Souks

I've been fascinated by the souks (shops) of Marrakech. Here are just a few examples.

The Basket Souk--featuring baskets woven from palm fiber.

Clothing Souk--where I would find 100 must-have items that I would never wear in the states.

 

The Dyer's Souk--this is where leather is dyed with natural dyes before going to the leather makers.  These vats have been in use for centuries. 

 

The metal souk---I would buy a gong.  No idea why, but I must have one. 

Slippers and belts and it looks like a whole lot of other stuff too. 

Wool souk---bestill my knitter's heart.

Old Square---Near the former slave market--where people come to sell fruits and vegetables.  According to the DK Eyewitness Travel guide--magicians and healers buy their supplies here too.  I can understand the healers buying herbs, but the magicians?  I bet they perform in the streets.  If they have a shop here it will be the first place I visit.

What a Trip

Well what do you know??  Pot--as in marijuana has been traditionally used in Moroccan cooking. This, according to a web search and a dimly remembered passage from the last African cookbook I checked out. This might be more of a trip than I bargained for!

MOROCCO

Visiting Morocco has been great already. I like visiting countries where there is a lot of information to be found at the library.  In this case two cookbooks among other wonders.  I made the "country bread" which is basically normal bread but with a little cornmeal and formed into flat circles.  The bread must have known what it was supposed to do, because even though it was made with the same yeast as the Serbian bread which rose like crazy, this stayed relatively flat.  Like all bread--very yummy.  A traditional Berber breakfast is this bread with the local fruity olive oil.

Morocco to me is lavish--a decadent feast of the eye.  Pictures like the above water fountain in Rabat are everywhere.  It's wonderful to browse through the travel guides.

Also, I'm looking forward to showing Catherine one of my all time favorite movies--Hitchcock's "The Man Who Knew Too Much" which begins in Morocco--Doris Day--Jimmy Stewart--adventure, just doesn't get better than that!  Also, she's never seen Casablanca. At the risk of offending the great gods of film--I confess I didn't care for it all that much when I saw it many years ago, but maybe I just wasn't in the mood. I think it deserves another chance, and everyone should see it at least once. 

Korzo!

I think this is my favorite tradition from any country so far.  After dinner on Summer evening towns close their main street for "Korzo".  People come out and walk up and down just to enjoy the air and each other.  What a great way to build a sense of community.  Sort of like a mobile front porch. 

Egg Tapping

You know the scene from My Big Fat Greek Wedding where Tulla and her Dad crack a hard boiled egg?  This is done in Serbia--called egg tapping--you win if your egg doesn't crack.  I don't know what happens if BOTH eggs crack--which I would think would happen most of the time.

Christmas

Orthodox Christians celebrate Christmas on Jan. 7. Some of the traditions sound charming.  On Christmas Eve people gather branches of oak and bring them to the church courtyard and make a bonfire which symbolizes Christ bringing light to the darkness of the world.   The priest blesses the fire and the choir sings Christmas hymns. Afterward everybody gathers in the church to eat lent appropriate food (no meat or dairy).  On Christmas morning before opening presents you wait until Christmas is brought to you before you open presents.  A young child knocks on the door and puts a stick into the fireplace.  The number of sparks that fly up are the amount of good luck you can expect in the coming year.  The child is given a gift to thank them for bringing Christmas.

Great Science

Couple of great scientists were Serbs.  Nikola Tesla of alternating current fame, and Mileva Maric.  You probably can't place Mileva off the top of your head but she was a brilliant student and was one of the few women admitted to the Swiss Federal Polytechnic School in 1896.  Later she married Albert Einstein who probably owes a lot to her influence.