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A Voyage through the South of Morocco

Magical Morocco

Annette
2005-08-29 23:05:06

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Hardly a sound is heard at this time of day. This is a residential section, the kind you can find in any Moroccan town. It has been around for hundreds of years. Here, I feel a bit like being in a time warp. I am too far from the modern traffic of the main road to be able to put a year or timeframe on this scene. If it weren't for the motorbike, the date could be any time between the Middle Ages and the year 2000. That's what I like: this sense of timelessness as well as continuity.

Of course, it is the pull of the unknown for me, the unexplored that has such fascination here in Morocco. I wonder what life is like for the average family behind those doors, behind the forbidding walls. What are the people like who so carefully guard their privacy behind windowless exteriors? What are their secrets? How do they treat each other there, where nobody except next-of-kin can watch?

Even after all these visits, it still is an interesting experience to walk through a town with a hired guide. Sometimes, because an introduction to the layout of a new town is helpful; mostly, because he is usually a good source of information. In the charming town of Essaouira, about three hours north of Agadir, a tall, slender guide by the name of Abdou saw me arrive on a quiet day. It was obvious that his services were needed by me or by nobody, so my chances of escape were slim judged by his determined attitude. Very quickly, he became convinced I was Jewish. To this day, I do not know what he based his opinion on - maybe, a good portion of the Americans who visit Essaouira are researching family roots. Or maybe, it simply was his particular specialty. He pointed out that before 1948, nearly half of Essaouira's population was Jewish. Do you want to see the Jewish houses? Do you see the Star of David over the doorframe? Do you know the difference between the Moroccan star and the Jewish star? One has five points, the other six. Do you ...