Marrakesh!

Marrakesh is full of contrasts and quite busy and stressful.

There is a new and an old city. With super rich people and people who barely have the bare necessities of life.

Huge shopping centers and traditional souks.

All-wheel drive cars and horse-drawn carriages.

Palms in the city and in the distance snowy peaks of the Atlas Mountains.

In the middle of Marrakesh is Jemaa el Fnaa, a huge square.

During the day there are many traders and plenty of snake charmers. I didn't think there was such a thing anymore. You can also see monkeys and street performers in traditional clothes.

With sunset, the square fills up every evening and it's like a fair. There are several music groups, many food and juice stands, women painting henna tattoos, and you can try your luck at several games of chance.

Friday is couscous day! So in Islam, Friday is a kind of day of assembly, and men go to the mosque for communal prayer in the early afternoon (women can go too, but it is obligatory for devout men). So the women prepare the couscous and then the whole family eats together. Traditional restaurants also only serve couscous on Fridays.

In Marrakesh we stayed at a small, cozy hostel and met Mohammed, who works there. We also talked about this Friday tradition and kindly he invited us to eat couscous with his family. Since I've been here, I've been waiting for Friday to try it. It didn't work out last week, so today was the last opportunity. I probably talked about it so much that he thought he had to invite me... But I asked several times if it was really okay.

Unfortunately, Arshiya left this morning for Casablanca. She still has a few things to do there before she starts her trip to Europe on Sunday.

So this afternoon I walked with Mohammed to his family's house and experienced a completely different Marrakesh, a much more beautiful one. And in the few hours there, I learned so much more about Morocco with its people and their culture. It would have been good if I could speak Arabic, so Mohammed had to translate everything. But with heart and mind you can understand each other even without language.

First there was mint tea and homemade pastries. Delicious.

Afterwards, couscous. The couscous is served in a large bowl, with vegetables (pumpkin, cabbage, carrot, potato, chickpeas, ...) and chicken, and caramelized onions as a topping. Oh my God, a pure explosion of flavors, incredibly delicious, aromatic and good. A culinary dream.

Most dishes in Morocco are eaten with the hand and you eat together from the same bowl. You start together, share the food, and if you're at the table, you belong. A smaller bowl was also prepared for the neighbors because everyone should have the opportunity to eat couscous on Fridays.

With the invitation, Mohammed definitely made me the happiest person in Morocco today.

Unfortunately, unfortunately, I had to say goodbye this late afternoon. I want to go to the sea again and to a quieter city, to Essaouira.