Morocco.... A love story - (day 3)

We awoke the next morning ready to go! Breakfast first, then off to tour Rabat, the capital of Morocco.

At our orientation meeting the night before, Abdel had informed us that we did NOT need to have our head, shoulders or knees covered. I was so glad I had asked. Everything I had read said we needed to have everything covered in order to be respectful. He said this was not the case at all, even with locals. Many traditional families still follow this practice but some do not. And tourists definitely do not adhere to this tradition. I still wanted to be respectful but I was also happy I could wear sleeveless tops. Luckily I had packed a few with the idea of wearing a long sleeve top over them. So now, I just had to rethink my wardrobe.

The tour of Rabat was beautiful. Lawns were impeccably landscaped and the roads were well maintained. The entire city was impressive. Although I wasn't sure what to expect, I definitely was not expecting this.

On our tour we visited the Hassan Tower, the Kasbah of the Udayas (a UNESCO World Heritage Site) and the French colonial Andulasian gardens. Yes, Jim and I were "Rockin' The Kasbah"! Then we visited the Currency Museum.

I didn't know what a Kasbah was but learned that it is a walled area within a city. As we approached the Kasbah, it was quite obvious how protected this area was. The walls are enormous and the entrances match!

Inside the walls were a variety of homes and shops. It was extremely clean. We walked to the perimeter of the wall and saw where the cannons were pointed out to the sea. I tried to imagine being there between the 8th and 6th centuries BCE and living that lifestyle. Wondering what clothing the women wore, what they did during their days. Did the men hang out and drink coffee? Did the women hang out and talk about their children? I had so many thoughts running through my head. Sometimes I wish I had a time machine.

While we were walking around, Abdel pointed out a door knocker. This is known as the Hand of Fatima. I don't remember the exact story but it is said that Fatima hugged someone that was going off to war (I think). She had henna on her hand that left a mark on their back when she hugged them. They came back safely and this was credited to the Hand of Fatima. It is seen as protection.

Throughout Morocco you will find everything from jewelry to home decorations to door knockers. If anyone reading this knows more details of this story, please let me know!

The currency museum was one of the few museums that were open that day so we ended up visiting it. I'm really glad we did! I couldn't believe all the different shapes and styles of currency they had over the years. I commented to Jim that the US has basically had the same currency forever. He reminded me that the US is a LOT younger than Morocco. He definitely had a good point.

For lunch, we stopped at a nice little outdoor restaurant on the water. Abdel had previously told us that mint tea was the tea of Morocco but he didn't mention the ceremony of pouring the tea. The tea kettle is lifted far above the glass and poured. It's quite a beautiful thing to watch. This is one of the many traditions I witnessed while in Morocco. Each one had a story behind it, which made it even more beautiful. And interesting! It seems that the Moroccans are determined to keep the traditions alive. They don't just do it for the tourists. They actually do it because that's what they were taught.

Although everything we toured was amazing, I think the best part of the day was learning everything Abdel was teaching us about the country and the culture. He was so knowledgeable and was very willing to answer any questions I had. And I had a lot!

To follow are bullet points of things I learned that day:

• The King seems to be very well liked by most in the country. He does a lot of good for the people.

• Morocco is divided into about 10% of wealthy people and 90% poor.

• The two main languages used to be Arabic and Berber. They have quit teaching Berber in schools now and have replaced it with French.

• There are about 32 million people in Morocco with 8 million of the 32 in Casablanca.

• Rabat is the Capital but it used to be Fez.

• Nothing is clear in Morocco! (example: I asked Abdel if it was ok to take photos in the museum. He said "sometimes". Sometimes things are okay and sometimes they are not.)

• The Arabic language is written and read from right to left.

• The Berber language is written and read from left to right. They are completely different.

• Morocco is #1 for Hash production

• Women only visit cemeteries on Fridays.

• Women normally don't go to cemeteries on the day of a funeral. They go the following day,

• 99% of the time, only men go to coffee shops.

• Morocco has been in a drought for many year which has drastically slowed the production of olives.

As you can see, I learned a lot that day! We were on our own for dinner so a bunch of us went to explore the city. The bus took us downtown and told us what time to be back at the bus. There were about 10 of us that went out. We window shopped for a while and then we all headed to a restaurant to get a little to eat. I felt extremely safe walking around and really enjoyed the sites. We passed a few merchants that were selling books. School was just starting so there were a lot of books and school supplies being sold. The interesting part was that they were outside on the ground.

That's it for Day 3. Love to all!

Ruthie