al-Mansour died. If the plans would have been completed, the mosque would have been the largest in the world and the minaret would have been the tallest standing almost twice as tall as it does today. The interesting part of this location for me was to see how the construction was begun, instead of just the final product which is usually what you see of a mosque. The tower, though incomplete, was beautiful and it makes me wonder how wonderful it would have been if the project was ever completed. 

Fez Tannery

One of the most interesting places in the Fez medina was the tannery. Before you can even see the pits that hold the dies and leather it becomes painfully obvious that something different is in the mists ahead. The stench that comes from the tannery is one that will leave you much less hungry than you were before. Nevertheless, this is a site you won't want to miss if you are ever in Fez.

As viewed from above, the tannery looks like a honeycomb or egg carton filled with liquids of all different colors. The pits are made of stone and filled with pigeon excrement, cow urine, and natural dies. First, the leathers are soaked in the pigeon excrement and cow urine in order to help break down the leather to make it fully absorptive for the die. The hides are then moved to the vats filled with natural dies where they will be worked by hand until the leather has taken its color. After this has happened, they will be laid to dry in the sun on the rooftops before being made into leather-goods.

It was amazing to get to see the production of leather working in the same fashion that it did 9 centuries ago in this exact same place. The fact that everything is still done by hand in the same methods is astonishing. It most definitely proves that original process was efficient, effective, and lucrative. The goods were beautiful and I hope I have a chance to go back and bargain for some!

The Fez Medina

The Fez Medina

Motor vehicle free roads

Making a room border

The Medina of Fez is a UNESCO World Heritage Site. The city of Fez was founded in the 9th century. Originally, the city that is known as Fez today, was two separate cities divided by walls and the Jawhar River. One city was founded by Idris I in 879 and the other by his son, Idris II, in 808. The Almoravids united the two cities in 1070 and in 1250, under the Marinid Dynasty, the city of Fez became the capital of Morocco once again. During the Marinid Dynasty, Fez reached it's height as a city which is also known as the Golden Age of Fez. 

Water source

Local transportation

Weavers

Today, Fez is not the capital, but it is still a large thriving city at a population of approximately one million. The medina in Fez is considered to be the largest urban area free from motor vehicles in the world. It was amazing to walk around the winding, very confusing, narrow streets and see nothing but people and donkeys. The buildings were built high overhead, but the walkways still were open to the sunlight above. The streets filled with tiny little shops selling anything from seafood to lamps seemed to be endless. If it wasn't for our tour guide, I most certainly would have gotten lost in this huge medina.

Tool making

Midday prayer

It makes me wonder how different it must be to grow up living in a place where you can walk to get to nearly anything you need and never have to leave the walls of the city. When donkeys carrying goods came by, we had to squeeze against the sides of the buildings to let them pass. We visited many artisans who made their goods by hand with techniques passed down through generations. Teapots makers, dyers, weavers, comb makers - all knew their craft so well and loved what they did. The tannery was one of the most interesting spots for me - but I will discuss this more in another blog entry. I think it is very admirable for these people to continue learning and making what they do, when so many other cities have completely modernized and made manufacturing of these products into a craft-less enterprise. The products were beautiful and were of a greater quality than those that are mass produced.

View from the restaurant

The University of  al - Karaouine

Another aspect of the medina that I like is buying your food fresh everyday. People in Morocco do not seem to do the large shopping trips that we do where we buy foods that are preserved to last. Instead people here buy food much more often. It is fresh and mostly organic. This type of life is something I wish could more easily be incorporated into American society. Fez is also home to the world's oldest university, the University of al-Karaouine. Being a student, this was a very interesting place to get to see, especially since it was something I didn't know I was going to get to see before going! The medina in Fez was definitely beyond interesting and I would love to go visit again. If you're going to get lost in Morocco, I would suggest doing it in this medina - it will be an experience you never forget!

Lantern Shop

View from the roof of our restaurant

مولي