Marrakech at Ramadan

Here in Marrakech, reputed to be pretty wild, everyone was a bit subdued today because of Ramadan. We took a walk through the souks today, and the vendors were all working, but were not aggressive at all. By mid afternoon, it was quiet, with most laying down taking naps. We did see one seller lose his temper and complain loudly (likely a smoker suffering from nicotine withdrawal), and Zak commented that if you can't maintain a good attitude, it's better to smoke and eat. Walking past the drowsy sellers, I spotted a guy watching Ramadan porn on his phone: a video of meat sizzling on a grill. In the souks,…
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Ouarzarzate

Where Is Zat? Morocco changed its time Saturday night, falling back an hour. Normally, they follow the UK and Portugal on daylight savings time. But because Ramadan starts this week, they changed the clocks for the next 5 weeks. Since everyone fasts (no food or water) from sunrise to sunset, the time change means the sun sets an hour earlier, therefore they can eat an hour earlier. This morning we drove out to a small village where we met a family who was going to serve us lunch. The father is a mason, repairing the adobe that make up the village. In recent years, people are switching to cement, which…
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Green Morocco

Wednesday, we had a day trip to Volubilis, the regional Roman capital from about 0 to 200AD. Interesting place, marvelous civil engineering using the gravity of the hillside for water management, beautiful mosaics. The local guide was excellent. Then on to Meknes, a former capital of Morocco. But what I found most interesting is green Morocco. Agriculture is the main industry in Morocco. The bus drove past vistas of fields to the horizon. Wheat, olives, poppies, peaches, mustard, mostly smallish plots for each crop, easy to rotate. Some of the olive groves have other crops planted between the rows of trees. Some irrigation, some relying only on rainwater. Rains evidently…
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Marrakech at Ramadan

Here in Marrakech, reputed to be pretty wild, everyone was a bit subdued today because of Ramadan. We took a walk through the souks today, and the vendors were all working, but were not aggressive at all. By mid afternoon, it was quiet, with most laying down taking naps. We did see one seller lose his temper and complain loudly (likely a smoker suffering from nicotine withdrawal), and Zak commented that if you can't maintain a good attitude, it's better to smoke and eat. Walking past the drowsy sellers, I spotted a guy watching Ramadan porn on his phone: a video of meat sizzling on a grill. In the souks,…
More

Ouarzarzate

Where Is Zat? Morocco changed its time Saturday night, falling back an hour. Normally, they follow the UK and Portugal on daylight savings time. But because Ramadan starts this week, they changed the clocks for the next 5 weeks. Since everyone fasts (no food or water) from sunrise to sunset, the time change means the sun sets an hour earlier, therefore they can eat an hour earlier. This morning we drove out to a small village where we met a family who was going to serve us lunch. The father is a mason, repairing the adobe that make up the village. In recent years, people are switching to cement, which…
More

Green Morocco

Wednesday, we had a day trip to Volubilis, the regional Roman capital from about 0 to 200AD. Interesting place, marvelous civil engineering using the gravity of the hillside for water management, beautiful mosaics. The local guide was excellent. Then on to Meknes, a former capital of Morocco. But what I found most interesting is green Morocco. Agriculture is the main industry in Morocco. The bus drove past vistas of fields to the horizon. Wheat, olives, poppies, peaches, mustard, mostly smallish plots for each crop, easy to rotate. Some of the olive groves have other crops planted between the rows of trees. Some irrigation, some relying only on rainwater. Rains evidently…
More

Marrakech at Ramadan

Here in Marrakech, reputed to be pretty wild, everyone was a bit subdued today because of Ramadan. We took a walk through the souks today, and the vendors were all working, but were not aggressive at all. By mid afternoon, it was quiet, with most laying down taking naps. We did see one seller lose his temper and complain loudly (likely a smoker suffering from nicotine withdrawal), and Zak commented that if you can't maintain a good attitude, it's better to smoke and eat. Walking past the drowsy sellers, I spotted a guy watching Ramadan porn on his phone: a video of meat sizzling on a grill. In the souks,…
More

Ouarzarzate

Where Is Zat? Morocco changed its time Saturday night, falling back an hour. Normally, they follow the UK and Portugal on daylight savings time. But because Ramadan starts this week, they changed the clocks for the next 5 weeks. Since everyone fasts (no food or water) from sunrise to sunset, the time change means the sun sets an hour earlier, therefore they can eat an hour earlier. This morning we drove out to a small village where we met a family who was going to serve us lunch. The father is a mason, repairing the adobe that make up the village. In recent years, people are switching to cement, which…
More

Green Morocco

Wednesday, we had a day trip to Volubilis, the regional Roman capital from about 0 to 200AD. Interesting place, marvelous civil engineering using the gravity of the hillside for water management, beautiful mosaics. The local guide was excellent. Then on to Meknes, a former capital of Morocco. But what I found most interesting is green Morocco. Agriculture is the main industry in Morocco. The bus drove past vistas of fields to the horizon. Wheat, olives, poppies, peaches, mustard, mostly smallish plots for each crop, easy to rotate. Some of the olive groves have other crops planted between the rows of trees. Some irrigation, some relying only on rainwater. Rains evidently…
More