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Morocco in a day? Sure, why not. It is that easy. The Willis family woke up very early and jumped on a bus to the Great Britain controlled territory of Gibralter. From the great Rock of Gibralter, we loaded onto a hydrofoil and jetted across the straits of Gibralter to Tangier, Morocco in Northern Africa.
The city of Tangier is 2300 years old. In 1290, the city became Arab. Today, there is still a strong Arab influence over Tangier. Arabic is the official language and Arab traditional dress is still the fashion in the Kasbah and the Medina. This Arab snake charmer is trying to charm the tourists into giving him a little baksheesh.
Speaking of tourists....Don and Tessa have "tourist" written on their foreheads as they transact this deal with a wandering street vendor. Actually, Don got a great deal on some good looking bracelets that he purchased for the Willis girls.
The gelaba is the traditional long dress that is worn by Arab men. While we saw many of these in the Middle East, we never saw these interesting pointed hoods.
We had a nice lunch at a Moroccan restaurant that included an entertaining Moroccan band and a silly belly dancer that ran through the room faster than you can say, "What the h--- was that?"
The Willis family enjoys their couscous. lamb skewers and curry soup.
The Arab women in the Medina of old Tangier generally do not work. They take care of their homes and families and gather with the other women to make handicrafts. This woman is wearing a Virgia, which is an African veil that was originally used to protect people from sand storms. The Arabs of Tangier adopted the veil and it is supposed to be worn by married women. There is no religious significance to the veil which covers the face. According to Islam, a woman's hair must be covered, but the face does not necessarily need to be. It is important to note here that Arab is a race of people, while Islam is the religion practiced by many Arabs.
The markets on the streets of Tangier are very colorful and lively. Morocco is a very self sufficient country, which includes the cultivation of their own fruits and vegetables. Did you know that the tangerine (Tangier-een) came from Tangier. It was introduced to the rest of the world by Marco Polo.
Morocco is the 6th larges Olive producer in the world. There are more than 32,000,000 olive trees in the country. The olives are harvested from the time that they are green to the time that they ripen to be the color black. In between, they are picked when they are pink, purple and at many other various stages, thereby producing many different varieties of olives.
Ah yes, a tour of Morocco or any other Arab country would not be complete without a visit to a carpet shop. Negotiating with the carpet dealers is not for the weak. We watched potential buyers leave angry and empty handed.
While the Fez is a Moroccon trademark, it actually came from Turkey. It is worn as a status symbol by the wealthy and powerful. Rich and Don try one on for size.
The Berbers were the original inhabitants of Morocco. Today, Berber women dressed in straw hats and striped dresses come into the city to sell produce on the streets.
And that is Morocco in a day. |
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