It rained yesterday evening for the first time since we arrived in the valley nearly 3 months ago! A slight drizzle which cleared the mugginess and filled the air with a sweet earthy smell. Today it’s like we’re living in a completely different place; no blue sky, no sunshine, the mountains are cloaked in white and everyone is going round wrapped up and complaining about the weather. To us, who are used to the rain, it’s quite refreshing.
We have just over a week left here in Morocco and are starting to wrap up our work. We have been testing the prototype sand filter every day now for a week and it seems to be working pretty well although often we arrive in the morning to find that the kids have helpfully opened the tap and drained it! We held a sand filter workshop for them last week which was a little chaotic but seemed to be a success in getting them involved and interested in our work.
Yesterday we had a day off and walked from Tafraout to the painted rocks; a load of rocks in the middle of nowhere that a Dutch artist with the help of a local team of firemen painted blue and pink in the early ‘80s. You can actually see them on google earth and when we eventually found them (this was our 2nd attempt as they are not clearly signposted!) they were pretty impressive.
Today we showed Wall-e on the projector in the community centre for the children and for the rest of the week we’ll be working on finishing our reports and writing a presentation to give to the village on Saturday before leaving for Tiznit and the start of our long journey home on Sunday.
Sunday, 13 December 2009
Tuesday, 1 December 2009
A weekend of sheep and breathtaking views
We spent all day Sunday walking in the mountains from 6am to 6pm! After an easy walk along the winding road up to Tagdicht we continued on up the mountain to the summit. The views from the top were incredible! We could see the whole of the Ameln Valley and the mountains continuing for miles beyond. I’ve posted some of the photos but they don’t really do it justice.
We were expecting to have to eat a lot of sheep at Mohammed’s family’s house but I think the worst thing I ate was sheep’s lung (at least I think that’s what it was but it was hard to tell!) which wasn’t too bad.
The weather has suddenly turned really cold here (relatively), especially at night and early in the morning. Our house doesn’t have any heating so we’re wearing lots of jumpers (well, I am!) and drinking tea in an effort to keep warm. Seeing as it’s 1st December we’ve been playing xmas songs all day whilst finishing our irrigation report!
We were expecting to have to eat a lot of sheep at Mohammed’s family’s house but I think the worst thing I ate was sheep’s lung (at least I think that’s what it was but it was hard to tell!) which wasn’t too bad.
The weather has suddenly turned really cold here (relatively), especially at night and early in the morning. Our house doesn’t have any heating so we’re wearing lots of jumpers (well, I am!) and drinking tea in an effort to keep warm. Seeing as it’s 1st December we’ve been playing xmas songs all day whilst finishing our irrigation report!
Saturday, 28 November 2009
Eid-al Adha
Today is the day when 6 million sheep (and many million more in the rest of the Muslim world) are simultaneously slaughtered across Morocco for the religious festival of Eid-al Adha. Every family sacrifices their best animal to commemorate Ibrahim’s willingness to sacrifice his son for Allah. Hoping to avoid this spectacle we are walking to Mohammed’s family’s house today to spend the weekend there. It’s a 3 hour walk but now that the weather has cooled down a bit it should be a pleasant stroll. On Sunday we are getting up early to walk to a small village called Tagdicht which is perched high up in the mountains. Then Monday we’ll walk back to Imin’Tizeght to carry on our work.
I know the blog entries are becoming few and far between but we are really busy trying to complete all our work and achieve what we set out to do with only 3 weeks left in the country. Yesterday we finished building the prototype sand filter with the ‘help’ of some of the village children. It’s great to see them taking an interest and getting involved. Next week we’re hoping to run a sand filter workshop for them to explain how it works. It was great to actually build something rather than researching and writing reports. We got completely covered in dust from head to toe but are very excited about testing the filter now!
I know the blog entries are becoming few and far between but we are really busy trying to complete all our work and achieve what we set out to do with only 3 weeks left in the country. Yesterday we finished building the prototype sand filter with the ‘help’ of some of the village children. It’s great to see them taking an interest and getting involved. Next week we’re hoping to run a sand filter workshop for them to explain how it works. It was great to actually build something rather than researching and writing reports. We got completely covered in dust from head to toe but are very excited about testing the filter now!
Tuesday, 17 November 2009
Scorchio, scorchio
We’ve just got back from a weekend in Madrid and are feeling revitalised and ready to solve all of Morocco’s problems in the remaining 5 weeks we have here. We popped across to Espagne as it is easier than trying to get our visa extended. After 2 and a half months in Morocco, Madrid seemed like unbelievable luxury and for the first afternoon we just wandered round in awe marvelling at the Museum of Ham, drinking thick hot chocolate and enjoying the glorious anonymity of a European city.
So now that we’re back we have a lot to do in 5 weeks. We’re hoping to build and test a prototype sand filter so see if it can effectively remove detergent from water. Hassan has bought us a 200l plastic barrel and we think we finally managed to explain to him that we need 3 different sized sieves to prepare the sand so we’re hoping they will have got these sorted by the time we get back to the village. As a bit of a side project we’re hoping to run sand filter workshops with the children as something to entertain them and to teach them a bit about what we’re doing in the hope that the information will get back to their parents. EWB already have workshops set up that they run in schools in the UK so we’ll just adapt them a bit for Morocco.
As well as sand filters we’re looking at other options for reusing or recycling the water from the wash area. The simplest, low cost option would be to use the untreated water on plants and trees that are more resistant to high salt levels. To avoid human contact with the grey water it would be best to apply the water directly to tree roots but finding a suitable area of well-established trees may be tricky so we’re looking at creating crop fields which can be rotated to reduce the build up of salts in the soil.
Another option for water purification which we’ve been looking at recently is constructed wetlands. We hadn’t really considered this option in depth as we thought the rate of evaporation would be a problem but then came across some research done by a professor at a university in Marrakech in which she tested reed beds and found them to be very effective even in an arid climate. We just found her contact details today so have e-mailed her for some more info.
This afternoon we’re going into the DPA office to discuss our ideas with Hassan and then back to the village tomorrow hopefully. Next weekend we have the festival of Eid Mqqurn to look forward to during which every family slaughters a ram. We’re really hoping we don’t get invited to watch this spectacle!
So now that we’re back we have a lot to do in 5 weeks. We’re hoping to build and test a prototype sand filter so see if it can effectively remove detergent from water. Hassan has bought us a 200l plastic barrel and we think we finally managed to explain to him that we need 3 different sized sieves to prepare the sand so we’re hoping they will have got these sorted by the time we get back to the village. As a bit of a side project we’re hoping to run sand filter workshops with the children as something to entertain them and to teach them a bit about what we’re doing in the hope that the information will get back to their parents. EWB already have workshops set up that they run in schools in the UK so we’ll just adapt them a bit for Morocco.
As well as sand filters we’re looking at other options for reusing or recycling the water from the wash area. The simplest, low cost option would be to use the untreated water on plants and trees that are more resistant to high salt levels. To avoid human contact with the grey water it would be best to apply the water directly to tree roots but finding a suitable area of well-established trees may be tricky so we’re looking at creating crop fields which can be rotated to reduce the build up of salts in the soil.
Another option for water purification which we’ve been looking at recently is constructed wetlands. We hadn’t really considered this option in depth as we thought the rate of evaporation would be a problem but then came across some research done by a professor at a university in Marrakech in which she tested reed beds and found them to be very effective even in an arid climate. We just found her contact details today so have e-mailed her for some more info.
This afternoon we’re going into the DPA office to discuss our ideas with Hassan and then back to the village tomorrow hopefully. Next weekend we have the festival of Eid Mqqurn to look forward to during which every family slaughters a ram. We’re really hoping we don’t get invited to watch this spectacle!
Tuesday, 3 November 2009
Dancing, weddings and irrigation systems
This weekend was one packed full of Moroccan culture. On Saturday night Hassan knocked on our door at 9pm to tell us that there was a dance in the neighbouring village from 11pm to 3am! So we headed down there in the dark and found a place to sit amongst the women. I don’t know whether I’ve mentioned it before but the women in this region of Morocco wear a black robe called a hemelheff (not sure its spelt like that – might also be called an amelheff not sure) which covers them from head to toe and which they pull across their face so that only their eyes are showing when they see a stranger. All the women had dressed up in amazing brightly coloured sparkly robes but with their black hemelheff over the top so that you couldn’t see any of the splendour! The men and women sit separately at these events and watch a group of men singing and dancing non-stop for 4 hours. There seem to be two parts to the show; firstly the men sing/chant to a drum beat and kind of jiggle round in a circle, then they stop dancing, line up in a row and two men sing/wail at each other and people go up and stick bits of foliage in their collars to show their appreciation for the performance. The women show their appreciation by making a very high pitched (almost beyond the human hearing range) warbling kind of sound. They repeat this many times for 4 hours. Stacey describes it as ‘a marathon for the ears.’ Anyway we managed to escape at 2am as we were pretty cold and tired.
Sunday we decided to have a day off and walked along the valley to visit a traditional Berber house museum in a neighbouring village called Oumsnet. We came across a herd of goats on the way but they were too busy being herded along to climb trees for us to take photos of. Oh well, next time! The guide who showed us around the house spoke very good English and after the tour we sat down to drink mint tea and got talking about our work. We explained the work we were doing looking at the pollution from the communal washing area in Imin’Tizeght and he explained that Oumsnet had the same problem and that he was looking at ways to solve it. After tea he showed us the village’s washing area and the work that is currently being done to line the earth irrigation channels with concrete. He said that unlike Imin’Tizeght the villagers of Oumsnet are very happy that the work is being done on their irrigation system because it means that there is a lot more water available for irrigation. After the disastrous meetings we had with the women (there was another one on thurs with a government minister which descended into chaos – we’re glad its not just our meetings!) it was refreshing and inspiring to see a village where improvements really are being made. We took the guys e-mail address and promised we’d keep him posted on our work. We’re thinking about extending our work to fins a solution that would suit Oumsnet also. The idea is that we’ll produce a report with different options for solving the problem which can be used in any village in the valley.
Got back late to find that we were supposed to be at a wedding but noone had told us! Berber weddings are very different to English weddings. The whole village is invited and the men and women sit in different rooms and celebrate completely separately. We were sat on the roof with all the women and luckily Maggie was there to tell us what was going on. The night kicked off at 8pm with singing and dancing. Then around about 11.30pm we sat down to eat. The first course was cous cous (very hard to eat with your fingers) covered with amlou which is a kind of syrup made from almonds made locally. Next we were presented with 2 whole roast chickens, then there was another course of beef with prunes and finally a massive plate of fruit. Usually at a Berber wedding it is the tradition for the bride and groom to go off and consummate the marriage and then show the freshly soiled marital sheets to everyone to show that the bride was a virgin. Unusually and luckily for us for some reason this didn’t happen at this wedding! Then everyone headed outside for another session of watching the same group of men sing and dance for 4 hours. It’s amazing to be amidst so much rich Berber culture and tradition but sometimes a little confusing and tiring.
Sunday we decided to have a day off and walked along the valley to visit a traditional Berber house museum in a neighbouring village called Oumsnet. We came across a herd of goats on the way but they were too busy being herded along to climb trees for us to take photos of. Oh well, next time! The guide who showed us around the house spoke very good English and after the tour we sat down to drink mint tea and got talking about our work. We explained the work we were doing looking at the pollution from the communal washing area in Imin’Tizeght and he explained that Oumsnet had the same problem and that he was looking at ways to solve it. After tea he showed us the village’s washing area and the work that is currently being done to line the earth irrigation channels with concrete. He said that unlike Imin’Tizeght the villagers of Oumsnet are very happy that the work is being done on their irrigation system because it means that there is a lot more water available for irrigation. After the disastrous meetings we had with the women (there was another one on thurs with a government minister which descended into chaos – we’re glad its not just our meetings!) it was refreshing and inspiring to see a village where improvements really are being made. We took the guys e-mail address and promised we’d keep him posted on our work. We’re thinking about extending our work to fins a solution that would suit Oumsnet also. The idea is that we’ll produce a report with different options for solving the problem which can be used in any village in the valley.
Got back late to find that we were supposed to be at a wedding but noone had told us! Berber weddings are very different to English weddings. The whole village is invited and the men and women sit in different rooms and celebrate completely separately. We were sat on the roof with all the women and luckily Maggie was there to tell us what was going on. The night kicked off at 8pm with singing and dancing. Then around about 11.30pm we sat down to eat. The first course was cous cous (very hard to eat with your fingers) covered with amlou which is a kind of syrup made from almonds made locally. Next we were presented with 2 whole roast chickens, then there was another course of beef with prunes and finally a massive plate of fruit. Usually at a Berber wedding it is the tradition for the bride and groom to go off and consummate the marriage and then show the freshly soiled marital sheets to everyone to show that the bride was a virgin. Unusually and luckily for us for some reason this didn’t happen at this wedding! Then everyone headed outside for another session of watching the same group of men sing and dance for 4 hours. It’s amazing to be amidst so much rich Berber culture and tradition but sometimes a little confusing and tiring.
Wednesday, 28 October 2009
Market Day
Market day is my favourite day of the week. Something random or interesting always happens so I thought I should write a blog entry about a typical trip to the souk in Tafraoute.
We get up early and walk up to the road by 8am to wait for transport into Tafraoute. This is sometimes a bus that passes on its way south, sometimes a min-van or sometimes a taxi with 10 people crammed in the back on top of each other. We prefer the bus which is what we hopped on this morning as it slowed down just enough so that it was still moving but gave us time to jump on.
Upon arrival in Tafraoute we usually find a dustbin to dispose of our rubbish that accumulates over the week. There is no waste collection service in the valley so rather than throw it in the river bed like everyone else does we prefer to take it to Tafroute once a week. We then head to the souk to buy our fruit and veg. We usually buy a massive bag of veg for the equivalent of about £1.50 and various dried pulses and spices. Today we bought a 3.5kg squash for 80p!! We’re going to carve it into a lantern for Halloween. Then we head up to a café at the top of town where Stacey usually sits writing postcards and getting chatted up by the locals while I go to find things like cheese and cereal. These things are a rarity and usually take a while to find but the shopkeepers are really friendly and I usually learn a bit of Tashleheet from them at the same time. Occasionally while we’re sitting in the café French tourists will come and chat to us. Today 3 french aid workers came to ask us whether there were any nightclubs in town! No such luck, there isn’t any alcohol within a 150km radius of Tafroute! They must have just arrived.
Once we’ve got everything we head back to the taxi rank usually bumping into a few people we know from the village on the way. We have to sit and wait until there are enough people wanting to go to Imin’Tizeght to fill a taxi. Moroccan transport is crazy and we never quite know what we’ll be in for on the trip back to the village. Today we got a lift with a guy who was taking an oven to someone in the village. The oven was wedged in his boot with more of it sticking out than in. We were wedged in the back as usual with a couple of women trying to talk to us in Tashleheet, fearing for our lives as the taxi driver navigated the numerous potholes in the single track road back to the village whilst turning round often to ask us questions in French. I’m always so happy when we arrive back at the village in one piece!
We get up early and walk up to the road by 8am to wait for transport into Tafraoute. This is sometimes a bus that passes on its way south, sometimes a min-van or sometimes a taxi with 10 people crammed in the back on top of each other. We prefer the bus which is what we hopped on this morning as it slowed down just enough so that it was still moving but gave us time to jump on.
Upon arrival in Tafraoute we usually find a dustbin to dispose of our rubbish that accumulates over the week. There is no waste collection service in the valley so rather than throw it in the river bed like everyone else does we prefer to take it to Tafroute once a week. We then head to the souk to buy our fruit and veg. We usually buy a massive bag of veg for the equivalent of about £1.50 and various dried pulses and spices. Today we bought a 3.5kg squash for 80p!! We’re going to carve it into a lantern for Halloween. Then we head up to a café at the top of town where Stacey usually sits writing postcards and getting chatted up by the locals while I go to find things like cheese and cereal. These things are a rarity and usually take a while to find but the shopkeepers are really friendly and I usually learn a bit of Tashleheet from them at the same time. Occasionally while we’re sitting in the café French tourists will come and chat to us. Today 3 french aid workers came to ask us whether there were any nightclubs in town! No such luck, there isn’t any alcohol within a 150km radius of Tafroute! They must have just arrived.
Once we’ve got everything we head back to the taxi rank usually bumping into a few people we know from the village on the way. We have to sit and wait until there are enough people wanting to go to Imin’Tizeght to fill a taxi. Moroccan transport is crazy and we never quite know what we’ll be in for on the trip back to the village. Today we got a lift with a guy who was taking an oven to someone in the village. The oven was wedged in his boot with more of it sticking out than in. We were wedged in the back as usual with a couple of women trying to talk to us in Tashleheet, fearing for our lives as the taxi driver navigated the numerous potholes in the single track road back to the village whilst turning round often to ask us questions in French. I’m always so happy when we arrive back at the village in one piece!
Friday, 23 October 2009
A frustrating week in Tiznit
We’ve just got back to our house in the village after another rather frustrating week in Tiznit. After the 1st disastrous meeting with the women last Thursday we had a very constructive meeting with Brahim (one of the members of AIDECO) to discuss our proposals for the treatment of the water from the communal washing area and then another disastrous meeting with the women on Saturday. This time Maggie was present so she was able to explain things in Tashleheet and it started off well with just a few women. Maggie explained the sand filter system we’re proposing and they seemed to understand and said it was a very good idea, but then some more women turned up and it all kicked off again!
For some reason they were angry that we had called a meeting and said that we should have been having a meeting with everyone in the village including AIDECO to make decisions like this. Maggie tried to explain that we just wanted to hear their views and ideas and that nothing was going to be decided in the meeting but there were a lot of raised voices and then one woman tried to get everyone to leave. A few stayed behind and ate the cake we’d baked for them and apologised for the others but it left us feeling quite disillusioned about what we’re doing here. We thought we were doing a good thing by encouraging community participation in the project and consulting the women about a part of the project that will directly affect them but it seems that giving opinions is something that women don’t do in Moroccan society. They don’t want to be seen to be making decisions because that’s for the men to do. I’m still trying to work out the role of women in Moroccan society, you think you have it sussed and then something like that happens and you’re back to square one.
So on Monday we went to Tiznit in the hope that we would be able to discuss our ideas for the washing area with Mostapha and Hassan at the DPA and maybe find someone who knows about sand filters and could tell us whether our proposals would work or not. We thought being in our office at the DPA we’d have plenty of time to write the report for this part of the project but it didn’t really go according to plan. There were people that Mostapha wanted to introduce us to and things he wanted to talk about which had nothing to do with the project. Despite all the distractions we did get a good chunk of the report done and organised a very interesting site visit. There is a local architect called Salima Naji who Mostapha put us in touch with when we first got here. Last time we were in Tiznit she wasn’t around but this time she phoned us to say that again she was not in Tiznit but that her assistant could show us round and talk to us about the project she is working on in the centre of Tiznit. It is a project to redevelop the ruined Kasbah (a fortified area in the town centre) into an exhibition centre, museum and gardens. We went to look round the site - not a hard hat to be seen! The site office was a tent and there were a group of men lifting cement up to a higher level using a bucket on a pulley system. We climbed up a very rickety ladder to get a better look. They were using traditional mud bricks for much of the new structure and we saw freshly made bricks baking in the sun. Salima’s French assistant told us how they keep coming across parts of the town’s old drainage system and things like grain silos as they are excavating. Salima sounds like quite an inspiration! She’s a successful Moroccan woman, trained to be an architect in france, married a French man and now has her own practice in southern Morocco working on many heritage projects like the Kasbah. Not only that she is a very welcoming and friendly person and despite her evidently elevated status, has taken the time to be interesting in our work. We’re really hoping to meet her next time we’re all in Tiznit. This is her website if anyone’s interested: www.salimanaji.org.
For some reason they were angry that we had called a meeting and said that we should have been having a meeting with everyone in the village including AIDECO to make decisions like this. Maggie tried to explain that we just wanted to hear their views and ideas and that nothing was going to be decided in the meeting but there were a lot of raised voices and then one woman tried to get everyone to leave. A few stayed behind and ate the cake we’d baked for them and apologised for the others but it left us feeling quite disillusioned about what we’re doing here. We thought we were doing a good thing by encouraging community participation in the project and consulting the women about a part of the project that will directly affect them but it seems that giving opinions is something that women don’t do in Moroccan society. They don’t want to be seen to be making decisions because that’s for the men to do. I’m still trying to work out the role of women in Moroccan society, you think you have it sussed and then something like that happens and you’re back to square one.
So on Monday we went to Tiznit in the hope that we would be able to discuss our ideas for the washing area with Mostapha and Hassan at the DPA and maybe find someone who knows about sand filters and could tell us whether our proposals would work or not. We thought being in our office at the DPA we’d have plenty of time to write the report for this part of the project but it didn’t really go according to plan. There were people that Mostapha wanted to introduce us to and things he wanted to talk about which had nothing to do with the project. Despite all the distractions we did get a good chunk of the report done and organised a very interesting site visit. There is a local architect called Salima Naji who Mostapha put us in touch with when we first got here. Last time we were in Tiznit she wasn’t around but this time she phoned us to say that again she was not in Tiznit but that her assistant could show us round and talk to us about the project she is working on in the centre of Tiznit. It is a project to redevelop the ruined Kasbah (a fortified area in the town centre) into an exhibition centre, museum and gardens. We went to look round the site - not a hard hat to be seen! The site office was a tent and there were a group of men lifting cement up to a higher level using a bucket on a pulley system. We climbed up a very rickety ladder to get a better look. They were using traditional mud bricks for much of the new structure and we saw freshly made bricks baking in the sun. Salima’s French assistant told us how they keep coming across parts of the town’s old drainage system and things like grain silos as they are excavating. Salima sounds like quite an inspiration! She’s a successful Moroccan woman, trained to be an architect in france, married a French man and now has her own practice in southern Morocco working on many heritage projects like the Kasbah. Not only that she is a very welcoming and friendly person and despite her evidently elevated status, has taken the time to be interesting in our work. We’re really hoping to meet her next time we’re all in Tiznit. This is her website if anyone’s interested: www.salimanaji.org.
Thursday, 15 October 2009
Village politics
Wow, the politics in this village are crazy! We’ve just got back from the community centre where we had an impromptu 3 hour meeting with the women of the village which turned into a massive debate about village politics.
We went to the community centre at 3pm for what we thought was a meeting with a couple of members of AIDECO to discuss water treatment options for the soapy water runoff from the communal washing area. However, due to a big miscommunication beyond our control, about 20 women unexpectedly turned up for a meeting to discuss our project in the village (we had planned this meeting with the women for saturday and had thought everyone knew this, but obviously not!). Despite being a bit shocked and unprepared we decided to go ahead and discuss the project since there were so many of them there. There was one girl there who could speak French so she acted as a translator.
The first thing they told us before we’d even said anything was that they would not accept our project. We worked out quickly that they were referring to the works that are due to start on the earth irrigation channels. AIDECO have funding to line 640m of channels with concrete to reduce the loss of water through infiltration into the earth and therefore increase the flow of water to the fields. This work has good intentions but in reality lining the earth channels means that all the trees that grow alongside them will no longer have any water and will die. This work was due to start this week and the site office (a tent!) and all the materials were on site on Monday but the work has now been called off after a massive argument between the women of the village and AIDECO yesterday.
So once we’d explained that we had nothing to do with the work and that the first we knew about it was when we arrived in the village last week, they were more willing to listen to our ideas. We discussed the work we will be doing in the village but the meeting soon descended into a debate about AIDECO. It appears the organisation is very unpopular amongst the villagers, particularly because they feel that they are not consulted about the works they are proposing and do not listen to their views and opinions. AIDECO’s unpopularity puts us in a difficult position but we hope to be able to facilitate the communication between the association and the people of the village and to find solutions to the problems that the people agree with.
I think we ended the meeting well by saying that AIDECO had invited us here but that we want to work with everyone in the village. This seemed to go down well and they said that we are very welcome here. Phew! There are so many issues in this village, it’s impossible to stay out of the politics!
After 3 hours of heated debate we got back to the house and our next door neighbour randomly bought round a hoover for us which actually sprays the room with dust! Very useful! We’ve given up for the day and are now making pizza and bean burgers.
We went to the community centre at 3pm for what we thought was a meeting with a couple of members of AIDECO to discuss water treatment options for the soapy water runoff from the communal washing area. However, due to a big miscommunication beyond our control, about 20 women unexpectedly turned up for a meeting to discuss our project in the village (we had planned this meeting with the women for saturday and had thought everyone knew this, but obviously not!). Despite being a bit shocked and unprepared we decided to go ahead and discuss the project since there were so many of them there. There was one girl there who could speak French so she acted as a translator.
The first thing they told us before we’d even said anything was that they would not accept our project. We worked out quickly that they were referring to the works that are due to start on the earth irrigation channels. AIDECO have funding to line 640m of channels with concrete to reduce the loss of water through infiltration into the earth and therefore increase the flow of water to the fields. This work has good intentions but in reality lining the earth channels means that all the trees that grow alongside them will no longer have any water and will die. This work was due to start this week and the site office (a tent!) and all the materials were on site on Monday but the work has now been called off after a massive argument between the women of the village and AIDECO yesterday.
So once we’d explained that we had nothing to do with the work and that the first we knew about it was when we arrived in the village last week, they were more willing to listen to our ideas. We discussed the work we will be doing in the village but the meeting soon descended into a debate about AIDECO. It appears the organisation is very unpopular amongst the villagers, particularly because they feel that they are not consulted about the works they are proposing and do not listen to their views and opinions. AIDECO’s unpopularity puts us in a difficult position but we hope to be able to facilitate the communication between the association and the people of the village and to find solutions to the problems that the people agree with.
I think we ended the meeting well by saying that AIDECO had invited us here but that we want to work with everyone in the village. This seemed to go down well and they said that we are very welcome here. Phew! There are so many issues in this village, it’s impossible to stay out of the politics!
After 3 hours of heated debate we got back to the house and our next door neighbour randomly bought round a hoover for us which actually sprays the room with dust! Very useful! We’ve given up for the day and are now making pizza and bean burgers.
Sunday, 11 October 2009
Une mille étoiles
Last night we went to Mostapha’s mother-in-law’s house for dinner and sat on the roof looking at the stars. I have never seen so many! You can see whole galaxies that you would never know existed if you looked at the night sky of London, and lots of shooting stars!
So this week we have been settling into village life and meeting different groups of people: the women’s cooperative who produce argan oil, the women’s English class, the members of AIDECO (the main organisation we’re working with out here), Maggie the American Peace Corps volunteer and a girl called Rachida who speaks excellent English. Yesterday we gave a presentation to the villagers in the community centre where we told them about our lives in England and the work we’ll be doing here. We spoke mostly in French but had learnt a few phrases in Tashleheet which went down very well and afterwards we served cake and biscuits which we’d baked ourselves (previously my baking repertoire consisted of banana and choc chip cake and not much else so this is a new experience for me!)
At the end of the presentation we invited all the women of the village to a meeting next weekend to discuss the problems with the communal washing area. The men and women in the village, and generally in Moroccan society, do not mix so we have decided to make a conscious effort to work with the woman on problems that concern them, something which the members of AIDECO (consisting totally of men) are finding difficult to understand. Maggie told us that previously the association installed a pipe to the communal washing area limiting the flow of water and the women were livid because they could no longer wash their rugs, but they couldn’t tell the men because men and women don’t communicate! This is a real problem here and something which we’re hoping to assist with by being a medium between the women of the village and the men of AIDECO.
Today, we’re having a bit of a day off and are going to go climb a mountain later on and pop into Maggie’s English class in the community centre.
So this week we have been settling into village life and meeting different groups of people: the women’s cooperative who produce argan oil, the women’s English class, the members of AIDECO (the main organisation we’re working with out here), Maggie the American Peace Corps volunteer and a girl called Rachida who speaks excellent English. Yesterday we gave a presentation to the villagers in the community centre where we told them about our lives in England and the work we’ll be doing here. We spoke mostly in French but had learnt a few phrases in Tashleheet which went down very well and afterwards we served cake and biscuits which we’d baked ourselves (previously my baking repertoire consisted of banana and choc chip cake and not much else so this is a new experience for me!)
At the end of the presentation we invited all the women of the village to a meeting next weekend to discuss the problems with the communal washing area. The men and women in the village, and generally in Moroccan society, do not mix so we have decided to make a conscious effort to work with the woman on problems that concern them, something which the members of AIDECO (consisting totally of men) are finding difficult to understand. Maggie told us that previously the association installed a pipe to the communal washing area limiting the flow of water and the women were livid because they could no longer wash their rugs, but they couldn’t tell the men because men and women don’t communicate! This is a real problem here and something which we’re hoping to assist with by being a medium between the women of the village and the men of AIDECO.
Today, we’re having a bit of a day off and are going to go climb a mountain later on and pop into Maggie’s English class in the community centre.
Tuesday, 6 October 2009
Les bêtes sauvages partie 2
It seems a lot has happened in the last few days again involving wild animals! We are now in our house in Imin’Tizeght where we will be living for the next few months. Mostapha was supposed to come to move us in at the weekend but instead he said he had to go to Agadir to do some shopping (!!) so we decided to stay the weekend where we were with the family in Ighalen and go walking. On Saturday Mohammed took us up one of the smaller mountains behind his house and we saw some gazelle. Then later on in the afternoon we walked up the valley to visit one of the natural springs. On the way up to the spring we saw a massive scorpion (which apparently are rare at this time of year) and a red snake swimming in one of the irrigation channels. We misjudged the time and it was dark by the time we reached the spring. As if the scorpion and snake weren’t scary enough, on the way back down in the dark Mohammed suddenly stopped and signalled for us to stop too. We could hear the snuffling of wild boar just a few metres away and had to make a quick dash for the village. Apparently they can be really dangerous at night because they are almost always found in large groups of up to 40! We’re either going to have to get very good at climbing trees or not go out in the dark!
So we moved into our house yesterday and immediately set about cleaning it. Most of the year it is empty so the creepy crawlies have taken over somewhat. There was a big nest of massive ants (there are no small bugs in this country) by the front door and in the kitchen which we had to get rid of and the biggest spiders I have ever seen. The house is quite large but there is only really one room which is useable together with the kitchen and bathroom. The room we sleep and work in is a long room lined with cushioned benches. The kitchen and bathroom are very basic. The bathroom consists of a squat toilet and a shower (cold water only!!). The kitchen has a sink, a gas hob for cooking, a fridge and various pots, pans, plates and cutlery. Upstairs there are several rooms which are locked and a terrace where we can dry our clothes. I’ll post some photos soon which will give a better idea of what it’s like. It’s a pretty dingy house but it’s nice to have some independence after living with families for the last 2 weeks, and we had our first cup of English breakfast tea! It was amazing!!
We’ve spent most of today meeting people in the village and trying to cook food on the small gas hob with the limited items that can be found in the village shop. There is an American Peace Corps volunteer called Maggie who lives and works in the village so today we met up with her and she showed us round and took us to meet the women at the cooperative next door to our house. They make argan oil and associated products which they sell in a small shop. They were all really friendly and welcomed us to the village.
Tomorrow we are going to Tafrout, as its market day, to stock up on food. Then in the afternoon we are off up the mountain to look at the khettara (the upper part of the irrigation system for the village).
So we moved into our house yesterday and immediately set about cleaning it. Most of the year it is empty so the creepy crawlies have taken over somewhat. There was a big nest of massive ants (there are no small bugs in this country) by the front door and in the kitchen which we had to get rid of and the biggest spiders I have ever seen. The house is quite large but there is only really one room which is useable together with the kitchen and bathroom. The room we sleep and work in is a long room lined with cushioned benches. The kitchen and bathroom are very basic. The bathroom consists of a squat toilet and a shower (cold water only!!). The kitchen has a sink, a gas hob for cooking, a fridge and various pots, pans, plates and cutlery. Upstairs there are several rooms which are locked and a terrace where we can dry our clothes. I’ll post some photos soon which will give a better idea of what it’s like. It’s a pretty dingy house but it’s nice to have some independence after living with families for the last 2 weeks, and we had our first cup of English breakfast tea! It was amazing!!
We’ve spent most of today meeting people in the village and trying to cook food on the small gas hob with the limited items that can be found in the village shop. There is an American Peace Corps volunteer called Maggie who lives and works in the village so today we met up with her and she showed us round and took us to meet the women at the cooperative next door to our house. They make argan oil and associated products which they sell in a small shop. They were all really friendly and welcomed us to the village.
Tomorrow we are going to Tafrout, as its market day, to stock up on food. Then in the afternoon we are off up the mountain to look at the khettara (the upper part of the irrigation system for the village).
Thursday, 1 October 2009
Les bêtes sauvages
We are just recovering after having been chased round a field by a cow! Mohammed was showing us his family’s plot of land and well in a walled area behind their house. When he opened one of the sheds to show us the cows, one of them escaped. There was a very scary moment when it was charging straight at us and all I could hear was Mohammed saying “Allez!” Luckily we got out of the way just in time. Phew! It’s been an eventful day with regards to wild animals as we also encountered a snake on the way back from the village this morning! Luckily we haven’t seen any wild boar yet as I doubt we’d be able to outrun them.
This morning we went to the village of Ighalen which we are studying at the moment to conduct an interview with one of the residents about the current agricultural situation. He was a very old man who only spoke Tashleheet (the local Berber language) so Mohammed acted as a translator. It was fascinating finding out about the agriculture and history of the village and the problems they are faced with today. He told us that the main problem is that there are not enough people left in the village to cultivate the land as most of them have moved away to cities in the north. The village has experienced 4 years of drought but he said that even if there was plenty of water people wouldn’t grow more crops as it is now easier to buy them in the local town. It made us realise that a lot of the problems that the villages face in this area are social and that there is no simple engineering solution.
When we’re not surveying in the midday sun or grappling with the French language as we write this report for the National Assembly to get funding for the village, we go walking in the valley with Mohammed. We learn a lot about the valley as he points out the different villages (whose names we forget immediately) and tells us of the traditions of the people who live here, occasionally stopping at his aunt’s house or a friend’s house for mint tea and some lessons in Tashleheet. It’s very interesting talking to a young Morrocan and learning about the country from his point of view. He is studying at the university in Agadir at the moment and tells us often of the problems with the education system. When I asked him what he wants to do when he finishes university, he replied that it’s not so much what you want to do in Morocco but what you can do as employment opportunities are limited in a country where you can buy a degree certificate for a few thousand Dirham. It seems that it is not what you know but how much money you have that will make you successful in Morocco!
This morning we went to the village of Ighalen which we are studying at the moment to conduct an interview with one of the residents about the current agricultural situation. He was a very old man who only spoke Tashleheet (the local Berber language) so Mohammed acted as a translator. It was fascinating finding out about the agriculture and history of the village and the problems they are faced with today. He told us that the main problem is that there are not enough people left in the village to cultivate the land as most of them have moved away to cities in the north. The village has experienced 4 years of drought but he said that even if there was plenty of water people wouldn’t grow more crops as it is now easier to buy them in the local town. It made us realise that a lot of the problems that the villages face in this area are social and that there is no simple engineering solution.
When we’re not surveying in the midday sun or grappling with the French language as we write this report for the National Assembly to get funding for the village, we go walking in the valley with Mohammed. We learn a lot about the valley as he points out the different villages (whose names we forget immediately) and tells us of the traditions of the people who live here, occasionally stopping at his aunt’s house or a friend’s house for mint tea and some lessons in Tashleheet. It’s very interesting talking to a young Morrocan and learning about the country from his point of view. He is studying at the university in Agadir at the moment and tells us often of the problems with the education system. When I asked him what he wants to do when he finishes university, he replied that it’s not so much what you want to do in Morocco but what you can do as employment opportunities are limited in a country where you can buy a degree certificate for a few thousand Dirham. It seems that it is not what you know but how much money you have that will make you successful in Morocco!
Saturday, 26 September 2009
The Ammeln Valley
Today has been an eventful and amazing day! We got up early to take a ‘grand taxi’ to the valley where we will be working. A ‘grand taxi’ as they call them is a crumpled old Merc which they cram 6 passengers into, 2 on the passenger seat in the front and 4 in the back. So there were 4 of us crammed in the back - me, Stacey, Mostapha and Hassan (an engineer from the DPA) – as the taxi wound its way along a single track road through the mountains occasionally passing men on donkeys or women with baskets hung from their heads, for 3 hours! Needless to say we were glad when we finally reached Tafrout, the largest town in the area, 10km away from our village. After a quick stop in Tafrout we carried on further into the valley to a village called Imallen. The Ammeln Valley is breathtaking. Barren granite mountains tower over small oases, containing clusters of pink houses and palm trees, dotted along the valley.
Today we thought we were going to Imin’Tizght, the village where we will be living and working, but it seems the plan has changed overnight. Instead we will be staying with a family near Imallen this week so that we can do a study of that village before we move onto Imin’Tizght next week. So we arrived in Imallen and carried out a GPS survey of the fields there. The village is in the process of sinking a well to increase the amount of water available and we have been given the task of assessing the current situation and proposing ways of improving and maximising the land use. Surveying the fields in the midday sun was hot work but it was really interesting to talk to the people who live there and to see the site where the well was being sunk.
After lunch which was beef tagine followed my mint tea, we headed to Imin’Tizght to see Mostapha’s summer house where we will be living and to meet the other members of AIDECO in the community centre. After that Mostapha and Hassan left to go back to Tiznit, leaving us to settle into our new lodgings.
We’ve just got back from a walk along the valley with Mohammed (the son in the family we are staying with). It truly was amazing with the sun setting behind the mountains and now that it’s dark there are so many stars!
The only bad thing about the valley is the amount of bugs, huge bugs, and the prospect of coming across a scorpion or a wild boar but hopefully that won’t happen!
Today we thought we were going to Imin’Tizght, the village where we will be living and working, but it seems the plan has changed overnight. Instead we will be staying with a family near Imallen this week so that we can do a study of that village before we move onto Imin’Tizght next week. So we arrived in Imallen and carried out a GPS survey of the fields there. The village is in the process of sinking a well to increase the amount of water available and we have been given the task of assessing the current situation and proposing ways of improving and maximising the land use. Surveying the fields in the midday sun was hot work but it was really interesting to talk to the people who live there and to see the site where the well was being sunk.
After lunch which was beef tagine followed my mint tea, we headed to Imin’Tizght to see Mostapha’s summer house where we will be living and to meet the other members of AIDECO in the community centre. After that Mostapha and Hassan left to go back to Tiznit, leaving us to settle into our new lodgings.
We’ve just got back from a walk along the valley with Mohammed (the son in the family we are staying with). It truly was amazing with the sun setting behind the mountains and now that it’s dark there are so many stars!
The only bad thing about the valley is the amount of bugs, huge bugs, and the prospect of coming across a scorpion or a wild boar but hopefully that won’t happen!
Wednesday, 23 September 2009
Down to work
Today Mostapha took us to the DPA (Delegation Provinciale d’Agriculture) office in Tiznit to meet Abdallah Houch, the director of agriculture for Tiznit. He was a very nice man, interested in our project and agreed that we could use the offices and resources at the DPA whenever we like. Tiznit is about 100km from the village where we will be living and the idea is that we will work some of the time in the village with a team of people based there, and some of the time at the DPA office.
We also met a technician called Hassan who had worked with Clare and Steve on the project last year and who we will again be working with this year. He told us all about the valley and the work that is going on there at the moment. We were pleasantly surprised that a lot of work has been done since last year when the project was started. Work is being carried out in 7 or 8 villages at the moment to repair the irrigation channels, Khettaras (the tunnel system that taps into the water table) and the holding tanks. In our village all 3 sections of the irrigation system have been repaired and the open irrigation channels have been replaced with UPVC pipes. One of our tasks will be to map the access points in the system and to develop a maintenance program for the channels. We will also be looking at the impact that the works have had on the valley as a whole and translating parts of last year’s report into French so that funding can be obtained for the various packages of work.
It was great to meet people who are so enthusiastic about the work going on the valley and who have huge amounts of local knowledge which will be very useful to us. I think we will be heading down to the village at the weekend. The journey apparently takes 3 hours and is on a very windy mountainous road! We’re really forward to seeing where we will be living for the next 3 months.
We’re really enjoying living with Mostapha’s family and seeing how family life in Morocco is different to in the UK. He has made us very welcome and set up a little office for us to work in. His daughters are keeping us entertained but we have had to resort to looking the door to our study occasionally so that we can get some work done without having to play tea parties or schools at the same time. Meal times are an important event in a Moroccan house hold. Lunchtime is the most interesting meal of the day where we all gather round a steaming pot of Tajine or cous cous and eat from the pot with bread and our hands.
I have a cold. Apparently it is the season for colds even though it is about 35 degrees.
We also met a technician called Hassan who had worked with Clare and Steve on the project last year and who we will again be working with this year. He told us all about the valley and the work that is going on there at the moment. We were pleasantly surprised that a lot of work has been done since last year when the project was started. Work is being carried out in 7 or 8 villages at the moment to repair the irrigation channels, Khettaras (the tunnel system that taps into the water table) and the holding tanks. In our village all 3 sections of the irrigation system have been repaired and the open irrigation channels have been replaced with UPVC pipes. One of our tasks will be to map the access points in the system and to develop a maintenance program for the channels. We will also be looking at the impact that the works have had on the valley as a whole and translating parts of last year’s report into French so that funding can be obtained for the various packages of work.
It was great to meet people who are so enthusiastic about the work going on the valley and who have huge amounts of local knowledge which will be very useful to us. I think we will be heading down to the village at the weekend. The journey apparently takes 3 hours and is on a very windy mountainous road! We’re really forward to seeing where we will be living for the next 3 months.
We’re really enjoying living with Mostapha’s family and seeing how family life in Morocco is different to in the UK. He has made us very welcome and set up a little office for us to work in. His daughters are keeping us entertained but we have had to resort to looking the door to our study occasionally so that we can get some work done without having to play tea parties or schools at the same time. Meal times are an important event in a Moroccan house hold. Lunchtime is the most interesting meal of the day where we all gather round a steaming pot of Tajine or cous cous and eat from the pot with bread and our hands.
I have a cold. Apparently it is the season for colds even though it is about 35 degrees.
Monday, 21 September 2009
Goat filled trees and goat cous cous
Today we had our hair and make-up done, had Henna tatoos, drove a taxi, got married and were taught 1 - 10 in Arabic by a 6 year old, all in Mostapha's front room. His 4 daughters are very interested in us and the fact that we don't speak the same language doesn't seem to matter. We have spent the last few days entertaining them in Inezgane at Mostapha's mother's house and are now in Tiznit at his house.
Yesterday was the last day of Ramadan so today we have eaten huge amounts of food, mostly with our fingers. For lunch we had goat cous cous which was a first for us! Cous cous is particularly difficult to eat with your fingers. I gave up and resorted to using a spoon. It seems that in Morocco it is rude to refuse food even if you are full up and because we are guests we're given twice as much as everyone else. For someone who doesn't eat a huge amount I'm finding this quite hard!
Tomorrow is a holiday so we're going to the beach before we start work properly on Wednesday. Oh, I forgot to mention that we saw a tree full of goats on our bus journey from Essaouira to Agadir! Unfortunately the bus was going too fast for me to get a photo but I'm hopeful there will be some more goat-filled trees in the village.
Yesterday was the last day of Ramadan so today we have eaten huge amounts of food, mostly with our fingers. For lunch we had goat cous cous which was a first for us! Cous cous is particularly difficult to eat with your fingers. I gave up and resorted to using a spoon. It seems that in Morocco it is rude to refuse food even if you are full up and because we are guests we're given twice as much as everyone else. For someone who doesn't eat a huge amount I'm finding this quite hard!
Tomorrow is a holiday so we're going to the beach before we start work properly on Wednesday. Oh, I forgot to mention that we saw a tree full of goats on our bus journey from Essaouira to Agadir! Unfortunately the bus was going too fast for me to get a photo but I'm hopeful there will be some more goat-filled trees in the village.
Thursday, 17 September 2009
Fat cats and English Breakfast tea
We are currently enjoying the sun and beautiful sandy beaches in the stunning little town of Essaouria on the Atlantic coast. It is very much a tourist destination and often seems more European than Moroccan but it is a welcome break from the hustle and bustle of the souks of Marrakech and best of all we have found a cafe that serves English Breakfast tea!!
Our journey here was an interesting one. We went to the bus station in Marrakech the night before, bought our tickets and were expecting to get on a comfortable coach which would take 2 hours to get to Essaouira. What we actually experienced was a hot, crowded bus that took 4 and a half hours to get there and stopped for every man and his goat along the way. I was very disappointed that we didn't see any tree-climbing goats along the way as the guide book had promised but am still hopeful we will see some tomorrow on our way to Agadir.
We got talking to a french guy on the bus called Philippe who is now staying with us and is very good for keeping the Moroccan men from hassling us. He is the only french guy I have met who can speak english with a scottish accent, having been to Scotland several times.
Being on the coast Essaouira has many fish restaurants and I had the best fish I have ever tasted for my dinner last night. I was pestered the whole time I was eating it by a black cat, the cats in this town are the fattest in Morocco.
Tomorrow we are off to Agadir on the coach. It should take 3 hours, hopefully it won't take 6!
Our journey here was an interesting one. We went to the bus station in Marrakech the night before, bought our tickets and were expecting to get on a comfortable coach which would take 2 hours to get to Essaouira. What we actually experienced was a hot, crowded bus that took 4 and a half hours to get there and stopped for every man and his goat along the way. I was very disappointed that we didn't see any tree-climbing goats along the way as the guide book had promised but am still hopeful we will see some tomorrow on our way to Agadir.
We got talking to a french guy on the bus called Philippe who is now staying with us and is very good for keeping the Moroccan men from hassling us. He is the only french guy I have met who can speak english with a scottish accent, having been to Scotland several times.
Being on the coast Essaouira has many fish restaurants and I had the best fish I have ever tasted for my dinner last night. I was pestered the whole time I was eating it by a black cat, the cats in this town are the fattest in Morocco.
Tomorrow we are off to Agadir on the coach. It should take 3 hours, hopefully it won't take 6!
Tuesday, 15 September 2009
The markets of Marrakech
I take back what I said. Cold showers I can deal with but I draw the line at sharing a shower with a massive cockroach! So on that note we left Casablanca and caught the train to Marrakech where we are now, staying in a beautiful riad just a short walk away from the famous Djemaa el-Fna square. We have hot showers, its sunny and there is a lot to do and see here. Unlike the other cities we have been to it is incredibly touristy and because of that you get hassled more by the street sellers but we had great fun today bartering in the markets.
At night the square comes alive with food stands, snake charmers, street performers, musicians, raconteurs, small children selling tissues (it seems they start learning to scam tourist from a very early age) and we have enjoyed our evenings sitting on rooftop terraces, eating dinner and watching the hustle and bustle of the square below.
Tomorrow Ollie is going home so from then on we will have to get our own breakfast, carry our own bags, entertain ourselves and fend off unwanted attention - we will miss our man servant! Stacey and I will be off to Essaouira on the bus to continue our adventures on our own.
At night the square comes alive with food stands, snake charmers, street performers, musicians, raconteurs, small children selling tissues (it seems they start learning to scam tourist from a very early age) and we have enjoyed our evenings sitting on rooftop terraces, eating dinner and watching the hustle and bustle of the square below.
Tomorrow Ollie is going home so from then on we will have to get our own breakfast, carry our own bags, entertain ourselves and fend off unwanted attention - we will miss our man servant! Stacey and I will be off to Essaouira on the bus to continue our adventures on our own.
Saturday, 12 September 2009
A quick update
Just a quick update on what we've been doing for the past few days. So the day after we watched all the wedding videos we went to visit the roman ruins of Volubilis and the hilltop town of Moulay Idriss near to Meknes. The roman ruins were amazing with columns and arches set against a beautiful landscape. The small town of Moulay Idriss is named after a great grandson of the Prophet Mohammed and is one of Morocco's most important pilgrimage sites. They say that 5 visits to Moulay Idriss is equivalent to 1 trip to Mecca.
The next day we left hot showers behind and caught the train to Rabat, the capital city of Morocco. Our accomodation in Rabat was pretty basic and right next to a busy market so we got very little sleep the 2 days we were there. During Ramadan the markets and streets become alive at night once everyone has broken their fast. Rabat is on the coast so a bit cooler than the places we had visited so far and in actual fact it rained most of the time we were there. The 2nd day of rain we were so desperate for a cup of tea that we contemplated buying a kettle but couldn't find one. There weren't many tourists in the city and we enjoyed walking around the streets without being hassled.
Then onto Casablanca where we are at present. Casa is the biggest city in Morocco but it is the first time in our whole time here that we have really struggled to find food. Most of the restaurants are closed for Ramadan or are only selling drinks and the big market was pretty empty when we went there yesterday. Casablanca has a certain romanticism attached to its name but in reality it is a big dirty city where you don't have to wander far from the city centre to find massive slums. We visited the Hassan II Mosque this morning which is the 3rd biggest Mosque in the world, costing around US $800 million and magnificent in all its marble clad splendour but right next to a slum where people are living in some of the poorest conditions we've yet seen.
We are looking forward to moving onto Marrakech tomorrow and have our fingers crossed for hot showers.
The next day we left hot showers behind and caught the train to Rabat, the capital city of Morocco. Our accomodation in Rabat was pretty basic and right next to a busy market so we got very little sleep the 2 days we were there. During Ramadan the markets and streets become alive at night once everyone has broken their fast. Rabat is on the coast so a bit cooler than the places we had visited so far and in actual fact it rained most of the time we were there. The 2nd day of rain we were so desperate for a cup of tea that we contemplated buying a kettle but couldn't find one. There weren't many tourists in the city and we enjoyed walking around the streets without being hassled.
Then onto Casablanca where we are at present. Casa is the biggest city in Morocco but it is the first time in our whole time here that we have really struggled to find food. Most of the restaurants are closed for Ramadan or are only selling drinks and the big market was pretty empty when we went there yesterday. Casablanca has a certain romanticism attached to its name but in reality it is a big dirty city where you don't have to wander far from the city centre to find massive slums. We visited the Hassan II Mosque this morning which is the 3rd biggest Mosque in the world, costing around US $800 million and magnificent in all its marble clad splendour but right next to a slum where people are living in some of the poorest conditions we've yet seen.
We are looking forward to moving onto Marrakech tomorrow and have our fingers crossed for hot showers.
Friday, 11 September 2009
How to trick a tourist
We have been in Morocco for a week now and are slowly becoming wise to all the tricks that can befall a tourist. That said, I got tricked again this morning; I am so gullible. The most common trick is a guy will come up to you as you are poring over the guidebook trying to work out where to go and he'll ask you what you are looking for. You tell him you're looking for a supermarket and he'll say "it's that way, not very far." You'll set off in the direction he pointed and then all of a sudden he'll appear again and say "no, you're going the wrong way, it's this way, follow me" and its at that point that you have fallen for the trick and will have to part with some cash at some point, even if its just to get rid of him.
We have fallen for this trick or a variation of it at least 5 times.
We have fallen for this trick or a variation of it at least 5 times.
I want a cup of tea!
We are now in a youth hostel in Casablanca. We have finally found a kettle but have just discovered that the English Breakfast tea bags have gone missing! Disaster! It's been raining for 2 days and we're a bit damp and miserable.
Thursday, 10 September 2009
Endless wedding videos and mint tea
We have been pleasantly surprised at how friendly the people are in Morocco. Wherever we go we find people are interested in talking to us and practising their english or french. Ollie got chatting to a Moroccan guy on the plane over here and he offered to show us round his home town of Meknes. So when we arrived in Meknes a couple of days ago we sent him a message and not only did he show us round Meknes, he invited us back to his parents house to break fast with his family! It was very interesting to see how Moroccans live. His whole family (brothers, sisters, cousins, uncles and aunts) lived in the same 3-storey house. After sundown we ate with his family and then they showed us family wedding videos. These were interesting to begin with as Moroccan weddings are very different to english weddings (they last 6 or 7 hours and the bride wears all kinds of wonderfully ornate dresses) but got a bit tiresome after the 4th or 5th video!
We are now in Rabat and are all quite tired after being woken up at 4.30am by the call to prayer. Our hostel is next door to a mosque. Rabat is a lot less touristy than the places we visited before and is on the coast so is a bit cooler - maybe 30 degrees instead of 38). Tomorrow we are moving onto Casablanca where we will meet some friends of Mostapha (the guy we will be working for on our placement).
A bientot.
We are now in Rabat and are all quite tired after being woken up at 4.30am by the call to prayer. Our hostel is next door to a mosque. Rabat is a lot less touristy than the places we visited before and is on the coast so is a bit cooler - maybe 30 degrees instead of 38). Tomorrow we are moving onto Casablanca where we will meet some friends of Mostapha (the guy we will be working for on our placement).
A bientot.
Sunday, 6 September 2009
The chaos of Fez
We arrived in Fes 2 days ago (me, Stacey and Ollie who has come along for a holiday) and were immediately met by the chaos of Morocco. Its more amazing than I imagined. (apologies for the lack of apostrophes in this entry, I cant find anything on this keyboard). After a scary drive from the airport in an ancient Merc which looked like the doors would fall off at any minute, we arrived at the Medina (the old part of the city). We then had to negotiate our way through the narrow crumbling streets packed with people, market sellers and animals to get to where we were staying. As a first taster of Morocco it surpassed all my expectations.
We are staying in the heart of the Medina which is a maze of tiny streets lined with hatches selling everything you could imagine from arts and crafts, leather, food, spices, live chickens... The streets are completely chaotic with all the locals going about their daily business and lots of donkeys and horses carrying goods up and down. The food is amazing. We have already eaten lots of cous cous (womens food apparently although it seems to be Ollies favourite food so far), tagines, kefta and a local speciality called Lubia which is the Moroccan version of baked beans as far as we can tell but much tastier.
Today we are in the new part of town which isnt so nice but are going to head back to the medina soon. Tomorrow we are moving on to Meknes where we hope to meet up with a man we met on the plane who said he would show us around.
We are staying in the heart of the Medina which is a maze of tiny streets lined with hatches selling everything you could imagine from arts and crafts, leather, food, spices, live chickens... The streets are completely chaotic with all the locals going about their daily business and lots of donkeys and horses carrying goods up and down. The food is amazing. We have already eaten lots of cous cous (womens food apparently although it seems to be Ollies favourite food so far), tagines, kefta and a local speciality called Lubia which is the Moroccan version of baked beans as far as we can tell but much tastier.
Today we are in the new part of town which isnt so nice but are going to head back to the medina soon. Tomorrow we are moving on to Meknes where we hope to meet up with a man we met on the plane who said he would show us around.
Tuesday, 18 August 2009
Less than 3 weeks to go!
In less than 3 weeks time I will be exchanging our mediocre British summer for the scorching heat of the desert as I head to southern Morocco to start my 3 month long placement with Engineers Without Borders.
I've started this blog so that I can let everyone know what I'm up to as its likely I will only have internet access once a week on market day when we can hitch a ride to the nearest town. Otherwise we're going to be pretty cut off from the world, living and working in the small Berber village of Imi N'Tizghte about 150km south of Agadir.
Our first challenge upon arriving will be learning how to pronounce the name of the village! We (myself and Stacey - another EWB volunteer) will be working with a local NGO called AIDECO to 'increase the agricultural capacity of the region.' We will be looking at ways to improve the irrigation system of the village and to increase the crop yield, making the village more self-sufficient and creating employment opportunities so that the younger population do not have to move to cities in the north as is currently the case. The ultimate aim of the placement is to create a program of works that can be used as a template for 7 or 8 other villages in the region.
So, I hope you enjoy reading about our adventures and I'll try not to waffle on too much. :-)
I've started this blog so that I can let everyone know what I'm up to as its likely I will only have internet access once a week on market day when we can hitch a ride to the nearest town. Otherwise we're going to be pretty cut off from the world, living and working in the small Berber village of Imi N'Tizghte about 150km south of Agadir.
Our first challenge upon arriving will be learning how to pronounce the name of the village! We (myself and Stacey - another EWB volunteer) will be working with a local NGO called AIDECO to 'increase the agricultural capacity of the region.' We will be looking at ways to improve the irrigation system of the village and to increase the crop yield, making the village more self-sufficient and creating employment opportunities so that the younger population do not have to move to cities in the north as is currently the case. The ultimate aim of the placement is to create a program of works that can be used as a template for 7 or 8 other villages in the region.
So, I hope you enjoy reading about our adventures and I'll try not to waffle on too much. :-)
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