Morocco - call to prayer

I have heard the call to prayer a few other times before we heard it in Morocco.  In Brooklyn when I visited with Bethany, she lived close to a Mosque and we heard it on our way to the subway.

However, for two weeks in Morocco, I grew very fond of this part of the Islam religion.  In Fes, we were staying right next to a Mosque within the Medina.  For me it was comforting to hear the 5am call to prayer both of those mornings.  While touring the Fes Medina with our local guide right inside all of that hustle and bustle was a Mosque, that Muslims took off their shoes and entered for the midday call to prayer.  In Marrakesh, as we watch the Square from one of the Terraces drinking our mint tea, we could hear and then see three different Mosques.  During this time we watched a Muslim climb up to his roof and face Mecca and pray from his rooftop.  On our final day we were in the Medina in Marrakesh and heard the call again.  It was amazing how the Medina got very quiet, during that time, for just 5 minutes.

During one of our home visits with Amina, we asked about prayer.  We had asked her about removing our shoes when we first arrived, and she had said "You only need to have them off when you enter the salon."  Mind you, her Salon, and two separate living areas were all one big room, but the Salon had a carpet. Notice in this picture that we all have our shoes off. 

After we asked about prayer, she actually demonstrated what she does for prayer.  She put on a scarf, took off her shoes, walked to a corner of her Salon and prayed for just a few minutes.  It was very powerful, how comfortable she felt with us within 45 minutes, and that she could perform her prayer in front of us.  We had the conversation about going to the Mosque or praying at home.   Amina said "It is between Allah and me where I pray."  We asked out guide about this and he said that men are supposed to go to the Mosque and that women do not have to. 

Of course we are not Muslim, and this is not one of our five tenants but somehow the practice of pausing 5 times a day and facing Mecca and praying for just a few minutes seems like a very good idea.  What if other religions in the world practiced this?  Are there other practices, like meditation, that are like this?  So among other things, I miss the 5 times a day call to prayer that we heard all over Morocco.

Morocco - mint tea

I like mint tea.  It is my second favorite tea after chamomile tea.  I had read that Moroccans drink a lot of mint tea.  They really do, or at least we were served a lot of mint tea, while we were there.  Our guide Mohammed said several times that it is good for digestion.

Obviously waiters love to show off pouring the tea and here was our first example of this.  Whenever we were served tea, it was usually in a pretty small glass and several places we were able to get it unsweetened, although usually it was sweetened or served with multiple cubes of sugar.

I almost bought some mint leaves to bring back to make tea, since I really liked this tradition. Obviously Moroccans have for thousands of years served and consumed mint tea.  Every house we visited had the tray of glasses ready to be poured.  I don't think we ever finished a meal, without the mint tea.  When we were being shown rugs made in Morocco, the men there walked us through the entire process of making mint tea.  Part of the reason to pour it from a height, it to cool off the tea.  In fact, I watched a man in a restaurant with a single serving of tea and he poured his from a height.  At first I thought that with the heat I would not like to drink the hot tea, but in the two weeks there, I grew to love this wonderfully centering ritual.

Our guide had to be very diplomatic, when he knew we should not be drinking the tea a few places.  One time in the semi-nomadic tent in the dessert, he knew we should not drink it, so he said we had just had some.  The nomads put away their already prepared tray at that point.  Little rituals like this were precious and became more so as they were repeated continually during our time in Morocco.  I just might plant some mint and use fresh mint instead of my tea bags for my evening tea in the future.

Morocco-plastic bags and bottles

Plastic bottles and bags have been a pet peeve of mine for years.  Annually I examine what I can commit to in terms of using less raw materials.  I use canvass bags at the grocery store, pretty much refuse to buy water in a plastic bottle, try to bring my reusable mug or glass with me, etc, etc, etc.

I knew this would be an internal battle for me in Morocco and one which I could never win.  We were handed a 2-liter bottle of water every morning on the bus, were coached to not drink any water and in fact not eat fresh fruit and vegetables except in a rare restaurant within a rare hotel. I get it, and I did not want to get it (the travelers GI bug).

That one I had to accept, salute, comply and move on.

However, the use of plastic bags is not one I had to accept.  I had my little reusable bag tucked in the corner of my backpack and when I bought something I handed it to the vendor.  I got really weird looks from almost all of them!  "Why is this strange American giving me this bag?"  During our drive over the High Atlas Mountains, or along almost every road we were on, blue plastic bags, or remnants of them clung to tree branches and bushes.  I knew I could not go and collect them off the trees and bushes but I was reminded of the first Vermont Clean up day in the late 1960s when I collected trash from one mile along Route 73.  I felt powerful that day and honestly, I think we have less trash with the bottle deposit.

20-30 years ago we did not use so many plastic bags and neither did they in Morocco I suspect.  Plastic does not disintegrate, ever! We recycle plastic bags now and I worry that they still end up in the landfill.

I felt such despair in Morocco as I stared out at each beautiful landscape dotted with shreds of plastic bags.  I suppose they have many bigger life issues than these bags on their flora.  I am a Polyanna and feel like I can do something about these bags and bottles, my little part of refusing plastic bags and bottled water.  Many of our improvements of modern life are not really improvements, they are taking a step backwards, and use of plastic bags and bottles is one of these.  I will continue to fight my own little private battle here in the US and try to ignore the despair I felt when I go through my pictures of that beautiful country.

Morocco-toilets

Our tour company Overseas Adventure Travel (OAT) has an online area where people share information.  One tidbit shared was; whenever you leave the bus and are headed to the WC have three this with you, a 1 dirham coin, toilet paper and purel.

This was such good advice for the countless trips to the WC.  Even if you forgot your coin, or paper or purel, the others would bail you out and lend you one of the three.  

I was a bit nervous about the toilets and I did not need to be.  I only once had to use a squatting one and the ones I used were "pretty" clean.  It was just not an issue for me.

On my return to the U.S. I actually miss tipping the attendant.  Oh sure, I could tip them and will when there is one but in Morocco, even if the attendant were not there, a dish was, or our group looked for a dish.  It became so expected and routine for all of us.

Two clever entrepreneurs, removed our 1 dirham coins immediately as we placed them in the dish, and left a 10 dirham coin in the dish, hoping we would see just the 10 and think we should leave another 10 dirham for them.

Bottom line is we should tip well the workers who clean our johns and keep our WCs supplied with paper and soap, no matter what country we are in and no matter whether there is a dish there or not.  Just my opinion.

Online photo-a-day class

I signed up for an online class run by a friend.  She sends out a one word prompt for each day and all of the members post their photo in a closed Facebook group.  It has been just over a week since this started and I am really enjoying it so far.

I find myself looking at the world in a different way.  Before this, I often saw an image that would make a great quilt.  Now I see things through the prompts.  "That would make a great picture for yesterday's GOLDEN prompt."

The first day, I tried to get into a routine and take a morning meditative walk, looking for inspiration for the daily prompt.  That routine lasted one day.  I should know better than to try to introduce a rigorous routine into my day.  My myers-briggs personality is much more go with the flow.  What has worked really well is to have the prompt in my mind for the day.

With GOLDEN, I was shopping with a friend and took a ton of pictures of yellowy golden items.  They would have been OK, but on a walk with Rod and Bethany this man got off the bus and put his umbrella up.  That was GOLDEN.  Rod and Bethany thought I was crazy, whipping out my iPhone to take a picture of what.  What is Mom up to now?

Rod once told me that he likes to learn one new thing a year and I have adopted that as well.  This year I am going to learn from this class and it will increase my spirituality as well.  The creation of my theology is sparked by connections between myself and others, and this is already happening within our Facebook group.  Stay tuned for more blog posts as this class continues.