This morning I hung out on the roof with Anass, Amine, and Sam in the mini blow-up pool on the roof, drinking Poms. Its delicious. We then left and went to Ifrane for the day. It’s a little town that looks very European. On the way to Ifrane we stopped at a castle built by a very rich man from the United Arab Emerits (a country in the middle east). It was beautiful. The entire surrounding land was decorated with rose bushes in full bloom. We stopped inside a large tent encircled internally with couches and pillows. The castle and the land overlooked the surrounding mountains and valleys, such beautiful views to behold. I can not even describe their beauty.
As we were driving to Ifrane, we road through the countryside passing through mountains and overlooking valleys. It was seriously beautiful. Staring out the window of the car seeing men herding sheep, while listening to the Koran being sung, playing on the cd player...It was just so surreal. I felt pulled back into biblical times, yet I was in a vehicle instead of riding on a donkey…but don’t worry there are people riding donkeys to work too.
Once in Ifrane, we went out to eat at a very westernized restaurant. We walked around, seeing European style homes and gardens, with well tended, green grass. Sam and I spoke French a lot which was really cool. I am beginning to feel so much more fluent. When you think about what to say, it is a struggle but the more I hear it around me and just respond, the more words are just coming out randomly and I am communicating in another language. Sometimes I go to ask something and I just ask in French and it feels as normal as ever.
Later, we hung out around the house and went onto the roof, at night. Sam and I sat on the roof wrapped in a huge blanket-like rug and talked about the beauty of culture. We talked about how culture is similar to the evolution of a landscape because it grows and is cultivated, yet changes based on certain variables. It evolves and multiple things impact it. Olive trees have been growing here for thousands of years, sheep herders have been a part of this land as well. This culture has grown from a long time ago. And today it rests the same, yet changed by a myriad of things. It began with herding sheep and the Koran, and even today involves the two, but in a whole new reality. We see that there is modernity and wealth, yet we still see the patterns of Morocco from each time period being woven into this culture.
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