Link to my Opera Blog

http://theoperahousegazetteer.blogspot.com/

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Najat Aatabou- ana jit j'en ai marre

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This is my favorite Moroccan singer, Najat Aatabou in this very beautiful video showing pictures of Morocco. This particular song was Khadija's favorite. Khadija was our housekeeper. She used to put this song on and dance a "zapateo" or a foot dance and stomp on top of a metal bucket. Everything I love about Morocco is encapsulated into this song.

Peace Corps Web Journals

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Peace Corps Morocco - Web Journals. Wow! I have just discovered a whole treasure trove of web journals that are being created by Peace Corps Volunteers in Morocco. I will be posting a whole bunch of them in the next couple of days. Enjoy!

Marrakech in the Media: A Music Video (Jimmy Page)

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Here is a treasure! Jimmy Page recorded his song "No Quarter" against the backdrop of Marrakech's medina. This was an incredible find. The mysterious chords of the music goes very well with these images, Enjoy!

Marrakech in the Media: Song

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The above is a song by Crosby, Stills, Nash, & Young called the "Marrakech Express". To my delight I found this video that was put together by an English teacher. I would not be surprised if the person who put this together was a Peace Corps TEFL teacher. I used this song to teach English to my students at the lycee. The song evokes the popularity of Marrakech during the Sixties.

Marrakech in the Media: Movie clip

Here is the Marrakech scene from the famous Alfred Hitchcock film "The Man Who Knew Too Much" with Jim Stewart and Doris Day. This is the only version I could find, dubbed in French. Despite Doris Day speaking in French and her sounding more like a Gallic marquise than the girl next door, the integrity of the sights and sounds are kept to the original, The only scene that looks "staged" is the bus coming out of Bab Al Ksour - giving the impression that they are going into Djemma El Fna. If you know Marrakech, this Bab or Gate (Bab Al-Kasbah) is actually quite a distance from the square. Amusingly the bus is actually going out of the medina, not in it as the film wants you to believe. What surprises me the most about this scene is that the shots of Marrakech show the side of Djemma El Fna that has not changed. It remains as animated today as it was depicted in this old movie!


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The story tellers and the music are still all there to enjoy in Marrakech's most exciting spot!

Portrait of Marrakech: Djemma El Fna

Djemaa el Fna

Next to the Koutoubia lies the great square of Jamaa el Fna This famous market place is located in the heart of the medina. It is that very pulsating heart. Where does that name "Djemma El Fna" come from?  The origin of its name remains unknown: it means Assembly of the dead in Arabic (جامع الفناء jâmiʻ al-fanâʼ) , but as the word Jemaa also means mosque in Arabic, it could also mean Place of the Vanished Mosque, in reference to a destroyed Almoravid mosque, or it could mean The Mosque of Eternity or The Mosque of Annihilation or perhaps The Mosque at the End of the World.^{[1] See the Wikipedia Article}

The square

The place remains the main square of Marrakesh, used equally by locals and tourists. During the day it is predominantly occupied by orange juice stalls, youths with chained Barbary apes, water sellers in colourful costumes with traditional leather water-bags and brass cups, and snake charmers who will pose for photographs for tourists.^[2] As the day progresses the entertainments on offer change: the snake charmers depart, and in the afternoon and evening the square becomes more crowded, with Chleuh dancing-boys (it would be against custom for girls to provide such an entertainment), story-tellers (telling their tales in Berber or Arabic, to an audience of appreciative locals), magicians, and peddlers of traditional medicines. As dark descends the square fills with dozens of food-stalls, and the crowds are at their height.

Picture from Wikipedia captioned "Steam rises from food stalls"

The square is edged along one side by the Marrakesh souk, the traditional North African markets which service both the common daily needs of the people of the city, and the tourist trade. On other sides are cafe terraces to escape from the noise and confusion down in the square, and on yet other sides are hotels and gardens. Narrow streets lead into the alleys of the medina quarter, the old city. The photograph illustrating this article shows the entrance to the souk at the left, cafes in the centre, and the entrance to the medina via the Street of the Olive (derb al zitoun) on the right
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Once a bus station, the place was closed to vehicle traffic in the early 2000s. The authorities are well aware of its importance to the tourist trade, and a strong but discreet police presence ensures the safety of visitors.

True what the Wikipedia says about the police. One of the major changes I have seen all over Morocco (especially in Fes) is the absence of faux guides or touts that used to meet you on the street to try to lure you to visit a carpet seller and get a commission if there is a sale. They were so notorious at the time (1980s) that during our Peace Corps stage in Larache, we actually got training on how to get rid of them and learned strategies to keep them at bay. Firstly, we avoided wearing shorts in the Medina: only tourists wore shorts. Secondly, we all learned how to get rid of the real pesky ones by saying that funny expression "Sir ferhalik" which means "Go to your pleasure" which was much nicer thing to say than "Go to h**l," Actually, at the end of my stay, I was surprised to feel a little sad they disappeared; they used to be such an integral part of the whole medina scene!

Masterpiece of the Oral and Intangible Heritage of Humanity

The idea for the UNESCO project Masterpieces of the Oral and Intangible Heritage of Humanity came from people concerned about the Jamaa el Fna. The locality is known for its active concentration of traditional activities by storytellers, musicians and performers, but it was threatened by economic development pressures. In fighting for the protection of traditions, the residents called for action on an international level to recognize the need for the protection of such places — termed "cultural spaces" — and other popular and traditional forms of cultural expression.^[3] UNESCO encourages communities to identify, document, protect, promote and revitalize such heritage. The UNESCO label of Masterpieces of the Oral and Intangible Heritage of Humanity aims to raise awareness about the importance of oral and intangible heritage as an essential component of cultural diversity.

“	The spectacle of Jamaa el Fna is repeated daily and each day it is different. Everything changes – voices, sounds, gestures, the public which sees, listens, smells, tastes, touches. The oral tradition is framed by one much vaster – that we can call intangible. The Square, as a physical space, shelters a rich oral and intangible tradition.	”
—Juan Goytisolo, in a speech delivered at the opening meeting for the First Proclamation, 15 May 2001[4

Trivia from Wikipedia:

• The square was featured in the Alfred Hitchcock movie The Man Who Knew Too Much (1956).
• An interesting account of the place in the 1970s can be seen in Esther Freud's novel Hideous Kinky.
• Jimmy Page and Robert Plant recorded some songs and their DVD "No Quarter - Unledded" on this place
• Juan Goytisolo lives in Marrakesh and has had an important role in the categorisation of Jamaa el Fna as a Masterpieces of the Oral and Intangible Heritage of Humanity

A picture from a rooftop cafe. Djemma El Fna is more than local color. It is the pulsating heart of Marrakech. The continuous din on the square is at times deafening. A cacaphony of noises, The staccato of Gnawa hand cymbals clash with the loud radios all on different channels, the piercing cry of the Berber hornpipes, the ceaseless drumming, the cries of vendors, the gaggle of tourists speaking a babel of languages, the clop clop of the victorias, the polyphonic prayer calls from the many mosques of the medina and the honking bicycles. The square never sleeps. At night it turns into rows and rows of food stalls.

Silhouette of the Koutoubia tower at sunset, standing sentinel opposite the entrance to the square.

The horse-drawn victorias. When I lived in Marrakech, this was a common means of transport. I occasionally took a "cushi" or victoria to work at the lycee Yacoub El Mansour. I was disappointed to discover upon ,my return to Marrakech twenty-plus years later, that the victorias had ceased their regular service for the locals. They have become more of a tourist thing than a practical way to get around town, The moul-cushis or victoria drivers now charge a small fortune to tourists to take a horse and buggy ride. Well, I just had to pay the stiff price for just one more nostalgic ride!

The women of Marrakech. Same title of that must-read book by Leonora Peets

Another view of Djemma El Fna, with a victoria.

Djemma El Fna at night. The whole square turns into rows and rows of foodstalls

Portrait of Marrakech: The Old Medina

Marrakech or Marrakesh (Berber: Murakush, Arabic مراكش murrākuš, local pronunciation: marrakəš ), known as the "Red City", is the most important former imperial city in Morocco's history. The city of Marrakesh is the capital of the mid-southwestern economic region of Marrakech-Tensift-Al Haouz, near the foothills of the snow-capped Atlas Mountains.

Like many North African cities, the city of Marrakech comprises both an old fortified city (the médina) and an adjacent modern city (called Gueliz) for a total population of 1,070,000.^[1] It is served by Ménara International Airport and a rail link to Casablanca and the north.  ⁽²⁾

Marrakech has the largest traditional market (souk) in Morocco. (Source: Wikipedia) Here are some pictures of my nostalgic wanderings through the old city.

Here I am clowning around and pretending I am a sultan while in the courtyard of one of Marrakech's beautiful palaces.

  

The aroma of spices makes the Marrakech souk a pleasant olfactory experience.

I will always have a passion for Moroccan tiles. Here is a detail from one of the palaces.

The rooftop view from one of my favorite cafes on Djemma El Fna. I used to come here after work every day for a kahua ba halib (cafe au lait) to pick me up on my way home.

The mysterious passages of the Old Medina by night. These are some of the passages I used to walk through to visit some of the other Peace Corps volunteers who were living the the Daoudiate Quarter of the city.

Every old medina in Morocco has beautiful gates, either on the outer walls or in the inner town, dividing the different quarters.

Funny how often I got lost finding my way through these narrow streets that only a donkey, bicycle or motorcycle could get through. The latter were notorious and often you would almost get mowed down by one zipping out of a blind corner!

The Menara had to be my favorit spot in Marrakech. It was just outside of the Medina, a short bicycle ride away. They were the pleasure gardens of the sultans, similar to Taman Sari in Yogyakarta. This was the place to get away from it all or to have a picnic with your Moroccan friends who would bring a tangia - a delicious meat stew that had been cooking for hours in a covered clay pot inside the fires that feed the local bakery and hammam (public bath).

In Xanadu did Kubla Khan
    A stately pleasure-dome decree :
    Where Alph, the sacred river, ran
    Through caverns measureless to man
    Down to a sunless sea.
    So twice five miles of fertile ground
    With walls and towers were girdled round:
    And here were gardens bright with sinuous rills,
    Where blossomed many an incense-bearing tree;
    And here were forests ancient as the hills,
    Enfolding sunny spots of greenery.

    But oh! that deep romantic chasm which slanted
    Down the green hill athwart a cedarn cover!
    A savage place! as holy and enchanted
    As e'er beneath a waning moon was haunted
    By woman wailing for her demon-lover!

    And from this chasm, with ceaseless turmoil seething,
    As if this earth in fast thick pants were breathing,
    A mighty fountain momently was forced:
    Amid whose swift half-intermitted burst
    Huge fragments vaulted like rebounding hail,
    Or chaffy grain beneath the thresher's flail:
    And 'mid these dancing rocks at once and ever
    It flung up momently the sacred river.
    Five miles meandering with a mazy motion
    Through wood and dale the sacred river ran,
    Then reached the caverns measureless to man,
    And sank in tumult to a lifeless ocean:

    And 'mid this tumult Kubla heard from far
    Ancestral voices prophesying war!

    The shadow of the dome of pleasure
    Floated midway on the waves;
    Where was heard the mingled measure
    From the fountain and the caves.
    It was a miracle of rare device,
    A sunny pleasure-dome with caves of ice!

    A damsel with a dulcimer
    In a vision once I saw:
    It was an Abyssinian maid,
    And on her dulcimer she played,
    Singing of Mount Abora.
    Could I revive within me
    Her symphony and song,
    To such a deep delight 'twould win me,
    That with music loud and long,
    I would build that dome in air,
    That sunny dome! those caves of ice! 

And all who heard should see them there,
    And all should cry, Beware! Beware!
    His flashing eyes, his floating hair!
    Weave a circle round him thrice,
    And close your eyes with holy dread,
    For he on honey-dew hath fed,
    And drunk the milk of  Paradise.

By Samuel Taylor Coleridge.

This was our hotel in the medina, It was a cheap place to stay if you did not mind the fact that they had a wedding practically there every night, a cultural event that I felt I was lucky to get for free because I love the music played at Marrakshi weddings...and we were fed as well! I don't think Herman enjoyed the situation as much as I did, so I promised him that we would stay at a tourist hotel next time we come to Marrakech!

Marrakech is a city of gardens and an oasis in the surrounding rocky desert. Orange trees line the main avenues of the New City, known as the Gueliz and if one is hungry there are plenty of oranges to pick freely from the trees. We were surprised that the majority of them were sweet!

Here is another detail of the intricate tiles that adorn the traditional palaces and buildings.

Here is the Bab Al Kasbah, the gate to the quarter of Marrakech by that name - which means castle or fort in Arabic, "Take me to the Kasbah!"

Here I am wandering through the medina.

Here is a gate within a gate within a gate... something out of a Thousand and One Nights!

There is always something colorful and magical to see while wandering in the souk. I cannot believe I lived in this beautiful city for the two precious years of my life in the Peace Corps!

Here is a grayer me in my old haunts through the medina.

Marrakech is a carpet collector's paradise.

Here is a little market square in the old medina.

You need the riot of sounds and scents to complete this lovely scene inside the Medina.

Thus...I continue my wanderings...

Portrait of Marrakech: The Koutoubia

The Koutoubia is to Marrakech what the Eiffel Tower is to Paris and what the Space Needle is to Seattle. The minaret was completed under the reign of the Almohad Caliph Yaqub al-Mansur (1184-1199) and was used as the model for the Giralda of Seville and for the Hassan Tower of Rabat.

The name is derived from the Arabic al-Koutoubiyyin for librarian, since it used to be surrounded by sellers of manuscripts. It is considered the ultimate structure of its kind. The tower is 69 m (221 ft) in height and has a lateral length of 12.8 m (41 ft). Six rooms (one above the other) constitute the interior; leading around them is a ramp by way of which the muezzin could ride up to the balcony. It is built in a traditional Almohad style and the tower is adorned with four copper globes.

According to legend, the globes were originally made of pure gold, and there were once supposed to have been only three globes. The fourth globe was donated by the wife of Yaqub el-Mansur as compensation for her failure to keep the fast for one day during the month of Ramadan. She had her golden jewelry melted down to flab the fourth globe.

The minaret of the Koutoubia was the model for the minaret of the Giralda mosque in Seville which in its turn has influenced thousands of church towers in Spain and Eastern Europe.

Gate to the Koutoubia from the garden in the back.

The Koutoubia from the garden in the back.

This beautiful garden was not here when I was living in Marrakech during my Peace Corps days.

This is almost exactly the spot that I used to bring my watercolors to paint the Koutoubia al fresco.

It was great to share my Moroccan experience with my Indonesia

The Koutoubia used to be on lower ground. Notice the position of the doors.

A lovely view of the tower.

Gnawa from Marrakech - Sidi Mimoun Al Ghmami

Marrakshi songs and loud handclapping

The song above is that of the Gnawi, the South Moroccan ethnic group whose music is more African in origin than Arabic. They regularly perform their hypnotic dance in Djemma El Fna, the central square of Marrakech. The song below is one of the many songs our Moroccan hosts taught us. In Marrakech the song is usually accompanied by clapping your hands while cupping your palms in a way that creates an extraordinary loud cracking sound. It took many tries to master this skill. I still use the Moroccan handclap in Jakarta to call attention to a passing taxi or to grab the attention of a noisy hall full of teenage kids!.

Moroccan Song - Lalla Fatima (with Lyrics and translation)

Peace Corps Morocco 1985-1987

The Koutoubia Tower and Mosque - Marrakech's Major Landmark

Tomorrow is the 50th Anniversary of the Peace Corps!

In honor of the event, for the next couple of weeks I am going to be posting on this blog every passion I have about the Moroccan people: their music, art, folklore, food, and unique hospitality.

I would also like to invite my former Moroccan hosts, my fellow Peace Corps volunteers and anybody who is passionate about Morocco to share or post anything that can show the world the beauty of the country and its culture, whether it be a photo of a kasbah or your favorite rug, a video of a wedding party or a Moroccan song or poem, or a recipe for harira or couscous, a posting of its past or current affairs, or simply memories about your service or a recent trip.

Bismillah! Let our journey begin!