The Journey

Doorways are not just entrances here. They are statements. Looking through their frame is like looking in on another world. Bold. Dramatic. Curved. Ornate. Elegant. They make you pause before you pass through -stop, think, admire- then enter. And Moroccan culture is full of many pauses. Life is intersected by relaxation daily. It is tradition, habit, and necessity. "We Moroccans like to eat and sleep," said Saadia. And, to some extent, this appears to be true. Children come home from school at 12pm to have lunch with their families...not returning to school until 2pm. Lunch is so important here. Everyone sits on couches and crowds around a low circular table ...usually with the news on TV... often Al Jazeera. There is always a nice family warmth to these meals and Lindsey and I look forward to them.

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Moroccan couches are large and numerous. Soumaya's couch literally takes up three walls!

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Morocco is an extremely unique country. When I am here I feel as though I am standing in the middle of history's result. As though I can see the years of French colonization in the high heels of the fashionable women who strut past...in the language that rolls off the tongue (often with spit). I can see the Arab influence in the thick lettered scroll that adornes cement buildings... I can see it in the mosques...in the calls to prayer...in the head scarfs. I can see Berber effects in the trade goods and markets that line the winding, narrow streets. I can see Mediterranean envy in the white-washed buildings with blue accents...in the smell of sea salts. I can see the West in the Pizza Hut billboards, Coca-Cola signs, and hotel names.

-Jess