Much to our surprise of The View from Fez, we were invited to a therapy session. Laughter Therapy.
"How are you dealing with life in the Medina?' said the brochure. 'The best antidote to Riad Renovation Madness (RDF) is laughter" "Down in the dumps in a dar? Dare to be different - have a larf!""
Well, naturally, we were intrigued. No address was given, but all the invitees were asked to meet at Bab Ftouh at 8pm last night and to wear something distinctive. Distinctive? What did that mean? To nobodies surprise, almost every one of the six therapy hungry participants arrived wearing a black balaclava and carrying blue neon tubes - looking a lot like an IRA version of Luke Skywalker.
Laughter Therapy Headgear
A shadowy figure in a clown costume approached us and whispered "You are here for me."
From behind our balaclavas we nodded in hapless unison.
"I'm not Patch Adams," confided the man who looked like Patch Adams. 'Follow me."
Patch Adams
We set off down a series of winding alleys, eventually arrived at a metal door that opened an inch to inspect us. "It's us," said the man who was not Patch Adams.
Derf
Inside we sat in a circle around a low table and were asked to talk about why we were here. One brave soul, a midget called Derf, bravely stepped forward. "I'm renovating a dar and haven't had a laugh in weeks."
Everyone giggled.
"I want to have a laugh, but I don't know the Darija word for it..."
We snickered.
Then a small squat fellow introduced himself as "Subby" "RDF - that's me. Renovation? Driving me nuts. A riad and ... " he trailed off.
"Go on," urged the photocopy of Patch Adams.
'Can't."
We roared with laughter.
Then a Latvian Vegan from Casablanca began to laugh softly, then louder... soon we all joined in. It became hysterical. The only one not laughing was the Patch clone.
For three hours we laughed. Not once did anyone mention zellij or tadelakt... nobody talked of builders or plumbers. It was therapy.
The next session gathers at Bab Bou Jeloud at 8pm on Wednesday, don't forget your balaclava. The View from Fes will give it a miss...
Tags: Morocco Fes, Maghreb news
"How are you dealing with life in the Medina?' said the brochure. 'The best antidote to Riad Renovation Madness (RDF) is laughter" "Down in the dumps in a dar? Dare to be different - have a larf!""
Well, naturally, we were intrigued. No address was given, but all the invitees were asked to meet at Bab Ftouh at 8pm last night and to wear something distinctive. Distinctive? What did that mean? To nobodies surprise, almost every one of the six therapy hungry participants arrived wearing a black balaclava and carrying blue neon tubes - looking a lot like an IRA version of Luke Skywalker.
A shadowy figure in a clown costume approached us and whispered "You are here for me."
From behind our balaclavas we nodded in hapless unison.
"I'm not Patch Adams," confided the man who looked like Patch Adams. 'Follow me."
We set off down a series of winding alleys, eventually arrived at a metal door that opened an inch to inspect us. "It's us," said the man who was not Patch Adams.
DerfEveryone giggled.
"I want to have a laugh, but I don't know the Darija word for it..."
We snickered.
Then a small squat fellow introduced himself as "Subby" "RDF - that's me. Renovation? Driving me nuts. A riad and ... " he trailed off.
"Go on," urged the photocopy of Patch Adams.
'Can't."
We roared with laughter.
Then a Latvian Vegan from Casablanca began to laugh softly, then louder... soon we all joined in. It became hysterical. The only one not laughing was the Patch clone.
For three hours we laughed. Not once did anyone mention zellij or tadelakt... nobody talked of builders or plumbers. It was therapy.
The next session gathers at Bab Bou Jeloud at 8pm on Wednesday, don't forget your balaclava. The View from Fes will give it a miss...
Tags: Morocco Fes, Maghreb news
1 comment:
I've never been to Morocco but my sister and brother-in-law traveled there last year and sent back beautiful photos and anecdotes and descriptions of absolutely everything they experienced. It was a fabulous trip and I enjoyed it almost as much vicariously, so when I saw that laughing guy as "DERF FROM FEZ" on a Google search (having nothing to do with Morocco or laughing guys!) I followed the link and found myself on your very enjoyable blog! Even though I've never been TO Morocco, it was familiar because of my vicarious visit!
I admit I wasn't thrilled at the first article (Tourist Stabbings In Fez - basically bad for tourism!) but my family was there since then and had a safe trip all round.
I LOVED "Laughter Therapy in the Medina!" It was intriguing, as are most things Moroccan (as I'm finding more and more)! I don't know why I felt the need to share this with you, particularly since judging by the dates of these articles, you may not even have dropped in here in the past decade!
Anyway, this was a really nice surprise in the middle of a less than stellar day! I don't know why I feel such a connection but maybe one day I'll be able to visit Morocco as well.
Now I'll send this to my sister and see if she re-enjoys the feeling of Morocco as much as I just did!
Thanks!
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