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Published: February 27th 2013
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February 24 and 25, 2013
A great day-trip!
On Sunday, February 24, 2013, we went with our family on a day-trip. Earlier in the week we thought they might be taking us on a trip, but things became more clear on Saturday night. As we sat around after dinner, our 17 year old sister (Khadija) was calling various people to see if she could get a driver for the day. There are local taxis that drive in the city and Grand Taxis (larger) which drive to other cities, but these forms of transportation merely take you and drop you off (no returns!). There is a secret network of guys (yes, only guys) who a person in the know may call that will drive you around all day for a set price. Our sister is in the know! She negotiated with the guy to drive and stay with us 8 hours for 350 DHM, or $42.00. That price includes gas!!!
Our sister told us to be ready to go at 10am. No problem, because it is too cold to get a shower anyway! At 10, she showed herself ready to go, or so she thought. Her mom had another
Prickly pear cactus fruit cart in El Hajeb market.
Please note that the wheels are painted with prickly pear fruit juice. Now that's resourceful! idea completely. An argument ensued, which we considered typical 17 year old argument with mom, about her clothing (thick leggings with sweater over them, skin tight). Eventually, she changed, but the new outfit also failed to hide the problematic booty. See photos. But… mom agreed and off we went.
Onto the geography covered! We went to a total of 4 towns; two of the more popular are named: Ifrane and Azrou. We did some sight-seeing and had a so-so lunch. We were quick to tell our “momma” that her food is MUCH better than the restaurant and in truth, it is! And while the food was so-so, we were happy to have a really big salad with fresh veggies.
The thrill of the day was the purchase of Clay’s man-jeleba and the women buying shoes. Our fellow female travelers are exquisite bargainers. They make appropriate faces and have great voice inflection to show timely dissatisfaction with the quoted price. If we haven’t mentioned it before, when going to the outdoor markets, everything is up for bargaining. Clay tried on various jelebas and was smitten with a heavy, rough-feel wool one. We did not know at the time that
This hat is not a hat... it is a scarf!!!
When we were leaving for the dar chebab, our neighbor (a man) stopped me and insisted that he make a gift to me. (His words.) He gave me a scarf and turned it into the coolest hat ever! I wore it all day! it was all hand-made and the best one they make in Morocco. The ladies negotiated and negotiated and we all walked away at one point, and finally they got the price reduced by a third!!!! See photo of Clay’s magnificent jeleba. He bought two hats to match - - a cap and a traditional tarboush.
The next day when Clay put on his new outfit, you could tell he was both envied and appreciated for wearing the traditional garb. He has earned points with both men and women via his new look. Our neighbor (who refuses to shake a woman’s hand due to his conservative religious beliefs) loved Clay’s outfit so much that he called him over to tie the local, traditional scarf around Clay’s head. See photo - - a beautiful shepherd man is Clay, indeed. On top of all of that excitement, he is warm as warm can be. Ann’s comments: I felt like singing a Christmas carol right there! And in spite of his cool new look, there is a sheep smell to it and it will take some getting used to.
Back to the Sunday trip, it was freezing, but we managed to see
a lot of ground and take photos which we hope you will enjoy. The last town we visited (El Hajeb) is famous for its mountain water which is now streaming through the city and everyone is filling jugs and drinking. See photo of Ann drinking from the communal vegetable can turned cup, tied by a string near the water. Our “momma” bought some veggies here, including fresh peas in pods!!! We LOVE fresh peas in pods and ate some raw on the way home.
When we got home, we were happy to be served hot milk and coffee. This is a luxury which we will really miss when we move. We drink the milk/coffee “ns ns” which is “half and half.” The hot milk has become Ann’s favorite drink in this cold weather (although a little brandy in it might be good, if it could be found). We were fed “momma’s” home-made Moroccan pizza – a large round of flat bread on top and bottom, stuffed with things - - sometimes even skinny noodles, then fried in butter a large skillet on both sides. Be honest, do we look fat in our photos?
This week we have more
language lessons, we will teach at the dar chebab and we hope to have some input into the town where we will be living for the next two years. We will greatly miss our new family here, but hopefully there will be many opportunities to visit. They really want us to come to the “big festival” so we can partake in the lamb slaughter. Hmmmmmm……
An aside (not for the faint of heart) for a couple of days last week, dogs were shot all over town and were lying dead everywhere. We asked our sister why they were shot. She simply answered that there were too many. As we have observed, there is a multitude of stray dogs here. The shooting is the mechanism for animal control. Very few people have dogs (except for guarding property) or cats as pets and they just run around and feast on garbage. This feasting does serve an important purpose though, as garbage is everywhere. Our little “brother” has two adorable puppies and we still aren’t sure where they came from. We have seen kids be cruel to them and one of them was tied up so tight around the neck one day
that we had to cut the cord off. This is hard for us to see, but as they say in Moroccan, “hak-dak.” Which simply means, it is what it is…… There are some very cultural lessons here that are difficult to learn. Lisa and Jim, hug Joe and Scooter for us!
More good stuff on the way soon!!!!!!!!!!!!!
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non-member comment
2/27
happy birthday Ann.