Week 3: Ifran & Eid al-Adha

This was my second week with my host family which has been nice because I have become much more comfortable around them and in their home. The majority of the of this week was more relaxing and hanging out at the house., but we started out on Monday morning visiting the family olive oil company. We toured the equipment and saw where they stored the oil during the off season for bottling. Olive harvest for the oil happens in November-December.

On Friday of this week the host mom, brother, and I took a tour of small towns surrounding Meknes. We were laughing about how the day was spent going to each stop and spending 5-10 minutes there looking around and taking pictures, then moving on. The first stop was an amazing view of the Atlas Mountains. They explained that the landscape is called an Ito landscape, named after an indigenous woman who led the fight against French colonialists and won. When the French left, they named the land after her because she was brave and strong. After that stop we continued to Azrou for lunch. Next to our lunch stop was a small goat dairy where we tasted and purchased some goat cheese (as a goat cheese enthusiast, I was thoroughly enjoying myself). My favorite was the traditional Moroccan cheese, Jebli, made with goat milk.

Moving on from Azrou we stopped in the Ifran National Park where I had the opportunity to see and feed monkeys! When we arrived in the parking lot there were monkeys all around and once they saw that we had apples for them they all hurried over. There were monkeys on the car, sitting all around our feet, and even pulling on our clothes trying to get an apple. A lot of them had little babies clinging to them. A short distance away there was the biggest cedar tree in the world, Cedre Gouraud. Sadly, it is actually dead now, but it is still standing, and is massive. Next stop was the town of Ifran. It is called the Switzerland of Morocco because the houses have the pointy triangle roofs and, in the winter, it can get a meter (about 3 feet) of snow. In this town they have an American University that we tried to go in to tour it, but sadly security would not let us.

We then spent some time touring around old spots where the host mom used to visit and spend her vacations as a kid. She showed us an area in the mountains where it used to be a very large lake, but today it is used as land for grazing animals. This is all because of climate change. She showed us another example of climate change in the town where their vacation home was. There used to be a beautiful river running through it but now it is completely gone. She also explained how the town is much more rundown now and its glory days are behind it. It really shows how when the water leaves, so do the people. Our final stop on the big tour was looking at the Medina in the city of Fes. I have been told that they have the best Medina in Morocco. It was too hot (over 100 degrees) and too late in the day to go into the Medina, but they showed me a beautiful view overlooking it.

The Muslim holiday of Eid al-Adha was this past weekend on July 10th. On Saturday, July 9th, I traveled to Ksar el-Kebir (which was 112 degrees almost every day we were there) with the other IFYE in Morocco, Sanders, and the country coordinator Mohammed and his family. Mohammed is from Ksar el-Kebir and all his siblings and their family come here for the holiday. His brother and his family travelled here from Spain and his sister and her family from France. In total there was about 25 people in the house, with the youngest being about a year old.

Saturday night we had the opportunity to travel out and see a traditional Moroccan farm. This was a small farm that had about 2 hectares. They grew chickpeas and wheat, along with having a cow for dairy products (I got to try some fresh butter). This farm was run completely by a woman and was inspiring to see her doing so much. It was nice to see this small farm because most of the agriculture I have observed so far has been middle-large scale farming.

On Sunday, the day of the holiday, it started with the men going to the mosque to pray at 7 am. Once they came back, we all got up and dressed in traditional Moroccan clothing. The family was nice enough to lend me a dress to wear, and the night before they had bought me traditional shoes. We all ate a big feast together for breakfast, with traditional Moroccan pancakes, bread, pastries, and chocolate. Everyone was having a great time and taking photos, almost like Christmas morning. After breakfast it becomes time to sacrifice the sheep. They had four sheep because there were four families there. They sacrifice sheep because a prophet was asked by God to sacrifice his son. When the son showed commitment to God and planned to do it, God instead told him to kill a sheep to reward him for his commitment. When it was time for the killing of the sheep, I decided to not watch. I went up and saw the preparation and decided as a vegetarian for over 12 years I was not cut out for it. Lunch is the time where they cook and eat the organs of the sheep, including the liver, heart, kidneys, and intestine. Sanders tried it and said she personally did not like it. The rest of the meat is consumed the next day.

That evening Sanders and I had the opportunity to try henna, which is something they do for weddings and holidays. They had a lady come in to do it, and I decided to let her do whatever design she preferred, which turned out amazing. As she applied the henna, it started to feel cold on my skin and as it dried it became a little itchy. We left it on for a couple of hours, the longer you leave it on the better it turns out. After awhile one of the cousins put some tea on it which helps give you better results. The henna usually lasts for about a month. We spent that evening watching the sunset and looking at the star, where I saw three different shooting stars (crazy). The rest of the night was filled with spending time together and playing card games with the cousins.

Monday is the last day of the holiday. Usually in the morning people go and visit friends and family. Some of the family members at the house went out to visit, while others came to the house. Lunch is the big meal where they eat the meat from the sheep over couscous and as tajine. They have a belief where if on a certain bone your finger can fit under a ledge that means you will have good luck for the next year, and if it doesn’t that means it will be a difficult year. Most of the families will have good luck this upcoming year. In the evening we went to the beach, which was my first time at a Moroccan beach! The beach was in Asilah, about an hour and a half drive. The water was chilly at first, but we spent time watching the sunset, swimming, and playing football (or as Americans call it, soccer).

One cultural difference that I observed a lot this weekend is how late Moroccans stay up. We never went to bed before 2 a.m., often eating dinner at midnight. Overall, I am so grateful for how everyone in the family welcomed us and included us in their traditions and celebrations. I had so much fun getting to know everyone and watching them all interact together. Some family members spoke English, while others I communicated with in different ways, from just a smile, to drawings, and teaching them card games. It really can be surprising how much you can say without actually saying anything. I especially really enjoyed interacting with the younger kids, because I hadn’t had that chance yet on this trip. Some of the kids spoke a little English, and it was cool to watch them work together between French, Arabic, and English to communicate with us. I had brought some Iowa flag temporary tattoos that I put on the youngest kids and gave them all jolly ranchers and American coins.