Terms you need

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Before I get into other matters, there are some Moroccan terms that must be defined. It will simply be too difficult to define them repeatedly.



Moulay - an honorific for someone who claims ancestry to Mohamed

Medina - a walled ancient city. Often located within a larger modern city

Ksar - a walled dwelling place for multiple families. Often within a medina, although not necessarily so.

Kasbah (or casbah) - a walled dwelling place for a single (usually extended) family

Souk (or souq) - an open-air marketplace, often found within the medina

Camel - a flatulent, lumbering animal with a broad back that strains the hips

Scirocco - a wind from the Sahara that puts and in your shoes despite having them inside your tent behind a sturdy zipped flap with a reinforcing rug barrier

Berber - a member of an ethnic group that is racially diverse but strongly identified with northern Africa. Historically they spoke the Berber language, but that tradition is considerably splintered today

Arabs - members of an ethnically and racially diverse group united in sharing certain linguistic, cultural, political, and religious characteristics. In Africa and the Mideast, the vast majority are Muslims, although only 20% of Muslims worldwide are Arabic.

Tajine (or tagine) - describes both a conical two-pieced cooking vessel and the dishes prepared therein, typically braised stews

Couscous - steamed semolina (granular durum wheat), typically served topped with stewed or braised vegetables or meat

Riad - a walled house with an interior garden or patio to which rooms open. From the outside, it presents only plain walls. Many have been converted into restaurants or more commonly lodgings that are best described as fine boutique hotels

Bedouins - a group of tribes and extended families, mostly Arabs, who practice herding of camels and goats and live semi-nomadic lives. The name essentially means "dwellers of the desert", and they have traditionally lived in northern Africa and the Arabian and Syrian deserts

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