Attitude of Gratitude

Fes Medina

Once you get outside the hustle and bustle of the major cities of Morocco, the first thing you notice is the intense colors of the earth. It ranges from the richest reds to the blackest blacks giving you a clear indication of how fertile the earth is here. If the country received more rain everything would grow in wild abundance.

Other than that, when driving through Morocco you get the feeling you could be anywhere. As we drove along between Casablanca and Rabat, up to Meknes, and finally to Fes, I felt like we were driving through the southwestern states in the USA. The orange soil and cacti reminded me of places in Arizona. The rolling hills with mountains towering in the background looked like New Mexico. It was all very beautiful and alive with intense, deep colors. The only thing that gives away your location is the shepards leading their sheep and goats. The shepards usually being young boys.

Of course, everything changed when I got pulled over by the police. Apparently this is a fairly normal event in Morocco, so I was prepared based on what other people had said to do. The speed limit on the freeway is 120 kilometers an hour – which I did religiously – and the policeman told me I was doing 139 kilometers. He said that a radar gun was set up 5 kilometers back that caught me. I told him he was ill informed and asked for him to take me to the police station.

At this point, it got a bit confusing because he couldn’t understand what I meant and we were both repeating ourselves over and over – him telling me to pay 1400 dirham’s (140 Euros), and me telling him that I wasn’t speeding and to please take me to the station. Eventually, I tried to get someone on the phone who spoke French (they speak French and Arabic in Morocco) and he asked if I was a tourist – yes, while it was very difficult to tell that I’m not from there with my bright red hair – and he finally just let me go. I think out of total and utter frustration.

I don’t know why I continue to do this, but I chose to go to Morocco during Ramadan, which again means that you cannot eat, drink, smoke, or have sex in public in consideration of the locals. The hardest was not having sex in full view of the Moroccans, but after that I found it difficult to go the entire day without eating. This was more complicated than in Dubai where they were serving food in inconspicuous areas around the hotel. I was not staying at the caliber of accommodation as I was in Dubai, and thus pretty much no place in the entire city was serving food and no grocery stores were open. We were all practicing Ramadan together, whether we wanted to or not.

Thinking about the lack of sustenance right now is making me hungry. But I digress.

Immediately following Ramadan there is a week long festival, much like our Christmas, called Eid ul-Fitr . At this time everyone can eat again and all the children are dressed up and taken out in their finest. Unfortunately, during this time again most shops are closed and generally everything shuts down. Not good for the tourists.

It is rather unfortunate because I had heard so many great stories from friends about how wonderful the food is in Morocco, with the tasty tagines, mouth watering couscous, and delicate pastries. While I was able to get some of that, it wasn’t at the suggested locations and I don’t feel like I got the true “Moroccan” foodie experience.

I’m not trying to say that I didn’t like Morocco; I actually found it quite fascinating. In particular, I loved Fes where we stayed in the medina in a recently renovated riad, called Dar Bennis, which I kept accidentally calling it Bar Dennis. It was absolutely beautiful, not to mention huge, and situated right in the middle of the medina, so you literally got lost every time you tried to find it.

Donkey in Fes Medina

Blue Gate in Fes

Fes’s medina (old city) is a labyrinth of little alleyways, all quite narrow and crowded with people. It is truly a medieval working city that exists in the 21st century. There are donkeys and carts carrying loads through the narrow streets. And it is massive. To walk from one side to the other must take at least an hour, and if you know where you are going. One wrong turn and you can be lost and not find your way back home. After a few days I did get the hang of it, but only after spending time walking aimlessly on numerous occasions in circles trying to find my way home. Once, my little next door neighbor found me looking lost and exhausted, and led me home for a small tip.

Mosaic at Volubilis

On our way to Fes we stopped to see some pretty incredible Roman ruins in Volubilis. It is not incredible in the size of the amphitheatre or the coliseum, but the brightly colored and well preserved mosaics. I think it is incredible to think that was build in 40AD and has been sitting out unprotected in the intense sun and heat of Morocco and is still in such excellent shape. As a UNESCO site (the medina in Fes is also), I would think some effort would be put into better conservation tactics, but nothing appears to be in place during my visit.

Hassan II Mosque in Casablanca

Being that we were only there for 3 full days, we did not see much else. Some of the other items of interest as the Hassan II Mosque in Casablanca. It opened in 1993 and is the 3rd largest mosque in the world. It is massive. It sounds as if it was created to put Casablanca on the map. And quite honestly, it was the only thing of interest to see in Casablanca, in my opinion. The woodwork, painting, tiling, and marble carving inside are all exquisite and over 6000 artisans took part in its creation.

Granary in Meknes

In north in Meknes, one of the four Sultan cities (Fes, Rabat and Marrakesh being the others), there is a palace and mausoleum to be seen, however, not by us. Because it was Ramadan. We were lucky the granaries were open, however, that used to hold an impressive amount of… well… something! This enormous warehouse had under floor waterways to keep the temperature cool and was ingeniously constructed.

A final word on Morocco. I would love to go back. At a time other than Ramadan. I found the people to be personable and friendly, and they truly seemed to care about me and not just want to talk to me for your tourist dollar (or euro). The culture is one where family is important, and this is clearly evident when seeing how the people interact, and was noticeable even in the short time I was there. It is an extremely poor country, but one that is rich in spirit, love and energy. It was a joy to appreciate, if only for a short time.