Saturday April 12 - Fez

After breakfast, we started today by driving up waaayyy above the medina of Fez, where there are amazing views. Observe:

Beth and I are SO ready for the day.

Then we drove down and started winding our way through the medina itself – on foot, of course. Just walking through a small part of the medina took pretty much all day. The colors, animals, food, scents, music and other sounds was a constant attack on the sensory system, but after a couple hours we adjusted to it. That was one of the most interesting days of my life, between what we learned about the medina itself from our guide, to what the storekeepers told us, to what we got to see and eat, to attempting to navigate our way through the medina without becoming hopelessly lost…

The first thing we saw as we walked toward the medina. A castle, I believe.

The doors of the royal palace, which was recently declared a public building (prior, it was private).

A glimpse of the alminar (tower) of the mezquita aljama (in Spanish, that means main city mosque; I'm not sure what an exact English equivalent is. Keep in mind all tour info was in Spanish).

The descent into the medina...

One of the MANY donkeys

Olives? Check

Books? Well, just the Koran...but, check

Sequins? Silks? Check, check

Rainbow-colored chicks? Absolutely

Snails? I'm glad you asked

Slippers? Uh, yeah

Fresh camel feet? Let me check. Yes

This was one of the coolest things we did or saw during the entire trip. We walked way up to this really tall balcony that overlooks the leather dyers, and the stench of animal skin was so bad that we had to shove mint leaves in our noses to keep from getting sick, but the unforgettable scene that unfolded before us was this:

They're pits in the ground, filled with dyes and leather and people all swimming around together so that the leather soaks up the color. It's a very traditional method of dyeing leather, and it's amazing to see. Right next to all the dyers are bright yellow animal hides stretched to dry in the sun. These too, will eventually be dyed.

This is a photo of a preschool, which is located in a tiny little room just like all the stores and homes and everything, right in the middle of the medina. The teacher was so happy to see us and let the students see us (foreigners). They're being taught in French, I think (the posters on the wall are in French). The two official languages in Morocco are Arabic and French.

A kid walking down a super narrow alley in the medina

Umm, donkey crossing? Donkeys for sale? Not sure

Mosque containing the tomb of the founder of the city of Fez, Moulay Idriss.

Here are two photos from the medirsa (I think that's the word, but that might be Arabic) - the Koran school. We went in right after the students left, and it was so quiet and peaceful.

Toward the end of the day we walked through the Bab Boujeloud gate, built in 1913. It’s covered with tiles – blue (the color of Fez) on one side and green (the color of Islam) on the other – and glimmers in the sunlight. Really beautiful.

The blue side

The green side
That morning most of us agreed to go to this cultural thing (uh, a little unclear about the specifics), because a) it sounded fun and b) we had NO idea how tired we would be after a whole day in the medina. Even though we didn't have much energy, we pretty much had to go to this thing, where there were a couple belly dancers and a mock wedding ceremony, because we had already paid for it.

Requisite belly dancer:

Beth and I met Julie and Britney on this trip. Here's Julie, dressed as one of FOUR women who are all marrying the same man in a wedding ceremony. Aw, how touching. Here, she's about to be lifted over everybody's head and spun around, probably so that she'll forget she's marrying a dude with a bunch of other wives.
Here's Julie, second from left wearing blue, with the main wife (in the middle with the huge headdress), the two other wives, and her new husband. Congrats, Julie.