اصدقاء في مدينة فاس Friends in Fes

A friend an I spent the weekend in Fes and let me tell you, Fes is a much larger city than what I first thought. I explored parts of Fes that I didn't know existed before that weekend. 

Our trip began at the Grand Taxi Station in Ifrane. We sat on a bench waiting for enough people to fill the taxi. Once we squeezed into the taxi with four other people (plus the driver), we were on our way to Fes. 

Upon arriving, we looked for the hostel that we booked. Luckily it was very close to the front gate of the Medina because Medinas can be tricky to navigate when you don't know where you are going.  We climbed up the steep stairs and entered a room that was tucked away on the side of the staircase to check in. This room was exactly what two young, broke, college travelers need: a bed, a bathroom, and it was inexpensive. I think one of the most intriguing differences that has taken some adjusting is the bathroom situations. Some bathrooms had "squatty potties." These type of bathrooms are generally found in public places (restaurants, rest stops, etc.). A couple things to know when you are using a public bathroom: 1.) bring toilet paper just in case, 2.) carry spare change!  So most bathrooms do not have toilet paper. However, the bathrooms are generally extremely clean because there is a bathroom attendant (I don't know the correct terminology for that person). Sometimes that bathroom attendant will have a certain price to use the bathroom, but in most cases, they will not ask for money but common courtesy is to give however many dirhams (the currency in Morocco) that you can spare. Now, back to the hostel. Most hostels that we have stayed at do not have a separate place for the shower. As you can see in the poor quality video that I took, the sink, shower, and toilet are all in one room. The bathrooms are generally not that small, but the basic construction has been about the same. 

 I didn't actually take this picture because I would find it very odd if I saw someone taking a picture of a toilet, but this is generally what one will see around Morocco. Luckily, because I am used to 'western' style toilets, one can usually find a 'western' style toilet in most places. 

Once we were settled in the hostel we came to the realization that we were quite hungry. It was Friday and in Morocco, Friday means Couscous (AKA Couscous Friday). Every restaurant cooks a lot of couscous just for Fridays, in fact, it is the only day that the campus restaurant has couscous.

This (Moroccan Tea and Couscous) is one of my favorite sights (other than Tajine). In an attempt to discover the best couscous in the neighborhood, we asked our hosts for help. We followed Aisha through the maze of the Medina, the first place was closed, so we followed her some more until she found another place that was open. We are not sure if it was the 'best' in the neighborhood but it sure was amazingly delicious! We walked around the area for a bit and then went back to the hostel where we shared tea with the wonderful host. He was extremely welcoming and we had many great conversations with him. He even bought us this fruit from a local stand and we proceeded to talk and eat the mystery fruit. (I am still not sure what it is called but it was good!)

 Later that night we met with one our friends and her family who came from France to visit. We found a roof-top restaurant to enjoy dinner. I wasn't very hungry because at this point I was recovering from food poisoning (Don't worry Mom and Dad I was fine). In case you are wondering, I got the food poisoning from a meal at the University, not street food. Thus far, the street food has tasted amazing and I haven't had any problems at all with it. 

The hostel owners found an abandoned kitten, they named him Mishmish and took him in. I think he was a wonderful addition to the beautiful terrace. He was super small, delicate and loving.

The next morning we had breakfast on the terrace, it was included in the very reasonable price of the room. Aisha brought us orange juice, tea, bread, cream cheese (or something similar), and jelly.

It was honestly a perfect breakfast with a wonderful scene.

Our host was generous enough to set up a tour of Fes with one of his friends for us. He drove us around Fes to different touristy places where he would wait for us until we got our fill of pictures and sightseeing. He was very plesant and patient.

 Before we went off on our tour, we decided to, as I put it, be local grandpas. Every city that we have traveled to, there are always older men sitting in cafe chairs that face the street. They sit there for hours drinking coffee, converse, and people watch. I really admire the time they take to relax. So we decided to give it a try as many times as we can. That morning we sat, drank coffee, converse with some locals, and watched as all the tourists shuffled into the tiny Medina streets. I understand why they do this, it is relaxing and entertaining to people watch. After we finished our coffees we met up with our tour guide.

iThe frst stop was the gates to one of the many palaces throughout Morocco. It is not pictured in the image above, but these gates are heavily guarded. I think the guards were very amused with us, they probably seen a lot of tourists taking pictures by the gates, but we had, per say, a little skip in our step because we were excited to be out and sightseeing. I say they were amused and entertained by us because I could see them smiling and trying, but not succeeding, not to laugh. Of course, realizing how silly we must look prancing around with our cameras out, I just smiled back.  After that, we ran across the busy street and jumped into the car. The next stop was on the top of a hill that overlooked the entire Medina. My pictures do not give justice to how amazing the view was. 

 

 

This spot not only overlooked the city, but it also had some old ruins. No one could tell us what the ruins were from, but one can imagine the magnificence and power they once held overlooking Fes.

The next stop was the Ceramic making building. We received a tour of the shop. We got to see, accompanied with an explanation of every step in the ceramic making process. I really enjoyed seeing the process, I love art, but I love watching the creation of art even more. One of the most amazing parts of teh process is that fact that they use old olive pits to heat the fire. It is really amazing how this society seems to use all of the olive tree for many different uses: heat, food, art, etc.

 Our last stop in Fes was the Tannery--where all of the leather products in Fes are created. As one can imagine, the Tannery reeks, at some points, to the untrained nose, it is unbearable. Fortunately for our noses and comfort, the tour guides at the front door greeted us with branches of mint. I kept the mint branch close to my nose for most of the tour. It was really interesting to see how the famous leather of Fes is cleaned, colored, and shaped. My pictures are not nearly as good as the ones that you will find upon googling or looking at Instagram, but I tried. I honestly respect people who are able to capture the full extent of the tannery.

 

 The people who work at the Tannery also live right next to or near the Tannery. If one spends time watching the people work, you will notice some children running around periodically. 

I now understand why everyone tells me that Fes is the place to buy leather. 

Fes is an amazingly diverse and large city, but I am very thankful that we did this particular trip at the end of October becasue Fes is a lot like Phoenix in that you don't want to be walking around outside for half of the year because the temperatures get to ridiculously high degrees.