The Food Blog Cont.
Ifni Independence Day
Ifni Independence Day
Little did we know that June 30 celebrates Sidi Ifni’s independence from Spain. There is an annual festival that looks like a strange mix between a carnival and a farmer’s market. There are carous wheels, ferris wheels, and bumper cars in one area and just 20 yards away there is a section of stands of women and men selling their goods – soaps, argan brauty products, honey, jam, clothing, woodworking, artwork, baskets, and much more Many of the women at these stands are representatives from local cooperatives, which gives us all the more incentive to buy their products because we know that the women are benefiting directly.
We catch the tail end of the Independence Day Parade and see a small girl dressed entirely in traditional Berber wedding attire proudly displaying the flag. The people seem so proud and spirited as they follow the parade down the main road toward the direction of our hotel. It is as if the city has made a complete 180 since the previous week – the hotel is full and there are musicians coming in and out. The town is lively late into the night and we can hear jubilant voices from our hotel room late into the night. When we head back to the hotel around 10 pm after having dinner at Jamila’s house, it is as if everyone has just woken up and swarmed the streets. Everyone seems to have somewhere it go.
Sunday night Fatima (our cultural guide) and Fatima (one of our amazing cooks) take me to the Saaida performance at the festival. She is famous all across Morocco and sings politically charged Berber songs about poverty and rising above. The crowd is divided into male and female sections and Fatima informs me that the women are happy to be separated because they feel more free to sing and dance. Women of all ages crowd around and clap their hands; feeling empowered by Saiida’s words. I only wish that I could understand what exactly this woman was saying to inspire such a wide and diverse array of women – traditional women exposing only their eyes right alongside young girls dressed in western clothing.
Travel
The trip from Houston to Ifni truly was like traveling to another world. It was Houston to DC, DC to Madrid, Madrid to Casablanca, and Casablanca to Agadir. 30 hours and four plane rides and we still needed a night to recover in Agadir before heading to our final destination, Sidi Ifni.
Atlas Kasbah provided us with the warmest Moroccan welcome we could have asked for. The Kasbah, which literally translates to castle, sat peacefully on a hillside just outside of the hustle and bustle of Agadir. And what’s more, it was developed entirely on the principle of sustainable development. I never would have imagined that my first (and most glorious) shower in Morocco would be entirely heated by solar power!
Our first trek up to Boutmezguida, which literally means “place of the mosque.” This is the location that Vicky Marzol (aka Dr. Fog) has chosen to conduct the majority of her research regarding the efficacy of fog nets in the Ifni region. Its elevation (1225 m) and its distance from the coast (30 km) make it more ideal for fog capture than Boulaalam, which is much closer to the coast and a much lower elevation. Unfortunately this is not necessarily the MOST ideal location, but it is necessary to set up the nets here because there are radio tower guards twho voluntarily take the daily readings. These men are some of the most amazing and hospitable people we have met. The fog rolling in over the mountains was probably the most breathtaking sight I have ever seen - it was as if we were sitting on an island in the sky.
Our first Moroccan meal at the beautiful Atlas Kasbah in Agadir. We had an “American” cucmber and tomato salad, a veggie and chicken tagine, and a dessert pastilla with almond-paste filling. What an amazing welcome!
An Island in the Sky
I don’t think I’ve ever seen a group of students more eager to trek up a mountain at the crack of dawn as our group this morning. The terrain was definitely rocky and arid, but the amount of biodiversity was shocking and there were signs of fog and moisture everywhere. After just one brief lesson with Dr. Fog, Vicky Marzol, it became clear that much of the technical research had been conducted. The fog nets can indeed capture a large amount of clean water, but what they cannot do is transport the water collected at the top of the mountain down to the villages at the base of the mountain that have the greatest need. The efficiency of the fog nets is based primarimy on elevation and orientation with regards to the direction of the fog. In a region where fog hangs overhead for the majority of the year, it is hard to imagine that there is as of yet no feasible way to harvest and distribute it. The radio tower guards at Boutmezguida record the daily measurements in exchange for use of the fog water for drinking, cooking, and plumbing. Their extreme generosity in aiding this research effort if grealy appreciated, but we need to find a way to get water down to the peopl who need it most. After seeing the vegetation and signs of moisture on the hike up, Vicky suggested looking into a catchment system that utilizes the local vegetation.
When the fog the rolled in around 5 pm it was as if we were slowly becoming more and more isolated from the rest of the world. I was truly speechless as I sat watching these enourmous moutains become enveloped by the fog. Within 30 minutes it was as if we were all sitting on an island in the sky. The trek down was bittersweet. I was not only sad to leave the soldiers, but also to leave my view from up above the fog and descend down into it.
The Food Blog. I’ve been busily snapping shots of all the delicious cuisine since day 1 in Morocco. In a place where the little water obtained is used to greet guests, such as ourselves, with endless amounts of delicious tea and women devote hours to baking fresh bread and unimaginable flavorful tagines, a food blog truly is telling of the culture. So here’s a little taste of Moroccan culture…literally.
