Morocco's Other Languages

Although Moroccan Arabic and French are the languages most people associate with Morocco - there are also the Berber languages (Tamazight) such as Tarifit, Tashelhit and Amazigh.

After a long battle, mother tongue education in Tamazight has become reality in Morocco. Beginning in September 15, 2003, more than 300 elementary schools and some 1000 teachers were devoted to the program. The BMCE (Banque Marocaine pour le Commerce Exterieure) Foundation had already initiated this teaching in some primary schools that it had built as part of its programs. The time allotted to this teaching is two hours a week. Because of the nature of regional variation in Tamazight, the three major varieties are taught in their respective regions (Tarifit in the north, Tamazight in the central area, and Tashelhit more to the south).

There are also some well known writers in Tamazight:

Mustapha Ayned. A playwright, shortstory writer and songwriter (he is also a talented singer talented singer. His website must be one of the few in a Berber language. VISIT IT

Mohamed BouzeggouPlaywright and one of the few novelists. His first novel jar u jar won the Cadi Kaddour Literature Award.

Moussaoui Bouziyyane. Published a collection of short stories. lhemlet tameqqrant (the deluge)

Mohamed Chacha. Essays, novels and poems.

Ahmed Essadki A poet leoyadv n tmurt(Battle cry of the Homeland).

Rachida El Marraqui. Short stories

Said Moussaoui Poet. isfuffi dd uoeqqa (The stone has blossomed).

Mimoun El Oualid His book zi laddjagh n tmurt ghar ruorat n ujenna (From the Depths of the Earth to the Heights of the Skies).He is also one of the greatest Tarifit singers.

Ahmed Ziani. Poet. ad arigh deg wezru (I shall write in stone) and ij n tliwliwt i mulay (Ululate for the Bridegroom)both translated into Dutch.

Ahmed Zahid . Playwright Argaz n wurg (A golden man)

Tags: Morocco, Fes, Gnaoua, Music.

Gnaoua (gnawa & lilas)

One of my favourites is Gnawa Diffusion and the album, Algeria. These musicians are based in Grenoble in the South East of France and come from a rich mix of musical and cultural backgrounds. Fusing their individual influences into a collective sound, Gnawa Diffusion have woven elements of rap, ragga, jazz, reggae and rai into a vibrant musical patchwork. Another cd to look out for is Akrab The Waterseller.

Gnaoua (Gnawa) are the descendents of slaves originating from Black Africa who established brotherhoods throughout most of Morocco. They are made up of master musicians (maâlem), metal castanet players, clairvoyants, mediums and their followers.

They are at the same time musicians, initiators and healers, blending African and Arabo-Berber customs. Despite being Muslims, the Gnawa base their ritual on djinn (spirits) straight from the the African cult of possession.

The rite of possession that Gnaoua celebrate is right at the heart of their multiple activities. It is called derdeba and is held the night (lila), hence its name lila of derdeba.This is the most spectacular and important ceremony and its function is essentially therapeutic.

During the celebration the maâlem and his group call on the saints and supernaturel entities to take possession of their followers who fall into trance.

Their instruments :

-3 stringed percussive lute (guembri)
-Large metal castanets (qraqeb)
-Drums (ganga)

Their ritual can be compared to Haïtian voodoo and Brazilian macumba.

The music of the brotherhood - of which only the profane part is played on stage to the public during the festival - has sparked a wave of emulators on the international scene.

GLOSSARY

Gnawa : plural of Gnawi. A generic term which includes all members of the brotherhood including the master musicians, castanet players, clairvoyant healers and the followers of the cult.
Maâlem : master of the ceremony
Moqadma : priestess
Tallaâtes, chouwafates or arifates : clairvoyant healers
Mlouk : supernatural entities
Guembri or Hajhouj : percussive 3-stringed lute
Aouicha : small guembri
Qarqabats or Qraqech : metal castanets
Tbel : drums
Ftouh errahba : beginning of the mlouk repertory of songs
Derdeba or Lila : Ritual of possession
Hal or jedba : trance
Koyo : Pre-Islamic musical repertory

BlogLink:
THE VIEW FROM FEZ: Fes Festival of World Sacred Music Program

Foulla Says.
Weblink: More on Moroccan music.

Tags: Morocco, Fes, Gnaoua, Music.

Al-Salafiyah al-Jihadiyah

Al-Salafiyah al-Jihadiyah in Morocco issued a statement on October 25, 2005, declaring that the time has come to announce the “jihad on the government of disbelieving and oppression,” for the heads of government have allegedly “sold the country to the infidels after they cleared the area from the real Muslims who care about the religion.” The group claims that even before the “happenings” on May 16, referring to the bombings in Casablanca on May 16, 2003, the Moroccan government had arrested Muslims “who like jihad” and knowledgeable scholars on the subject. The bombings then exacerbated the alleged government policy, as they are charged with arresting all Sunni Muslim people.

The group asks for the support of Muslims and calls upon all Moroccan mujahideen to concentrate on jihad in Morocco. Further, they state that though they support al-Qaeda, they prefer to go “in our way of jihad”.

Morocco has long been one of the most reliable U.S. allies in North Africa and the Islamic world. It was one of the first nations to recognize the United States, formalizing diplomatic relations in 1787. Before his death in 1999, King Hassan II played a key role in U.S. efforts to negotiate peace deals involving Israel.

Since the Sept. 11 hijackings, Morocco's intelligence and security services have cooperated closely with the CIA in tracking and interrogating suspected Islamic militants. The United States, in turn, rewarded Morocco with a free-trade agreement.

The alliance is a sore point in some corners of Moroccan society, where there is a running conflict over Western influences. Vandalism is not uncommon at restaurants that serve alcohol or at hotels that cater to foreigners. In 1994, Muslim militants attacked a hotel in Marrakech, killing two Spanish tourists.

Islamic political parties and organizations are also becoming increasingly influential. While King Mohammed VI retains absolute authority and only government-endorsed parties are allowed to field candidates, Islamic movements retain broad public support and have gained power in recent elections. They have also established social welfare programs that in some cases are seen as more effective than those administered by the government.

The mainstream Muslim parties all strongly condemned the May 2003 bombings and espouse nonviolence. But they have clashed with the government over its response to the attacks, criticizing authorities for arresting hundreds of people just because they had ties to Islamic groups and for trying to turn public sentiment against religious parties.

Al-Salafiyah al-Jihadiyah, is believed to have been founded in the early 1990s by Mohamed Fizazi, a leader of the Salafist movement in Morocco, and alleged to be led by Mohamed Abdelouahab Rafiki, AKA Abu Hafs. The group is banned in Morocco and believed to be responsible for a number of criminal acts throughout the country.

Salafism is an ideology that posits that Islam has strayed from its origins. The word "salaf" is Arabic for "ancient one" and refers to the companions of the Prophet Mohammed. Arguing that the faith has become decadent over the centuries, Salafists call for the restoration of authentic Islam as expressed by an adherence to its original teachings and texts. According to Gilles Kepel, professor and chair of Middle East Studies at the Institute of Political Studies in Paris, and the author of The War for Muslim Minds: Islam and the West; and Jihad: The Trail of Political Islam "Salafists originally are supposedly not violent They are not advocating the revolt against one who holds power, against the powers that be. They are calling for re-Islamization at the daily level."

Tags: Morocco, Fes, Jihad, Terrorism,

A sense of community

Since September 11, one of the most often asked questions is "why buy a house in Morocco?" And the follow up is usually - "Why Fès, why not one of the easier cities?"
Easy? No, not really the correct word. And, yes, Fès can be difficult at first. The geography alone is enough to drive some people away.

Fès has a long and proud history and the people consider themselves very different from the rest of the country. In many ways they are. There is a conservatism at the heart of Fes which manifests itself in religion, superstitions and traditions. Obviously this is a generalisation, but nevertheless one that holds true most of the time within the Medina, if not the Ville Nouvelle.

So, how do the residents treat an outsider? Very well is the short answer. But to maintain good relationships requires some care. Particularly as many of the neighbours really want and need you to provide them with some work. The problem is that the value of work is so out of wack with what we are used to. My nearest neighbour earns only a few dirhams per hour for sewing sequins on slippers. Her husband earns $15.00 a day as a car park attendant. So, when my wife arrived to clean up the riad the neighbours were keen to work. Which was fine - but raised the question of how to be good neighbours and an employer as well. The answer seems to be - don't do it. Better to be friends and help them in other ways. Several other expats have told me the same story - but I would be interested to hear from others with experience in Fes.

As neighbours, they are superb. Our riad is always under their watchful eye and the entire community of our derb seems pleased to have a couple of crazy foreigners setting up house with them. In a matter of days we were paying the normal prices for goods and being greeted on the streets with great warmth. In return we will be employing a lot of artisans from within the community and hopefully the benefits will flow around.

Tags: Morocco Fès

Argan Oil

Photo courtesy of New York Times

The story of argan oil is an amazing mix of history, biology, conservation and haute-cuisine.

For hundreds of years the Berbers in the South Western part of Morocco in an area covering 700,000-800,000 hectares have let their goats climb the argan trees (Argania spinosa). These spiny evergreens produce a slightly larger than olive-sized fruit, the pits of which pass right through the goat’s digestive system and are collected by the Berbers. The pits are then split open and the three small kernels are ground to produce the aromatic oil.
The argan tree is a real survivor that can be traced back as far as the Tertiary Period 1.5 million years ago. Part of its success is due to its ability to remain virtually dormant and fruitless during years of drought. Yet despite its tenacious qualities it is under threat as never before. Local demand for wood, overgrazing by goats and the fact that it is never commercially propagated has lead to a huge decline in tree numbers. Some experts say that 60% of all trees have vanished in the last half century.
The Process
The production of this oil is a demanding and laborious process which was until recently done completely by hand. The manual method consists in first collecting the pit of the fruit from among the goat droppings. The pit's hard shell is then cracked to collect the kernels. These are roasted by mild heating and once cooled, ground in a stone rotary quern. Later the kernels are hand-mixed with a small amount of water to form a dough. It is from this dough that the oil can be extracted by hand.

Recently mechanical presses have been introduced to extract argan oil. This process reduces considerably the time needed to extract 1 litre of oil. Once the kernels are roasted, the mechanical press takes care of the grinding and extraction. More oil is extracted and since no water is added to press the dough, the oil can be stocked longer.
The most consuming time of the process, cracking the nuts, is still done by hand.

And here is an argan oil recipe

Tags: Morocco Fes

Making a living

Tags: Morocco Fes

Fes in Literature.

The Cobbler's Apprentice by Sandy McCutcheon to be published in 2006 by Scribe.


Tags: Morocco, Fes, Books, Literature,

Around the souqs

A short pictorial trip around the souks in Fez and Marrakech.

Tags: Morocco Fes

Diversity: Part Two

One of the wonderful things about travelling around Morocco is the variety of food. From coastal areas with great fish to inland with its olives, fruit and meats and everywhere there are spices. Abdul Latif (above) has a shop in Essaouira and invited me in for mint tea and gave me several "magic potions".



One of the most common remarks made by visitors when they taste Moroccan orange juice is that they had forgotten what "real" oranges tasted like. It is simply superb.



Tags: Morocco, Fes, Books, Literature,

Al Malaika la tuhaliq fi al-dar albayda

Mohamed Asli's movie In Casablanca Angels Don't Fly the winner of the Tanit d'Or award during the 20th session of the cinema days in Carthage 2004, won the Grand Jury Award of the 7th edition of the international festival of Manila (Philippines), which was held from 12 to 25 October .

The Moroccan movie addresses the phenomenon of rural exodus in Morocco through the story of a peasant who migrates to Casablanca despite his wife's objection.

Three men from a failing Berber village in the Atlas Mountains find work in a Casablanca restaurant. Head Waiter Said dutifully sends money back to wife Aicha who is raising their son and new baby. Kitchen worker Ottman remembers riding his horse as a child with the Berber leaders. He sends back bread scraps to keep his horse from being slaughtered for meat. Waiter Ismail longs for a pair of black boots that costs 3 months' wages. The dream of each man turns sour as the film moves from light drama to disillusionment, humiliation and tragedy.

Tags: Morocco, Fes, Film, Literature,

Diversity: Part One

One of the amazing things about living in Fès is that with only a few hours travel you can be in very different geographic conditions. From the coast at Essaouira to the Rif Mountains, to Ifrane and it's Swiss chalets and on over the High Atlas to the dunes.



It can be like visiting different countries. The fact that you can go snow skiing, trout fishing or windsurfing within hours is a real bonus.

My first trip over the High Atlas to, Erfoud, Rissani and beyond was wonderful. The second a near disaster. I had been engaged as a tour leader for a group of Australian tourists. They were prepared for most things, but when we arrived at our camel-hair tents in the dunes at Merzouga the situation got unpleasant! The tents did not have any view of the dunes ( as advertised) - they were also damp, dirty and only a few metres away from a toilet. To add to our woes, several of the party developed very upset stomachs and spent much of the time in the toilet. The sandstorm did not help!

However the trip from there down to the gorges and Kasbah country was very enjoyable.



Tags: Morocco, Fès, Books, Maghreb,

The Fès Sacred Music Festival

Weapons of Mass Sedition: Can a sacred music festival lure us away from violence and toward reason?

I flew to Casablanca on my way to last year's Fez Sacred Music Festival just three weeks after terrorist bombings shook Morocco. Everywhere were public-service billboards bearing the Hand of Fatima, a symbol of protection for Muslims, Jews, and Christians. Scholars and cab drivers alike told me that the slogan, in Arabic and French—"Don't lay a hand on our country"—was directed at terrorists and fundamentalist Muslims.

Set in Morocco's northern Middle Atlas region, Fez is among the oldest of Islamic holy cities, a center of learning since the founding of Qaraouine University in the ninth century. It boasts a history of religious tolerance: Many of the Muslims and Jews expelled from Spain in the 15th century ended up there. I'd arrived for a week of sacred music and consciousness-raising. Yet little prepared me for how the first sacred sounds I'd encounter would affect my consciousness. A 3 a.m. muezzin's call to prayer, issued from mosque minarets in all directions, woke me. I'd heard this before, right down to the vocal embellishments, from the Sephardic cantor in my childhood Brooklyn synagogue.

Morocco is ruled by a monarchy, but its constitutional reforms and civil society stand in contrast to most Islamic states. Sufism, the mystical humanist face of Islam, is represented in Fez by the many brotherhoods active there. Embodied as it is in the tenor of daily life and high-level policy-making, the Moroccan Sufi spirit is akin to the voice of liberalism here—a force for moderation and inclusion.

Fez native and Sufi scholar Faouzi Skali first initiated a film festival in the wake of the first Gulf war. He dubbed it Desert Colloquium, after Desert Storm. "It was a modest response," he told me over mint tea in Fez last year, "and it has kept on evolving." What it evolved into is the current Fez Festival of Sacred Music. "Music seemed more elemental," he explained, "and it got around barriers of language."

This is a reposting of the piece by Larry Blumenfeld, March 23rd, 2004, Village Voice


Link to Festival site

Tags: Morocco, Fes, Music, Literature,

A foreigner in Fès

So what attracts a foreigner to Fès?

It is interesting to see the way so many British, French, Italian, German and Americans have invested in riads and dars in Marrakech, Casablanca and Tangier - but not in Fès. Whereas the numbers in the other cities would probably run into the hundreds, there are only a handful (probably no more than 10 couples) who have chosen to buy a riad or dar in the Fès el Bali.

Of course there are some others who have bought property but don't intend to live there. Those who live there know each other and are a very friendly bunch of people with a shared philosophy of conservation/renovation - restoring without destroying the cultural heritage.

My friend Alaa has purchased a 600 year old dar and over two years turned it into the most amazing private fonduq (hotel). He and his partner live in and in their spare time assist others who are restoring old houses.

I was first attracted to Fès because so few others were. There appeared to be a reluctance to venture deep into the medina. It was considered scary, hard to navigate and really "not suitable" for foreigners.

Sure, the 9500 twisting lanes and alleys feel like they have been constructed by a psychotic spider trying to thread a way through the houses that are stacked one on another like the work of cubist termites! But that's the challenge. Fès is mysterious. Fès is exciting - and the people are warm and welcoming.

The most common sight of a tourist is a pale faced individual or couple, clasping their Lonely Planet guide and asking for directions. But getting lost is half the fun. Next time you are in Fès, throw away the guide book and plunge in. Of course you can stick to the Tala'a Kbira or the Tala'a Sghira... but off to the side... down that narrow twisting alley...

It took me several visits before I could find my way around, but even when I got lost, I was rewarded by stumbling on some beautiful architecture, a glimpse of a fountain I had never seen before or a small hole-in-the-wall cafe that served great snail soup or brilliant coffee.

When we found Riad Zany (formerly Riad el Glaoui) we found a home. We found good neighbours, a wonderful community, great souq and a house that we can share with friends from all around the world. No, we are not turning it into a hotel or trying to make money from it. But it is a home were we can live and write our novels and then venture out into a city that every day presents us with new adventures.

You should try it.

Tags: Morocco, Fès, travel, Fez,

Faces in the Medina

A young student



Boy in the souq




Girl and donkey in the Fès Medina



Shopping in the souq



Stall in the souq




Souq cat



Girl in the Fès Medina




Our plumber, after having installed the toilet!

More stories and images will follow.


Tags: Morocco, Fès, photography, Fez,

The hijab debate (Part One)

The debate about the wearing of a hijab has been raging in the Western media and with little attempt to understand its roots. In Morocco the hijab is worn more often in rural areas and in the cities of Fes, Moulay Idriss and Meknes. In Tangier and Casablanca the younger women dress freely - often looking like French fashion models. So what lies behind the hijab debate?

Here is an article that was emailed to me:

Koranic Law Does not Impose the Headscarf

by Khaled Fouad Allam

Historically speaking, the “hijab” (or Islamic headscarf) has never represented any form of Islamic dogma, legal obligation or religious symbol, even if today the impression is such.

Jurists during the classical period of Islam – who when Muslim law was first formulated for the four great legal schools of Islam – never presented any theories on the headscarf. The celebrated jurist and founder of the Theological University of Fez in Morocco, Qayrawin (died in 996), spoke about the headscarf only in reference to prayer rituals, when women enter mosques to pray on Fridays. And the word he used was “khimar”, a veil covering women from head to toe. He never used the term “hijab”. It is the same with other authors of the period.

There is indeed an explanation for all this. Classical Islam jurists warned of the need to formulate legal theory concerning the headscarf or veil, simply because a woman’s medieval world was that of a cloister, where she didn’t leave home, leading her life within the borders of private property. And when she did venture out, which was rare, she had to do so with the authorization of a male figure – whether it be her father, husband or brother –and only under exceptional circumstances, as for some formal ceremony or pilgrimage.

The hijab in an invention of the 14th century, and it has not real basis in the Koran. In the Koran, “hijab” comes from the root “hjb”, which refers not to an object, but an action: wearing a headscarf, pulling down a curtain or screen or reducing light so as to prevent others from prying or looking in.

The change to the word “hijab”, from signifying an action to meaning an object, comes in the 14th century. The jurist, Ibn Taymiyya, was the first to use the word “hijab” to mean “headscarf”. It was a headscarf that distinguished Muslim from non-Muslim women. It came to distinguish a woman’s identity and religious association.

Ibn Taymiyya stated that a free woman has the obligation to cover herself with a headscarf, while a slave is not obliged as such He justified this based on a maximalist interpretation (cf. Koran, verse 21, sura 24), transforming the words of a generic statement into a principle, by giving it a binding or legal sense. Yet all this – and we do well to point it out – was still an interpretation, an interpretation which gave rise to a rule.

This change in language and social interpretation is a sign of crisis within the 14th century Muslim world: the end of the great Islamic empires and the invasion of Baghdad by a foreign power – the Mongols of Genghis Khan. The “ummah” (the community of believers) had to therefore face and struggle with what nowadays we call the principle of “otherness”. This posed the same problem then as it does nowadays: today’s Muslims now must cope with how to be themselves in a society dominated by non-Muslims. The headscarf is a sign of the Muslim community’s defensive reactions and focuses on legal norms not to create leeway for freedom of expression, but rather to establish a form of control – on Islam itself.

Therefore it is no coincidence that Ibn Taymiyya (died 1328) is a daily point of reference in neo-fundamentalist language.

However the decisive change for the “hijab” in terms of meaning and law occurs in the 20th century, especially in its last fifty years. In Muslim countries, following the period of decolonization, the processes of modernization create great difficulties for traditional societal structures and institutions. Two unprecedented phenomena occur: literacy of the masses and women going to school, work and out from their homes. The outside world is added to their main world of reference.

In the face of such social changes, many exegetes in Islam have reacted in neo-conservative ways, creating a legal system legitimizing and prescribing the use of the hijab The headscarf thus becomes a distinct symbol of Islamic identity and separation between sexes. The headscarf’s introduction and use into public areas indeed favors the creation of a gender barrier, which today is not limited to the headscarf itself, but in some other countries has given rise to an actual division of space, even in public transport vehicles (e.g. some neo-fundamentalist-minded architects have drawn up ideas for separate elevators for men and women). Thus public space, instead of sanctioning a principle of equality, focuses on sexual discrimination.

However, all these changes in the headscarf’s use and practice is joined to that which is a constant in the customs and norms of Muslim society: the dichotomy between the pure and impure, and prohibition as a basis for Islamic law.

The frequent emphasis in sacred texts – that women mustn’t do anything to look at other men and draw attention to themselves, hence covering up their figures – has indeed led the collective Muslim unconscious to associate femininity with lust. In this way women have become synonymous with the chaos and disorder attributed to vice. Hence with women there is always the imminent risk of committing acts of impurity. Due to their reproductive role, women are invested with a certain sacred nature. Therefore, breaking the rule – that is say, showing themselves off – means contaminating their original purity.

This taboo spells for a puritan society and articulates a legal system of control. Muslim societies are obsessed by issues of impurity; and the headscarf tends to symbolically preserve the bounds between the pure and impure.

Today the headscarf takes on the meaning of an identity crisis. In addition to expressing the widespread malaise found in Islamic society, the headscarf conceals its changes and exacerbates people’s fears. Whoever wears it, especially in the West, does so because they are coerced or conditioned to do so or are claiming their rights and asserting free choices. There are many opinions, but they all defer to a series of unsolved conflicts: between Islam and the West, with Islam itself and between law and culture.



LINKS:

Related Post on Sabbah's Blog

The Hijab Debate (Part Two)

Tags: Morocco, Fes, Islam, Hijab

Deeper into the Medina

Fès Mosque

Travelling down the Tala'a Kbira you will eventually come to the famous Qayrawin Mosque and ancient University of Al-Qarawiyin. The university was built between 859 and 862, which makes it the oldest university in the world. It was founded by a Tunisian refugee - a woman by the name of Fatima bint Mohammed ben Feheri.



The Fès Tanneries

I am sure that every single tourist who has ever been to Fès has a variation on this picture. At one stage we considered buying an old riad next to the tanneries. It was an extraordinary example of a classical riad, but the smell was enough to pickle your nostrils.

Tags: Morocco, Fès, Books, Literature,

Fès Medina

The Fès Medina
Photographs: Suzanna Clarke


The old Medina of Fès is situated in a bowl shapped valley dissected by the river the Oued Fès. Unlike the modern city (the Ville Nouvelle) founded by the French, it is sheltered from the extremes of climate by its geography.

Many people think of Morocco as always being hot, but the temperatures last January were really cold. Sitting in the Cafe Fidous in Batha each morning, clutching a nus-nus - a half and half coffee and hot milk, the temperature was often minus three degrees Celsius. During the day it would get to about fourteen. At the end of the month, near the festival of Aid El Kabir, it actually snowed.

Aid el Kabir is one the oldest and most important religious festivals of the Islamic world. The festival celebrates the willingness of Abraham to obey God and sacrifice his son Isaac, but also honours the giving of gifts, keeping of promises and making of sacrifices.

As Aid El Kabir is a festival of sacrifice each Muslim household that can afford to do so will sacrifice an animal - usually a sheep. The head of the household will turn the animal’s head toward Mecca before slitting its throat. None of the animal is wasted as all parts will be turned into brochettes and eaten, except a few small pieces of the heart and liver which the women of the household cast into the corners of each room in order to keep away evil. Special prayers are said on the day of the festival and the holiday is a time for the giving gifts and visiting friends and family. Islamic law also says that some of the meat of the sacrifice must be shared with the poor.

Aid el Kabir usually takes place around March every year in Muslim communities throughout the world. It's a festival which attracts controversy and outrage around the world from animal rights workers, who see the ritual as exceptionally cruel as the animal is conscious when their throat is slit and causes a bloody and painful death.



Bab Bou Jeloud - The Blue Gate
This is one of the main tourist entrances to the Old Medina. The Blue gate (Bab means gate)is actually only blue on one side. the fine zellij tile work on the side facing into the medina is green - the colour of Islam. The blue on the outside represents the colour of Fès. Fes pottery is famous for a blue made by firing a cobalt mixture painted on as a design. The potteries overlooking the Medina are well worth a visit.

Just inside the Bab Bou Jeloud are the entrances to the two main alleyways into the medina - the Tala'a Kbira and Tala'a Sghira. Also, just inside you will find several great eating places, though you may wish to go further into the medina to escape the tourist prices.

One of my favourite places to eat is inside the gate and around the first corner to the right. There are several small eating places here, but the furthest one, with a single plastic tabel and a kitchen behind it the size of a chicken coup, has great cheap food. Once, when I was ill and had booked myself into the comfort of the Hotel Batha to recover, the owner of the shop, realising I had not visited for several days, tracked me down and had a bowl of delicious bessara delived to me.

Tags: Morocco, Fès, Books, Fez,

What is a riad?

A RIAD: house with a garden in the center, usually with orange and lemon trees (the Arabic word riad means garden). The garden is sometimes in the center of the house, and sometimes the house is U-shaped with the garden on the fourth side (ours has the garden in the centre). Many riads have salons only on one level, to provide more light for the garden. Our riad has a salon on both floors and two large terrace courtyards on the roof.


An update on the news from Morocco. Yes it is true we bought a Riad in the fabulous old city of Fès.


The picture shows the entrance to the first salon off the courtyard. The hand carved ceder doors are about three metres tall and when closed have smaller keyhole doors to allow entrance in winter. Most people don't associate Morocco with winter. But in Fès in January I have experienced temperatures as low as minus three degrees celsius. Last year it snowed in mid-January. Finding and purchasing the riad was a year long saga of frustration and confusion at the end of which, in one day, we dumped one riad and found another. At the moment it has the working title of Riad Zany - but we will come up with something more suitable as the extreme rennovations continue.Even the act of paying for the place was a hassle. The owners had no bank account and so we had to produce cash!

The walls of houses in Fès are made of lime (jeer), sand, (raml), and bricks (liyajoor beldi). Cement was never used in traditional building. The lime and sand mixture needs to cure for some time to be strong (it used to be that you would prepare the lime and sand before going on pilgrimage to Mecca, and it would be ready when you got back), which is part of the reason many people no longer want to use these materials. The advantage of using lime is that the walls "breathe", which makes the houses cooler in the summer and warmer in the winter. In addition, cracks in walls made with lime are said to be able to "heal" themselves in time.
The outer walls of houses were finished with medluk, made of extremely fine sand, lime (jeer), egg white, and sabon beldi (traditional soft soap made from olive by-products). Medluk develops a beautiful marbled effect over time. Simple geometric patterns are sometimes pressed or carved into the medluk. In Marrakech this mixture is called tadlakt, which is slightly finer and shinier due to the difference in the sand and lime from the two cities. These days tadlakt is often colored and has become very fashionable on interior walls. Good examples of new medluk are the inner walls of the Nejjarine Museum, and the outside walls of Dar Adiyel and the Bou Inania Medersa. The bathrooms in many recent maison d'hotes in Fès are done in tadlakt.

The support beams for all ceilings, as well as doors and windows, are made of cedar (ilerz). Cedar planks are placed on the beams and then around 40 cm. of sand and rubble is added for insulation, then a sand and lime mixture is added, and then zellij mosaic tile on top. Sometimes a second set of beams is added below the roof, to which a carved and painted ceiling is attached. There is a space between the two sets of beams to provide extra insulation. All interior floors and the rooftop have a slight slope that leads into a drain. The drain pipes in older houses are made of ceramic cylinders joined together.

More adventures involving extreme renovation at a later date.




Tags: Morocco, Fès, Books, Literature,