What to wear in Ramadan: the Moroccan djellaba

Many women don traditional caftans or djellabas during Ramadan, even if they don't usually wear them. The View from Fez takes a look.

The djellaba is a long garment, usually with bell-shaped sleeves and a hood. It usually features heavy embroidery and hand-made silk buttons. It can be a work-a-day coverall, or a highly fashionable statement. As people look to tradition during the holy month of Ramadan, many women wear them as a matter of course. Tailors do a roaring trade just before Ramadan starts, and again just before the Eid, when many people like to have new clothes.

silk embroidery and hand-made buttons adorn a djellaba

Imane Belhaj, writing for Magharebia, reports that interest in the djellaba grows around national and religious holidays.

"In Ramadan, I stop wearing modern clothes and I wear djellabas that I buy especially for this occasion, because we are supposed to wear decent clothes, and there is no better option than the djellaba," said Farida Nasi, who chooses modern designs.

modern caftans

The garment has actually started to respond to the fashion of the times. It no longer is restricted to one type of sewing or one colour as was the case in the past. Rather, traditional tailors have excelled in sewing and making them a form of dress that responds to fashion without losing its peculiarity and identity.

"This has made it a uniquely Moroccan form of dress that is indispensable at all times and occasions, even in the workplace for female employees, as it no longer impedes them from moving easily," says tailor Hajj Bouhlal.

There are sleeveless djellabas to suit the hot weather, and dresses made of silk of different colours and patterns.

Fatima Mourad, a university history researcher, explains that "the djellaba has a traditional image that embodies the past and links it to the present by adding a modern touch that makes it suitable for all time and for all generations."

Rashida al-Jabri, a teacher, added that she can't foresee the extinction of the djellaba. Regardless of developments taking place over time, she stated, the garment will be passed on to later generations.

Although some types of Moroccan djellabas are still affordable to a large category of middle class citizens, the innovations of top designers and dressmakers have made them very costly. Prices in some cases are now higher than those of traditional caftans or takchitas (a form-fitting dress with matching coat).

"These prices are due to the type of fabric and sewing accessories used, which are often of very high quality so that we may not let our customers down when they are looking for quality and elegance" said designer and dressmaker Soad Benkirane.

Benkirane added that customers could choose to have more affordable djellabas made.

"Everyone knows that the hands that excel in making djellabas are very cheap, while all the huge profits go to the owners of stores or holders of trademark," lamented Nora, a consumer.

Talk on Moroccan Sufism in Rabat

Faouzi Skali will be presenting a lecture on Sufism and Society at 21h30 tomorrow, Tuesday 31 August at the Villa des Arts in Rabat.

Skali (above) is a well-known anthropologist and Sufi scholar, and founder of the Fes Festival of World Sacred Music and the Fes Festival of Sufi Culture. At the lecture, he will ask the following:

Is spirituality a path of an essentially personal accomplishment, or can it also indicate the way towards collective transformation?
Can it generate new thought, new art, new poetry; can it inspire social and political thought?
What relevance does spiritual renewal have today in the Muslim world, and beyond?
It's on these questions, both historical and of great meaning today, that we are asked to reflect.

Venue: Villa des Arts, 10 Rue Beni Mellal, corner of Avenue Mohamed V and Hassan II – Rabat.
Tel. : (+212) 537 66 85 79 à 82
Fax : (+212) 537 76 60 47

Moroccan Photography Competition #67

Three men in Chefchaouen. Photographer, Kirsten Monkemeyer

The photography competition winners will be announced at our birthday party in October, with some wonderful prizes, including a very generous accommodation package for two in Fez, donated by the good folks at Dar El Menia, a sumptuous meal for two at Cafe Clock as well as a luxury hammam and other goodies to be announced. We will accept entries until September 30th. So get your entry in !

Submit a photograph.

Send your photograph in jpeg or gif form to: theviewfromfez@gmail.com and please put the words "photo entry" in the subject line.

View all photographs in our photojournal.

Moroccan Photography Competition #66

Agadir 2007: Photographer, Edita Grubiene

(Click image to enlarge)

The photography competition winners will be announced at our birthday party in October, with some wonderful prizes, including a very generous accommodation package for two in Fez, donated by the good folks at Dar El Menia, a sumptuous meal for two at Cafe Clock as well as a luxury hammam and other goodies to be announced. We will accept entries until September 30th. So get your entry in !

Submit a photograph.

Send your photograph in jpeg or gif form to: theviewfromfez@gmail.com and please put the words "photo entry" in the subject line.

View all photographs in our photojournal.

Harvesting fog for water in Morocco

Some rural Moroccans have to trek for miles every day because their arid environment doesn't provide enough drinking water. Or does it?

Six Rice Universtity (Houston, Texas) students with the James A. Baker III Institute for Public Policy's Energy Forum spent a month helping with a project that harvests potable water from the fog that envelops parts of the Atlas Mountains, reports ScienceDaily. The students were joined by Amy Myers Jaffe, a fellow in energy studies at the Baker Institute and associate director of the Rice Energy Program; Ronald Soligo, professor of economics; and Eugenia Georges, professor and chair of anthropology. They worked with the Dar Si Hmad Foundation in Sidi Ifni, Morocco, to move forward an engineering program to capture tiny droplets of water with a polyethylene mesh in the mountainous Boutmezguida region of southern Morocco.

a fog-net

The volleyball-net-like structures grab liquid from the fog, which drips down the nets into collecting tubes. Gravity propels the drops down pipes that terminate at a water storage tank at the bottom of the mountain. The sustainable project could theoretically provide clean, safe water for people in the area.

The idea began earlier this year when Jamila Bargach was a guest lecturer at the Baker Institute for Public Policy's Energy Forum at Rice, talking about Integrated Appoaches to Sustainable Development. She was able to tell the students about an opportunity to go to Morocco to put into practice some aspects of what they were learning. The goal of the trip was to expose students to applying sustainable techniques learned from a course to real-world problems in developing countries.

Bargach is a cultural anthropologist who graduated from Rice University in 1998. She has written several books including Orphans of Islam, and teaches architectural students anthropology and sociology. She is also a founder member of the recently-established Dar Si-Hmad Foundation for Development, Education and Culture in Ifni in the southwest of Morocco.

"Initially, it was a huge culture shock to be in an Arab country, but Moroccan hospitality and food won us over," research associate Kevin Liu said. "We had a great experience working with the foundation and the local people."

He described the interaction with professionals associated with Dar Si Hmad Foundation and residents of the Boutmezguida region as the highlight of the trip. After overcoming early "stomach issues," he and his colleagues developed a taste for the local cuisine. However they gave up on mastering its preparation. "We learned that we could not cook Moroccan food, not matter how hard we tried," he said.

While he acknowledged that the nets cannot supply enough water for a metropolitan area, Liu said they can make a real difference for rural families. At a cost of roughly $1,000-$1,500 to cover materials and maintenance for an average 10-year lifespan, he said, "we can provide anywhere from 200 to 1,000 liters of water per day for a village." They also looked into the possibility of harvesting water that accumulated on trees by spreading tarps on the ground beneath them. The idea stemmed from observing indicators of water accumulation on the vegetation. Ideally, the vegetation acts as a natural fog collector.

The Rice students' mission included conducting background research on the project, completing the calculations for the designs and locations of the nets and developing the required infrastructure for a future Rice group to finish the project next summer.

"Determining the location to position the nets will be especially important for maximizing the efficiency of the nets in regard to the orientation, frequency of fog, and wind speed and direction," Liu said. "The region could also benefit from a comprehensive survey of natural groundwater patterns created by the fog."

"Our main two takeaways were developing and conducting a comprehensive survey for local water demand as well as designing and implementing basins to capture water from the fog on local vegetation," he said.

"The challenge of both the science and engineering and cultural implementation is large, and the predestined condition of geography and nature is hard to overcome," Jaffe wrote on the Baker Institute's blog in the Houston Chronicle. One of the lessons of the Morocco experience, she added, is that "the solutions to such problems are not global at all. They are community-specific and require a deep knowledge of specific cultural, geographic and socio-political conditions."

Liu echoed Jaffe's conclusion: "Although we may think we know what is best for other countries, it is impossible for us to put ourselves in their shoes. That is why a comprehensive survey needs to be done before any construction so we can get a feel of the situation. If you just go and build without understanding the culture and the relationships of the locals (and what is socially acceptable), you could do more harm than good."

For more information on the Dar Si-Hmad Foundation, see www.darsihmad.ma.

Moroccan News Briefs

The 11th Jazz Festival of Tangier

The 11th Jazz Festival of Tangier "Tanjazz" will take place September 22 to 26 with the participation of renowned artists from America, Europe, Asia and Africa.

This major musical event will be a gateway for music lovers of jazz to meet their favorite artists and enjoy some magical moments full of rhythms, organizers said in a statement.The concerts will take place in several venues including the Place des Nations, the port of Tangier, the Palais des Institutions Italiennes, and on other stages.

Participants in this event include the Moroccan groupe Mazagan, one of the essential figures of Moroccan fusion, and the Moroccan singer Barry. The Black Label Swingtet along with singers Patoon Catwiner, Monty Alexander, Jean Pierre Como, Cisco Herzhaft, Nina Van Horn, Kicca & Intrigo, Sofi Hellborg, Fam of Funk, and Afro Yambi Jazz will also be present at this major arts event .

The festival programme also includes Superswing Byte, Circular Time, Kazako, Cocktail Oven, Amoria & Jok'a'Face, Al Copley, Ruben Paz y su, Montuno Jazz, Duke's House Quartet, the Dallas Quartet and Trio Enzo Carniel.

"History of jazz music," a teaching presentation designed by a group of musicians, actors, professionals of music and theatre, and educators is also in the festival programme.

Internet Threat Expires Today

In a sign of just how crazy some people are, a month ago, a self-proclaimed "lover of al-Qaeda and Jihad" gave Moroccan pharmacy owners one month to remove cross symbols from storefronts or else face beheading.

"In 2009, Crusade France lured owners of pharmacies with financial benefits and discounts in medications in return for replacing the green cross with the green crescent. We demand you remove the crosses off the façades of your pharmacies and to respect our religion. Forewarned is forearmed. We give you and those who work with you an interval of one month to return to your true nature and nation."- unnamed writer on the internet

The deadline expires today - August 28th.

Morocco has not issued an official response to the online ultimatum. Communications Minister Khalid Naciri on August 17th told the online site, Magharebia, that "the government can't issue reactions to each and every threat posted on the internet".

McDonalds lays down the law in Ramadan.

“To our customers. During the Ramadan period, only non-Muslim children and adults will be served”

A video circulating on the internet claims that the government is intending to bring in one to six month jail terms for breaking the fast in public.

Moroccan Tourism Holds Hard


The tourism sector is robust despite the economic slump, thanks to measures taken by the Moroccan government to address the world financial crisis, Tourism Minister Yassir Zenagui said.

"The different measures taken by the government allowed us to keep the business on the right track," Zenagui told US TV channel CNN.

He noted that tourist arrivals rose by 16% during the first quarter of 2010 versus a year before.

He added that these results are the upshot of the reforms put in place by the north African country to raise the quality of the Moroccan product.

The Minister stressed that the Moroccan financial system was not affected by the crisis and the banks did not have any exposure to subprime markets.

"Morocco had a 6% growth in a difficult time, while most countries of the region had a negative progression," he said.

Moroccan Photography Competition #65

Fez. Photographer: Johanne Doumas

The photography competition winners will be announced at our birthday party in October, with some wonderful prizes, including a very generous accommodation package for two in Fez, donated by the good folks at Dar El Menia, a sumptuous meal for two at Cafe Clock as well as a luxury hammam and other goodies to be announced. We will accept entries until September 30th. So get your entry in !

Submit a photograph.

Send your photograph in jpeg or gif form to: theviewfromfez@gmail.com and please put the words "photo entry" in the subject line.

View all photographs in our photojournal.

Ramadan: breaking the fast Pakistani-style

During the holy month of Ramadan, there are traditional foods served for breaking the fast. In Morocco, f'tour (breakfast in Darija, or iftar in Arabic) is served after the maghrib call to prayer at around 17h30. It would not be complete without a satisfying bowl of harira, seasoned with a few drops of lemon juice. Sticky, sweet chebakiya accompany the soup. There are always dates, various breads, hard-boiled eggs dipped in cumin and milkshakes or fruit juices. Sweet mint tea rounds off the meal.

As one of The View from Fez team is currently in Pakistan, we take a look at the traditional foods served for iftar in that country. While lots of restaurants in Pakistan serve iftar, it's really a time to spend with the family and the women take pride in serving home-made favourites.

DATES

Dates are a favourite in both countries. As they are highly nutritious, they're ideal to break the fast. In Pakistan they are either eaten plain or they're seeded and stuffed with almonds or pistachios, rolled in desiccated coconut or sprinkled with rose essence for extra flavour. Sometimes they're also wrapped in edible silver foil called warq to give them place of honour on the iftar dining table.

SAMOSAS

No iftar in Pakistan is complete without this triangular, spicy fried delicacy. The wafting aroma that comes from fried samosas is tantalising. Samosas can be filled with mashed potatoes, onions, spicy minced meat, cheese, chicken or cooked vegetables. They are usually served with mint, coriander or tamarind chutney. Literally thousands of samosa stalls spring up during Ramadan in every nook and cranny of the country where vendors start frying this savory iftar item well before the prayers to meet the demands of the fasting populace.

JALEBI

Not unlike the Moroccan chebakiya, jalebi is a sweet pretzel that's eaten with savoury samosas to counter their salty and spicy taste. It's made with fried batter that's dyed bright orange or yellow with food colouring, and soaked in sugar syrup.

PAKORAS

Another Pakistani iftar favourite, pakoras are fried balls of gram (chickpea) flour. Various vegetables cut into small pieces, such as onions, potatoes, spinach, coriander leaves, aubergines and green chilis, can be added to the batter, which is then deep-fried to make fritters. They're served with onion rings and chutney. The batter can also be used to make a kind of tempura, where vegetables such as cauliflower florets, onion rings and even whole green chillies are dipped in it and then deep-fried.

FRUIT CHAT

For the health conscious, fruit chat is an alternative to spicy pakoras and fried samosas. A variety of seasonal fruits like mangoes, bananas, apples, guavas, apricots, grapes and pineapple are cut in small cubes and served in juice. A few lemon drops are squeezed over the dish to keep it from changing color and a little salt, chat masala (spice mix)and pepper are sprinkled on the dish to give it a zesty flavor. It's very refreshing after a long day’s fast.

CHICKPEA CHAT


Another delicious food item to grace the iftar table is the chickpea or chana chat. This dish is made of boiled chickpeas mixed with boiled and cubed potatoes, chopped tomatoes, onions, green chillies and served with dollops of spicy tamarind chutney. A fabulous dish to tantalize the taste buds, chickpea chat is also nutritious and healthy.

DRINKS FOR IFTAR

Water is the best option for quenching thirst after a 15 hour-long fast for most people. In Pakistan a variety of sherbets, sweet syrup-based drinks, are also available that are prepared for iftar. Cold milk mixed with sherbet or soda is also commonly served. Packaged or fresh juices, lemon squashes, carbonated and non-carbonated soft drinks are also consumed. After iftar, drinking tea or kehwa is also common practice.

Fear of 'Islamist" charities may hinder aid to Pakistan

Here is the second of our View from Fez special reports from on the ground in Pakistan.

"Aid going to terrorist-funded camps." Variations on this headline have been appearing around the world; a majority of them head stories written by "experts" miles from the scene. However, the one quoted was attached to a story written by respected Australian Broadcasting Corporation journalist, Sally Sara. Sara is in Pakistan and been covering the floods with energy and expertise.

Her report went on...

Australian aid to Pakistani flood victims is being distributed at a camp funded by a banned Pakistani terrorist organisation.   The outlawed welfare group Jamaat-ud-Dawa was linked to the 2008 Mumbai terrorist attacks and has been blacklisted by the US, Pakistan and the United Nations.

But the UN World Food Program (WFP) is distributing aid, including containers of cooking oil donated by Australia, at a camp which receives funding from Jamaat-ud-Dawa.

WFP spokeswoman Frances Kennedy says the UN is careful when it chooses its Pakistani partners.

At the foot of the story the ABC asked its audience "Do stories like this make you less likely to donate to Pakistani flood victims?" Thankfully, a majority of respondents rejected the premiss of the question. However, the question does require a response.

Here in Pakistan the debate about Islamist charities is a very hot topic. The general consensus is that, given the magnitude of the disaster, any and every bit of help is welcome. Professor Mohammad Ibraheem Khan from Jamaat-e-Islami, states that the Islamic charities have been the most effective in all three stages of rescue, relief and rehabilitation. He pointed to the work of Al-Khidmat. This Islamic group has been active in 15 districts and to date they have rescued 46,907 people. The group has over 10,000 volunteers who have set up 45 relief camps and 6 residential camps. If even a fraction of these numbers are accurate, it is not an effort that can be ignored.

FIF officials at the camp in Sukkur (ABC TV)

Much has been made in the international media about FIF (Falah-i-Insaniat Foundation) who are connected with the Islamist group Jamaat-ud-Dawa (the charity wing of Lashkar-e-Taiba). Their 3000 volunteers have been on the ground since day one of the flooding and provided cooked food and other relief for around 100,000 people. They are also responsible for setting up toilet facilities for women living in makeshift tents along roadways.

Jamaat-ud-Dawa banner openly displayed in Rawalpindi yesterday

While it is true that Pakistan has a series of security problems, the scale of this disaster demands every bit of assistance. And it appears on the ground that with such intense work, the groups are too busy providing aid to indulge in spreading their religious and political messages. What happens in the coming months may be a different matter. But if we hesitate in giving aid now because concerns over Islamist charities, the death toll while be far higher than any insurgency might create.

More reports from The View from Fez in Pakistan will follow in coming days.

The View from Fez reports from Pakistan

In the first few days, the response to Pakistan's catastrophic floods was far smaller than one might have expected. Countries around the world pledged aid, but it was far below what was needed, even for the initial phase of the disaster. In terms of what will be needed in the coming months and even years, it was far from adequate. Now, as the scale of the tragedy sinks in, the donations have increased substantially. One of The View from Fez team travelled to Pakistan, from where they sent this report.

Morocco has a very strong record of responding to humanitarian disasters and so it was no surprise that within days King Mohamed VI had ordered the dispatch of an initial planeload of humanitarian aid to flood victims in Pakistan. The aid included 12 tonnes of medical and pharmaceutical products.

The situation on the ground is difficult to come to terms with. First is the massive scale of the problem. Secondly, is the almost impossible task of getting an accurate picture of what is being done and where. What is easy to understand is that this is not a single shock event such as a tsunami. This is a rolling disaster which will effect millions of lives for years into the future.

The initial phase of the tragedy began more than three weeks ago, when the worst floods in decades, triggered by unusually heavy monsoon rains, swept through the northwestern provinces, have receded in some areas in the northwest and Punjab, while aid agencies now say southern Sindh province is most vulnerable to rising waters of the Indus river. To complicate matters the Sutlej river, in the south, is at critical levels and will be impacted further if the Indian government releases water from their dams further upstream.

Estimates of the number of deaths is sketchy, but the Pakistan government report that more than five million people have been displaced. If this figure is correct then this is the largest mass movement of people in the country since Partition in 1947. Other reports claim that one fifth of Pakistan's land mass is under water and the total number of people affected has topped a staggering 20 million.

In Sindh province a further 200,000 people have been evacuated in the last few days. On top of those rescued or evacuated there remains a further 800,000 people who are still waiting to be rescued by air. For a country, where there are few helicopters, this task verges on the impossible. The World Food Programme has urged Pakistan's government to quickly assist those 800,000 who, according to the World Food Program spokesperson, Amjad Jamal, "There is a real fear that they may die of hunger or disease outbreak".

Whatever the figures, the brutal truth is that there are millions without homes, food and medicine. The local stocks of rice have been depleted in Sindh and Balochistan by the washing away of the rice stocks estimated to be worth $3.7 million dollars.

There are those who question the ability of the Pakistani government to handle the situation and who claim this is the reason for a slow response from the international community. This is the wrong way to approach the problem. Firstly, having seen the American response to Katrina it is arguable that there is no government anywhere equipped to handle a disaster of this magnitude. Secondly, the government has sent all branches of the armed services who have so far carried out their task with courage and determination. Some commentators outside of Pakistan have talked about the possibility of military rule. Talk to both army and civilian authorities and they will tell you this is nonsense. As one senior army officer told us, "The army is a wing of the government, not the other way around."

Support for Pakistan at this time and into the future is essential. This is not the time or place to be playing politics.

The View from Fez will have further reports from Pakistan on the floods, the security situation and the world's response, in coming days.

Architectural design competition for Fez medina

Architects from around the world are invited to take part in a competition to upgrade a large square in the Fez medina.

Place Lalla Yeddouna (also known as Sahat Yaddouna) is between the Qarawyine and the Chaouwara Tanneries next to the River Boukhrareb, and in fact a bridge crosses the river from this square into the Andalous quarter.

Sahat Yaddouna

The competition has been launched by L’Agence du Partenariat pour le Progrès (APP) together with ADER-Fès. In accordance with UNESCO-UIA regulations, the competition is part of a programme for the economic and social development of this sector of the medina through the development of its cultural, artisan and tourist potential. Place Lalla Yeddouna will serve in the future as a vibrant mixed-use hub for the community as well as for visitors to the medina. The preservation of the architectural and cultural heritage of the site, registered on the UNESCO world heritage list, is a fundamental aspect of the competition programme.

The competition is in two stages. At the end of the first stage, the jury will select about eight projects; the selected teams will be invited to participate in the second stage for which they will each receive a fee of US$40,000. At the end of the second stage, the jury will award a US$55,000 first prize, a $40,000 second prize, and a $25,000 third prize.

The submission deadline for entries in the first stage is 8 November, and the submission deadline for invited second-stage entries will be in February 2011. The final jury meeting will take place in March 2011.

The jury is comprised of Moroccan authorities and representatives from the USA, and also includes the following architects: David Chipperfield, United Kingdom; Matthias Sauerbruch, Germany; Marc Angélil, Switzerland-USA; Meisa Batayneh Maani, Jordan; Stefano Bianca, Switzerland; Omar Farkhani, Morocco; and Rodolfo Machado, USA-Argentina.

Registration for the competition will take place on the competition website at www.projectcompetition-fez.com. The language of the competition is English, and there is no registration fee.

Coke still top of the pops in Morocco

Coca Cola continues to lead the soft-drink market in Morocco, reports Euromonitor International.

The opening of more retail outlets as well as more cafes has contributed to the increase in consumption of the well-known beverage. Soft drinks tend to be an impulse-buy in Morocco, with most consumers buying from small outlets close to their homes rather than in bulk in supermarkets.

However, Coke sales have fallen over the past year as Moroccans become more health-conscious and turn their attention to fruit-based soft drinks. Sidi Ali bottled still water is the best-seller in the country, and the sparking Oulmes spring water has enjoyed markedly increased sales recently.


One thing that has come to light is the decline in the availability of Coca-Cola in returnable glass bottles. There seems to be a move to plastic bottles which doesn't bode well for the already over-burdened Moroccan environment.

Marrakech and Fez airports to be enlarged

Back in January, The View from Fez reported on the new terminal to be built at Fez airport (see the story here). But Menara airport in Marrakech will also benefit from and third terminal.

Morocco's aviation authority Office National des Aeroports is now inviting firms to tender for two separate deals to build new terminals at Marrakech International and Fez Saiss airports.

The expansions of the two airports are being planned to help cope with a projected increase in tourism in the country. About 8.3 million foreign passengers passed through Morocco's airports in 2009, a 5% increase from 2008.

The scope of the first deal involves the construction of the new Terminal 3 at Marrakech airport which will be 26,000 square meters. The Office National des Aeroports will finance the construction through a loan from the African Development Bank.

Terminal 3 is part of the wider expansion of the airport, which will more than double the airport's capacity to 10 million passengers a year by 2013 from 4.5 million passengers a year currently. Later work planned for the development includes an expansion of existing passenger terminals and extending the berths to accommodate Airbus A380 planes. Progress on the project has been delayed due to the appointment of a new managing director, Dalil Guendouz, earlier this year.

The second deal involves the construction of a 26,000 square meter terminal at Fez Saiss airport. The African Development Bank will also finance this project, which is expected to cost around USD 71 million. The expansion will see total capacity at the airport increase to 3 million passengers a year from 500,000 passengers currently.

This project is expected to help the regions of Fez, Taza-Al Hoceima-Taounate and Meknes strengthen their infrastructure and economic development and will also work alongside other projects such as the Fez-Oujda highway. The highway will be 320 kilometers when it is complete in 2011 and is being built to improve access.

Moroccan Photography Competition #64

Marrakech Souq: Photographer: Priya Marwaha

(Click image to enlarge)

The photography competition winners will be announced at our birthday party in October, with some wonderful prizes, including a very generous accommodation package for two in Fez, donated by the good folks at Dar El Menia, a sumptuous meal for two at Cafe Clock as well as a luxury hammam and other goodies to be announced. We will accept entries until September 30th. So get your entry in !

Submit a photograph.

Send your photograph in jpeg or gif form to: theviewfromfez@gmail.com and please put the words "photo entry" in the subject line.

View all photographs in our photojournal.

Hiring a guide in Fez

With the news from Maghreb Arab Press that the tourist police brigade has arrested 414 false guides in Fez over the last three months, The View from Fez asks, just how do you find a guide who's reliable?

Official guides in Fez wear a laminated badge around their neck. Without this authorisation, anyone posing as a guide is not registered and can be arrested for showing tourists the city. The real guides are well-informed about the history of the city and, like many Moroccans, speak several languages. On offer are English, French, Spanish, Italian and even Japanese. Visitors are encouraged either to book a guide through their guesthouse, or engage the services of one of the guides at Bab Boujloud. Guesthouses usually have a few guides they know and trust.

The unofficial guides, or faux guides, are indeed pesky. They try so hard to take visitors to shops or the tanneries, where they will earn a few Dirhams. 'La shukran' (no, thank you) should suffice, but often doesn't. A more forceful 'La!' might do the trick. If you really have trouble shaking them off, the tourist brigade police are stationed at Bab Boujloud, and patrol the streets dressed in navy blue. It must be said that the situation has improved markedly over the last few years, and with this new wave of arrests, should be even easier on tourists.

TO SHOP OR NOT TO SHOP?

The cost of a guide for half a day is around Dh150, and for a full day, Dh200. Guides will take visitors to various shops where they earn commission. You can be assured that prices in these shops will be at least 50% higher if you arrive with a guide in tow, to cover his commission. So, if you don't want to pay these prices, make sure that you say so when you book, and reiterate it before you set out. It's a good idea to tip a bit more than the standard fee if you're happy with his work and you've haven't shopped.

There are, as far as we know, only two female guides in Fez at the moment. And only a couple who speak Japanese, and who charge more for this extra skill.

IS A GUIDE NECESSARY?

It depends a lot on how much time you have and how good your map-reading skills are. If you only have a couple of days in Fez, then it's a good idea to hire a guide so that you don't miss any of the major places of interest. If, on the other hand, you have a little more time, a good map (from the Bab to Bab book, the green ADER guide or Lonely Planet's Fez Encounter), and don't mind getting lost now and again, you can get by without one. But it's a good idea to support the local guides who have worked hard to get their accreditation and can point out things you might miss.

Moroccan Photography Competition #63

Photographer: Ali Tollervey
(Click image to enlarge)

The photography competition winners will be announced at our birthday party in October, with some wonderful prizes, including a very generous accommodation package for two in Fez, donated by the good folks at Dar El Menia, a sumptuous meal for two at Cafe Clock as well as a luxury hammam and other goodies to be announced. We will accept entries until September 30th. So get your entry in !

Submit a photograph.

Send your photograph in jpeg or gif form to: theviewfromfez@gmail.com and please put the words "photo entry" in the subject line.

View all photographs in our photojournal.

Tangier inspires - from beyond the grave

The late Billy Thorpe

Back in on the 28th of February, 2007, a friend of ours died. Billy Thorpe, was a legend in the Australian rock music scene and his death marked the end of what was an extraordinary career. But not quite. Now, three years after his death he is releasing a new album. Ibn Warraq reports:

This week music lovers were given a preview of new single by the late Australian rock star, Billy Thorpe. Along with the track came the news that an entire new album will be released on October 22. The album is entitled Tangier.


The genesis of the album and the seven years of work that Thorpe put into it can be traced back to the year 2000. It was then that Billy decided to take his wife, Lynn, for a trip to Morocco to celebrate her 50th birthday. The inspiration he gained from the Morocco trip has been turned into what some are describing as "the final defining statement in an extraordinary musical career".

The album also features the legendary Australian actor, Jack Thompson. Jack, a longtime friend of Thorpe, was to have been a guest of The View from Fez, earlier this year, but work on Thorpe's album meant he had to postpone his visit to Fez. Jack contributes to the album with narration. According to Jack, “Billy was inspired in Tangier. Billy really discovered something musically in Morocco, but it was more than that. It was a whole opening up of Billy in a way, beyond his trajectory as a rock and roller, from very early in his life, into something that incorporates rock into an orchestral form.”

“Billy had told me about his connection in Morocco, how he’d been working on ideas for long time. I felt so much a part of what he was doing and I understood it and it was an honour for me to do that.” - Mick Fleetwood.

According to the Sydney Morning Herald, the 10 new tracks, all written by Thorpe, have been realised with the help of some of great musical names including Ian Moss, Brian Cadd, Connie Mitchell, Vanessa Amorosi, Melinda Schneider, Egypt’s Tawadros brothers, Venezuelan-born flautist Pedro Eustache, Sydney violinist Richard Tognetti and the great Mick Fleetwood.

Noah Taylor in the video

Having viewed the epic video clip for the title track, we can report that it was shot on in Morocco and features Australian actor Noah Taylor.

“I got a call out of the blue from Jack Thompson” said Taylor.

“The request was simple in a Jack sort of way. He asked if I would be up for appearing in a music video to be shot in Morocco the following week.

“It was his friend’s Billy Thorpe’s final masterpiece. I jumped… and 10 days later I was in Morocco with director Josh Logue (Empire Of The Sun) having the time of my life and experiencing magic on so many levels. It was such a surreal experience”



All up, Tangier brings together dozens of musicians from different cultures, orchestras, choirs and other worldly sounds into a genuinely modern Thorpe sound. Centre stage in this musical maelstrom is the unmistakable voice and spirit of the irrepressible Thorpe. The images of Morocco in the video clip are ... well, different!

Moroccan Photography Competition #62

Market at Had Draa near Essaouira, 

photographer: Wolfgang Dreesbach

The photography competition winners will be announced at our birthday party in October, with some wonderful prizes, including a very generous accommodation package for two in Fez, donated by the good folks at Dar El Menia, a sumptuous meal for two at Cafe Clock as well as a luxury hammam and other goodies to be announced. We will accept entries until September 30th. So get your entry in !

Submit a photograph.

Send your photograph in jpeg or gif form to: theviewfromfez@gmail.com and please put the words "photo entry" in the subject line.

View all photographs in our photojournal.

Fez Culinary Festival

The View from Fez is delighted to learn than the Fez Culinary Festival will be held from 29-31 October at various venues in the medina.

This 5th edition of the festival will offer an exhibition, tastings, workshops and talkshops, demonstrations, a gala dinner with a fashion show, a film screening for children, a visit to the souk and even a concert.

The woman behind this revamped, innovative-sounding festival is Director Danielle Cabanis, Professor of Law and Politics at Toulouse University. It will be presented by the Spirit of Fez Foundation.

'In Fez', Cabanis explains, 'all the traditions, cultures and religions are found. The Culinary Festival this year will showcase the celebratory foods of the three Abrahamic faiths, and bring together spirituality, music, exhibitions and cooking. Sharing festival food together in some of the most beautiful buildings of the city will create a festive spirit of conviviality.'

Danielle Cabanis

As was seen at the recent Fes Festival of World Sacred Music, a wider range of medina venues will be used than in the past, including Dar Mokri, Bab al Makina, the Batha Museum, Dar Tazi, the Merinides Hotel and the Palais Jamai.

Here is the programme:

FRIDAY 29 OCTOBER

14h00 Opening at Bab al Makina

15h00 Opening of the exhibition:

Celebration table settings:

- traditional Moroccan, European and Asian

- tableware from Morocco, Italy, Portugal, France and Germany

- glass and metalware from France and the Czech Republic

Cookbooks: celebratory meals from around the Mediterranean. Authors in attendance for signing and talking about their books.

Cooking utensils old and new

Diaporama of music used for festivals

16h00 Workshops:

1. Small Christmas cakes: Inge Anex-Hegenscheidt

2. Ramadan patisserie

3. Patisserie for children

18h30 Tastings

Film screening for children 'Ratatouille' in the Salle de la Mairie

20h00 Dinner: traditional Muslim dishes

SATURDAY 30 OCTOBER

09h00 Workshops:

1. Traditional Moroccan spices and flavours for celebrations

2. Foie Gras (chef B. Garrigues); Christmas pudding

3. Cheese, with Mme Sena

4. a top Swiss chocolatier

09h30 Opening of activities around culinary traditions: demonstrations and tastings

10h00 Conference:

- Festive gastonomy: an important market (with representatives from Nestle, poultry and ostrich farmers, and the Moroccan food distribution industry)

- Frauds and festivals - or consumer protection, with Prof Andre Cabanis

- Religious and patriotic festivals in the USA, with Sylvie Davidson, Professor at Dickinson College

Light lunch with traditional Christian and Muslim dishes, attended by the wives of ambassadors.

14h30 Workshops and tastings:

1. Small Christmas cakes, with Inge Anex-Hegenscheidt

2. Ramadan patisserie

3. Table settings, presentation and serviette-folding, with Professor Christophe Laurent of the Lausanne Hotel School

4. Demonstration of cooking equipment

15h00 Conference:

- Festive meals in painting, with Guy de Toulza, Ecole des Beaux Arts

- Musicians and festive gastronomy, with Marc Laborde, Director of CRDP

- Festivals as seen by writers, with Georges Mailhos, former President of Toulouse Le Mirail

- Meals for festivals and sharing, with Danielle Cabanis

19h00 Concert with soloists from the Passions Orchestra

20h30 Gala dinner: pastilla, turkey, Christmas desserts

with a Moroccan and European fashion show

SUNDAY 31 OCTOBER

09h00 Workshops:

1. Festival menus revisited (with video and reports)

2. Decor for religious festivals: pinecones, candleholders, balls and chandeliers

3. Festival fruits and vegetables, with Mme Matthey

4. Iranian cocktails

10h30 Conference:

- Does God like festivals? with Chantal Borde-Benayoun, a Moroccan rabbi, Pastor Ellul, Bernard Beignier from the Law faculty at Toulouse, an imam

12h00 Buffet prepared by the Moroccan Jewish community

from 13h00

Tasting lunch at Bab al Makina with typical dishes from around the world: pilau from central Asia, nasi-goreng from Indonesia, poulet yassa from sub-Saharan Africa, Lebanese mezze, fish couscous, canard confit, Mediterranean kebabs, galettes and crepes, olives, Russian dishes, Polish desserts

Sale of typical products

Musicians: Arab-Andalous, central European Jewish music, children's Christmas choir

15h00 A visit to the vegetable souk

17h00 Closure and announcement of 2011 Festival

It's not clear yet where everything will be held, nor what the costs will be. The Festival's website is under construction at www.festivalartculinaire.com.

Ramadan begins in Morocco

RAMADAN MUBARAK !

Today marks the first day of Ramadan and the team at The View from Fez wishes all our readers Ramadan blessings.


If you are visiting Morocco during Ramadan here is our quick guide: Ramadan in Morocco.

Moroccan Photography Competition #61

Photographer Lise Cruickshank

(click image to enlarge)

The photography competition winners will be announced at our birthday party in October, with some wonderful prizes, including a very generous accommodation package for two in Fez, donated by the good folks at Dar El Menia, a sumptuous meal for two at Cafe Clock as well as a luxury hammam and other goodies to be announced. We will accept entries until September 30th. So get your entry in !

Submit a photograph.

Send your photograph in jpeg or gif form to: theviewfromfez@gmail.com and please put the words "photo entry" in the subject line.

View all photographs in our photojournal.

Massive Mosque Closures in Morocco

Mosque collapses have been a problem in Morocco for some time. On February the 19th this year, a four-centuries old minaret collapsed in the Lalla Khenata mosque in the old Bab el Bardiyine neighbourhood of Meknes, killing 41 people and injuring 71 worshippers. (See our story here). Just over a week later one person was killed and three others wounded when the dome of the Al-Amal mosque in the town of Zaio in the Nador province in northeastern Morocco collapsed on Saturday during repairs. The dead man was one of the repair workers.

HM King Mohammed VI moved quickly after the Meknes tragedy and ordered all the country's mosques to be examined. It was a big undertaking as Morocco has more than 47,000 mosques.

Now the research has been done and action will begin. It has been announced that the government will close 1,256 mosques found to be "unsafe".

The ministry of religious affairs has said over 500 mosques would be completely demolished and rebuilt. In the interim makeshift tents would be provided for prayers.

The ministry said it has inspected over 19,000 of the country's nearly 48,000 mosques. A sum of $325 million has been set aside for improvement work, including demolition and rebuilding of 513 mosques.

Marrakech on your iPhone

For the last few months, The View from Fez has been road-testing the various city guides available as apps for the iPhone. There are several on the market and one clear leader. The Marrakech Travel GuideBy Etips is okay, but a little clunky. However, although slightly more expensive, top of the list is the Lonely Planet app for Marrakesh.

Unfortunately there is still no digital version of the great Fez Encounter, however Marrakech has been available for a while. Apart from a rather serious glich with the telephone numbers not being updated after Morocco changed its phone system, the guide is a superb companion for a trip to the 'kech. If you are confused by the phone number issue, see our easy to follow guide here: Morocco Phone Numbers

We have used the guide extensively and found:

(1) It is very easy to use – swipe to scroll through a full table of contents, dip into sections, and turn pages with a flick of your finger.

(2) With good offline maps there’s no need to go online to access our detailed street maps, fully retooled for the iPhone with location awareness, multi-touch controls, full-colour styling and six-level zoom.

(3) There are scores of geo-coded points-of-interest (POIs)arranged by proximity, category, preferences or favourites. You simply tap to visit the website, or place a direct call (having checked the number!).

(4) text search – whether you’re into ‘live music' or ‘fine dining’, every article and POI in your guidebook is text-searchable.

(5) location-based navigation – plot your location in real time on our interactive maps, exploring back streets and hidden treasures with no danger of losing your way.

(6) personalisation – tailor your City Guide to your tastes by tagging the best POIs as ‘favourites’.

(7) money saving – forget roaming costs, the app is designed for offline use, and only take up the room of an average album on your iPod.

Overall, we were very happy with this app and found it easy to use and good value for money. To purchase the app, go to "App Store" on your phone and select "search" then type in "Lonely Planet Marrakesh City Guide". Too easy!

Now, dear Lonely Planet.... we would like a city guide app for Fez.

Moroccan Photography Competition #60

She will be loved - Photographer: Jennifer Zabala

(click image to enlarge)

The photography competition winners will be announced at our birthday party in October, with some wonderful prizes, including a very generous accommodation package for two in Fez, donated by the good folks at Dar El Menia, a sumptuous meal for two at Cafe Clock as well as a luxury hammam and other goodies to be announced. We will accept entries until September 30th. So get your entry in !

Submit a photograph.

Send your photograph in jpeg or gif form to: theviewfromfez@gmail.com and please put the words "photo entry" in the subject line.

View all photographs in our photojournal.

Opinion: A new second language for Morocco?

Saïd Bellari, a Moroccan Dutch Psychiatrist, recently penned an essay for Moroccoboard.com which questioned the continued influence of the French language in Morocco. The essay, entitled "Morocco: Speaking the wrong language" is sure to raise the debate. The big question; will anyone take any notice. Ibn Warraq reports for The View from Fez.

Al-Humdullilah ! At last someone has come out and said what so many of us have been thinking for a very long time. Recently I was asked to give a talk to non-Moroccans about literacy in Morocco. One of the points I made was that with so many people growing up with one of the Amazigh languages at home, the move to Darija was an initial difficulty. Then there was the need for MSA (Modern Standard Arabic) and finally, the fact that French was also required. At the time I thought again "why do we still teach French".  Right at the beginning of the essay, Saïd Bellari draws attention, not to literacy, but to "disliteracy".

"While you will not be able to find this word in a regular English dictionary I think that it matters nonetheless. The more so because it is especially prevalent amongst the educated elite. It means that they are speaking the wrong language in Morocco amongst themselves and with the rest of the world. Because of that we fail to go with the global flow and we isolate ourselves more and more from the development growth of other areas abroad like the one in South East Asia."

So, what should we be speaking amongst ourselves and what language should we employ to address the world? Saïd Bellari makes it very clear: "I do not want to say that we should stop speaking Arabic in Morocco. Allah yastar! Not in the least, perhaps we should do that even more. With it I mean in fact that we should aim to fade out the French language as soon as possible. Simultaneously we should give the English language a fresh stimulus in all aspects of Moroccan society and let it take its place as a second language of Morocco. French should not even be 3rd or 4th language for that matter. This change from a francophone to an "Arab-Anglophone" country will introduce a second era of Istiqlal. It will unleash a sense of freedom of spirit in our Moroccan society that will erode historic brakes and obstacles settled in Moroccan collective mind."

This is stirring stuff! Not only is he suggesting ditching the language of the colonisers, but very sensibly promoting the idea of wider use of English. Dropping French more than 55 years after independence is taking things a bit too slowly. There are compelling reasons for taking up English. Yes, all of the international ones abut also the local ones, such as tourism. It is noticeable in Fez, year after year, that there are constant complaints that Festivals employ French rather than English, and when they do condescend to publish a programme in English, the translation is from French and is usually laughable.

Saïd Bellari does not hold back from a little straight talking.

"While we celebrate quite some decades of independence now year after year, one can truly ask himself whether that state of independence has truly soaked our whole Moroccan society? Or is it that in certain corners, some of them essential, the French occupier is virtually still subjugating our hearts and minds to the detriment of our future prospects? Well in the matter of language the question does not even beg for an answer: every Moroccan academician, scientist, entrepreneur, artist, writer, doctor, politician or whatever key societal character, will easily admit that French is still the Master of the Moroccan Universe. In more than 50 years France has still succeeded in keeping the illusion in Morocco alive and kicking that we need our historical and cultural ties with it. It is a communal trance-like state of mind that is inhibiting our progress. Even after all the abuse that colonialism brought with it. (Or perhaps even because of the abuse of our people during centuries by the Western occupiers that shared the inhumane idea behind colonialism.)This pathological trait of dependency is still hurting Moroccan society and it’s future enormously. While I am in the least propagating a severing of ties with France or its culture, it would be foolish indeed, I am merely asking Moroccans to count to 10, think again and again and ask themselves plainly why they would choose French as a second language in this 21st Century?"


France and its culture has become a niche society on Earth and following it as a Moroccan amounts to civilizational self-destruction. While it was understandably hard to make this massive cultural transition in the sixties or the seventies of the 20th Century, nothing ought to keep the Kingdom and its people from choosing their own future nowadays. And this counts especially for the second language that we are cultivating collectively in Morocco. So that is why I am proposing to kick out the French asap and welcome the English in our homes, of course secondly behind our treasured Arabic. There is also a powerful psychological reason behind this transition that will mean a world of difference on this grassroots level.


France and French are part of our history. And that is exactly all it should be. A part in our history that we did not choose voluntarily. A part also that cost our society a lot to shed definitely, if not at least partially. For the remaining part, French as a Lingua Franca in Moroccan society, consciously, but even more unconsciously, still reminds us of being slaves, of being dependent, of being backward, of being unable and of being all the things that second rate people are, or better phrased: of being what racist people want you to think of yourselves, of being second rate: "I am less worthy, less able”. This mental complex deeply rooted in our collective mind would take generations to overcome otherwise. By audaciously and emphatically peeling French from our society, which was not of our own choosing, we heal ourselves collectively. And by replacing it of our own accord by English (as a logical alternative to better connect to world society and be better prepared for the future) we would heal ourselves even more! It would emanate a second grand wave of independence in Moroccan society. A true collective grass-roots wave that speaks of will-power, self-determination, self-expression and new trust, hope and optimism for the future.

This is no small undertaking as Saïd Bellari admits - "A committee could investigate and report on how this transition is best done during one generation. Helpful would be ties with the Anglophone part of the world in general and Islamic countries in particular. As a live example of the last category, showing a marvelous development trajectory counts the experience of Malaysia: it is comparable to Morocco in population but instead had a very successful transition since independence from an agricultural economy to an industrial economy and now in the midst of growing into a services oriented economy delivering these also to developed countries. Not coincidentally Malaysia was managed for decades by a doctor who had an assertive and healing stance against their former colonial occupier: the legendary Dr. Mahathir. Morocco would do well to emulate his Wawasan 2020 vision and try to learn from his teachings on the issue of transforming society. But Morocco needs to disremember French and acquire English very soon: the 2nd language after Bahasa in Malaysia….il n'est jamais trop tard pour bien faire.

Will it ever happen?  Inshallah!  

El Jadida and Morocco's Red Seaweed Industry

El Jadida on Morocco's Atlantic coast is one of those cities that tourists only spend a few hours in. The remnants of the Portuguese architecture are all it seems to offer, and the Manueline cistern of the El Jadida fortress is certainly worth a visit. However, there is more to the city, and, as we discovered, a little known industry in red seaweed.

With around 150,000 inhabitants, El Jadida, which translates roughly as "new life", exports beans, almonds, maize, chickpeas, wool, hides, wax and eggs. But down on the beaches and beneath its coastal waters the gathering of red seaweed is an industry worth taking note of. With an annual harvest of around 14,000 tons a year, Morocco is one of the world's biggest producers of the seaweed that is used to produce agar.

Agar is gelatinous, odourless, tasteless, colorless, and transparent substance which because of its properties has many interesting uses. Because agar is indigestible by practically all bacteria, it is an excellent base on which to grow laboratory bacterial cultures. The bacteria consume the substance in which they are grown but not the agar. German bacteriologist Robert Koch discovered this in the 1880’s.

And because agar is also indigestible by humans, it is now a common ingredient of packaged diet foods. Agar fills the stomach without adding calories!

In Japan, agar is put into sauces, soups, jellies, and desserts. In the West, it is used as a gelling and stabilizing agent by meat and fish canneries, and in baked goods, dairy products, and candies as well.

An extremely useful medicinal asset of agar is that it is hydrophilic, which means it absorbs water. So it is effective as a bulk laxative. It soaks up the water in the intestines and increases the bulk of waste material. And because of its water-absorbent capacity, agar is also used by dentists, and is manufactured into emulsions, lubricants, suppositories, and cosmetic gels.

Between between July and September each year local women gather the red algae off the beaches and divers go down some 15 metres to harvest it. Unfortunately, excessive gathering and local pollution has taken its toll and caused a depletion in red seaweed populations. The pollution on the beaches of El Jadida is due to the presence of local factories and nearby industrial ports.

Until very recently it was considered too difficult to farm the red seawweed, but now, if the pollution problems could be overcome, there may be a way of revive these populations or farm red seaweed for mass consumption.

Lead by an expert in marine agronomy from the University of Arizona, a team of scientists has been able to plant and harvest entire crops of red seaweed, making them available to commercial purchasers. It's a notable success story, not only because it could revive the industry for the locals, but more importantly because it results in the availability of a dietary supplement that offers extraordinary healing properties and the ability to both prevent and reverse serious diseases.