My observations in Morocco are of beauty and elegenace. This country is truly beautiful. I stayed 4 days in Tangier, one day in  Chefchaouen and 2 days in Rabat (the capital).

The breeze at 7am from my window that overlooks the Mediterranean is crisp. From my window on the 5th floor in the Rif Hotel I could smell the fish from the sea, the bread from the bakery to the left.

Food

The bread here is fascinating; there are many kinds and a variety of shapes and flavors. Raghayef was my favorite, along with Al-Harsha. Breakfast here is a bit different than the Levantine one, it consists of bread, jam, spread cheese and tea. There is no Zaatar nor any vegetables or fruits. I thought it was a bit dry, nonetheless tasty.  The variety of fish is also abundant, from sardine to shrimp to squid. The Harissa here is a spicy sauce(the red thing in the picture), contrary to our harissa where it is a sweet delicacy. The couscous is a whole new story, it is good, light, and just plain delicious. I have noticed that people here are very prudent with food; they cook legs of animals to get the flavor of the meat, they eat lots of bread and couscous which are very cheap and available. In addition, the sweets here are very sweet. extremely sweet. (The home-made Couscous, Rabat 2016)

Chefchaouen

Chefchaouen, in other names the Blue Pearl, is an abundance of beauty. It is the heaven hugging the mountain and climbing it tediously. This city is very adorable and romantic, its narrow aisles will make you brush against your partner, it will also force you to hug your camera as you will take a picture every 50m maximum. You will feel underwater because of the blue floor, blue ceiling, blue walls and blue stairs. The people are very friendly and sweet, so is the city as it will offer you fresh cold water every once in a while by the water fountains. The cats there are definitely a phenomena, many cats just strolling around and chilling with their slant sjeletons. The music is in the air. The Andalus is alive and pulsing. The spanish is present in the street signs and names of stores. Old ladies wearing the Refi traditional shawl around their waist. The feeling of getting lost there (which is a bliss). A city that cares about environment too, in this city an initiative to cut plastic usage have been implemented (I went into a store and the cashier did not give me a bag saying that it pollutes the nature). They are also renovating an old Spniahs church using environment-friendly materials like cork wood for the ceiling.

History of Chefchaouen:

The city was founded by Mwlana Ali Ben Rashid in 1271 before the collapse of Al-Andalus. His daughter is named The Free Lady, she was a strong woman who led the city in the war and accomplished herself as one of the most important figures in the Moroccan history. The city was built mainly to defend itself from the Portugese invasion of the country. The architicture in the city was yet inspired by the European culture (Spanish and Portugese)

The Amazigh people

I got first acquainted with the Amazighe culture was when I met an Algerian Amazighe from Algiers. It is sad that I didn’t know about this rich history and heritage before. Amaighe people are the indigenous people of North West Africa, what is today Tunisia, Algeria and Morocco. They are not Arabs. They speak Amazighe which is a beautiful and intricate language. This language is spoken by not all amazighes, and I met 4 Amazighes who speak the langugae but can’t read or write it. The Amazighe culture regards women highly, they used to be ruled by a queen afterall (to read more about feminism and the amazighe culture check this blog: http://nidhal.net/2016/07/24/%D8%AA%D8%A7%D8%B1%D9%8A%D8%AE-%D8%A7%D9%84%D8%AD%D8%B1%D8%A7%D9%83-%D8%A7%D9%84%D9%86%D8%B3%D9%88%D9%8A-%D8%A8%D8%A7%D9%84%D8%AC%D8%B2%D8%A7%D8%A6%D8%B1-%D9%85%D9%88%D9%82%D9%81-%D8%A7%D9%84%D8%B4/).

 

The Patterns

The fabric of this country is weaved with patterns. The seemingly complex beauty stems from simple pattern layered with repitition. Wood is carved with minute details, like a maze in a maze. Beautiful mosques from the Moorish period are drizzled with these patterns. I couldn’t help but be fascinated by these patterns, I think i even became obssessed with them. I am starting my own patterns project combining it with Palestinian embroidery. Results shall be posted later on.

 

A random act of kindness 

Few people hitchhike here, so i thought that I should not do it. I was with my friend Lina, we were at the Tangier conference place and we needed to get to the hotel on Mohamed 6th street. There were supposed to be buses to pick us up from the convention to the hotel, so I approached two men and I asked them about the directions for the buses, one guy said that he is going in that direction and he can give us a ride, i said he didn’t have to but he insisted, and that is how it started. A fancy BMW car with a very fancy cooling system borne us around the city of Tangier. He said his name is Kamal and he works as a translator. I thought that was super cool. It was a short ride about 5 minutes long, but he suggested a tour around the city and I gladly agreed. We picked up the speed and moved towards the Western coast overlooking the Atlantic ocean. He was a sophisticated intellectual with knowledge about the situation here, about the 48Arabs and the restrictions we have. We talked about the history of the place, the view, the Amazigh culture (since he was a southern Amazighe originally) and the situation in Morocco. We went to the oldest cafe in Tangier called Cinema Al-Reef, a hundred year old coffee house and theatre, it is situated in the middle of the old town of Tangier, next to an old mosque, opening to the old square that is slanted on a hill corruggated with stands and booths selling phone accessories and sweet corn. The outer wall is coloured with every colour you can think of filling different patterns. We ordered a Moroccan tea and we drank very hot tea in that scorching heat because it is a normal thing to do. He would not let us pay saying that this is the Moroccan hospitality, you just can’t pay it’s an offense to us. So we didn’t.We continued our walk up the steep hill to get to a desserts place which was heavenly  Professor Kamal teaches in the University of Rabat, such a generous and gentleman. His random act of kindness shall never be forgotten.

Saying Goodbye 

Everytime I have to leave a country that I have visited I am overwhelmed by this eerie feeling of emptiness and thirst for more traveling. I have learnt a lot during this trip about being independent, being stron, being prudent with money, and enjoying the time you have. Morocco is unforgettable country, a beautiful one and I can’t wait till I go back there one time to explore the deserts of agadeer and the old houses of Marakish. Till we meet again.

Aisha