I have learnt much about the Egyptians, the Chinese, the Jews, and this time round, the Arabs in the West. My first visit in Morocco was to explore the desert and hence, I had not learnt much about the Medina. Maybe I did but my short-term memory when it comes to events made this visit to Fes, one of the most preserved Medina in the world, one that fed me so much information. I have a better understanding of the Arab or Moslem way of life and their accession to power.
The meaning of 'Medina' according to our tour guide is "independent city". I liked how he started off with the tour by saying that the Medina reflects civilisation, whereas in the world we live today, modernity speaks for everything. In ancient times, perhaps due to attacks by nomadic tribes or lack of proper sewage systems, electricity cables, etc., people live within enclosed walls. In the Medina, all buildings should take the colour of earth i.e. brown or beige. All houses in the Medina have no windows, paintings and decoration because these features reflect a person's wealth and there should be no display of richness or wealth inside the Medina. All houses look the same in the exterior, except for public buildings and palaces for the governors or Kings. Inside the Medina, you will be able to find 3 types of houses, the most basic one is a house with patio (courtyard), followed by one with a garden (riad) and lastly a casa i.e. or a palace. A casa is characterised by a big door, a balcony and likely to have windows with holes on the second floor. In Summer, the families live on the ground floor because it is cooler but in winter, it will be too cold so they sleep one floor above instead. When someone knocks, they can look through the holes in the window to identify the guest. The purpose of the patio is to allow light to shine in so that even without candles or light bulbs, the house can be lit. As these information were fed through my brain, I was processing and trying to imagine the way of life in the olden times. No light bulbs or electricity and sunlight is the only way to light up the house in the day without burning candles.
See the wooden barrel-like image on the top left corner. There are tiny holes, for the host to look through to see who their guest is.
The Medina is also divided into different neighbourhoods and connected by a door. When the sun sets, the doors are closed. The residential area is separated from the commercial ones and each trade is concentrated in a particular area inside the Medina i.e. external economies of scale in action. Whenever I used to tell my students about technological advancement, we relate to transportation tools like ships, airplanes, and cars, and also internet but at this very moment, I realised that I have neglected a small yet extremely significant invention i.e. light bulbs. Without light, there would be no way to power our homes at night and enable us to fly all day and night to all corners of the world.
One other thing that the tour guide mentioned and left a deep impression on me is how recycling was actually done in the Medina, way before any marketing campaigns were being done in the developed world. Rotten vegetables were used as animal feed for horses, donkeys and mules, sawdust were used to warm the water for the public baths, hammam, olive fig and pigeon droppings were in leather tanneries, bones from slaughtered cows and camels were used to make doors or decorative items and skin to make leather. It is with modernisation and scientific revolution that brought about plastics, glass, etc that needed to be recycled. It has its pros and cons because it has enabled us to live in better comfort, convenience, and efficiently.
In addition, there used to be public bakeries where families will bring their dough to and have them baked. Households were discouraged from setting up their own fires to cook lest they burn down the house. Wood is often used to reinforce the mud and stone walls of the Medina to prevent earthquakes so they are vulnerable to fires. When I came back to the UK, my classmate cooked a type of traditional food in his country and told me that it takes approximately 2 hours to prepare it. There are many other dishes that take an even longer time to prepare. At the back of my mind, a city girl like me will never waste so much of my time on cooking. It is not about whether I enjoy cooking or not, but more of me seeing it as an inefficient allocation of my time. LOL. I will come to this topic in the future. However, in the past, people hardly have any leisure activities, needless to say time-consuming ones like social media (Facebook, instagram, etc. are way too addictive) and hence cooking was a way to socialise and they did not mind spending long hours preparing their food.
The tour guide also shared with us about his perspectives on the rich-poor gap and social mobility. He felt that in the Medina, social mobility is easily accomplished. A young man who has just gotten married will build a house with a patio and as his income increases, he is able to buy a bigger house and provide a better life for his family. Narrow streets inside the Medina often meant that the house plying these streets are huge ones. However, since the exterior looks plain, there was no comparison and less likely to evoke jealousy among the poor. I agree to a large extent on this but depending on the personality of the individual that is in the less advantaged position, the outcomes might turn out very differently. When you see your friends sharing their new car or house or new holiday destinations, you might be jealous or filled with envy at the very first instance. Next, should you see this as a form of motivation to work hard so that you can realise your dreams as well OR should you let your jealousy take control and you continue to dwell in your own misery of not having rich parents or a well-paid job that can finance your material wants or you engage in crimes and decide to rob your friend or some other rich guy. Ultimately, you always make the choice and your choices shape your future. Your destiny lies in your own hands after all.
Where you see narrow streets, you expect huge houses. We had to walk through extremely narrow streets to get to the riad that we were staying in. It is an amazing riad, beautiful and comfortable. However, the journey there was less so. It did not help that we arrived late at night and the streets were quite dark. I feared for my life honestly.
Buildings in the Medina can have two doors or one door. A house with a 2 doors have a smaller door within a larger one. If they are both open, it means that it is open to the public. With the smaller door, a guest needs to bow before he can enter a house, which is a way of showing respect to the host.
Likewise, in the entrance to all religious places such as mosques, mausoleums, etc. there is a bar seen in the picture below. This means "no entry to animals" and we also need to lower our heads before we can enter, a mark of respect.
No cars or any modern inventions is allowed in the Medina, not even bicycles I think so the way to transport items is via animals. I learnt an interesting thing about mule. They are the hybrid of a horse and a donkey. The body of a female horse (She-horse) but the head of a male donkey (small brain?). So are they dumb? They cannot reproduce among themselves. :(
Decorative items made using animal bones.
The leather tanneries. Unfortunately, the place is closed for renovation until next month and we are not able to see and smell for ourselves the process of leather making. Summarised steps of making leather from hide: Wash and clean skin from slaughter house --> soak in water for 25 days to cleanse it --> Use limestone to scrub the skin so that the wool on the skin will peel off --> wash and put it into pigeon poop to soften the leather --> scrub away fats left on skin and then dry --> soak in dye. The entire process takes 5-6 weeks so this explains why hand-made leather is so expensive because it involves too much work. I am a little torn between hand-made and manufactured goods. The tour guide was very dismissive about mass production brought about by the industrial revolution. He feels that they are of lousy quality and lacks uniqueness. I think it depends on your personality. I have had this discussion with my dad before as well. In the older days, you want to buy a high quality product and use it for years until it has fully depreciated. However, these days, it is about BUY and THROW AWAY. We no longer covet high quality goods that can enable us to use it for a lifetime. Instead, we are constantly looking to change our clothes, shoes, etc. so we would rather buy something that is cheap but will not last as long. It does not matter because we would want to buy something new eventually after a few years. I guess the term "generation gap" sums it all. Yes, this is Western consumerism whereby we are always wanting to BUY and CONSUME. There are pros and cons. It helps to drive the economy but then it may deplete resources available for the future. So, what then? I find that as I age, I increasingly lose the thirst to want to buy new gadgets or items unless they have decided to retire. Perhaps it comes with age. I would rather save the money to travel and see the world.
I must say that one of my biggest takeaways from this trip is my new-found understanding of Islam as a religion. Coming from Singapore, we learnt from young that we have to respect the different religions around the world, Christianity, Islam, Buddhism, etc. I grew up in a Taoist family whereby my grandmother is superstitious and attributes everything to the hand of the gods she worship. When others criticise her religion, she gets defensive and says that they do not know anything. I kind of disdain this whole finger-pointing and criticisms because I do not see how these superstitions and beliefs have in any way brought about a better life for her family i.e. my mom and her siblings. However, I fully respect that she has the right to practise her faith but I reserve my right to choose a religion.
The symbol of Islam is the 8-pointed star to represent the 8 gates of heaven in Islam. This image below has a very special explanation according to the tour guide:
The centre yellow shape represents Mecca, and the dark triangles surrounding it represent the worshippers. The black cylindrical shaped-like image with a pointed edge points toward the path to centre. The white lines represent the different paths of life that Men take and they are intertwined to represent the various ups and downs of life. The 5-pointed stars surrounding it represent the 5 pillars of Islam. The choice of colours can also be explained. Black and white represents contrast and I guess life - right or wrong, true and false, etc. Blue is the colour of the city, Fes, and green is the colour of Islam. The use of yellow is to portray tranquility and calm in our lives. The calligraphy above are verses from the Koran. The guide did explain how they are being carved but I did not quite understand it. Since I was travelling in South of Spain prior to going to Morocco and the region has a lot of Islamic influence, I saw many of such patterns and designs in the buildings but I did not understand its significance. With Fes as the last stop, I finally found the last piece of the puzzle.
Of course, I do not know how much of what the guide said is true. It is all up to our own interpretation but it is always good to have a new perspective to add on to my wealth of knowledge.
This star also has a very unique interpretation. They are made of square blocks and cylindrical ones. The squares represent women and they are meant to be static and provide stability. The cylinders are mobile, you can turn them which signify that men should be mobile and go out to work and bring bread home.
See the windows just beneath the arc. They are special windows, I cannot remember the name of it, whereby women inside the house can see out but others cannot look into nor see them.
Fes has one of the first universities in the world which is now converted into a mosque and religious schools. According to the guide, only the brightest students who are interested in religious studies can study here. They need to be well-versed in the Koran and also one other book (cannot remember the name). One interesting thing is that when you look in the direction of the arches, you are actually facing Mecca.
And I also learnt much about their disdain for the left. I used to wonder why my Malay friends always eat using their right hands even though some of them write with their left. In their culture or religion, they believe that left is evil and right is good. One should always eat with their right hand and not their left because when they do, they are sharing their food with the demon or Saturn. One should always walk on the left so that if they pass someone who they know, they can shake their hands using their right hands. Soldiers draw their swords which are placed on the left side of their body to kill their passing enemies. I vividly remember someone telling me that in ancient times, you should not be a left-handed because you might get killed. I think one left-handed man was Galileo Gallili which is why the church dismissed his findings about the Sun being the centre of the universe and not the Earth and they wanted him killed.
The guide also told us a joke about the left-handed boy whom Saturn got fed up with. Mothers usually teach their kids to eat with their right hand because if they do it with their left hands, it means that Saturn is eating with them and taking away their food. However, this is one poor boy who eats only olive and bread and always eats with his left hand. So one day, he saw Saturn's image in the bowl telling him that "Please listen to your mother. I am sick of eating your poor food, olives and bread."
With that, I have finished writing about my adventures in Fes, Morocco and I find it an especially meaningful trip because I have learnt so much more about another civilisation. This image overlooks the city of Fes and taking it at dusk makes it even more beautiful! Apparently Morocco is a word that means leather (perhaps in Latin or English) and Morocco got its name because of its fame in the leather industry. Although I find my tour guide a little extremist in his views, I was actually interested to listen to his views. It is through interactions like these that you stumble upon people with such diverse and extremist opinions and then you learnt about the world. You will never experience this if you bury yourself in books because they have no emotions and they are always moderated to reflect a more neutral standpoint. I do not subscribe to my tour guide's beliefs but I appreciate his candid sharing because it has helped me to understand the world and what is happening around it.
Life is a continuous process of discovery. I have learnt so much about the Balkans from my Balkan classmates and I would love to visit the region soon. Another civilisation that I am waiting to explore is the Inca in Machu Picchu. After that, it will be Russia and now, a new one on my list - Central Asia. Uzbekistan is my next exotic destination after hearing so much from my Uzbek classmate! I just cannot stop travelling but I only have limited time!!!
The world is a book and those who do not travel read only one page. ~Augustine of Hippo
