The King:
Mohammad VI is the king of Morocco and he primarily lives in Rabat, the
administrative capital of the country, where the parliament resides. His grandfather, Mohammad V led the movement
to independence in the 1950’s. When it
was granted from France (and Spain) he came up with the phrase which is placed
in huge letters on dams and hillsides “God, Nation and King”. The king is the head of the faithful in
Morocco rather than the head of State.
However, he also controls the army.
In controlling religion a ministry reviews the sermons to be given throughout
the nation to make sure they are moderate rather than fundamentalist we are
told. They also suggest topics to be
discussed. There is a giant mosque in
Casablanca on the end of the Atlantic ocean.
It is named for Mohammad V and his tomb rests nearby.
Jewish Museum: There is only one Jewish museum in the Arab world and it is here in Casablanca. Unfortunately it did not have a section speaking to the history of Jews in Morocco which goes back to the early Berber times. However, it did have displays of artifacts. One of interest is the hand of Fatima which protects you from evil, much like the evil eye in Greek and Turkish cultures. It was interesting also to see the part of the constitution that includes religious freedom and guarantees the rights of minority groups.
Rick’s Cafe: You remember this from the movie with Lauren
Bacall and Humphrey Bogart. This was
filmed during World War II so it was completely filmed on a Hollywood stage. Thus, there never was a Rick’s café until one
was conceived a decade or so ago by an entrepreneur and it has become a main
focus of tourist activity in Casablanca, especially since there is little of
interest to see here as it is the commercial hub of Morocco. We went here for New Year’s eve celebrations
complete with a piano player and songs from the 30’s, as well as Moroccan
music. We each got a fez to wear and the
film is continuously shown on a big screen.
There is also a roulette wheel.
Karen found it very cute. The
food, however, was not very exciting.
January 1: Coming
Home is not always easy
Our flight home: So
we made it from Casablanca to Paris with no problem and we even made it over
the Atlantic, but then we had a problem.
There was a fire in one of the lithium batteries that power the moving
seat in 1st class. All of a
sudden our movie screen went blank and our plane started a deep descent. We were going to made an emergency landing in
Montreal. The landing went well-we all
applauded the crew that did a nice job-and fire engines surrounded the
plane. The fire had been put out quite
rapidly and they were able to stabilize things so we could take off again. Of course they then needed to gas up and to
deice (as the temp was 20 degrees). We
left 4 hours later! Karen was interviewed on Chanel 7 (ABC News as we walked out of customs). This was all reported realtime by bloggers-see http://mashable.com/2015/01/01/air-france-business-seat-fire/ So sometimes it is
not so easy to come home but it sure feels good when you get there!
Summary of our trip: As I think
about the trip I would recommend Morocco for a visit. It is probably the most liberal and
comfortable Arab country to visit. It
feels safe, the roads are well kept, the people friendly and the sights
interesting. There is the desert, the high mountains and the ocean. There is Roman history, Berber history and
Jewish history in addition to the dominant Islamic culture. The Islamic art is beautiful and the food is
quite good, although you get tired of stews (tagine) after a while. Oh, and it is fairly inexpensive with some
beautiful hotels. We found the Lonely
Planet guidebook to be excellent.
No comments:
Post a Comment