maroc: people and food.

Besides riding a camel through the Sahara, one of the coolest parts of Morocco was simply the opportunity to be exposed to such a different type of culture.  Caution: I may say things that are not representative of the entirety of Morocco, and surely not the entirety of the Islamic or Arabic world, but Ill just describe the Morocco that I experienced, so take it with a grain of salt. J

Zee people:

So we spent the week hanging out with our four nomadic buddies, Barouck, Brahim, Siead, and Mohammad.  Oh my gosh, they were so much fun. J It was so fun to watch how they warmed up to us (and of course us to them) throughout the week…especially when we started working at the association  (an afterschool program for kids) Ah I only wish we could have spend a few more days with them! Barock was our elder guide, always so calm, haha, helping us learn Arabe, our leader. Brahim was such a jokester…always tripping us and making fun. and then Siead. Haha. He’s a wonderful cook. And has the most calm, soft voice, you’ve ever hear. so cute. We just had so much fun.

The gang!

Every night after dinner we would gather around the fire and sing & dance. The guys would play on water jugs or  drums if we had them around and sing, then we would all jam out around the fire…haha after a couple songs, they always wanted us to sing/play something…none of us were really musically talented… so we taught the m the Macarena. Hahahaaa. Wish you had been there.  It was HALARIOUS.  The nomads loved when we sang Hacuna Matata too. I believe we also taught them “Ain’t no mountain high enough” and The Good Old Song – naturally.  Then Carrie showed them a couple “Pom” dances (Pom=competitive cheering, think Bring It On).

dancing around the fire

There was one day when we all got deliriously goofy and were coaxed into creating one of the most impressive Pom moves – The Fan.

"It's a crowd pleaser"

Haha, one day after lunch while trekking, We realized what a great spot sand dunes are for doing Yoga.  So we did a few warrior poses, some down dog, etc…the nomads thought it was HALARIOUS.  And wanted to join in.  And thus, Maggie became  a desert yoga instructor. .

Then later in the week, they would just ask to do yoga at random times. Hahaaaa. So great. J

 Also, apparently my name is really easy /fun for Moroccans to say.  I don’t know why but they really liked saying it.  The kids at the association too, they would jsome of them just kept repeating my name! they said it like “maah – Gee” J I love it.  

Maah-gee yoggga!

We had so much fun jokin with the nomads in broken French, and attemping to learn Arabic, and singing around the fire and dancing like idiots. It was a great break from prim and proper France.

Muhammad, Elizabeth, and I being goofy while walking down the road outside of M'hamid

I learned some really useful Arabic phrases:

‘ On-a-majee-noom-a “ means “I’m crazy”

“jal-ban-aa “ means “green peas” (I helped shell these for dinner one night)

“zuh – ween” means “pretty” (what I said over and over again to the little kids at eh association who were drawing pictures)

and “Salaam” means hello!

The nomads also taught us the phrase “kkkarack – sing- ta” which Brahaim told us meant “its all good, yo” butttt then no one else we they we tried to say it to seemed to know what it meant or even recognize that it was an Arabic phrase….so I think he made it up. Or maybe its nomad slang. Or maybe you just have to do the special little dance with it in order for people to understand.

Food!

Go ahead and put away that knife and fork, in Morocco -  you eat with your hands.  Excuse me: hand.  Just the right hand. The right hand is for eating and greeting, the left hand is for business. Or that’s what they say. Haha.

Tajine! (this is a small one, haha sorry not the best pic)

The signature Moroccan dish, which we ate about 6 of the 8 nights we were there. Basically they take a bunch of vegetables- peppers, potatoes, carrots, cucumbers, onions- and either beef or chicken and then just cook it for a realllllyyyy long time ( like crockpot style) until everything is just so tender it almost melts in your mouth. The Tajine is then served on a big circular platter, usually with couscous or rice.

Also, in this culture, the men don’t eat with/from the same dish as women they don’t know (aka besides their sister, wife, mother).  So it was really cool to see their progression throughout the week...the first couple days they would always eat separate from us, even though we were all out in the middle of the desert, despite me repeatedly asking them to eat with us. Then on our 3rd night in the desert, they FINALLY ate with us! But i was originally sitting between one of the nomads and either Elliot or Farlen, and they had me switch spots so i wasn't eating off the same plate of tajine as the guys! Then at the end of the week, we were just all eating together off the same platters, as if nothing was different! Pretty cool yo. 

Lunch consisted of a big veggie salad of tomatoes, cucumbers, onions, and other veggies with bread and tuna and sardines, and of course oranges. Then we would always have peanuts and little graham crackers for a little mid-day snack!

a typical moroccan lunch!

It’s a pretty big deal to be invited into a Moroccan home, so at he end of the week, we were really honored that Siead’s family invited us over for tea and figs. And his mom made us fresh bread…mmmmmm, so good.

bread at Siead's

Mr. Bougrabs family also had us for dinner on the last day which was such an honor.  We had a Moroccan salad (the chopped veggie salsa) and then Chicken and French friends! It wasn’t like crispy fried chicken like KFC style, but it was really good. And somewhat greasy, in pure, fresh, not American greasy type of way.  J I forget the name of it, but this is also a Moroccan dish, they didn’t fix it just cause we were American.

However, if we had wanted some Kentucky fried chicken, I actually saw two KFCs in Marrakesh! Haha. .

Typical Moroccan desert: oranges sprinkled with cinnamon, sounds like an odd combo, but its actually REALLY GOOD.
Try it, I dare you.

Women:

Morocco is a predominately Muslim culture. Although not everyone is necessarily religious, may of their cultural traditions are rooted in the Islamic faith. 

I found the role of women in Moroccan society to be very interesting. While we were in M’hamid, I don’t think I said more then five words to a Moroccan woman. We spent tons of time with Moroccan guys, but never women. Also, in mM’hamid, you don’t see Women walking down the street, going to the store, they stay at the home, kind-of hidden.

The dress of the Moroccan women is also very conservative. A headscarf is always worn and a long, floor length dress/robe, so that you cant make out anyone’s form. *it was like this in M’hamid, but on the bus and in the city we did see women with headscarves wearing pants and long sleeve shirts.

In effort to “blend in” a little more (not that there was really any home that we would actually pass as locals) we all wore long baggy pants (well accept Kate but that’s another story) and long, baggy breezy shirts. Yeah, none of the Moroccans wore anything like this., ha. But at least we were conservative and well covered.

Just with the combination of the rude attitude toward women that we found in the city (it was not just to tourist women, they do this to Moroccan women too) and lack of opportunity/activity of women in the society, its really really hard for me to imagine what it would be like to grow up as a Moroccan woman.

Its good for me to be reminded every once in a while me to be reminded how incredibly blessed I am.