10/17/09 - 10/18/09
We went to Fes! Fes is just to the east of Rabat by about 2 hours. Due to its close proximity to Rabat, we decided it would be more cost efficient to get up very early Saturday morning and go rather than arrive late the night before and basically just eat then go to bed in a hotel.
So, Saturday at 5:30am Chloe and I met Lyall, Ronan, Henry, Barbara, and Amrita at Bab el-Bouiba (the gate to the medina where we often meet to go out) and walked to the train station where we met Max and Michael. In case I haven't mentioned them yet, here's some info about them each: Max is a20 year old Austrian kid who works at the same center as me. His mom is American and his sister goes to FIT in New York. Michael is Nigerian but has lived in America for a while. He is 24 and was an investment banker in New York before coming here. After his stay in Morocco he will travel to Nigeria where he will be for the next six months doing his obligatory civil duty there. He said normally its really easy to get out of, but he wanted to do it. Awesome.
Our train arrived on time at 6:12 am. We got to ride on one of the fancy new trains! They only run on the shorter train lines. For those of you who frequent the LIRR or the NYC subway, the differences between the trains are basically the same as the old and new trains on those lines. The new ones have AC and white decor, better bathrooms, etc. The train ride was uneventful the way you want traveling to be. We arrived on time at about 8:30am and after dropping our bags off at our hostel, we set out on a desperate search for coffee and breakfast (which took us about 45 minutes-an hour - more people = more difficulty reaching decisions).
It was pretty cool to be in the Medina while everyone was setting up for the day. A few of us couldn't stand the lack of caffeine in our systems any more and got coffee while we waited for some others to catch up to us. This little cafe happened to be at a central point of the Medina where a few roads cross and there is a little bit of open space and many shops. Ok, so I know it's not France, but moments like that I just can't help but think of the beginning of Beauty and the Beast, "Little town, its a quiet village, every day like the one before. Little town, full of little people waking up to say BONJOUR!" Of particular note in this small square were a couple metalsmiths working side by side. The clanging sound of their work made me wish I knew how to tap dance really well so I could find some cool percussive way to add to their rhythmic symphony. Men led their donkeys through the square, the animals' backs piled high with rugs, leather to be tanned, and various other merchandise. Moroccan music (which I love) wafted from the cafe. As I was standing there I couldn't help but think of Benjamin (my college voice teacher) and "opening my ears." There were so many sounds to choose from and I think he would have appreciated them so much.
We found a cafe where we could all fit and we loaded up on coffee and pain au chocolat. A funny thing about places here: if a place doesn't have something you order - they hop over to another shop and buy it for you. At this cafe they didn't have pain au chocolat, but Henry ordered it, the guy asked how many of us there were, then a little bit later he came upstairs with two big brown bags full of pain au chocolat. Everybody "knows a guy," or "has a cousin," or something like that.
Afterward we walked around all the Soukhs and they were pretty amazing. I have to say, Fes is by far my favorite city we have visited thus far, mainly because I felt like I was left alone the most there. On the tourism scale it falls between Rabat, which is not touristy at all, and Marrakesh which is basically the theme park version of a Moroccan city. Fes is also regarded as the intellectual and cultural capital of Morocco. There are very old and beautiful libraries, Mosques, and Medersas (Quranic schools). There are also a gajillion Soukhs where I did some pretty great shopping there - got two bracelets, two sets of earrings, and three paintings for 170 dirham (about $22)! I really hate haggling, I'm so bad at it. Luckily the jewelry guy started low in the first place.
After a very delicious lunch right across the street from our hotel we ventured back out into the medina and went to take pictures of the old Medersa there (some of which you can see in the entry below). There was a tour group there of German speaking people. The cool thing about traveling in an international group like this is that I was able to turn to Max and ask him everythin the guide told them about the place. The rooms at the top are classrooms, the rooms downstairs are praying rooms, and there is a big main area for praying as well.
We were pretty exhausted after getting up so early and wandering around in the heat all day, so we settled down in a cafe and rested for a bit. Then Will showed up! He was heading for the desert the same night, and this was the last time we got to see him. I will miss him and his hilarious british humor very much. We all had a nice dinner together literally just under our hotel then headed back up to our rooms to hang out for a while and call it a night.
The next day we all got up and ate breakfast on the terrace. The man there was extremely nice and was sure to tell us that he "loves all people the same! allemand! americain! francais!" We had amazing breakfast crepes (kind of a normal breakfast here - basically this amazing doughy bread with a sauce of honey and butter on top), chocolate croissants, rolls, cheese, yogurt, and coffee. All this for 20 dirham (under $3). We then headed over the tanneries to take a look at all the leather being dyed. When you walk in the building they give you a piece of mint to cover the awful smell of everything. The poor plant tries to hold on to its nice aroma, but after a while it has to give in to the odor of the dyes and the skin. There was a man there who spoke a "lottle bot ongloosh" who explained that all the dyes are natural and not chemical, which allows them to be more permanent. It's kind of strange to me that these people who are working under some pretty intense conditions have been sort of turned into a theme park attraction...but I won't get on my high horse about it...things like that are very complicated and I have a hard time deciding what I really think about them.
We then headed out of the Medina and into the Mellah, which is the Jewish quarters of town. It was nice to have a change of scene. We went into a cemetery there and it was very peaceful and beautiful. Some people were buried there as recently as 2001. Something I especially liked about the cemetery is that there were olive trees everywhere and several men out picking olives and tending to the trees. I liked to see something living there. It's hopeful somehow, unlike seeing dead flowers on graves. There was also a "museum" there of things left behind inside the walls of the cemetery. After the creation of Israel most of the Jews emigrated from Morocco. This museum is basically just a bunch of crap that people left behind. It kind of looked like an old unkempt antique store or a whole bunch of garage sales going on side by side. You can see some pretty cool pictures of that below also. Also there were some crazy tools used for measuring peoples' dimensions. They thought they could tell if you were a Jew by measuring your nose and things like that. Our guide book said that though it is a museum, you can very easily purchase things there.
We then grabbed some lunch at a pretty posh place called 'Mezzanine.' It was the first non-Moroccan food I've had in a while, and it was fantastic! Pesto has never tasted so good.
After a bit of a mad dash we made it onto a train back to Rabat. It was at a pretty peak time, so we ended up without seats for the two hour ride, but it wasn't so bad. I loved Fes and Chloe and I definitely want to go back another weekend!
We were pretty exhausted after getting up so early and wandering around in the heat all day, so we settled down in a cafe and rested for a bit. Then Will showed up! He was heading for the desert the same night, and this was the last time we got to see him. I will miss him and his hilarious british humor very much. We all had a nice dinner together literally just under our hotel then headed back up to our rooms to hang out for a while and call it a night.
The next day we all got up and ate breakfast on the terrace. The man there was extremely nice and was sure to tell us that he "loves all people the same! allemand! americain! francais!" We had amazing breakfast crepes (kind of a normal breakfast here - basically this amazing doughy bread with a sauce of honey and butter on top), chocolate croissants, rolls, cheese, yogurt, and coffee. All this for 20 dirham (under $3). We then headed over the tanneries to take a look at all the leather being dyed. When you walk in the building they give you a piece of mint to cover the awful smell of everything. The poor plant tries to hold on to its nice aroma, but after a while it has to give in to the odor of the dyes and the skin. There was a man there who spoke a "lottle bot ongloosh" who explained that all the dyes are natural and not chemical, which allows them to be more permanent. It's kind of strange to me that these people who are working under some pretty intense conditions have been sort of turned into a theme park attraction...but I won't get on my high horse about it...things like that are very complicated and I have a hard time deciding what I really think about them.
We then headed out of the Medina and into the Mellah, which is the Jewish quarters of town. It was nice to have a change of scene. We went into a cemetery there and it was very peaceful and beautiful. Some people were buried there as recently as 2001. Something I especially liked about the cemetery is that there were olive trees everywhere and several men out picking olives and tending to the trees. I liked to see something living there. It's hopeful somehow, unlike seeing dead flowers on graves. There was also a "museum" there of things left behind inside the walls of the cemetery. After the creation of Israel most of the Jews emigrated from Morocco. This museum is basically just a bunch of crap that people left behind. It kind of looked like an old unkempt antique store or a whole bunch of garage sales going on side by side. You can see some pretty cool pictures of that below also. Also there were some crazy tools used for measuring peoples' dimensions. They thought they could tell if you were a Jew by measuring your nose and things like that. Our guide book said that though it is a museum, you can very easily purchase things there.
We then grabbed some lunch at a pretty posh place called 'Mezzanine.' It was the first non-Moroccan food I've had in a while, and it was fantastic! Pesto has never tasted so good.
After a bit of a mad dash we made it onto a train back to Rabat. It was at a pretty peak time, so we ended up without seats for the two hour ride, but it wasn't so bad. I loved Fes and Chloe and I definitely want to go back another weekend!
I went back and forth between the narrative and the pictures, which now make more sense to me.Not surprising that your favorite city so far is the cultural capital. You give such extensive and precise detail that I can hear the sounds and smell the odors. Thanks for taking me with you.
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