Ode to Morocco

Morocco, sweet Morocco a land of ancient beauty;

Morocco, sweet Morocco; so ancient, so alive.

Your children know their heritage and of it they are proud,

This is the land of free men that Rome could never conquer.

Your people they are friendly, so kind and very gen’rous,

They make me to feel more at home than when I’m in my country.

They’ve given me their food to eat, their hands and hearts in greeting,

I’ve been overwhelmed with friendship since I first arrived.

Come you who speak against this land and you who criticize,

If you’ve heard bad against this land, then surely it’s a lie.

I truly love Morocco, I’m enchanted by this place,

If I can find a home here then it must be by God’s favor.

Silence fools!  and hold your tongues, speak not if you don’t know,

For if you speak against my friends, then I shall strike you down.

If they shall be judged indeed, then it must be done in heaven,

If they are pure or wicked ‘tis God who surely knows.  

If I will judge from what I’ve seen and the kindness I’ve been shown,

I’ll ever stand to declare the goodness of my Moroccan friends.  

A View of Morocco

Until now, I have not posted many photographs here as I have striven to include only those which illuminate the articles that I have written.  I have tried to include several photos here which will represent the many aspects of my holiday up to this point.  I have taken hundreds of photographs and it would be quite impossible to include them all here.  I hope however that this will give my readers an idea of what I have seen thus far.  

Relaxing Moroccan style in the home of some friends.

I am standing before a drinking fountain in the medina.  It is difficult to say how old it must be.  Notice the beautiful tile work and engraving.  This is commonly seen every where one looks in Fes.  

My friends and I standing before one of the gates to the medina.

Sheesha is rather common here.

A view of the city of Fes from a hill top fortress.  

Here I am in the Jellaba which I received as a present from the father of my friend Youness.

Moroccan ceilings are often adorned with this beautiful plasterwork.  

I am standing before an inscription of the Moroccan declaration of independence which was written when they threw off French rule.  

A Moroccan chandelier. 

Youness and I standing before a museum in the medina.

Here you can look through another of the medina's gates to see one of the city's many towering minarets.  

Here I stand in the Jewish cemetery in Fes.  I am in the tomb of the grand Rabbis in this photograph.  Some people do not realize that there was once a very large population of Jews in Morocco.   

Here is one of the beautiful windows from an old synagogue that we visited.  

Here I stand before the gate of the Mellah (Jewish quarter) in Fes.  The Mellah was usually situated near the palace so that they could have the protection of the sultan.   

Here I stand on a beautiful tree lined avenue in Fes.  I am told that it is the longest avenue in Northern Africa.

Moroccan homes are very elegant.

I hope that you all have enjoyed your little tour of Fes with me.  I will be posting more photos both of Fes and of the other places that I will visit.  Salaam for now.

Jillali (جيلالي)

American Tourists, Satisfied Moroccans and the Desire for Unrest

Yesterday on March 10, I accompanied my friend Mr. Driss Ziyane in visiting a center for cultural studies in the medina here in Fes.  We arrived a little late but when we arrived we found that there were some American university students there holding discourse with several Moroccans about the current political and social issues in Morocco and in Northern Africa as a whole.  It did not take long to realize that the Americans were very dissatisfied with the government and politics in Morocco.  Yes, the Americans were dissatisfied.  They seemed to be more bothered than the Moroccans about the current state of things in Morocco.  The Americans seemed to be trying to convince the Moroccans that it is not only the parliament that is corrupt here in Morocco but also the king and the Moroccans seemed to disagree entirely.  To be sure, not every Moroccan must be in love with the king, but I have as yet not encountered one that did not like King Mohamed VI.  In general, the Moroccans seem to believe that there is corruption in the government but that their king is good.  They have faith in the king and were all very happy when he delivered his speech about constitutional reform.  But what does all of this mean to Americans?  While I was sitting there listening to the Americans complain about the rights of women in Morocco while two Moroccan women sat and discussed how much freedom that they have gained over the last few years, I was very irritated.  There seem to be plenty of Americans that think that they have the answer to the world's problems and that answer is to teach them how to do things the  American way.  We seem to think that if only the Moroccan women could live as American women live then surely they would be happy.  If Moroccan families were like their American counterparts then surely everything would be better.  We seem to have no ability to conceive of any other governmental system being half as good as our own.  After all, being ruled over by a king is so old fashioned isn't it?  As an American in Morocco, I would suggest that we ought to mind our own business.  If Moroccans are dissatisfied then they will take care of it.  As their friends I believe that we ought to support them in striving for what ever they want, but I do not believe we should set ourselves to the task of trying to make them unhappy about things which do not even bother them.  If we Americans will look at our society and the degenerate state in which we now find it, then surely we must understand that perhaps there are other systems that are just as good as our system and maybe there is even one that is better.  While you speculate about the politics of the world, please keep these things in mind.  These people live here.  They understand their position better than we do.  Perhaps we should just leave them alone unless they ask for our help.          

Jillali (جيلالي)   

A Visit to the Medina

Yesterday on March 8th I went with my friends to the medina for tea and to see some of the sights there.  For those of you who don't know, the medina is the original part of the city.  The medina of Fes was built in the 8th century and has not been changed much since the middle ages.  Most of the streets have never been passed over by a car and some of them are so narrow that one would be hard pressed to drive a car down them.  In fact, some are so narrow that I think it would be rather close even for two horsemen.

My friend Hamzaoui standing in one of the narrow streets with his arms outstretched.

We sat in a cafe drinking tea and chatting for some time.  While we were there I managed to get one of the best shoe shines that I have ever had for five Dirhams.  After that we went walking in the labyrinth of streets and shops.  By western standards, things in the medina are rather disorderly, but even in the midst of the seeming chaos there seems to be a sort of order.  Every one is patient and waits their turn.  Those with carts do the best not to run over or smash the pedestrians.  While walking we encountered carts pushed by hand, carts pulled by donkeys, and even a bicycle laden with gazelle's feet which are apparently used for food here.  Speaking of food, we managed to enjoy some sweets while we took our tea.  I have become quite fond of Moroccan sweets since I've arrived.

Shebakiya and Briwat

These and some other sweets that I have been fortunate enough to eat are rather commonly served during  Ramadan.  The food here in Morocco is much better than I could have ever expected.  I had hopes of losing a bit of weight while I was here, but that hope was abandoned after my first day here.

While walking through the medina, we saw every kind of shop that one can imagine.  They were selling everything from leather goods to bread to books and brass goods.  We were rather hurried to meet another friend and so we did not stop to buy anything at that time.  When we did meet that friend whom I had not met before, she mistook me for a Moroccan until I gave her my salam with an American accent.  At the end of that day, we decided to catch a bus outside of the medina so that we could go home.  While waiting for the bus we went into an open air restaurant and had some harira which was very good.

  The bus was so crowded that I literally stepped in onto the bottom step and then the door was closed close behind me.  We were very pressed and it took my friend Marouane and I a few minutes to navigate our way through the crowd so that we could join Youness and Hamzaoui who had entered the bus a short time before us.  We walked a great deal and I was tired when we returned home, but it was really a very nice day.

I nearly forgot, while we were in the medina my friends gave me a Moroccan name.  It is easier for them than to use my English name and so I will forever be known as Jillali (جيلالي).  

I'll sign off for now.  More updates are forthcoming.

Jillali (جيلالي)    

My Introduction to Morocco

Hello friends,

As promised, here is my first note about my time in Morocco.  I have been here for three days now having arrived on Sunday morning.  My plane arrived on Sunday at half past six and I took the eight o'clock train from the airport to Casablanca proper.  I sat at Casa Voyageur train station until a little after ten when my next train arrived.  Even as I sat waiting for my train, I began to notice many things about Morocco.  I saw mothers wearing jellabas and scarves walking with their daughters who were wearing regular street clothes and I saw young women wearing tight jeans and mini skirts.  As you can plainly see, the culture here is diverse and it is not possible to paint all Moroccans with the same brush.  They are mostly Muslims but they do not all adhere to Islam in the same manner and some are more conservative than others.

When My train finally arrived in Fes at half past two, I was greeted by my enthusiastic friend Youness Abeddour.  We then took a taxi to the home of his aunt where I was given the opportunity to eat Moroccan food for the first time.  It contained couscous and chicken along with numerous vegetables that I did not readily recognize.  His aunt was very hospitable and very insistently encouraged me with "mange, mange" (which is French for eat) every time I began to slow down.  That was the first time that I drank a glass of the local water which I have so often been warned against.  I was so tired that I forgot myself and when water was offered to me I drank it all.  I have consumed a great deal of Moroccan food and water by now and still I am not sick.

On Sunday night I went with Youness and two other friends Driss and Hamzaoui into the city.  We drove about looking at the sites and stopped at the Royal Palace to take some pictures before the gate.  

You can see me above standing before the gates of the palace of His majesty King Mohamed VI of Morocco.  His kingdom has stood for 12,000 years.

The next day I visited Sidi Mohamed Ben Abdellah University which is named for an 18th century sultan who was a correspondent of George Washington.  The university was very nice and I found every one there very friendly.  I have been greeted many times in the streets with "hello" and "welcome to Morocco".

On the night of March 7th, I attended an English course which was being taught by Mr. Driss Ziyane.  The lesson was concerning the use of English idioms which surprised me at first but as I reflected upon it, I realized that knowledge of such speech must be necessary if a foreign person will ever understand what an American is talking about.  During the course a young man gave a presentation in English about the celebration of Mother's day which led to a discussion among the members of the class.  It was very interesting to see how formally the students conducted themselves for when they addressed the speaker they greeted him.  They continually addressed one another as Mr. or Miss and thanked the speaker for his presentation before they began to comment upon it.  The discussion of Mother's day sparked lengthy debate among the students about whether or not a Muslim should celebrate a western holiday.  One young gentlemen in particular was very adamantly against it.  He was very passionate as he tried to persuade his colleagues that they ought not to follow the west but to keep their own traditions.  What struck me most was that at the end of the class this young man who was so opposed to being like the west shook my hand as he walked past and smiling he welcomed me to Morocco.  I think this is a good illustration that we can disagree and maintain different beliefs and perspectives without making enemies of one another.  Since I have been here I have been treated well by all.  As far as I know, I have only encountered one Christian since I arrived and all of the rest have been Muslims. They do not keep account of such things however.  Friends are friends no matter what their religion might be.

Mr. Ziyane before his class.

This afternoon I think I shall go out walking.  It is warm here and I quite enjoy my promenades with my friends on the streets which are lined with orange trees.  I will write more soon.  Farewell until then.