Considering Morocco

*To see older posts on our time in Madrid, and back briefly in the States, go to the following link:
http://www.notesfromspain-margot.blogspot.com/

Warning: If you all ready know all about Morocco, or you are not all that interested in Morocco, you may want to skip this blog. This is my trying-to-figure-out-what-we-are-about-to-get-into blog.


We have been back in Madrid for just a bit over a week. So, it seems odd to be leaving already. But the girls’ school has a short break the 23^rd to the 27^th and then nothing till late April. So, to make the most of our time in Europe, we are off to Marrakesh (or Marrakech) tomorrow.

It would be hard to ignore the fact that most of the countries on this map of North Africa and the Near East are in a state of mild to major political turmoil. There have been demonstrations in Morroco, including Marrakesh, but all in all things have been stable and the state department considers travel safe there.

Well, as safe as it ever is. Travel in Morroco is not recommended for women alone, nor for openly gay couples. You also probably want to pay someone from Morroco to drive you about. Driving tips on the web  include – the right of way is based on the size of vehicles, bigger ones have the right; driving regulations are not effective unless police are visible; and keep your speed down so as to minimize the effect of accidents.  Okay, so we expect to do a bit of walking in Marrakesh.

Before I started studying up on Morocco 24 hours ago - my images of the country were mainly derived from the movie “Casablanca” from 1943:

 And the lyrics from “Marrakesh” by  Crosby Stills and Nash. When was that? 1970?

I have also known that Morocco has some fabulous dishes starring cous-cous, and that they make wonderful lamps.

Also many exotic and lovely things out of fabric, including clothes –

 mostly of the sort that I would admire and long for but felt were reserved for those a little more hip than me to wear.

But the prices are low there and I am told it can be great fun to bargain. So, I am brushing up on my French and we are taking a couple of empty suitcases, just in case.

Let’s see, I also knew that Morocco was occupied by the French in the early part of the 20^th century (And, honest, not just because you could figure it out from Casablanca). They had been hanging out there and throwing their weight around for some time, but the official occupation (protectorate the French like to call it) was only from 1912 to 1956. Long enough for their language to take hold. Most Moroccans speak Arabic and French. Many speak a Berber dialect as well. The Berbers are the people who were there for many 1,000s of years before the Muslims came along in about 600 ad. 

By 1950 the French had become pretty unpopular amongst many Moroccans, what with educating only the upper class children and then mainly about France, and taking the most prime real estate for themselves, the usual colonialist mistakes, but their fatal move was to exile the popular Sultan,  Mohammed V, whose family has ruled Morocco continuously since 1666.

 He had begun to press for nationalism so the French replaced him with their own lackey, Mohammed Ben Aarafa.

That united the indiginous Berbers and the Nationalists and pretty soon the French were out and the people were welcoming back good old Mohammed V.

Here are some things I definitely did not know: Morocco is the second most populous Muslim nation, just behind Egypt. It is also second in non-oil producing Muslim nations in the size of its GDP. Its main industries are tourism, agriculture and export of phosphorus.  

Okay, so maybe some smarties out there all ready knew that stuff, but what about this? Morocco was one of the first nations to recognize the fledgling United States.  The treaty signed by the Sultan Mohammed III in 1777,

extended his protection to our vessels in and about Moroccan ports. It is the longest standing, unbroken treaty of friendship in the history of the United States!! Which fact I will certainly refer to should we be accosted by wrong-minded anti-American sorts. The treaty was especially welcome as it offered some protection against the Barbary pirates who were at the height of their powers.



Here are the British, fighting the fearsome pirates.

 The Barbary pirates were from, naturally, the Barbary coast, that is the northern coast of Africa. They were mainly after slaves for the North Africa and Middle East markets, and they particularly wanted Chistrians. It seems that, what with the crusades and all, enslaving Christians was not considered an obstacle to entering heaven. 

Here is the fate that awaited many of the men who were captured.

But back to the present. The current King of Morocco is Muhammed VI.

Muhammed VI, with wife, Princess Llala Salma

the grandson of the Muhammed the V. His father, King Hassan II, was not so well liked as his father. While Muhammed the V put a constitutional monarchy in place, Hassan tweaked the laws to give the monarchy sweeping powers, even going so far as dissolving parliment in 1967. During the 60's, 70's and 80's dissidents regularly were jailed, executed or "dissapeared". However, some improvement began to take place during the end of his regime and Muhammed the VI has vowed to continue with reforms. Women, for example, have more rights in Morocco than most Muslim countries. But change has been slow, the king still has the right to dissolve parliment, and the poverty rate continues to be quite high, and the tumoil among the Islamic countries has brought the people's discontent to the forefront.

As of the posting of this blog, demonstrations are planned for this weekend in much of Morocco, but the State Department considers travel there to be safe.

So, next post should be from Marrakesh. Hopefully not barricaded in our hotel rooms!

*To see previous posts go to the following link: http://www.notesfromspain-margot.blogspot.com/