Do you speak French? No. Do you speak Arabic? No. Welcome to Morocco!
I had just landed in a country I knew little about and quickly discovered that the two main languages are ones in which I have NO experience in. Let the challenge begin. Forutnately, I befriended a guy at the bus station named David Wilson who happens to be from Texas (Austin TX - no cowboy boots, tight jeans, or G.W. Bush there), plus he speaks FRENCH! Lucky Me.
My first city in Morocco was Fes, where David and I flew into. It is the oldest of the imperial cities and considered the symbolic heart of Morocco and what better way to begin than exploring the medina or old city center. Most cities are divided in two parts: the Medina or old Morocco and the Ville Nouvelle the modern, business areas influenced by the French. After the first day our group of two quickly became a group of four: Me, David, Geoff (an Aussie), and Vien (another Aussie) and we quickly began to explore the medina.
If you've ever seen The Mummy, Aladdin, or Casablanca then you know how confusing a medina can easily become. It's a maze of a city with honeycombesque streets which intertwine, twist and turn within one another. The old walls seem to reach the sky and are made of dried clay, mud, and straw. Within the maze are hidden schools, mosques, and homes. Within sight are the numerous souvenir stands which the sellers constantly shout, "Hey, Hello. You want a good deal? For you very cheap." When that doesn't work they try it in Spanish "Hola" and with Vien they try Japenese "Konichiwa". Unfortunately, they are very aggressive in Fes, one of the downfalls of the city, and the constant harrassment gets tiring. Their insistancy makes it impossible to even stop and look because once they think you've taken an interest there's no escape!
So imagine a city with narrow alleyways with tall walls and sharp turns, donkeys and children running around, food carts/stalls mixed within the artisan crafts and you have a medina. Apparently, the one in Fes is the largest in Morocco with over 9,400 different alleys to choose from, a wonderful way to loose yourself and explore! We had a system: whomever was in the front was the leader of the pack, deciding which way the rest of us would follow, if you grew tired of leading you simply slowed down and someone would pass you and take over as leader. It was a great because none of us cared where we went or what we saw. My favorite were the dark, narrow alleys which were as cool as a cave because the sunlight never penetrated them. Perhaps I was being overconfident because I had 3 guys with me but I loved the 'scarier' routes. You had to be careful though because if you took too much time deciding which way to go you appear to be lost (which we ALWAYS were) and then you would be prey to the faux tourist guides, which is a problem in Fes and they have secret police who try to weed out the naughties.
One of the 'attractions' in the Fes medina is the infamous tannery, the leather district. It was easy enough to find, all we had to do was follow our nose. There is a distinct and pungent smell of animal excrement and body parts. Supposedly you should be able to view the tanneries from a leather shop for free, with the hopes that you'll buy a souvenir, but being FOB (fresh off the boat) we didn't know this and spend 55 Dirham (convergence is $1USD for 8Dirham). They handed us some mint leaves, which at first I wasn't sure of, but as soon as you reach the balcony to look over into the tannery the stench is enough to knock some sense into you. Obviously, the mint is for you to place under your nostrils so the smell isn't too overwhelming. We watched as the men laboriously stamped the hides in the dye and tediously picked them up to repeat the process. It is definately a physical job and the health risks are atrocious as these men are mingling with lyme, bird excrement, and cow urine (and yes you are now wearing that leather belt or carrying that purse, yummmy).
