Life in the Medina of Marrakech

I flew Christmas day (doesn't really matter in Muslim countries what December 25th is) from Rome to Casablanca and then onto Marrakech on Royal Air Maroc. It's the first time that I have flown on a plane that is written in Arabic.

The Medina (old city) is the heart of Marrakech. This is the Koutoubia which was the landmark I always used to try and find my way around.

Usually, I'm really good with directions, but in the Medina there are dead ends and the streets twist and turn and you get all turned around, even myself, the one with the internal GPS system.

In the streets of the Medina, you're battling with cars, scooters and other pedestrians on small or non-existent sidewalks. Don't forget about having to dodge the street vendors too!

But you can always find a beautiful door or building as well.

There are vendors all throughout the Medina selling dry goods, live chickens and of course....

....spices and teas.

The Medina is full of "souks" or vendors selling all kinds of goods. But these goods aren't imported, they are made right in the Medina in small shops.

This man is hand carving one of the beautiful intricate doors that are found throughout the Medina and Morocco.

Every few hours one hears the blaring of sirens, it's the call to prayer. You'll then see many men scurrying to the nearest place of worship, slip off their shoes and go into pray in the direction of Mecca. This is always a good time to get around as the streets are fairly empty but watch out when prayer time is over, the place returns to being a madhouse.

Half of my trip was to go on a desert trek (pictures to come) but I had a few days after the trip to explore and I stayed in one of the "Riads" that are found throughout the Medina. Here's the front door, which was at the end of an alley. To get to it the first time, you have to call and then meet at major intersection near the Riad and then get led to it. It's like a secret society.

The courtyard of the Riad derb Zemrane. There are four rooms and a roof deck.

The room which was on the ground floor had a window that opened onto the courtyard so I had a breeze all night.

Wandering through the Medina I was brave enough to eat in one of the stalls where the locals eat. At this stall I had fried fish and beets.

Around dinnertime, the streets get flooded with kids getting out from school. I loved dodging the kids as the ran around playing with each other. Boys and girls go to school although in the evening you only see teenage boys out on the streets.

There are many leather goods made in the Medina and the skins are tanned right in the old town. Here are the skins before processing.

Workers then put the hides in lime.

The tanners then scrape off the fat.

The hides are then put in pigeon feces to made it softer and set out to dry in the desert sun. After being dried they are dyed to whatever color and then auctioned off to those who will make leather goods.

The city of Marrakech is at the base of the Atlas Mountains, which run east-west.

I learned another way to figure out my bearings in the Medina. Simply look for the satellite dishes which ALWAYS point towards the Atlas Mountains, which is south.

Fresh squeezed orange juice for the equivalent of 40 cents.

The heart of the Medina is a place called the Jamaa al Fna. At night the plaza becomes a food and entertainment extravganza. You can buy dates or spices but here's a stall for eating snails. You just pull up a seat and get served.

This "big" bowl of snails in broth was about $1.30.

I wandered around the food stalls and cold have sandwiches, couscous or full on lambs head. The annoying thing was that everyone though I was Japanese (man, those Japanese tourists must have made their mark earlier but I guess because their economy is in the dumps now, there were NONE to be found at present) I would get addressed with "Konichiwa." The first guy who addressed me in Chinese with "Ni Hao" was the guy who got my business. I told him as such. Oh, and FYI, I had assorted Kebabs with couscous.

The entertainment is mostly Moroccan singing and story telling but the atmosphere is just so high energy you can't help but get caught up in it and stop and listen.

Spoleto and Assisi

Spoleto and Assisi are two Umbrian hill towns, the former not really that well known, the latter famous because it was the home of St. Francis. It was a cold, rainy day just after the solstice and daylight precious, but off I went with some students and their parents. Those parents will be subject of a story later in the post.

Ponte di Torre! I knew I wanted to see this aqueduct, but just like many things this fall, seeing it took my breath away.

You can walk across the backside of the aqueduct.

Umbria is Italy's only landlocked province and the Apennines form the heart of this hilly area.

I now understand how aqueducts work. The water flows in the channel at the top. Who knew?

The other major sight is the Duomo (isn't that the case in every Italian city?) in Spoleto.

The stairs leading down to the Duomo were one of the many surprises. For some reason, I just found that the grand descent, instead of a usual ascent, with the stairs becoming wider as you step down into the gorgeous piazza was just fantastic.

The fresco in the apse of the Spoleto Duomo.

Another surprise. Looking up, which is always a good habit to get into here in Italy, I saw this bird painted inside the cupola of the Duomo.

Ok, so now the parent story. As you know, this fall, I've let students come along on my "Chenventures" as they call them. This trip, since it took place the first week of the Christmas break, some kids asked if they could come along and bring their parents. So, I had four kids bring their parents and siblings along. NEVER AGAIN. One family was never happy with the slower pace and so was always moving ahead asking me where to go next. In Spoleto, one mother trailed behind and didn't see that we had ducked into a pizzeria and we spent an hour looking for her whereas she had proceeded down the the train station. In Assisi, one mother and daughter came out of the bathroom (or whatever store they were shopping in) and didn't look inside the church that was in front of them and they too went down to the McDonald's by the train station to wait us out. In neither case did the mothers CALL their children to ask where we were. The 55 kids of SYA Italy can always manage to keep themselves in a group. Their parents? Another story.

Here are three students (the two girls with their backs to us had wandering Mom's) asking the Spoleto police if they had seen a lost Mom.

Now onto Assisi. At the top of town there is one neighborhood that built itself around an ancient Roman amphitheater as seen by the elliptical street. Someone's backyard IS the amphitheater itself!

Here is the baptistry in which St. Francis himself was baptized. It is still used to baptize children of the town of Assisi.

More flying buttresses (I just like saying it) attached to the Chiesa St. Chiara.

A beautiful stairway in Assisi at dusk.

The Chiesa San Francesco or the church of St. Francis at night.

The life size nativity scene on the front lawn of the Chiesa San Francesco. Now that's how you do a nativity scene!

Inside the upper nave of the Chiesa San Francesco with fresco depicting the life of St. Francis.

In this scene, St. Francis sheds himself of his worldly goods and clothes and gives them to his father. He preached a life of obedience, poverty and chastity. The Franciscan existence treated every culture and creature with equal respect. The brothers slept in fields, begged for food and enjoyed a life of non-materialism.

A ceremony in progress in the lower nave of the Chiesa.

Here is the resting place of St. Francis.

Christmas Present to Myself

I step into a store in Roma (run by Chinese immigrants and so I do a lot of my shopping in Italy in Chinese) and this is what I found.

June uses a Mac!

The Christmas Card Photo

Who's in those green pants? Yes, Shahana, it took 15 years, but I have finally embraced green pants.

Napoli

The unquestioned capital of Southern Italia is Napoli. It's crazed, frenetic, crime-ridden (or so the rumor goes) and completely Italian in all ways. The school again put together a host family trip and so I got a free one-day trip to Napoli. I'll certainly go back down to see Capri, the Amalfi Coast, hike to the top of Vesuvius, see Herculaneum and then visit the Temples of Hera at Paestum.

Along the sea in Naples

Just a few kilometers down the road, Mount Vesuvius looms over Napoli. It erupted back in 79AD and is still active. In fact, all of Italy is still geologically active and subject to earthquakes as well.

If it's Italy, there's a castle somewhere.

Nativity scenes are a HUGE deal in Italy (or maybe everywhere but I've just not known?) and Naples is apparently on the forefront of nativity scene design and technology.

This one street, wall to wall people, is known for beautiful nativity scene wares.

Get your waterfall or any kind of add-on can be yours.

Neapolitan "dolci", on the left a ricotta cheese based filling inside a pastry and on the right, marzipan. I brought a bunch home and am enjoying them this week.

The galleria in Napoli, a place to shop and to get in from the elements.

So the crime....the big decorated Christmas tree in the galleria was STOLEN. Here's the replacement.