Blogs from Fès-Boulemane, Morocco, Africa - page 30

So I believe I was telling you about my trip to Spain before I got distracted with the history lesson. Codoba was wonderful and I had a great time exploring and meeting people at the hostel. The mosque there is incredable, it was built in the 10th century when Cordoba was the capital of Islamic Spain. Its HUGE, a giant square with a forest of columns and double arches on the inside. Unforutantely the center was cut out and a cathedral inserted in the middle by the chrisitian kings in the 17th century. The cathedral - done in the ugliset Spanish Baroque with trumpeting angles, big fat babies and bald-headed monks flying everywhere - both ruins the mosque and show by comparison just how much more ingenious and tastefull the much-older mosque is in its simple ... read more

Fez. Fez El-Bali and Fez El-Jdid. The old city is a maze of dead ends, Mosques, Madrassa's and souks. It's also a tourist trap. But some places are a tourist honeypoot, for a good reason. The Medina of Fez is beyond compare - it's the Moroccan City of your Dreams. I arrived in Fez yesterday by bus. I walked into the old city from the bus and was approached by a tout who I got rid of. I looked at 4 Hotels. At the last hotel, I was approached by someone outside the hotel I assumed was a tout, but he insisted he worked at the hotel. He showed my a room, and told me to put my bag down - I didn't. I hadn't yet negotiated a price. I insisted on seeing the showers - ... read more

I ended up at a Moroccan wedding on Monday! I was walking home when a homegrown band of drummers and horn players can parading down the alley. It turns out they were my neighbors and they were happy to pull me and my companion into the fray. Inside their house we did some square dancing while the drummers banged away on baking tins, frying pans and even some real drums. The whole time I was sort of smothered with young children who were more than happy to lead me around the room by the hands (often with several children per hand) and sit on my lap and just sort of grab on to me however possible. I don't think I ever actually met the zwoj and zwoja but I'm pretty sure I met every single member ... read more

I have a home! Last night I moved into my new apartment, its perfect! The building I'm in is a restored 19th century riad owned by an American couple who only spend a couple weeks a year here. I have two roommates. Gibron, from LA, is a 30 something year old English teacher at the center. He manages the restoration work and maintainance on the house for the owners. Gerald is a 50 something retired bookseller who is an expert on literature and classical music (and he knew my favorite author, Paul Bowles) The house is absoultely gorgeous, its 3 and a half stories with a roof-top terrace centerd around a gorgeous covered courtyard. There are 4 or 5 huge bedrooms and 3 bathrooms. The courtayrd is elaboratley decorated with colored tilework and carved and painted ... read more

Saba Al Noor (Bright Morning) So I've gone native. I bought a Jalaba yesterday in Sefrou. For those of you who don't know about the Jalaba, its an ankle length robe with a pointed hood that the men wear here in Morocco. I like quite like a Hobbit really and I feel very mysterious when I wear it. The closet thing I can think of is the brown robes worn by those the little sand men in Star Wars with the luminescent eyes. The best thing is that when I walk through the medina, most of the carpet salesmen automaticaly assume that anyone in a jalaba is Moroccan, and rarely take the time to look at my face. If I pull the hood all the way down I can be completely anonymous. I had to learn ... read more