Thursday, March 12, 2009

Faces in the medina: Annah Evington



Helen Ranger caught up with Annah over coffee at Cafe Clock to find out what this Australia-based New Zealander is doing in Fez.


Annah had a long-held dream of visiting Morocco to explore the colours, music and crafts. When an offer of a friend's house in Fez came up, she jumped at the chance and is in Fez for two months.

So has Fez lived up to the dream? The cold temperatures when Annah first arrived surprised her. She is finding the medina much more complex and multi-layered than she anticipated, but loves the authenticity of life here, the food and the crafts. She's enjoying her total immersion in such a different culture.

A principal organiser of the largest folk festival in the southern hemisphere, Woodford Folk Festival in Australia, Annah has a special interest in the music of the Maghreb. So far she's been enjoying the music at Cafe Clock and Fes et Gestes, but finds it difficult to discover where music is being performed as there's a general lack of publicity.

Not that Annah is spending all her time relaxing. She's busy putting together a tourism project in the South Pacific (see here) where she takes people swimming with hump-backed whales. She's also writing about her experiences there.

Annah has already been to Sefrou, Ifrane and Azrou where she fell in love with the cedar forests. Next on the agenda is a trip with friends down the eastern side of the High Atlas, ending up in Marrakech.

Will she be taking any souvenirs back to Australia other than her memories and photographs? Annah gets dreamy-eyed over the pierced brasswork lanterns and textiles, especially hendiras.



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