Asilah

We are currently on our first weekend excursion in Asilah. A city that has had a sporadic Spanish influence beginning during the years of the Roman empire when Asilah-ans were exported to Spain and Iberians moved here in their place, and most recently during the Spanish colonization of Asilah in the early 1900s (during which most of the current architecture was designed, leaving the city with a motley group of Spanish and Mediteranean complex's), the city is a beach hot-spot during the summersm though looked more like a beautiful but uninhabited ghost town when we arrived this morning. As I wandered around the medina though, I discovered an incredible hospitality that I have not encountered anywhere else.

Morocco is a country where family life and simple greetings can take forever with complete strangers, out of a respect that is infused within every individual. This afternoon I was alone walking down a desolate narrow alley when I made eye contact with an old woman (maybe 60 years old, although hard to tell given that people age quite differently here). She was wearing a loose maroon jilaba, hood on, revealing only a long, dark thin face, woody fingers, and black leather sandals. When we made eye contact, she smiled a great smile. So, naturally, I said, äsalaam aliekum. Her eyes brightened as she stopped in front of me and replied gently, ¨wa aliekum salaam¨. She reached out for my hand and kissed both of my cheeks. We proceeded to exchange Moroccan ¨how are you¨s back and forth seven times. She asked me how my family was, and I asked about hers. Then, she invited me to her home for f'tor (break fast). I wished that I did not have group obligations. I explained that I could not make it tonight. She pointed to her home to my right and and told me to knock on the door if I changed my mind or ever needed somewhere to sit down and have a cup of mint tea. With that, she kissed me again and disappeared inside.

There are some things that make being a woman here a difficult (esp an American woman) because it can be dangerous to wander alone and I have problems with being couped up. But then there are times like this that I could not be more grateful to be female.


lauren