Sunday, June 26, 2011

Checking on the carpets

I work with a coop in town that has carpets made on ancient wood looms by women in outlying villages.  These women work with the coop to produce one of a kind wool rugs, using natural dyes.  All the work is done by hand in their own homes with kids and family looking on.  Each piece takes anywhere from 2 weeks to a month to produce, depending on size and design.  I was asked if I wanted to go and check on the progress of four pieces and I jumped at the chance.


After completion we will take each carpet, weigh it, measure it and take a picture of the finished product to put in a product inventory spreadsheet we are making to have a sales tool.  The villages are unique and it was cool to see how the people live and carpets made.  Every weaver wanted us to have tea.  Maybe it was just because of the Gringo, but there hospitality was overwhelming.  Unfortunatly (thankfully) we were on a tight schedule to get to see everything so we could not have three cups of tee in four different places.  Maybe next time.  Inshallah.


On the way back to the carpet shop we stopped in for a fresh treat and the "Fast Food".


Next stop Marrakesh to take 12 carpets, zerbias, to the freight company to be sent to the US.  This should be an experience. 


Tishka Pass to Marrakesh with DTK

The last leg of the father and son reunion went through some of the desert country, over the famous Tichka Pass with winding roads and bus barf bags, then down to one of the most touristy places Marrakesh.  Livestock can be just around the corner and slow down progress.  Snow was evident in the high peaks as we wound our way up and down.



Arriving in Marrakesh to the main bus station is always an experience.   We actually came in on the CTM bus which is much less hectic.  The hustle and bustle of dozens of buses coming and going, cab drivers, assistants who come up to you and want to help you on your way to wherever you are going for a small Dh fee.  It gets obnoxious after you have been there a few times and know where you are going.  These guys follow you from getting out of the cab to the bus window and expect a couple Dh even if you told them to leave you alone.  Walk fast and they tend to leave you alone.
I checked in to a hotel I stayed in with the Peace Corps and Dustin and I went on a tour into the souk market, Djemma El-Fna.  This is where the recent bombing took place.  Tourism was definitely down from when I was there previously.
Destination Ben Youssef Medersa and the Sultans tomb.  The16th century tomb area was walled up by the sultan's successor so that the subjects would not compare the new guy to the memory of the last.  The tomb remained sealed until it was discovered in 1917.



The Medersa built in the 14th century and renovated as late as the 19th century is known for it's size and magnificent carved wood and intricate plaster details.  Thee is a pool on the center courtyard and student rooms look down onto this area.  The area stayed cooler than the intense heat elsewhere in the town.  I would not like to be there in the heat of the summer though.





The student rooms were small but probably very comfortable for the era.  I understand that the lack of plumbing eventually drove students to study elsewhere.



We could have spent more time in the Medersa but it was time to get Dustin to the airport and off to Madrid.  I had a great time visiting with Dustin, bonding and showing him around Morocco.  The times we had with my new friends and the opportunity to introduce him to them will be a memory I will hold forever, or until I get Alzheimers and can't remember. lol.
Come back again when you get a chance, Dustin.  Love you.


Tuesday, June 14, 2011

Hanging with Dustin in Morocco-Midelt to Todra



Dustin got to see where I live and the people I know in my town.  Midelt, a town of 40K is a friendly place and Dustin got to drink a lot of tea.  The area is known for apples, hence the fountain with the apple.  Lots of storks are hanging out right now.  It is hatching season and little chicks are visible in most of the nests.  The town was used as a French administration center so many of the buildings in the older section of town have slopped roofs-French influence.  Most Moroccan buildings have flat roofs.
  There are fields dispersed throughout town so getting from one place to the next it is sometimes short to walk through the fields.  We got a tour through the clay kasbaa with Ismael.  There are limited entrances into this area and the alleys, if you can call them that, go through and under the housing.  The units are built on top of each other.  Clay houses are warmer in winter and cooler in summer, or so I have been told.  The walls, floors, ceiling are all mud.


Next was a trip out past Berrem to a village surrounded by farmland.  Brahim, my friend from the police department took Dustin and I, along with his son Tawfik's English teacher, to a friend of his house.  We were treated to tea and snacks in his home.  It was a great tour of the countryside I had not had the opportunity to see before.  It rained, but that added different color to the pictures.


The gorge is just visible up the arroyo. I will need to go back and see that.


We had dinner with great Moroccan food at Brahim's house.  We got to meet his father and entire family.  Then it was home to get ready for Tinerhir.
Stacie lives on the oasis in a new home.  very nice location.  Her friend, the French pastry chef in town, has a car and took us up to the Todra Gorge.  On the way back we stopped at a building and some of Giams's friends were having a music get together with homemade instruments.  A great experience.


There was no climbing in the Todra when we were there.  Dustin wanted to climb.  Climbers come from all over to climb the gorge.


Tomorrow off to the tishka pass and Marrakesh for Dustin to leave on the night plane to Madrid.

Monday, June 13, 2011

Hanging with Dustin in Morocco-Sefrou

Dustin's recent visit with me was an adventure.  From the twins in Azrou, the sandwich shop in Midelt to the Airport in Kesh we had a great time.
  The first stop after flying into Fes was to go to Sefrou and hang with another PCV for a day.  We met Jim's friend, and mine, Ali who took us on a hike to the hills behind Sefrou.  We visited a weaving school, the campground, the cave dwellings, waterfall and honey hanut.  Ali's best friend Omar joined us on the hike.
 Ali and his family.  The twins are just the cutest little bundles of joy.
 The city of Sefrou is at the base of the hills with farmland and orchards all around.  Farmers bring there wares in to town daily so fresh fruit and vegetables are always available.
Ali went to school at the weaving school when he was younger.  There was a good exhibit of old looms on display and Ali gave us a lesson.  We met his teacher walking up the road and they had a cheerful reunion.  The teacher is now retired but still remembered Ali.  Ali now owns a sandwich shop which I have eaten at numerous times.  It is not doing well this summer because they are tearing down the building next door and has become a hazard zone for his customers.  They dropped bricks on his awning bending the frame.  Of course they did not compensate his for the damage or loss of customers,  Everything is Inshallah here.
 Al Jazerra a few years back did a story about the Sefrou cave dwellers.  Many poor families had been living in the caves scattered in the hillsides around Sefrou.  The authorities decided to clean up this area and built houses for the people and moved them out of the caves they were living in for decades and bulldozed dirt over the openings of the ones they could and put steel doors on others.  Over time some people have moved back into the caves.  No place like home.
 I have lost some weight since I have been here.  No more of Wini's good cooking.  I have to eat what I make, beg or borrow.  I am not starving so I guess my cooking is OK.
The walk to the falls was almost tropical is some areas.  Several small waterfalls were on the way to the big one.  There was a hotel built at the bottom of the falls a few years earlier, but there was a problem with rowdy people at the bar and someone was killed so the hotel shut down.  It looked like a great place to go.  You can swim in a small pool at the bottom of the falls.


After the hike we were invited to Ali's house for Tajine.  It was the best one I have had in Morocco, spicy and full of flavor.  We had beet juice which I never had before.  It was very good.  The twins were entertaining throughout the night.


The next morning it was off to Fes and the Bab Boujaloud, a World Heritage Site.  We met Tyler an other PCV from Tigsaline, those PCVs sure do get around.  We walked down into the bowels of the market and visited the leather workers I work with making the purses for my coops.

 I met this hanut owner while working with the leather workers and visit him when I am in the market.  We always have tea and he speaks a little English which is helpful. 
The tannery as always is an experience.  Tourists watch the process from the tops of the buildings.  I have yet to be there in the heat of the summer and don't plan on going.
Off to Midelt on the 4:00 bus!  Home sweet home.