Kat’s Morocco –Eleven in a continuing series…
I have not bored you yet with this story of my introduction and resulting love of Morocco? Wonderful, I am glad to have you back! Let’s see, I believe I left you while I was experiencing my first night in Erfoud.
I found Erfoud to be the most rural of our stops to this point, small and quite. Most of the women I saw on the street I assumed to be locals because they were wearing the traditional black Berber tribal attire, complete with full face and partial face veils. While wonderful to witness such a cultural lifestyle, seeing the heavy black dress gave me pause to wonder how I would cope if I had to take on this persona. To this Westerner, the attire seems very oppressive, let alone uncomfortable once temperatures reach above 70 degrees.
I cannot say what the Moroccan Berber traditions are like. What I have learned related to the tribal Berber culture in general can be alarming. When you hear about the tradition of cleansing and purifying the woman for the man and the bearing children through circumcision, one cannot help but be appalled. Is that tradition carried on here? I don’t know.
I have experienced quite the range of deep, thoughtful emotions here in this rural place – love of the rough, harsh landscape, curiosity about surviving the extremes of weather and culture, concern and compassion for what goes on behind the veil. Erfoud is an exotic and enchanting place that I would love to learn more about. The other reason I have come to love Erfoud so quickly is the camels! But before I go there, I suppose I should share some of the other local marvels of this little town.
We paid a visit to Rissani, a holy place. It is the home of the Mausoleum of Moulay Ali Sharif, the first ruler of the Moroccan Alawites. Non-Muslims are not permitted to go in the mausoleum, but we were able to view and appreciate the colors, patterns and details contained within the amazing tile work adorning the magnificent doors and walls and walk the patio area. Once acclimated to the city and its role in Moroccan culture, we were met by a local Tuareg guide. Tuareg also referred to as the Blue Men or Blue People, are known for the blue indigo cloth used for the men’s veil and other clothing pieces. The indigo pigment in the cloth turns the wearers’ skin to a dark blue.
Our guide Ali looked like he could have been in a commercial for toothpaste! He was a handsome young man with medium brown coloring, dark eyes, royal blue turban and traditional white costume and beautiful bright white teeth. His frequent and broad smiles made it easy to see he was confident and at ease with our group. He was working hard to perfect his English and welcomed questions to challenge him. He told us much about the date palm groves in the area and how they were in danger from a fungus – Bayoud, which is rapidly killing off trees, causing the area to revert to desert. There are huge replanting efforts, but it is a battle of time.
Irrigation is the second challenge to keeping the date palm groves alive and producing. After learning a little more about the challenges of agriculture in this desert area, we went behind the mud and straw walls of a Tuareg house! The architecture was fascinating and has a style and artwork all its own. It made me think of some of the villages I saw along the Nile in the Aswan area of Egypt. Ali took us to a community well, showed us some of the traditional implements used around the house to gather food and water and keep the house in order. The hard packed earth that served as pathways through the settlement was worn by hundreds of years of foot traffic. While the house was interesting, today was to be our first visit to a local market or souk, and I was ready!
Oh, how can I describe the overwhelming sensations I felt as we approached the souk! Every sense was alive. The sights, sounds and smells are nothing like I have ever experienced. People crowded down every pathway, men, women, kids, locals, tourists, traditional garb, western wear, it was all there. And the explosion of colors that met my eyes from the different merchant stalls and their wares mixed with the crowd of people. It was all so exciting. Ali led us down covered paths where there were fabrics, scarves, and clothing of all kinds. He cautioned against counterfeit blue Tuareg scarves in the market for tourists and briefed us about how to tell them apart.
The next corner we turned put us in the middle of a meat market. I can assure you, there was nothing prepackaged in plastic here! And the smell, well let’s just say I am really glad the temperatures were still reasonably mild. I saw bits and pieces for sale in the case or on the counter I had only studied about in anatomy classes. Past the meat market, we entered a large open area where all kinds of live stock were being sold and traded. Some animals were for labor, some for food. The next large open area was covered and full of bags and bags of dates. Some bags contained whole dates, others dates mashed into a pulp. I asked Ali what the mashed dates were for because the bags were open, exposed to the elements – dust, dirt, flies. I was told it was for eating. I didn’t go any further to find out if it was for animal consumption or human or maybe my question was not clear, after all, Ali was still in training.
We quickly moved to the spice area The colors of the various spices, herbs and henna were shockingly bright and the spicy smell was heavenly. Ali stopped and spoke to us about henna, its uses and the different grades. From there we entered the produce market. I have never seen such brilliant colors and overall beautiful produce! It was all locally grown and brought to market weekly. With produce like this, if it tasted anything like it looked I would find it very easy to get my allocation of fresh fruits and vegetables daily.
Oh, I am out of space and time. My story for today must come to an end and I did not even get to the camels!
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