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)