Excursions!

Right now I’m sitting in my bedroom with the door open, watching rain fall into the roofless courtyard as I’m cuddled in a blanket and sweatshirt. It’s very relaxing – the same feeling you get riding in a warm, quiet car during a rainstorm. It’s supposed to rain all week in Rabat, so I may not be so positive about the weather in a few more days. At least I can wear my new rainboots.

Today I returned from our weekend excursion to Fes, Meknes, Volubilis, and Moulay Idriss. Bus rides are not good for sleeping, especially if the previous night involved sampling famous Meknes wines, so needless to say I was not a happy camper until I returned home and took a 2 ½ hour nap. I apparently missed out on some special African food with my family, but I don’t know if my stomach can really handle any more new and exciting foods at the moment.

The trip was awesome – after trying to navigate the Fes medina Rabat’s is like a calm stroll down Broadway. We started in Meknes, where we saw the gate to the king’s palace, some ancient city walls, a grain silo (sp?) for Moulay Ismail, Morocco’s king in the 16^th century. Moulay Ismail was apparently a big deal because he tried to marry one of the King Louis’ daughters. They rejected him. The silo was huge – it was apparently built so that Moulay Ismail could store enough food for his entire army for three years. Apparently because of the arched architecture it survived the 1755 earthquake which not only leveled the rest of the city, but was so strong that it leveled Lisbon as well. Our tour guide, who chain smoked and wore a djellaba and aviator sunglasses, explained to us that Moulay Idriss should be put in the Guiness Book of World Records because he freed the most slaves at one time (over 4,500). However, in reality, he granted them their freedom after they finished building his city, Meknes, which took about 15 years. We also visited a famous mosque that was beyond gorgeous and the guide told us Muslims used the Star of Abraham (8 points) and the Star of David (6 points) next to their own star (5 points) in architecture very often. There seems to be a really strong presence of Jewish culture in Moroccan history, at least from a tour guide perspective. All in all Meknes was beautiful. It was calm, small, and open, which was a huge change for us.

We had a quick stop at Moulay Idriss, another small and relaxing town, where we had lunch at this beautiful huge house that had been converted into a traditional Moroccan restaurant. We had tagine (a Moroccan meat and vegetable stew-type dish served in a conic ceramic pot also called a tagine) and of course bread. Then we went up to the woman’s balcony, which overlooked the town and these gorgeous mountains and just hung out for a bit. We watched her pour tea from a kettle raised about 2 feet above the glass – a sign of pride in Moroccan culture. I think I can get like 4 inches maybe.

Next we went to Volubilis, the site of ancient Roman ruins of a huge town. Only one third of the ruins had been excavated but still the area was larger than Rabat’s medina. The guide said there were problems getting funding to excavate the other 2/3, but since the ruins were also surrounded by farm land I imagine there are some politics involved in giving away that land. When you get a chance to look at the pics I posted, you’ll get a sense of how amazing this place was. The ruins were amidst the most verdant, fertile hills you’ve ever seen. The Romans actually used to call Morocco their bread basket and imported a lot of food and animals from here back to Rome. The rolling farm land definitely explained that, and what’s more, you could see any advancing army coming at least hundreds of miles away. It was crazy leaning on centuries-old columns imagining watching soldiers coming towards you. Our tour guide, who was insistent on sharing the Romans’ less tasteful customs, showed us where the vomitorium was (this is where people went to throw up during a feast so that they could eat more) and the pooping room in the public baths, where important men often gathered for political discussions. Interesting.

After that we drove to Fes to settle into our hotel and have dinner. The hotel was gorgeous, and after using Turkish toilets and showering with buckets of cold water (I got lucky in getting Western toilets and hot water) the hotel was like 5 star paradise. Dinner was at this weird mosque-like building with traditional performers and a belly dancer who made diners come up on stage and move in awkward ways in front of everyone. Since it was basically us and some elderly Chinese tourists, laughs were had by all. It was a little kitschy/touristy, but an experience nonetheless.

The next day was the Fes medina, which literally blew my mind. There are over 9,000 streets and some are so small that the walls brush your shoulders as you squeeze through. There are also carts with donkeys everywhere and you have to press yourself to the wall to let them through. We saw all of the standard exotic sights – hanging camel heads, buckets full of snails, etc. All of the streets are themed based on craft, and the blacksmithing and comb making streets were my favorite. There’s only one comb maker left, and he carves them out of flattened cow horns. Then we went to the famous Fes tanneries, which smell like rotting animal in every sense of the word, so much so that they give you mint so that you can stand the stench. But the sight was amazing. The tanneries are rows and rows of basins of vegetable dyes and limestone soaks and men roll up their pants and climb in barefoot to stir the skins and soak them. I got the feeling that I could have looked at this sight 100 years ago and seen the same thing. We went to a leather store below the tanneries where we were told in advance that the merchants were going to jack up the price 4 fold, but when I tried to negotiate with one salesman he started yelling at me and followed me out of the store. Oh well. We stopped by a famous madrassa (religious school) in the medina where students still study today. Maimonides once visited as a scholar-in-residence, and apparently one of the medina Babs (arched exit doorways) is decorated with the Star of David in remembrance of him. By the way, it was pouring rain the whole time so I got to wear my poncho and look like an idiot tourist. When we exited the medina,we saw another Bab that is apparently replicated at Epcott, so if you every go to Florida, check out the Morocco section and think of me. That was about all of the sightseeing we did on that trip. The rest of the day we spent hanging out at the hotel and sampling some regional wine, and the next day we drove back home.

Now I’m just coping with fast failing health (don’t worry I’m drinking lots of water and eating vitamin C) and excited for my next belly dancing class! More updates on host family drama, Arabic class, and emotions in general to come.