Fès

From Gibraltar, we headed to the nearby Spanish city of Algeciras to catch the ferry to Tangier, Morocco. I can't say much for Algeciras, since I didn't see much of it besides the seemingly endless (hot) lines we waited in at the ferry terminal, but it didn't seem like much of anything.

It was pretty exciting though to see the sign for the ferry terminal to Tangier:



A little less exciting to be waiting in line for hours in the heat to get on our very late boat, on which nobody seemed to speak English, Spanish, or even French (the second official language of Morocco, after Arabic):



After two hours on our ferry, and some drama in getting our passports stamped in order to get off the boat, we finally got a good look at the African coast in Tangier:

Unfortunately, our ferry was so late that we missed our connecting train to Fès, and had to hire a Grand Taxi driver to take us there instead for around 1600 dh (about $160). The driver only spoke Arabic and Spanish, so I ended up translating in Spanish for him and my family. He seemed nice enough, and it was cool getting a look at the Moroccan countryside on the way to Fès, until about three hours in when we got to a small village. Some guy was standing in the middle of the road and didn't see our cab coming, and wouldn't move, and apparently our driver took great offense at that and started honking. The guy banged on the trunk of the car, which put the driver over the top. Our driver got out of our car and started yelling at the guy in Arabic, and one of them picked up an enormous rock from the side of the road. Luckily, some of the locals intervened and pulled them apart, and we got on our way again. The last two hours of the drive we were entertained only by our driver's several near-misses with donkey carts and trucks as we passed cars on pitch black mountain highway. Needless to say, it was nice to get out of that car and into our hotel when we got to Fès after 12 hours of traveling.

You can view a map of Morocco below:

We stayed in the Sofitel Palais Jamai hotel, which overlooks Fès' medina, or old city. The hotel is actually an old Moorish palace, which has been restored and made into a five star hotel:

Fès is Morocco's fourth largest city and one of Morocco's four so-called "imperial" cities. It's home of those red hats with tassels (Fez hats), leather goods, white pottery, and a labyrinthine medina that is supposedly the largest contiguous car-free zone in the world. For a tourist, the medina is nearly impossible to navigate alone, so we hired a guide to show us around.

Our guide, who went by the nickname Sammy, showing us one of Fès' madersas, an old religious college where one could once study to become an imaan, or Islamic spiritual leader:

Since non-Muslims aren't allowed to enter mosques, madersas were about the closest we could get. It was easy to see where Spain, especially its southern states like Andalucía, got their Moorish influence from:



Another madersa in the middle of the medina, that was unfortunately closed for restoration:



Even though we couldn't enter any mosques, we were still allowed to look inside and take pictures from the outside. (Although mosques are traditionally built to be much more impressive from the inside than from the oustide.) Here's a picture of one of the many mosques hidden in between the streets of the medina:

Morocco is a Muslim country, inhabited primarily by Arabs and Berbers, and there is no separation of church and state like in the United States. The country's government is a monarchy with a king, Mohammed VI, although it still has an elected parliament, and its official languages are Arabic and French. Several people told us that Morocco in fact prides itself on being more liberal than most Arab countries. The king has fought for women's rights and is generally very pro-American. In fact, several Moroccans told us that they vastly prefer American tourists over the "snobby" French ones! (Morocco used to be under the control of France, and so there is still a little tension there. That's also the reason that all Moroccans learn French in school.)

I found it especially interesting what our tour guide said about the impact of 9/11 on Morocco. Before the Twin Towers, he said, people could freely enter mosques at any time of day, but after what happened, people can only enter at times of prayer or shortly beforehand. Morocco does not support terrorism and everyone we talked to viewed 9/11 as a horrible act of violence set in motion by an extremist minority. Islam is truly a peaceful religion, and I continue to believe that education and understanding are what's needed most to calm tensions with the Muslim world.

One of the tenants of Islam is prayer, which takes place five times a day. Our guide explained that one only must go to the mosque once a week, and that if one is working during one of the daily prayers, it's permissable to pray after work instead. I was woken up both mornings in Fès by the Imaan's calls to prayer amplified by loudspeakers from the closest minaret in the early hours of morning, in fact.

In the medina, we walked by another mosque around one of the afternoon prayers, and saw several men taking off their shoes as they entered:

The medina in Fès is made up of tiny maze-like streets like this:

And this:



There are no cars in the medina, so people transport goods via donkey or mule:



You can buy Moroccan sweets at a stall:



Figs from a cart:



Cactus fruit from a stand:



Dried fruits and nuts from shelves:



Or even fresh mint, whose smell seeps through the alleyways:



Sometimes people hold mint to their nose to help block out the unpleasant smell of the leather tanneries Fès is so known for:



Other streets are used for dying the leather, and apparently wool as well:



There was also an area devoted to selling copper and brass goods:



And several clothing stores for the locals:



There are stray cats everywhere in Morocco, but very few stray dogs. According to Moroccan superstition, cats are good luck while dogs are bad luck. I took this picture of a kitten sleeping on a leaf of paper with Arabic script, somewhere in the medina:



After walking around for a while, Sammy brought us to a beautiful (but expensive) restaurant in the middle of the medina to eat lunch at:



I had traditional Moroccan couscous with chicken, chick peas, and currants I think:

That evening, we went on a driving tour to see Fès' new city, and to escape the heat (over 40 degrees celsius!) from all our walking earlier.

We drove by several olive trees:

We went to the top of the hill to see the Merenid Tombs:



But the view of the city ended up being much more impressive (note the green minaret of a mosque in the lower left):



Next, we made a stop at the Royal Palace of Fès, which is closed to everybody except the king and his personal staff:



Me infront of the palace:



The red and green Moroccan flag flying above the palace:



We drove by another entrance to the medina that we were in earlier:



Some women talking on a street corner:

Lastly, our tour took us to a governmental co-op of pottery manufacturing. We were taught how traditional white pottery is made in Fès, using centuries-old technique. In fact, the place we went to was currently making tiles that will be used in the restoration of the Alhambra Palace in Granada Spain, which was built by the Moors originally.

The kiln at the co-op was clearly not governed by the same environmental laws as it would be in the United States, and was puffing out lots of black smoke:

But they did make lots of bowls:





And of course, the tour ended in the gift shop, where the guide tried to convince us to buy colorful tajines like the ones below, among other pottery:

Lastly, a few things I learned about Morocco:

-School in Morocco goes from when you are six until you are sixteen
-The legal age of marriage in Morocco was recently increased to 18.
-Drinking alcohol in public is illegal, and drinking alcohol period is frowned upon. Moroccans prefer coffee & tea (especially mint tea, which one Moroccan woman called "Berber Whiskey")
-It's illegal in Morocco for an unmarried man and woman to share a hotel room, although this rule is frequently overlooked in order to promote tourism
-It's illegal in Morocco to speak ill of the king, or to try to convert anyone away from Islam
-It's free to go to college in Morocco
-Most Moroccans dislike neighboring Algeria, due to their argument over the disputed Western Sahara territory.
-Cafés are strictly for men, seemingly by unwritten rule
-Style of dress is much more conservative, but there's still a definite range: several women wear western clothes and let their hair down, while others wear scarves and traditional Moroccan robes. Men wear anything from T-shirts and jeans, to robes. Kids dress almost exactly the same as in the United States.

-Most Moroccans want Obama to win the next election in the United States

Coming soon will be Marrakech, Casablanca, and Paris...and that's it: I'm heading back to the States on Tuesday!