Fez To Fez

FACE TO FACE WITH FEZ

The lifeblood of the old city of Fez is the medina, the marketplace. It consists of over 9000 streets divided into over 300 districts each with a mosque, a school and a fountain. The narrow streets are lined with shops and craftspeople making their wares. These areas are separated into souks representing individual artisanal groups – the leather souk, the copper souk, the dyeing souk, etc. The medina is overcrowded with groups of tourists and inhabited by ordinary people whose lives are then adjusted by the need to cater to the crowds of bargain hungry foreigners. The competition is fierce and the shopkeepers savvy.

The first day in Fez was Friday, a weekend in the medina and the streets were far less crowded as many of the shops were closed. We took this time to visit the mellah, or Jewish district, which is only a shadow of its former glory. The synagogue is under a slow restoration after years of dilapidation.

The Synagogue in the Fez Mellah

Colorful Water Carrier

We made our way through some delightful gardens where we came across some musicians at an impromptu music festival. Wonderful vocal harmonies abounded over violin, lute, hand drums, percussive clapping and occasional horns.

On our second day we joined a group of three American faculty from the Semester at Sea program for a tour with a local guide. We visited the medersa, the wood museum, the tanneries, and carpet, embroidery, and leather shops. Our gentle guide was the first female official guide in Fez having started 24 years ago. We also enjoyed a lovely lunch together. Dinner that night at the riad was spectacular.

El-Attarine Medersa

 

The Tanneries

Today, the physical and emotional travails of relentless travel finally caught up with me. I am feeling overwhelmed from my forlorn attempts to deal with the demands and responsibilities of being in a strange country, taking care of all the details, the language, the images, the photos, the blog, the incessant requests from people trying to sell something, the driving on crazy roads, getting lost daily, wrong directions, changing money, staying safe, remembering where I put things, being nice to people, trying to remain polite, being culturally competent and not offending people when taking photographs, sidestepping hoards of tourists, processing images and interpersonal interactions,trying to avoid onrushing carts of junk being aimed at me by angry workmen in narrow alleyways.

I am missing the quietude of solitude. So today I am trying to regain a balance and I am failing miserably.