january 2, 2008  Day one – Julie  SafraBD@aol.com
WELCOME TO CASABLANCA,MOROCCO

Happy Birthday to me! It is so amazing that I am in Morocco for my birthday. The passport control officer even wished me happy birthday when I came in yesterday! Didn’t sleep much – anxiety or excitement – not sure which. Visited the Hassan II Mosque – took 7,000 workers, rotating twice a day, for 7 years – wow. All that work was done by hand. 
City Hall was also amazing although my batteries died and I don’t have any pictures. 
Lesson learned – charge your batteries every day. 
I have loved all the food and especially like the mint tea and the orange juice. Before dinner I had a wonderful surprise – gifts, and cake after dinner – completely unexpected! 
This was one of the best birthday’s I’ve had, and it was really great sharing it with everyone on the tour.

January 5, 2008--Day four Barbara Fleming barbaraf@rockisland.com

Heard morning call to prayer loudly this morning.   As we took a tour 
of Old Fes from our hotel in New Fes, Haji explained how to be in the 
souk.   "Ella"  is "NO' AND "BELAC" , means "get out of 
the way". Usually donkeys coming up the narrow 
pathwaysbetween the buildings. 
Meli led a discussion about Judaism.   
The Sephardic Jews were kicked out 
of Spain in 1492 and welcomed in Morocco.   
They were salt merchants and the word for salt is "Mela" so the 
jewish quarters are called "Melas".  
We passed a large vetinary hospital which is sponsored by an American woman for the care of all of the donkeys in Fes.
 We drove through the Jewish center with it's Spanish 
architecture--the Andulician neighborhoods established in the 15th century.   
We then entered the Fes Medina and market.   The buildings are very old and
 some of the walls appear to be leaning and are being reinforced.  
The right of way is given to the donkeys and you could hear "belac" often 
and had to dip into a doorway to avoid being bumped by a donkey.  We were all anticipating this experience 
and were all clutching our hand bags if we had them  Many pictures of 

donkeys were taken.   We went into a brass and copper and silver engraving shop.   
The owner had engraved the palace doors when he was young.  We then went on to the leather 
cooperative where we viewed young men
 dying leather by walking on the hides in the big dye vats. 

There were many leather goods to buy.   We then went to a weaving cooperative 
where several of us purchased scarves, table cloths, and 

bedspreads.   The owner wrapped the scarves around our heads and we had our 
pictures taken.  Our lunch was at the souk in a beautiful 

room full of lovely mosaics, stained glass windows and carved plaster and wood.  
This was a delicious typical Moroccan lamb   meal.We the drove on to  
a fabulous ceramic dish and tile company--everything made by had and fired in an 
old kiln in which olive seeds are burned to bring it to temperature.   
The smoke from the kilns is black from the oil in the seeds.  Many of us bought 
dishes (they do take Visa, but these purchases will be heavy in our bags 
on the return flight).  We then hopped (or limped) onto the bus and went back to 
the hotel full of sights, smells and purchases. Our dinner was pasta 
at the hotel (for a change) and then to bed because tomorrow starts early again!

Barbara Fleming

January 6, 2008--Day five
ATLAS APES, ZIZ VALLEY, MOUNTAIN RIDE

January 7, 2008--Day six Lola lhdshaw@rockisland.com

ERFOUD SOUK AND SAHARA  TENT VISIT WITH A BERBER FAMILY AND GOATS
After  a nice breakfast at the hotel we were off to the Souk 
to buy food for our visit to the Bedouin family.  
A note about the trip to thebreakfast room, 
however, as this 
hotel has the greatest collection of well fed 
cats!  Five of them were all curled up in one chair.
Our job at the
 Souk as divided up with each person buying
 one thing.  Julie and I had the meat detail and 
watched in wonder
 as the cute youngbutcher weiled his cleaver 
with remarkable skill.  After our food buys we wantered about with 
everyopne looking for something different, 
and some of us just looking.  Julie ran into a treasure trove of dancing
 things and did well with her purchases.  
Zora found an older piece of jewelry and some of us were glad to find a bathroom.

We then climbed into 3 range Rovers and headed out of town.  Five of us (including Meli) rode with Ahmed 
who had excellent English, is a Berber and married to a Scottish woman.  He also gave Meli quite an update on 
what Haji had said to the Bedouin family the last time they did the trip.  Very interesting.

Our first stop was at an adobe/stucco type house that was sporting a Solar panel!  It gives them enough 
power to run lights,TV and the ability to re-charge their cell phone!  We then traveled a little further to the 
fossil beds where an eager group of young men were waiting to show us their finds.  Everyone supported 
the local economy.  Then, we were off to visit the Bedouin family 
who have a stucco/adobe house but also the

typical black goat hair tent.  We met with the women of the family: A mother, her two daughters and 
a daughter in law. The tent was very clean and well kept grounds surrounded the area.  They showed 
us theirhandwork and were very good about answering 
questions we posed to them.  It wasfascinating to me to watch their diction as when they speak they 
form the sounds behind their teeth with 
their lips barely moving. A more graceful, confident group of women would be hard to find.

We then drove over desert road, which in this area turns out to be more gravel and dirt than sand at this point. 
 As we got closer to the

 Hotel, the beautiful rose colored dunes began to appear--tall and sharply .Crested they stood out clearly 
against the blue sky. 
 Hotel Timbuktoo was awelcome sight.The best shopping buy of the day (outside of the food) was at the black tent 
where the younger daughter 
had her lovely little dolls to sell. 

Several of the group had brought her fabric to use for future dolls.

Lola

January 8, 2008 Day seven Carole Davis  bbe@rockisland.com
SAHARA TOUAREG HOUSE EXPERIENCE AND CAMEL RIDE

Day seven in the Sahara was a day of contrasts.  It was a day of mystery, magic and men in blue. 
It was a day of camels, coughing and caravans.  It was a day of sun, sand and sales pressure.
It was a day like any other and a day like no other - fascinating, fun and full.
Our visit to the Touaregs was captivating.
My infirm brain (some respiratory bug) muddled the facts.  In a perfect world the statements
below would be called literary license.  But regardless of their veracity, the essence, the tidbits,
remained and left us with a feeling of fascination for the Touareg culture.

Touareg = house     Touareg = many
Touaregs are the traders of the Sahara.
Touaregs are the nobles of the Berbers.
Touaregs are pastoral nomads.
Touaregs founded the city of Timbuktu.
Touaregs have their own Tamasheq language.
Touaregs are people who explore the world without knowing their destiny.
Touareg men cover their mouths to keep the evil spirits from entering.
Touaregs are the blue men.  Indigo pigment protects skin from sun.
Touaregs are matriarchal/matrilineal.  The women as poets were responsible for passing along the traditions
and culture.
Touaregs wash their hearts each night, as tomorrow will be another day.
Touaregs are the aristocrat Riders of the Desert.
Touareg blue men are Guides of Darkness.

Touareg symbolism and culture are stunningly expressed in their weavings and in their jewelry.  Women wear the key of the veil to announce their availability and to assert that no one, even the wind, can open their will without their permission.  Blue is fresh and cooling in heat.  The figures in their weavings symbolize kasbahs, rivers, palms, tents, valleys, sky, water, wind.  Swords symbolize marriage and protection.  The hand symbolizes equilibrium, life and protection of space.  Crosses signify the four cardinal points and are often given by parents to their sons at the rite of passage of leaving home, inspiring adventure and independence, but forever a reminder of home.
Abdul, our speaker, was truly a poet.  He inspired us with words.  "The wind shall make us pure."  "The Sahara and we - we are one".  "Our spirits, not our possessions, are the essence of life."  However, the expression of this beautiful life philosophy belied the gouging prices, the hard bargaining and the un-relenting game playing that characterized the sales pitch that followed.  We truly were like lambs well tenderized by poetry for their subsequent sales slaughter.  Despite this, I am certain that the rug and jewelry buyers in the group are well satisfied with their purchases and are pleased to have a tangible memory of this incredible experience.We digested our morning along with eggplant/pepper salad and chicken/lemon tagine at the Hotel Kasbah Asmaa.  Then after a stop at the drug store to stock up on supplies (thank God for four nurses on the trip!!), we headed for our camel adventure.This was the first camel ride for many of us.  Some of us had gone also the night before.  Some of us had tried it years ago.   And some decided it was not their thing.  But most of us went at least one of the times and loved the experience.    One camel was named Jimmy Hendrix.  Hmm - where did that come from????  Getting up and down was truly a seismic occurrence. The "saddle horn" was a steel bar to grip.  Some of the saddles were like well loved sofas that rocked us along the way.  Other saddles were like bony intrusions that insinuated themselves into our private areas.  And the lack of stirrups made stability an iffy prospect.  Despite any discomfort, oh, how magnificent the ride!  The sky was soooo BIG with popcorn clouds dotting the endless blue.  The expanse and the view of the horizon and the dune-top peek of Algeria were exhilarating.  The camels and the Touareg boys who led them were full of personality.  And the toffee colored glow of the sand left many of us with the opinion that this Sahara was one of the best parts of the whole Moroccan experience. 
Shukran Meli.  Alhamdulillah. 
Carole Davis