مراكش Marrakesh, Morocco (This time I'm serious...)

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'Salam Alaikum' from Spain!!

Snake-charmers, acrobats, story-tellers, camels, musicians, and burqas; all fit perfectly into anyone's pre-conception of traditional Morocco...I know, I know...there's kind of this conflict in North Africa going on at the moment...But you have to realize that what you're probably seeing through your American television sets is not at all an accurate representation of the whole...In fact, Morocco remains just about the only Mediterranean North African country that isn't in complete disarray from political protests. Though there have been some recent peaceful demonstrations within the country in regards to justice, work and health coverage, things there remain (relatively) calm, as the king is highly respected. Morocco was colonized by the French in the early 20th century, so there is a significant use of French as a second language (outside of Arabic and Berber), which is spoken by all educated Moroccans. Setting foot in Marrakech or the 'Red City' feels surprising more like setting foot in Saudi Arabia than Africa. Marrakech is situated at the foot of the Atlas Mountains (the mountains separating the Mediterranean and Atlantic coastlines) in stark contrast with the bordering Sahara deserts to the south.

Being in Spain allows one to travel cheap to some interesting places within short distances. Since Morocco has been a place I have been increasingly interested in, we couldn't help but pass up the opportunity this past weekend. After driving down to Madrid, we took a two hour plane down to Marrakesh then met Manu, the French owner of Riad Al Mamoune that we would stay at. Riads are common throughout Moroccan culture and are essentially palaces (now hotels) with an interior garden. After exchanging our euros at the airport for Dirham (about 10 to €1), we proceeded to drive towards the the main plaza, Jemaa El'Fna. We then greeted Ali who would then walk us to the Riad. A traditional greeting in Morocco involves shaking hands and touching the right hand to the heart afterwards, which is a sign of respect.

Morocco marks my first steps to really understanding Islamic culture. Islam is practised by the majority of Moroccans and governs most (but not necessarily all) people's entire lives. Among certain obligations for Muslims are to pray five times a day - at dawn (5 A.M.), noon, afternoon, sunset, and evening. For the three days we were there, you could hear the Muezzin call to prayer Al'lah al Akbar (God is great) resonating throughout the city. Generally if you're into the whole waking up at 5 A.M. thing, you wouldn't have to set your alarm here...The calls are done by the town 'criers' and are heard through various loudspeakers set up throughout the city, usually in Mosque towers. And the succession of various calls produces oddly the same effect of church bells ringing throughout a Spanish town. The sound of the almost canon like echo of the calls throughout the city is honestly quite beautiful and spiritual. Watching anyone set up to pray towards Mecca was oddly not unusual to me. Despite any particular religion's claim to its differences among others, observing Muslims in prayer wasn't too far from observing say a Christian praying towards an alter. We as humans tend to look too much into the differences between things like religion, but in reality there are several similarities that we don't tend to (or don't like to) acknowledge...

Most the streets of the old city are un-drivable by taxi. Extremely narrow, salmon and red colored corridors flood the city making it really easy to get lost. A short walk through these narrow streets lead us immediately through the Souks, the largest traditional market in Morocco. Various vendors selling an array of items; tea sets, intricate ceramics, hand-woven rugs, and various spices in bags and buckets stacked in cone shapes, flood the Souks. After squeezing our way through the market we finally arrived at the Riad to get accommodated. Ali was a very friendly guy and invited us for some mint tea upon arrival. The Riad itself was a very neat place. Since it was originally a palace, it contained some really cool Moorish style features, including a patio on the roof and an indoor hot-tub...

I must admit, I did feel a little uneasy about going to Marrakesh, but I immediately found that the city is quite welcoming to foreigners. In fact, it's almost too welcoming to foreigners...The old town part of Marrakesh is somewhat of a tourist trap, and looking the slightest like a foreigner makes you an easy target for just about anyone to try to get money from you. After getting well adjusted at the Riad, we decided to go out exploring the town and find some lunch. Going back through the Souks, we arrived upon one of the main and busiest plazas in the world, Djemaa el'Fna. Having no particular agenda, we decided to wander around looking at the various vendors and various characters putting their 'best' on display. Marrakesh represents hassling at its finest...One cannot pass by a single vendor without them asking you to take a quick stop into their shop. You learn how to say 'no' really fast, in several languages...just to make the point really clear to them. After wandering around for a bit, a guy with a monkey quickly came up to me and asked if I wanted to take a picture. Knowing that he wanted money and that we didn't really have any sort of low bills/change to give him, I told him it was fine, I didn't want to pay for it. But, herein lies the heart of traditional hassling...'oh no it's fine you don't have to pay,' then plopped the monkey on my shoulder...The monkey clearly had no interest in making friends with me, and proceeded to pull and gnaw on my hair. Having pretty much given up at this point, I handed the camera to a reluctant David to get my picture taken. The monkey man (let call him) then took the monkey off my shoulder and said, 'ok 100 dirham...' Hmm...Seeing as this is the equivalent of €10 and that he very clearly told me I didn't have pay (and that he didn't even take the picture), I said forget it. After arguing with him for a while, I gave him €2 for the whole thing, and we quickly headed off. It's impossible to get away with looking anything other than a tourist there. The same situation happened the next day with a kid near a snake charmer. I'm not bothered much by the things, but after refusing to touch or seem the least bit interested in the thing, the kid then plopped the damn thing around my neck. 'Sorry, I don't think so,' I tried to tell him, then proceeded to take the snake off my neck like a necklace...Like the monkey, the snake didn't seem to take much interest in me, nor I him...Unfortunately, this is typical in Morocco...You could stand in a crowd of people observing some acrobats putting on a show, and someone presumably associated with the group will ignore all 100 locals, coming up and singling you out for money......'No, Non, Laa, Nein, forget it!!'

We ate a huge Moroccan lunch, including lamb's heart, fresh fruit, and a tajine or essentially clay cone that is used to bake a variety of dishes. This tajine included a variety of vegetables including mostly carrots surrounding a roasted chicken with a variety of aromatic herbs. We headed soon off to Palais Badi, which was originally a 16th-century palace with gold, turquoise and crystal, but now an impressive, big, ruin...Really, the place was a ruin...Having visited several re-constructed palaces in Spain, it was really interesting to see what a palace of this size looks like with no reconstruction done to it whatsoever. However, after viewing the entrance for a while, we went into the huge courtyard, filled with nothing but orange trees, water, and holes in the walls. We made our way up to the second floor, which provided a neat view of the palace and the rooftops of various home, which contained mostly clothes-lines contrasted with satellite dishes. A view into a closed off part of the next-door garden is a mess with the king's security equipment piled up like a junk yard. However, a stork's-eye view (literally giant birds nests on top of the palace) was really neat. The Muezzin calls to prayer started up again as we entered some cave-like passageways, echoing through the palace with similar distant chants being heard sounding in harmony.

We decided to go find the Saadian tombs (another tourist-trap area of Marrakesh). Before entering the tombs, a kid walked up, gave us his card, and told us to go visit his shop around the corner. Not to insult him, we said we might later (typical response to get people off your back). He asked us where we were from, and he immediately started repeating Obama's name over and over again. Whether or not Obama is Muslim, in a way it's comforting to know that they sure seem to think so, and like the fact too. To say the least, you gain a unique perspective of what people think of America from other countries. The Saadian tombs was an interesting place decorated with various tiles and elaborate carvings. Constructed in the 16th century, it wasn't re-discovered until the early 20th century. Later that night we enjoyed another gigantic meal at 'Dar Essalam,' which along with Plaza Djemaa, was featured in Hitchcock's film, 'The man who knew too much.' It was a five course meal accompanied by belly-dancing, authentic Moroccan music and a lady dancing around with 20+ candles on her head. My favorite part was watching the musicians twirling the tassels on their Fez hats to their music...

Not to blabber on too much, we had gotten tired of the pretty frequent hassling being done for money. So, we decide to take a trip out to the surrounding Atlas mountains the next day. We took an hour ride from Ali's friend, Abdul, to Setti Fatima within the Ourika Valley. It was a really beautiful drive to what is officially a Berber region, particularly upon nearing the mountains and villages. A river ran alongside the main road, complete with rickety old bridges that one could cross to get some Berber cuisine on the other side. Shops with pottery and intricate rugs lined the roads, while camels rested alongside their owners awaiting another tourist to give it a 20 minute ride...Upon reaching the base of the mountains we began hiking to reach the base of the seven waterfalls. Women dressed in beautiful and colorful burkas with kids strapped to their backs joined in getting some fresh air. The mountains were a truly beautiful site, and reminded me of what southwestern Colorado might be like. Our guide took us up supposedly stable ladders and rocks to get a better and better view of the villages below. It was an incredible site and a worthwhile trip from the craziness of Marrakesh. After returning back to the Souk we enjoyed a meal made by Manu's wife and talked to Ali for a while, with the Moroccan radio playing in the background, occasionally stopping the music at the appropriate time to give a Muezzin chant.

We took one more trip out to the square the last night. The square is the most active at night, with various vendors opening after 6 or 7 for a quick meal. I was still a little bit hungry after our meal at the Riad, so I couldn't resist having a delicious bowl of some snails at one of the stands (tastes like chicke...well snails). We stopped at one of the 25+ juice stands for some freshly made orange and grapefruit juice, which despite what people in Spain might tell you, was WAY better than anything I'd ever tried. After ignoring several requests to buy more juice and a wide variety of elicit drugs, we headed back to the Riad.

After flying back out of Marrakesh the next afternoon, you could see from the plane window the Straight of Gibraltar separating Spain from Africa. It truly was a worthwhile trip, and though it was only weekend, it made for an incredible eye-opening experience to say the least.

I'm safely in Pamplona enjoying a good two weeks off before my next orchestra gig.

Cheers,
~Zach

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Photos

Monkey effectively eating my hair
Plaza Djemaa El'Fna...The guy wanted the equivalent of €10 for that picture...needless to say I didn't give him near that much

Stork on top of Palace Badi
Here's my usual bird picture...

Setti Fatma - Ourika Valley
You can barely see me standing on the left side of the picture