I’m writing this blog post from the airplane from Madrid to
Lima. The flight is 12 hours long. I’m 8 hours in and feeling fairly good
considering I have 4 more hours to go. I actually had a bit of luck – the lady
sitting next to me moved to the center section of seats, so I have 2 whole
seats to myself! YES! I must have been giving off the air that I was a bit
bizarre. Hahaha!
Anyway, on our last full day in Morocco, Elah and I decided
to take a High Atlas Mountains hike with a Berber guide. A lovely British
couple (Darren and Linda) joined us on our tour – we made fast friends with
them. They were absolutely wonderful and quite well travelled so we had a lot to
talk about. We drove an hour to meet our guide, Norrdeene, who grew up near the
Berber town of Amizmiz (known for its Tuesday produce market). Norrdeene had a
really refreshing sense of humor and once he heard that I study food history,
he modified our hike to include a tour of the neighborhood markets as well as a
visit to a Berber family’s home to have tea. The market in Amizmiz was small,
but fascinating. Norr explained that the town veterinarian has to approve the
animals health before and after slaughter. This veterinarian is not a religious
figure, he is an employee of the state. He is the one who stamps the meat after
it is butchered to mark its quality. While walking through the market, we
ooched past hanging carcasses and cow heads. Linda had a bit of a rough go,
actually, because she is vegetarian.
In no time, we were on our way through the beautiful
mountain countryside. We walked past argon groves, sheperds, and around poppy
fields. Eventually we made our way into the mountain range, down rocky valleys,
and along beautiful mountain streams. The landscape changed so quickly – it was
amazing!
As I said above, we stopped for tea in a Berber village and met a
family of 3 women, representing 3 generations. They showed us their home and
then made bread for us in their traditional Berber oven. Similar to the open
hearth kitchen I have worked at, they heat the oven with a wood burning fire
and then wipe out the ashes. Interestingly, they slap the loaf of bread right
on the oven wall and spread it out. It takes about 15 minutes to cook. After
watching this process, we were invited to sit in their living room where Norr
poured us tea and we chatted about Berber culture (and how it is not
represented in Moroccan textbooks at all). Norr was quite passionate about the
mistreatment/misrepresentation of Berber culture in Morocco. He said that 80%
of the population is Berber (or part Berber), but the culture is very much
overshadowed by Arab culture.
After our visit, we continued on our hike through
some of the most beautiful scenery I have ever come across – the colors were so
magnificent: red, orange, and yellow earth with dark green trees. So
pretty! We had lunch at hiking camp in
the mountains and then made our way back to Amizmiz, stopping at a classy
resort to use the restroom. We bid goodbye to Norr and took the hired car back
to Marrakech. That night, as I said before, we headed back to Jmaal El Fnaa to
people watch and eat again.
The next morning, we had breakfast, and I said goodbye to
Elah and wished her safe travels to Scottland. I stuck around the riad for a bit – wrote a few blog
entries on the terrace, enjoyed some coffee etc., and then made my way to the
airport (where I ran into Elah because her flight was delayed!) It was so nice
to see her again before I set off for Madrid.
No comments:
Post a Comment