photos!

Hey all,

So, I got to Tangier this afternoon after an amazing tour-de-force across the country.  Just as a quick note to all before I continue, there are photos.  They can be seen at flickr.com, where you should search for the Tangier 2008 photos.  Please let me know if this does not work, and I will try to correct it asap.  As always though, facebook, while creepy, works better, so if you have access to that, I suggest that you look (if you feel like it) at the more comprehensive collection.

As to what my last day in Fès consisted of, let me just say a lot (which has been the trend here).  First off, the dinner I had that last night was quite good, though a little Western-oriented and Orientalist (those of you who live in Denver, think like a much more authentically located and decorated Mat'am Fez).  However, the food was delicious.  That night, we also went up to our riyad's roof, where you could look into the next courtyard at the late night portion of the Fès Sacred Music Festival, as there were several Sufi Tariqas (Brotherhoods) performing their dhikr chants next door.  Naturally, we watched from the roof until much to late to get a good night of sleep (I think I have been chronically under-slept this entire trip).

The following morning, we toured Fès el-Jedid (the "new" medina of Fès, built in the 16th Century by the Saadians), which includes the royal palace and the Jewish quarter, or Mella.  For the afternoon, I ventured out into the aswaq with a group of originally 6, though we then split into two groups of three when we realized the crowds were overwhelming to move 6 people through.  Believe it or not, my sense of direction was good enough to find my way through the labyrinthian medina of Fès, then I promptly got the other two lost immediately after leaving a gate into the new city.  Sigh...  However, we did talk with several store keepers in the metal and leather markets, including negotiating a successful teapot purchase for Daniel in Arabic (probably overpaid, but at least we did it in Arabic).  After a rooftop late lunch, Emily and I went back into the souq, where we ended up talking to a particular merchant for over an hour (I won't say the type of good, suffice it to say that someone's getting a present from Fès).  Immediately after getting back, we unfortunately didn't have time to clean off (Fès is so hot!) before going out for Fassi fruit salad (a very tasty – like all Moroccan food – concoction of different fruits, fresh and dried, along with walnuts in a sweetened avocado-milk paste), then headed off to the main venue of the Sacred Music Festival, where a tariqa from Senegal (there's a lot of Senegalese pilgrims in Fès as the Sufi saint who brought Islam to Senegal is buried there) as well as the Moroccan Hamidcha were performing.  The concert was great, and as we slowing snuck our way up to the front and the sun set, it got to be an unforgettable experience.

This morning, we left for the 4.5 hour bus ride up to Tangier, where I am currently residing, soaking up all the English media I can before my Arabic-Only language pledge goes into effect tomorrow morning (this blog and whatever phone calls I manage will be my only English used for the next 8 weeks... so when that English gets really bad, you all know why).  Well, at least that'll further incentivize my staying in contact.