Issue #145 Friday Funday October 7, 2022
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During the last two weeks of September, and to celebrate our 24th wedding anniversary, Keith and I traveled to Morocco for an extended vacation. One of Keith’s oldest friends, a classmate from their 1st-grade class in Denver, lives there and invited us to visit. We spent a year preparing for this trip and had an absolutely awesome time.
We flew via Air France from Detroit to the huge Charles DeGaulle Airport in Paris, and after a 3-hour layover, flew to Marrakech, one of the four primary cities in Morocco.
After a couple of days at a hotel in Marrakech adjusting to the time change, we traveled to a small seaside village where our host lives. We spent about a week there, going to the beach every day and also visiting Essaouira, a larger city town located not far away.
There were dogs and cats everywhere. EVERYWHERE. Outside of Marrakech, there were also a lot of horses, donkeys, and, of course, camels.
A lot of people rode motor scooters. We saw entire families (including with young children and babies) on one scooter, and we even saw a couple of riders balance a newly-purchased wooden kitchen table between them on the scooter, and off they went!
Arabic is the primary language in Morocco, followed by several Berber dialects, and then French and Spanish. Keith took eight years of French in school, and we were lucky that a lot of the language came back to him while we were there as we interacted with the people.
We ended our trip back in Marrakech, doing a lot of shopping and visiting the tourist sites. We flew back to Detroit on Friday, again through Charles DeGaulle Airport.
This time, however, our two flights were booked way too close together and we almost missed our connecting flight. We made the flight, but all of our luggage did not. The Charles de Gaulle Airport has three terminals and the second one has several interconnected lobbies.
Delta Airlines, a partner of Air France, was very good about finding our four pieces of luggage and getting them delivered to our house. Keith could keep up with everything through an app. Two of the four pieces were delivered straight to our home on Saturday, and the remaining two pieces arrived on Sunday.
Before our trip, we didn’t know much about the North African country of Morocco. Check out Keith’s Facebook page for more pictures and videos from our trip.
Here are some things we learned.
Ten Interesting Facts About Morocco
Morocco is a parliamentary constitutional monarchy and although it was a French protectorate during most of the first half of the 20th century, it has existed as a recognized country since about the 8th century BCE.
Morocco was the first country to recognize the new United States of America, opening its ports and beginning trading in 1777, less than a year after the Declaration of Independence.
The name “Morocco” is derived from the Arabic/Berber name “Marrakech,” which was one of the original names of the country.
The Berbers are the indigenous populations of Morocco and Northern Africa, having lived in the area for thousands of years. “Berber” evolved from “Barbar,” which loosely means “different” as opposed to the meaning “barbarian” in the modern sense. Berbers are the dominant racial group in Morocco.
Berbers and Arabs are two distinct racial groups. Recently in Morocco, a unified Berber language has been recognized and standardized. On many signs in the country, the copy is written in three languages: Arabic, French, and Tamazight for the Berbers.
Mint tea is Morocco's national drink, and how it is served is unique to the country. In homes and restaurants, using silver teapots, the mint tea is poured from nearly a foot above the cup so that the spearmint fragrance can be immediately detected.
99% of Morocco is Muslim (primarily Sunni), but the country is much more liberal than many Muslim countries and tolerates and accepts practitioners of other religions, including Judaism and Christianity. In addition to the mosques, we also saw several temples and churches.
Morocco was affordable for us because ten Moroccan dirhams = one U.S. dollar. Although hotels and major restaurants and shopping venues accept credit cards, it was better to go to an ATM and get cash in dirhams for most transactions at the souks and for taxi transportation. Also, thanks to our host, most nights we did not have to stay in a hotel.
The Moroccan flag is red and green. The background is red to symbolize bravery and strength, while the green pentagram, represents the seal of Solomon (very similar to the Star of David) and the five branches and pillars of Islam. Green is the color of Islam and symbolizes peace and hope.
The 20th-century fashion designer Yves St. Laurent, born in Algeria, made one of his permanent homes in Marrakech in the 1950s. His villa now is a museum and his ashes are scattered in the Majorelle Garden located on a street named for him, in a residence and botanical garden that he owned.
Did you learn anything new about Morocco? Let us know in the comments!
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Thank you for checking out some of the books and businesses of the TeamOwens313 Global Creative Community:
Detroit Stories Quarterly (DSQ) Afro-futurism Magazine
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The Global Creative Community Membership Site: Networking and Monthly/Weekly Topics for Independent Writers and Creative and Solo Professionals
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