Fez, Morocco

What a fantastic day! I spent the entire afternoon wandering around Fez el-Bali -- the extremely old, walled section of town (my hotel is in the relatively "new" French quarter). It was a delightful, chaotic, colorful blast to the senses. The delicious smells of incense and spices and cooking meats mixed with the stench of shit and piss and offal. The sounds of muleteers clicking and whispering to their companions, children crying and laughing, Qur'anic recitations blasting from radios and televisions, Arabic pop-music playing at volumes entirely too loud for their speakers, hawkers advertizing their wares, and all of it interrupted only by the sound of the muezzin calling the faithful to prayer. And the people! All kinds of people!! Snake charmers and beggars and thieves; old women with tatooed faces, and others with their faces entirely veiled, save a very thin slit for their eyes; teenage girls dressed in knock-off American designer fashion, and young women dressed in expensive Parisian haute couture; men in robes and fezes and turbans and colorful, conical headdresses with brightly colored wool and dangling gold medallions; theology students from the many madrassas with their unmistakable air of self-righteous piety; boys playing soccer in the streets; men watching soccer on t.v. in tiny, overflowing cafés; and all of this happening in a wild winding maze of narrow alleys packed with humanity. I sat for several hours with two wonderful old men I befriended outside of a small tea shop. We drank mint tea and smoked cigarettes and watched the world go by. The one old guy, the shop owner, kept ducking behind his counter to smoke (opium?) from an opium pipe. They were so delighted to see their photos on my digital camera, and I was so delighted that they allowed me to take their photos!

According to my guide book, it is illegal for non-Muslims to enter mosques and madrassas in Morocco (per Moroccan national law, not Islamic religous law). However, I find this a little difficult to swallow. So I've hired an English-speaking guide for tomorrow morning, and I am hoping that he can get me into all these beautiful old mosques and madrassas that are scattered throughout Fez el-Bali. I don't imagine it should be much of a problem, but at least with a guide along I can figure out the etiquette for the remainder of my stay in Morocco. I am really looking forward to going back tomorrow, and the next day!

(Photo by Eric: One of my tea-drinking buddies, Fez el-Bali, Morocco)