Cabin Fever

I seem to be suffering badly from cabin fever at the moment. We have been here for thirteen days without really having anything to do other than read and watch TV programs that we downloaded before we came out here. I am beginning to go a little stir crazy.

It is Ramadan at the moment. This is the time of year that Muslims abstain from eating, drinking and any impure thoughts during the hours of daylight. It is meant to instil self control and an appreciation for the suffering of others. Ramadan lasts just under a month, and each year starts ten days earlier. This means that in 34 years a complete cycle of the year will have been made. Unfortunately for those in the Northern Hemisphere this means that for now and the next ten years or so, Ramadan is taking place during summer and the longest and hottest days of the year. For people in Morocco, they have to wake up and eat before 5.30 am and then last through the 35 degree dry heat of the day without a drop of water or food, before being able to break the fast after 7.30 pm. For Muslims in the north of England, this means fasting for almost 16 hours every day.

Before Ramadan Ifrane was a bustling little tourist town with a great café culture. Now either they have closed completely or they only open at 7.30 in the evening. This has put an end to our daily time killer of wandering into town and watching the world go by over a coffee. Now the streets are really quiet. Some die-hards still sit in the cafés, only it feels a bit strange to me without any food or drink. Instead we find ourselves just hanging out at home all day and night. I’ve had to change the chair I sit on in the lounge just so I have another wall to face... having a different view worked surprisingly well. If it was not the height of summer here we would not have these concerns. There is lots of exploring to be done... the two imperial cities of Fes and Meknes are only an hour away, we have a lakes area about 25km away, and there is lots of hiking and forest walking. All good, but just not practical at 35 degrees. We only came this early as we have were told our new contract started on the 1st as we have lots of planning to do (actually not starting until the 10th), next year we'll make sure we're occupied with something elsewhere!

At the end of last week we went down to Fes for our first exploration of the medina. This huge and ancient medina in Fes is thought to be the largest continuous car free area in the world. Surrounded by a high fortress style wall with gated arch-ways, it's narrow, winding alleys full of mosques, riads, shops and houses covers an area of around 15 square km. It is said that up to 400,000 people live within the medina walls, and it is home to the world's oldest university. Parts date back to 800 AD, and the 'new' part is a mere 900 years old. This is a place that I have longed to visit for around ten years. When we decided to make a trip down there during the height of summer, at the start of Ramadan when people are tired, hungry and grumpy, I didn't hold up many hopes for it reaching high on the enjoyment scale. All the information you can find on the place tells you just how crowded and hot the narrow alleys can be, how you have to watch out for getting harangued by wily salesmen (possibly the most highly skilled in the world at selling you things you had no intention of buying) and getting squashed by foot carts and overladen donkeys. Oh yeah, and the chances of you not getting lost are minimal. Needless to say we expected the worst.
  

We arrived at the medina at around 11.00. Many of the shops were still closed and the streets were quiet and surprisingly cool. The first thing that really hits you about the place is the hills. Not only do you have to deal with alleys shooting of in every direction, you also have to deal with climbing up and down steep hills. We must have dropped 100 metres in the first fifteen minutes. By the time we got to the bottom of the hill our legs juddered every time we stopped to look at something. We followed the main alleys for a couple of kilometres. The further you go in the narrower they get. The majority of stuff in the medina is transported by donkey. These poor overladen creatures are pushed through the crowds of people with boxes and bags strapped across them. Thankfully I haven't seen any of the horror story cruelty yet, but all of them lead a pretty hard life. Shopping was a lot easier than expected. We were hassled very little and in many shops when we tried to bargain we were stone-walled, even when we walked out they just said 'so be it, see you again' or something similar. All in all the experience was quite enjoyable. It was 42 degrees out in the sun, and it did get busy, but we didn't get lost, or run over by a donkey, or convinced to buy an 8ft antique carpet or giant lantern we didn't need. We did come home with two mirrors and four smaller lanterns, but the were definitely intentional purchases. Well, nearly all of them were anyway.