Morocco
Good morning all. Hope this finds you well, and if you're in this part of the world; enjoying the sunshine. My skin has got that lovely mixed blessing of loads of Vitamin D, and loads of scratches from gardening; I'm crocheting outdoors again, with cotton more than wool, back on the antihistamines, and remembering times with lovely weather and birdsong from every tree at my friend Sam's place in Ghazoua, a small town near Essaouira. She's moved back to London now, but we spent the afternoon in a garden together yesterday; very lovely, if not quite the same in the middle of London as it was sunning ourselves on her rooftop in the clean and quiet air of rural Morocco.
This is the final part of my journey, and planning this is a bit different from the others. First of all, I'm not going to be contacting the yarn shops in advance as I will be shopping in the souks. Planning the route and places is also a bit more dependent on ease of transport options, as it's quite a long distance to travel in just a week, and I won't be camping either; I'm visiting larger towns and cities, and it also seems wrong somehow to go to campsites that local people wouldn't use as it's not so much of a leisure activity there, and I would rather pay for locally owned accommodation. It's impossible to ignore the economic reality that most people are poorer here than in other places along the route. Tourists here are expected to spend money, which is why shopping in the souks can feel intimidating with all the hustle, but the reality is that you are going to a market rather than a tourist attraction, and why go to a market if you don't want to buy things? It can feel as if people talk to you as if you were a wallet on legs, but that is the result of the current economic inequality.
Morocco seems much further from Britain or Ireland than it actually is. We are used to seeing maps for weather and the like cut off at the Strait of Gibraltar; we hear how different it is, but not much about the connections, yet it is very connected. Moroccan Arabic and the Berber languages are very commonly spoken in France, in Belgium, in the Netherlands and in London, and as I've talked about before, the music and rhythms bear very strong similarities with traditional Irish music. Arabic and French have become the working languages of the country, both through different periods of colonialism, but the Berber languages remain here, more than in the rest of North Africa, and although seen as an Arab country, cultural exchange in Morocco is more with places further south along the West African Atlantic coast than with other Arab countries. There has been a resurgence in how people see the importance of the Berber languages; for a long time they were primarily used orally, but now it is very common to see signage in the neo-Tifinagh script- based on the ancient writing system used across North West Africa and the Canary Islands, and it is increasingly less seen as inferior to Arabic as it has been in the past.
Although Morocco was colonised by Arabic and French speaking powers, much of the cultural links I am looking at along this journey came about through exploration the other way round; sailors and traders from North Africa travelling North along the Atlantic coast; the British Isles, especially Cornwall and its tin came to be known in the Mediterranean world first of all through their journeys, and it is lost in the midst of time how they influenced further north. It would appear that the quintessentially English tradition of Morris dancing may have its roots in Morocco, and it is unclear whether knitting came to the British Isles from the north east in Scandinavia, the south east in mainland Europe or the south west in Iberia and North Africa; or from all three sources. Certainly such long-standing trade routes along the Atlantic coast would have involved much human exchange, sharing of stories, skills and loves. Clearly not all of these exchanges would have been positive; pirates have operated whenever they could from every port along this coast, robbing, killing and capturing people they encountered, but also smuggling goods into every port which undoubtedly brought much delight to the inhabitants.
I'll arrive on the ferry from Tarifa on 28th October. The first thing I intend to do is to eat a tangerine in Tangier (sorry, little things please little minds, and citrus fruits are nice after all). From there, I'll go by bus to Chefchaouen. For transport reasons, I have to deviate from the coast a bit here, and I chose Chefchaouen as although not on the coast, on a clear day, you can see the ocean, and the whole town is painted pale blue...and then it's a five hour bus journey to the capital of Rabat, which has a dedicated souk for wool; the Souk al-Ghazal. Next comes the only part of my whole journey by rail; from Rabat to Casablanca, and from Casablanca to Marrakech, changing onto the bus to Essaouira. I have bought wool here before, so it is one souk I won't get lost in. Famous last words. And then the final stop, a two hour bus ride from Essaouira to Agadir. I finish the journey and return home on a new moon on the 6th November; two whole moon cycles after I begin.
Monday 29th October: Tangier
Tuesday 30th: Chefchaouen
Weds 31st: Rabat
Thursday 1st November: Casablanca
Saturday 3rd: Essaouira
Sunday 4th: Agadir
Wishing you love and light as always, Billy xxx
This is the final part of my journey, and planning this is a bit different from the others. First of all, I'm not going to be contacting the yarn shops in advance as I will be shopping in the souks. Planning the route and places is also a bit more dependent on ease of transport options, as it's quite a long distance to travel in just a week, and I won't be camping either; I'm visiting larger towns and cities, and it also seems wrong somehow to go to campsites that local people wouldn't use as it's not so much of a leisure activity there, and I would rather pay for locally owned accommodation. It's impossible to ignore the economic reality that most people are poorer here than in other places along the route. Tourists here are expected to spend money, which is why shopping in the souks can feel intimidating with all the hustle, but the reality is that you are going to a market rather than a tourist attraction, and why go to a market if you don't want to buy things? It can feel as if people talk to you as if you were a wallet on legs, but that is the result of the current economic inequality.
Morocco seems much further from Britain or Ireland than it actually is. We are used to seeing maps for weather and the like cut off at the Strait of Gibraltar; we hear how different it is, but not much about the connections, yet it is very connected. Moroccan Arabic and the Berber languages are very commonly spoken in France, in Belgium, in the Netherlands and in London, and as I've talked about before, the music and rhythms bear very strong similarities with traditional Irish music. Arabic and French have become the working languages of the country, both through different periods of colonialism, but the Berber languages remain here, more than in the rest of North Africa, and although seen as an Arab country, cultural exchange in Morocco is more with places further south along the West African Atlantic coast than with other Arab countries. There has been a resurgence in how people see the importance of the Berber languages; for a long time they were primarily used orally, but now it is very common to see signage in the neo-Tifinagh script- based on the ancient writing system used across North West Africa and the Canary Islands, and it is increasingly less seen as inferior to Arabic as it has been in the past.
Although Morocco was colonised by Arabic and French speaking powers, much of the cultural links I am looking at along this journey came about through exploration the other way round; sailors and traders from North Africa travelling North along the Atlantic coast; the British Isles, especially Cornwall and its tin came to be known in the Mediterranean world first of all through their journeys, and it is lost in the midst of time how they influenced further north. It would appear that the quintessentially English tradition of Morris dancing may have its roots in Morocco, and it is unclear whether knitting came to the British Isles from the north east in Scandinavia, the south east in mainland Europe or the south west in Iberia and North Africa; or from all three sources. Certainly such long-standing trade routes along the Atlantic coast would have involved much human exchange, sharing of stories, skills and loves. Clearly not all of these exchanges would have been positive; pirates have operated whenever they could from every port along this coast, robbing, killing and capturing people they encountered, but also smuggling goods into every port which undoubtedly brought much delight to the inhabitants.
I'll arrive on the ferry from Tarifa on 28th October. The first thing I intend to do is to eat a tangerine in Tangier (sorry, little things please little minds, and citrus fruits are nice after all). From there, I'll go by bus to Chefchaouen. For transport reasons, I have to deviate from the coast a bit here, and I chose Chefchaouen as although not on the coast, on a clear day, you can see the ocean, and the whole town is painted pale blue...and then it's a five hour bus journey to the capital of Rabat, which has a dedicated souk for wool; the Souk al-Ghazal. Next comes the only part of my whole journey by rail; from Rabat to Casablanca, and from Casablanca to Marrakech, changing onto the bus to Essaouira. I have bought wool here before, so it is one souk I won't get lost in. Famous last words. And then the final stop, a two hour bus ride from Essaouira to Agadir. I finish the journey and return home on a new moon on the 6th November; two whole moon cycles after I begin.
Monday 29th October: Tangier
Tuesday 30th: Chefchaouen
Weds 31st: Rabat
Thursday 1st November: Casablanca
Saturday 3rd: Essaouira
Sunday 4th: Agadir
Wishing you love and light as always, Billy xxx
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