Travelling by train
overland from Marrakech to Fes seemed like a great way to experience
the vast and arid expanses that fill most of Morocco's land mass. And
I can assure you it was quite intriguing to see the landscape change
as the ramshackle houses, roadside stalls and stray animals
disappeared to be replaced with...nothing. But nothing isn’t always
a bad thing The nothing that replaced the menagerie that was
Marrakech consisted of expanses of olive groves and a seemingly
infinite supply of orange soil that met and clashed with the blue
horizon strikingly.
Unfortunately the
dessert scene being played out was lost on me as I had a serious
fever. When you have a fever the best case scenario is being in an
air-conditioned home; in your own bed, blankets wrapped around you
and either your mother or grandmother providing a constant supply of
wet face washers, honey & lemon tea and paracetamol. The worst case
scenario is sitting on a packed Moroccan train hurtling through the
scorching dessert for seven hours; without air-conditioning, without
tissues, without water and definitely without personal space
Unfortunately for me I experienced the latter scenario!
After our hellish train
journey, arriving in Fes, it was great to be greeted by a familiar
face in our good friend Phoebe. Phoebe has recently married a
Moroccan, Karim, and they warmly welcomed us into their home for
three nights. For our hosts' sake we tried to contain our excitement,
but if we were to be honest the thought of sleeping in the old medina
in the oldest city in Morocco, shopping and eating amongst locals and
getting an intimate insight into Moroccan life was tres exciting!
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| The Blue Gate (Bab Boujloud) in Fes |
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| Playing at the old Royal Palace |
Arriving at Phoebes and
Karim's flat, the first thing we noticed was the Moroccan sofa,
called ponjes. The sofa ran around the entire perimeter of
the lounge room. Phoebe told us to pick any spot and that it would be
our bed for the next three nights. Karim went off to work while
Phoebe, Julia and I caught up on gossip and easily chatted for a few
hours. Our catchup was cut short by the rumblings of our stomachs and
we heeded their demands and left in search of some food. We met Karim
and he took us to a local restaurant where we feasted on a spicy and
fulfilling chicken tagine. Blowing my nose incessantly throughout the
meal, it was impossible to hide the fact that I was a little sick.
Karim, concerned, told me he would take me to a traditional doctor
and have me on the mend in no time. Culturally, vocationally and
socially accustomed to western medicine I suppressed my scepticism
and thought the opportunity an experience or story at the very least.
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| A delicious dinner date with Phoebe and Karim! |
Arriving at the small
store, I was overwhelmed by the organic smells, viles perched
precariously on precariously affixed shelves and a very cluttered
space. After the mandatory questions, thankfully translated by Karim,
the doctor said, with a toothy grin, that I needed to sniff some
'black cocaine.' By now a small crowd had formed and with some
trepidation I inhaled the 'black cocaine.' My eyes watered almost
immediately and I can tell you my nostrils and nasal passage felt as
though I had just inhaled napalm. It was some hours and countless
tissues later until my nostrils stopped burning and my nasal passage
stopped expelling black soot like discharge.
In Islamic culture,
Friday is their hol-i-day. Culturally, Moroccans couple this Islamic
day with couscous and aptly name it 'Couscous Fridays'. Phoebe and
Karim told us that Karim's family would be over early Friday morning
for 'Couscous Friday'. We were excited at the prospect of sharing
a meal with Karim's family and also learning how to make some genuine
Moroccan fare. Despite the obvious language barrier we were able to
sufficiently communicate with Karim's family and jot down a few
recipe notes. Not to mention share countless laughs and good old
fashioned fun. The whole process took quite some time as everything
was expertly made from scratch by Karim's mum. No instant couscous. No chicken stock
cubes. And
the resulting meal, coupled with fantastic company was one of the
best meals we have enjoyed this trip so far. Our fond memories of
sitting around the largest tagine we've ever bared witness to will no
doubt stay with us forever.
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| Karim's mum cooking up a storm! The chicken had been freshly slaughtered that morning. |
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| Couscous - before shot...... |
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| .... and after! Yummo! |
At risk of giving you
the impression I'm searching for sympathy, I have to talk briefly
about my sickness. Really just a head cold and under normal circumstances, nothing to worry about. However, Morocco, with its spice infused
cuisine, moreish mint tea and abundance of weird and wonderful sweets, is not a country you want to lose your sense of taste and the timing couldn't have been worse! Needless to
say I was bloody annoyed at not being able to fully appreciate the
varied flavours that I was shovelling into my mouth. Humourlessly the
last thing I consumed before losing my sense of taste was an
out-of-this-world almond milkshake. So for three days everything I
tasted, or didn't taste, tasted of almond milkshake. Not a bad
flavour to be stuck with for three days!
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| Karim also took us to a tannery, where leather is dyed and made into all sorts of products like handbags, jackets & belts! |
Julia has coerced me
into writing of Phoebe's temporarily adopted kitten Azeya. Azeya was
a stray street kitten rescued by Karim. It goes without saying that
kittens are by nature very cute and I'm personally an animal lover.
So it was lovely having Azeya stumble around, falling off of couches,
getting her little claws stuck on things due to her lack of control
and watching her belly grow as she was fed and fed and then fed some
more in the name of love. Julia was besides herself with love and joy
and a plethora of other maternal emotions that only women can
experience. As adorable as little Azeya was, her lasting legacy will
no doubt be Julia's subsequent own adoption of a kitten once we
arrive home! My question is, will I get to help decide a name?
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| She's so little!!!!!!! |
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| Azeya wearing a paper hat!! She's so working that samurai look! |
