Morocco, Maghreb, Marruecos, Maroc... this country has almost as many names as it has languages! My friend Rosie and I have now travelled from the Spanish port city of Melilla, to Al Hoceima on the coast, to Fez in the mountains, and we are now in Meknes. Weve managed to get along with basic french, 3 hours of Arabic class, spanish and english all mixed together. When all those fail, Ive resorted to baaing at the waiter to ask for lamb! Arabic is the official language, but french is the language of trade. There are also 4 Berber languages spoken, as well as spanish in the north, and english here and there. The Moroccan people are incredible at picking up languages, its normal to know at least three or four.
The most interesting and bewildering thing so far has been the medinas, or old cities. The medina in Fez is one of the oldest in the world; 1100 years old. It is also the oldest city in the world that has been continuously lived in. It is a complete maze of twisty windy streets; only big enough for one person and a donkey to squeeze by.
In Fez I checked out a language school for learning arabic, and met a potential flatmate. In Al Hoceima and Meknes I hung out at two centres for disabled children. They have trained physio assistants, and they offer individual and group sessions for the children, as well as support for the mothers. In Morocco, it is quite shameful to have a disabled child, and up until recently these children have been hidden away with no support or treatment available.
One surprise is the temperature. Although its Africa, the last couple of mornings have been zero degrees. There was a heavy frost two days ago! Thankfully, Ive been sent a hot water bottle... thank you! My next stop is a childrens home further up in the mountains, aparently they had six inches of snow a month ago, not sure how much colder it is now!
Today Rosie and I visited an old palace turned museum in the medina of Meknes. It was incredibly beautiful, with intricately carved and painted cedar ceilings, plaster and enamel patterns on the wall, and mosaic tiles on the lower walls and floors. The security guard must have been really bored, because after telling us off for stepping across into a fenced off area (oops!), he then proceeded to give us a proper tour of the harem, the womens hammam (steam baths) and all the rooms that were closed for renovation. He showed us through the private mosque, also closed to the public for renovation. He invited us to climb up an old looking staircase platform, and told us thats where the imam (muslim preacher) used to speak from. We thought it looked quite old, and felt quite rickety. After we left; we pulled out the trusty lonely planet book, and read; "Keep an eye out for the beautiful 17th century cedar minbar (pulpit)." Not sure what the Moroccan antiques society would have felt about us climbing all over it!!!
Ive picked up some arabic, the normal every day vocabulary is filled with references to God. A typcial conversation with a taxi driver goes something like this:
"Gods peace be upon you"
"And upon you peace"
"Not ill?"
"not ill, praise be to God!"
"Can you please take me to the medina?"
"if God wills it."
"Morocco is very beautiful, God be praised"
"yes it is, God be praised"
"Stop here please. Go with Gods blessing (goodbye)"
"No beauty (youre welcome), go with Gods blessing!"
and so on!!!!
Next stop is the orphanage in the mountains, then Agadir by the coast for Christmas. Hopefully its a bit warmer there!
Bislama, Hamdulillah, tBarakallah!!
And Merry Christmas!!!
Love,
Gabrielle
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