Amy's European Adventures

Amazing Morocco

leoleoleo8 — Sun, 28 Oct 2012 06:55:00 GMT

I was worried about traveling to Morocco by myself. Its a place I didn't know much about even after reading Frommer's and googling about Marrakesh. I had so many questions about the country, the people, their religion, how I would "fit in" -- so many questions.

Morocco is a very different place in my eyes. It still clings to our old world beginnings while trying to become "modernized". The women of Morocco follow tradition scarving their heads and dressing moderately while the Westerners push the envelope with our style, attitudes and views. Its an interesting dichotemy to watch with your own eyes while sitting at a cafe drinking Moroccan Whiskey.

Maybe its me but I feel with red hair and green eyes I look like an alien but I take comfort in finding other "aliens" along the way -- who I think, deep down, feel a little uncomfortable like me. But let me be clear, its not the Moroccon people that make me feel uncomfortable. Its my inexperience in their world that makes me uncomfortable.

Moroccans are kind, welcoming, helpful, accommodating (perhaps to a fault) and genuine. Sure there are the Moroccans in the square who will try to get you to pay them 200 dirham (approximately $25 USD) to get your picture taken with snakes or offer you directions or an escort for a price but when you get the chance to sit down and talk to a native Moroccan you get a flavor of what they are really all about -- and all the walls of indifference melt away.

I was lucky enough to spend time with a 22 year old female Moroccan named Amal. She works in the Riad I stayed in for three days and she is kind, sweet, helpful and open. I talked with her about her life, Moroccan history, being a female Moroccan, what she wants out of life, what she thinks of Americans, etc. She didn't hold back -- which I loved because for some reason I thought she would be timid, shy and reserved. She was collected and proper but had a hint of mischief below her black and gray scarf that made me laugh. She is a true Moroccan beauty on the outside and inside with dark eyes, creamy skin and ambitious dreams in her heart.

I happened to be in Morocco during one of two largest celebrations for Muslims, a very important holiday called Eid Al-Adha which translates to "Festival of Sacrifice" and commemorates Prophet Abraham's willingness to obey God when he envisioned that he was to sacrifice his son. Muslims observe this day by slaughtering an animal – usually a sheep, goat or cow – according to humane Islamic guidelines (zabiha), and then offering much of its meat in charity.

I witnessed the souks where sheep were in abundance being sold for the festival. Sheep in the back seats of cars, sheep tied to the roof of vans, sheep even carried by their new owners on their mopeds driving down the Moroccan highways all hurrying to get their sacrifice to their homes in order to celebrate with their families. It was unnerving to see this as a Westerner but being respectful and tolerant of the Moroccans is the least I can do when they are so respectful and tolerant of us.

Watching all the preparation and sheep sales make me very curious to learn more about "the process", the "how" of the actual sacrifice so I asked Amal many questions about the details of what happens behind closed Moroccan doors on this important and special day.

Amal told me that a sheep typically can cost a family up to 5000 dirhams, which is about 500 UK pounds, 550 Euros or approximatley $750 USD. That's a lot of money for many families no matter where they live but it is very important to honor the prophet Abraham and families will save and sacrifice many things to buy a proper sheep for slaughter.

On the day of the feast they pray to Allah at 9am, then gather in their homes where the sacrifice occurs. I was curious to know where the slaughter of the sheep occurred. In the bath tub, the kitchen, the yard? I was curious to comprehend how the blood of the animal could be contained in such a small space of the Moroccan home. She told me that many Moroccan homes are similar to the layout of a Riad. There is a central courtyard which many times, multiple families share while each of their "homes" is a section of the entire building. This helped me to understand that as I stayed in my Riad as a vacationer, many Moroccan families would potentially live and share in a home similar to the layout of a Riad with multiple rooms, wings, etc for extended family like parents, siblings, grandparents, in-laws, etc.

They gather after the 9am prayer to Allah and begin the sacrifice around 10am. They gather in the courtyard of their homes and with the sheep standing on its four legs take a razor sharp knife and slit the throat of the animal thus allowing the blood to flow out of its neck onto the floor of the courtyard. The courtyards of the homes have tiles and drains and the blood covers the ground and finds its way to the drain as you would expect. The head is then fully severed along with the legs of the sheep. The head and the legs are then taken outside and burned. The head is cooked enough to burn off all the sheep hair and it is "scraped" to ensure all hair is removed before taken back into the home to be eaten. The legs are burned until no longer existent and are not consumed. They are considered to be too dirty for human consumption. Witnessing the severed heads of sheep being carried out into the Medina and burned was something I will never forget - both the sight and the unique smell.

The sheep is then skinned and the skins are sometimes hung outside to dry or are set aside for donation later to local merchants who will collect them by wagons and then further deconstruct them to separate sheep skins and fur which will then be cleaned, dyed, etc and turned into beautiful bags, clothes and rugs to be sold in the Medina.

The sheep is then butchered with half being saved for the family to enjoy and feast and the other half being donated to the poor in the community. They prepare many parts of the sheep on that day along with many side dishes similar to the American Thanksgiving holiday. They don't "graze" as the Americans do on that day, but eat one large meal with their families and give thanks to Allah and his prophet.

The Medina is very quiet on this day as it usually is busting with activity, noise, motorcycle exhaust fumes, souks and people. It seems almost unnatural to have the streets so empty but I was fortunate to understand and fully appreciate just how important this holiday is to the Muslim Moroccans.

Understanding and respecting the Moroccan tradition is an important part of your visit to this country. Finding a person like Amal to help you better understand their culture and views will add to your experience and increase your awareness to this important and historic part of the world. Do yourself a favor and try to plan a trip to this unique country. Put your plans together and trust that your visit will open your mind and your eyes to the beauty of the Muslim culture -- and open your heart in a way that will surprise and change you forever.

Photos: Porto, Portugal

leoleoleo8 — Tue, 16 Oct 2012 04:11:00 GMT

Beautiful Porto!

It's About Time

leoleoleo8 — Tue, 16 Oct 2012 02:51:00 GMT

It's about time I finally put aside the time to get this journal blog started. It was originally my intent to get this up and running before I left the states but for a number of reasons it took me six weeks to finally make it happen.

Following me and my thoughts should come with a warning. I'm not sure what I am going to say, what I will share with you or what you might think of me after you read my thoughts but it is a way to be open, honest and forthcoming about my views on life and all that it entails. In my six weeks abroad I have seen many interesting things...of which I have been capturing in my memory, on film or in an old-fashioned journal a dear friend gave me before I left. I've also had time to self-reflect and pay attention to people and my surroundings, all of which are confirming why I took this trip in the first place.

Complications in our life lead us to roads we never thought possible to travel. Many of you have been so kind, thoughtful and generous in your encouragement; others have lent an open ear while others have just peeked in on me in the background. You all are appreciated and important to me but it is my hope that in learning more about me that I will have the opportunity to learn more about you. Let me know either privately or publicly what you think, how you feel, how you react to what I write. I love technology and the internet and all that we can do with it but I still crave the one-to-one interaction of other human beings so please, let me hear from you.

And to those who I may write about, please don't be upset. This is my journey and my truth and everything I do I do with a kind heart to the best of my abilities.

Come and follow me .....and join the journey with me.

With love and friendship,

Amy

Feathers, feathers everywhere

leoleoleo8 — Tue, 16 Oct 2012 02:17:00 GMT

Those who know me know how much my dog Leo was the love of my life.

Finding him in North Carolina 15 years ago was one of the most exciting things that every happened to me. He was a special dog and he was the center of my universe until January 2012 when I had to make the decision to put him down. Leo just couldn't get around anymore on his back legs. He would drag himself across the room with his back legs behind him just to greet me when I came in the house. He got me through two extremely painful times in my life and he never let me down.

Some people understand the love you can have for a dog while others just think "its a dog" -- and it's ok which ever type of person you are -- but just know this -- there are some of us humans that have an unexplained connection to dogs. We are a unique bunch and we stick together when our animals get hurt, are suffering or are lost.

In alot of ways, putting Leo down was one of the greatest experiences of my life. We did it on our terms, spending his last day at the beach watching the birds fly, laying under his favorite palm tree in the front yard, eating steak and Frosty Paws as his last meal, and being able to hold him in my arms, in the warm sunlight in our home while Dr. Jen put him down. Holding him for his last breath on Earth was such an elegant and peaceful experience that I didn't expect. He assured me in those last breaths that I was doing the right thing for him and I will cherish that memory as long as I live.

I share this with you because Leo loved feathers. He would bark and play with them on the beach, in our yard, anywhere he found a feather he could pick it up, throw it in the air and bark at it -- it was one of his favorite "toys". I would watch him in wonder and think how happy a simple feather could make him, even with all the expensive toys and gadgets I had bought him over the years. Just a simple feather was all it took to make him happy.

When Leo died I broke down and luckily my parents were renting their winter condo in my beach community. I stayed in their guest room for a few days just crying, sleeping and doing everything I could to move forward. I had just lost the love of my life. With time it got better but I think of him everyday. And he is still with me because of the feathers.

You see, since Leo passed I find feathers everywhere I go. One day I was working in my dining room, sitting at the table and out of nowhere a small feather landed beside my hand. I gasped and felt a chill come across my body and knew it was from Leo. He was telling me it was all going to be ok and to keep moving forward. I saved the feather and put it in the corner of one of his picture frames. It was the first of many feathers he would leave me.

Driving in my car with the window open, and in comes a feather; walking down the street to Starbucks and at my feet - a feather; sitting on my back patio at sunset and down comes a feather to rest on my foot; even as I travel across Europe I find the feathers. Just the other day I went outside on my balcony to look at the sunset and found a feather.

If you haven't read the book "Heaven is for Real" by a 5 year old child and his parents, go out and find a copy and read it. Its an amazing story about this young boy's experience in going to heaven during an illness/accident and it's amazing to read and have your heart well up with hope, joy, inspiration and love. It also tells us that there are dogs in heaven, waiting for us to be reunited with us. I am crying even now as I type this to you because as much as I love living on this beautiful Earth I would be lying to you if I told you I could wait to get to Heaven to see Leo again.

The thought of seeing, holding and kissing my Leo is something that fills my heart with joy and hope. I can't wait to see him running and playing with his feathers in heaven -- but until then I keep moving forward and remembering the life lessons he taught me along the way.

He tought me to find joy in the simple things. They are all around us and don't cost us anything. Find love in the memories you are creating today with your friends, family, sons, daughters and animals in your life. Cherish each day as if it is your last because we never really know when our last day will be here.

I wish our dogs didn't have to leave us so soon with an average life span of 10-15 years but really they don't take as long to earn their "wings".

Love your dog and those you cherish the most in this world as they deserve to be loved -- and enjoy the feathers they bring you everyday.

With love,

Amy

Photos: This is Amy

leoleoleo8 — Tue, 16 Oct 2012 01:41:00 GMT

Photos of Amy

Photos: Granada, Spain

leoleoleo8 — Tue, 25 Sep 2012 04:36:00 GMT