What a culturally-enriching day it was today in Fez, the city known as the “Venice of Morocco” and the “Athens of Africa.” Islam does not call us to focus on physical beauty but, instead, on the beauty inside and that was apparent here where the streets were lined by buildings, plain on the outside but when we looked inside, beautiful.
For the morning, the seventeen Moore students were divided into two groups. One group went to the Clock Café Cooking School for a class with Abdul while the other took a tour of the Fez medina with Hakim, which he pointed out means wise man in English.
Those who went to Clock learned how to make both chicken and vegetarian tagine as well as pastries made with coconut and orange peel. After several hours that included snapping peas, crying while cutting onions and mixing up pastries it was time to cook tagine on top the stove and bake cookies in the oven. What evolved were scrumptious dishes that included a “combination of 45 spices,” Photography & Digital Arts major Khanna Belfield reported. She was so amazed by this mélange that she captured a photo of a bowl of them to share with nonbelievers when she returned home.
“It was a lot of fun,” said Fashion Design major Karyn Kittrel. “I enjoy cooking and I like learning how to cook dishes from different cultures so I really learned from the experience. I plan to make these dishes for my family.” What better way to determine how she and her colleagues did than to eat their creations themselves and so they did. Lunch was served.
“Fez is spiritually cultural,” Hakim told us as we began our tour. Founded in 808 it is now the second largest city in Morocco with a total of 1.8 million inhabitants, approximately 400,000 of whom live in the medina with its winding 9600 streets and the 15 kilometer wall surrounding it. Without Hakim as our guide we would surely get lost in its maze. The first Jewish community in Morocco was established here centuries ago and Morocco today is one of tolerance with Jews, Muslims and Christians living in harmony.
After crossing through the famous blue arch into Fez’s medina, our tour took us by many sites, more than I can cover here. We were able to look into, but not enter, several mosques one of which was located in the Medersa Bou Inania, built between 1351 and 1357 by the Merenid sultan of Bou Inania. A large open plaza was surrounded on two sides by roofed mosques, one for men and one for women. When I asked Fashion Design major Aliya Pooser what she thought of the Medersa she said: “It’s interesting. For me, it represents male patriarchy where women are hidden creatures. Where women pray behind doors and men pray in the open where there are no doors.”
Another interesting bit we learned about the Medersa’s architecture was that in the 14th century, egg whites were mixed with plaster to make the color white for the ornately carved wall coverings.
We looked in on a number of ornate mosques; stopped in to hear children sing “Frére Jacques” for us at a daycare; made wishes at a tiled covered wall that included a slot for coins – after inserting one, students laid there palms over the opening and made a wish; visited the unbelievably huge and smelly Chaouwara Tanneries where the hides are treated with pigeon poop; and probably the biggest highlight, visiting the Old Weavers atelier, which has been in business since the 14th century. While there the students, to their delight, had their heads wrapped with scarfs into turbans and purchased lots of scarfs made from wool, cotton or cactus silk.
The day continued in the late afternoon with a visit to The Center of Vocational Training in Handicrafts where we were greeted by the Director of Education Ahmed Zahouane. Funded by the King Mohammed V Foundation, the Center provides free training for students in 24 practices preparing them for careers ranging from sewing to jewelry-making and bookbinding to making musical instruments. We stopped in several classrooms to meet professors and observe the students working. The finale of our time at the Center was a presentation on how to make an oud by Maitre Luthier, who is a maker of ouds, professor and performer.
“I noticed that they’re different sizes. Does that affect the sound of the oud?” asked Natalie. Our guide Rabab translated for Luthier who said: “Sizes are made based on the person. For example, it could be for a woman or a man with a big belly, and it does not affect the sound.”
Following the presentation we were treated to a short performance. “Listening to him play gave me goosebumps. It was like meditation, I can feel it,” said Drashti, reminding us that Fez is a spiritually cultural place as Hakim told us earlier in the day.
Then we went to MacDonald’s for dinner.
