Ahwach

The previous students have referred to Ahwach at wedding ceromies. Zoubida Benmoussa explains it in more detail.

Morocco is one of the richest countries of the world in terms of cultural aspects: traditions, customs, musics. Morocco is characterised by different types of music according the regions forming the whole country. Among them, we have what is called in Taroudant « Ahwach ».

     Ahwach is a famous Amazigh dance performed by a group of men wearing traditional clothes : white « Djellabas » and slippers. In this dance, the men use Bendirs, Agwals, …as musical instruments. They make a line in front of a group of women wearing Hayks (traditional clothes) decorated with jewellery.  The men dance and sing.  At the same time the women repeat choruses and answer the men.

     Ahwach a heritage passed from generation to generation. It is practised in national, religious, and marriage celebrations all over Morocco.

     I appreciate this music a great deal because it is part of my identity and that of my ancestors.  Consequently, we have to enjoy it and make it known to others.

     Visit Taroudant, especially in a national celebration or a musical festival, to know more about this dance and music.

Bendirs are the sieveshaped hand drums rather like Irish bodhrans but instead of being held by cross wires there is a thumbhole and they are played with the hand.

                                     



Marriage in Taroudant

Jamila Hounaine gives us a woman's view of weddings in Taroudant a much bigger town than Taliouine.

Before writing about the marriage ceremony in our city Taroudant, I would like to define marriage and cite different steps taking place when one wants to marry.

I. Definition of marriage:

     Marriage is a social contract between two individuals (a male and a female) that unites their lives legally, economically, and emotionally.

II. Steps for marriage:

  1. The “wali” : is the nearest relative to the lady, such as her father or brother if the father is unable to perform the task or the “wakil”,imam or appointed guardian to act on behalf of the best interests of the lady. It is his job to help find and interview the background of any potential suitor for the lady.

  2. After selecting the proper young man, there is an appointment scheduled for the two of them to meet (under chaperoned supervision) to discuss their possible future together.

  3. After the initial meeting, both of them are to pray to Allah in the form of a prayer called “salatul istikharah” for guidance. If this is not done, it does not invalidate the marriage, but it is something that will really help both of them in their future.

  4. If both of them recognized positive signs from the “salatul istikharah”, then they would proceed to make “nikah” (marriage contract). This again is done under the supervision of two witnesses. It is usually attended by an imam or a knowledgeable person in Islam, just so that there would be no mistakes in taking care of the details.

  5. The “mahr” (dowry):is presented and the lady is asked if she is prepared to accept this mahr and be married to this man. This is usually repeated three times in front of the witnesses, but at least one acknowledgement from the lady is necessary to proceed.

  6. The woman  would then sign the “nikah” document in front of the witnesses.

  7. The witnesses (usually two) would sign and attest that they had been present at the “nikah” and did witness the acceptance by the lady of the offer of the marriage by the man. The imam might also sign ,but this does not affect the validity of the marriage. Any two adult Muslims may witness the document. In the case of women witnesses, it is correct to have two in place of one. If there were to be two witnesses, but one is a woman, then it would be correct to have a man and two women sign the document.

  8. After the acceptance of the lady, the signing of the “nikah”, witnessing of the two witnesses and exchanging of “mahr”, the man and woman are considered legal couple in Islam to live together.

  9. After the signing of the marriage document, and the acceptance of the bride of the dowry, and the signing of the two witnesses, the groom is free to take his bride at anytime he chooses. There is no waiting

10. If the groom is unable or unwilling to take the bride after an extended period of time and she or he would like to annul the marriage, they would simply let the other person know and cause the dowry to be returned to the groom.

     The main rituals of marriage ceremony in Taroudant :

     By instinct, a male looks for a female to marry A man dreams of a perfect second part with whom he wants to unite and settles forever. Thus, the moment a man and a woman agreed to marry each other. The man has to ask her for marriage officially. That is to say, he meets her parents and tells them that he wants to marry their daughter. Once the parents of the girl agree, they tell him to bring his parents to discuss the affair together. As a result, they fix a date to come up with such gifts; for example, henna, parfums, clothes, different kinds of slippers and shoes, dates, a sheep to slaughter in the day of the marriage,…all these things are carried by a carriage or two with a traditional musical group moving from the house of the groom to the house of the bride passing through many streets to show this in public and announce that Mr.X is going to marry Miss Y. This is what is called “Khoutba”. In the first day of the marriage, the bride makes henna in her hands and feet.

 The next day, the “Adoul” (two men to witness the signing of  the contract of marriage). The third day is devoted to such a celebration in which the family members, friends, neighbours are present to eat and dance.

Unlike the european tradtion where the dowry is paid by the bride's family to the groom's the dowry here is paid by the groom to the bride.

Marriage in Taliouine Village

After the harvest ,when you have just sold your year's crop is a good time to hold a wedding. Noureddine Nidmoussa tells us about weddings in his home village. Taliouine is a good two hours from Taroudant so he has to board to attend the High School. He wrote this in the first year of his Bac studies

Every community in the world is characterised by its own traditions, customs ,and its own style of life.  Hence comes my eagerness to write about one of the most exciting topics. It is marriage in my native village of  Taliouine (almost 120 kms away from Taroudant).  Taliouine is a small tribe in the South of Morroco.  It is located between Taroudant and Ouarzazate city.  The inhabitants of Taliouine are Berbers « Imazighen ».  Their main occupation is to farming.

     Once a visitor to the village of Taliouine attends its marriages, he will certainly detect some differences and resemblances. For instance, each individual looks forward to an ideal couple so as to build up a positive society. Therefore, several moral principles should characterise the woman to be apt for marriage. They are generally of Honour, Modesty, and Virginity. As to the man, they are of Manhood and Loyalty to his family.

A. Honour :

     Women strongly pay attention to their own behaviour in order not to break down the institution of Honour. The parents from the very beginning of their daughters’ upbringing insist on teaching them the religious principles of Qurran for a considerable way. Basically, mothers show them how to cook and to wear clothes according to special conventions that must be respected. They also insist on the shawl over their heads and not to be unveiled in the presence of strangers or even their fathers.  Thus, the girls grow up with an engrained idea of Honour in their minds.

B. Modesty :

     Modesty means to get nervous or embarassed about meeting and speaking to other people. In the very past days, the visitor to an Amazigh tribe, in general, and to Taliouine, in particular, will be struck by a very special sight totally amazing : a world full of men and boys with the apparent absence of the other gender from the social life. Girls had better consider their homes as their kingdoms to enjoy and to prepare meals to their husbands.Therefore, it is shame on the virgin girl to be seen outdoors all the time.

This will be against her if someone happens to ask for her marriage.

C. Virginity :
     Those two traits already mentioned and that characterise the Amazigh girl lead her to be virgin.   This makes her wanted by respected families.  It is, then, a sign of pride to her family and the one of her would-be groom.

D. Manhood :

     Manhood means the ability to look for a source to provide for the needs of his family and keep up with the standard level of living. So, a good man is the one who stays outdoors working all the time from morning till evening.

E. Loyalty and faithfulness :

     Once the young man gets engaged with a girl he has chosen, in most cases parents are the ones who choose for their son.  He is consciously thrown to a world of restrictions in the sense that he must keep himself close to his wife as well as his parents.

     Having an agreement between the two families, then, they arrange celebrations that accompany the marriage ceremony. The two families happily prepare for the wedding day.  The first day is usually for the « talba » men who have learnt the Quraan   (the Muslim holy book) by heart and know about islamic teachings.  They are invited to read and recite chapters from the Quraan.  The family deliberately begins their celebrations as a good omen for the couple to live under islamic education .

     Around three o’clock in the afternoon, women of the whole village come usually in groups.  They sing beautiful songs until they reach the bride’s house.  This latter’s mother is the first one who should welcome them before anyone else and sprays them with sweet perfume as is the custom at all important events.  Then, they sit around  a large plate of crops which they winnow  while singing beautiful songs until food is served. 

 Next, various meals of tagines and couscous are ready to be eaten.  After, all the women prepare themselves for a short march to the « laain » fountain: a natural source of water situated outside the village.  They walk and sing poetry.  When they reach it, they throw away the chaff from the cereal.

     After two days, the most important event happens the day when the groom finally meets the bride and they retire to a  room to consumate the marriage.

     Then comes a day for men who celebrate in their turn but somehow different from women because they usually stay calm,are less noisy and when they talk it is usually about some business matter. 
In the end, they play « Ahwach » dance in the night. This dance is attended by all the inhabitants of the village, both men and women.

Finally, a woman close to the bride and bridegroom announces the success of the wedding by displaying the bridal sheet. Then, everybody is happy and  return to their houses.

     All in all, marriage in the South of Morocco and in my native village in particular is full of excitement and symbols that reflect the local culture.

Noureddine had some wonderful pictures to accompany his work but I have not been able to copy them and have borrowed images from the net.

Taliouine Saffron Fair

We went to Taliouine to buy saffron and purely by chance it was the Saffron Fair at the end of the harvest. The House of Saffron which is usually deserted was quite busy and offering saffron tea which I declined because of the sugar content. Behind on the fairground there were stalls erected and behind there was a stage and seating presumably for concerts or performances. About half the stalls were selling saffron, the others sold a mixture of other agricultural products and handicrafts. Some were fromTaroudant; the Argan co-operatives and babouche makers. There were olive oil vendors and several date stalls. I bought some rose potpourri from El Gounaa. One of the Babouche sellers got quite indignant when I said we lived in Taroudant in winter saying he hadn't seen me. Oh well, there  only several 10s of thousands live here ,I can't expect to stand out from the crowd. 

Tioute Builds Big

We went to Tioute. The Palmery was as ever but the village was a major roadworks. The restaurant with the wonderful pink jasmine in the Palmery has been closed. A european man from the travel firm (I think Maramara) said it would not do and they must build another at the entrance to the village. That is now open and the guide says it is much better than the one in the Kasbah, but we did not eat there. It is at the entrance to the village so coaches will be able to park directly outside and there will be no need to ascend by donkey as for the Kasbah restaurant. There is also a Camping being built; The surrounding wall is up and the reception building but apparently there is quite a bit of work to be done getting facilities to each pitch and it will not be open for 3 months thereby missing this year's snowbirds. It is right by the new restaurant and will be a wonderful site to stay for a couple of nights when finished. Meanwhile you have to go a very long way round to get into the village and have to park further from the entrance to the palmery.
We left and went to the Palais Salaam for lunch and there were two Maramara coaches of Korean tourists having lunch there so perhaps the travel industry thinks Koreans don't like donkeys.

Snow on the Tizi n' Test

We went over the Tizi n' Test to see Tin Mal mosque. We've never  been over when there was snow before. There wasn't much, just a smattering on the verges and some black ice on the shaded parts of the road but it made the Atlas look really pretty. The Guardian recognised me and told me I'd been to Tin Mal four times, I wasn't sure whether it was four or five but on reflection he was right. The air was cold of course ,although it was pleasant enough in the sun. Coming back you came through clear bright air and looked down on the mist hanging in the Sousse valley.
The Juggler proved to have somewhat of an adversion to heights for some-one who made his living by stilt-walking and found some of the precipitous hairpin bends quite challenging. He went from wanting the sun visor up so as not to obscure his view in the valley to admitting he'd shut his eyes at some of the drops high up.

The view north from Tin Mal mosque

The Juggler Arrives

Beloved's Big Bruv has come for a visit. I used to tell people he was a clown and they always assumed I was being perjorative when I was merely describing his profession as a magician, juggler, fire-eater, unicyclist, stiltwalker and puppeteer, so I'll just call him the Juggler. Certainly when Sweetheart was growing up she couldn't have had a more interesting uncle.
He had had to leave home in the wee small hours and so had not gone to bed at all so I had expected him to "crash on landing" but in fact he kept going like a young person a third his age and demanded to be taken round the souks. We took him to the Palais Salaam in the evening to see the lights and had a look at the new rill fountain lit up although unfortunately the magic fountain wasn't playing.

An unwelcome visitor

I was sitting innocently watching TV yesterday afternoon when I heard a plop and this was there on the floor. The really alarming thing about it was it's size which was about 5" or 12cm. Beloved acted in the appropriate way that God gave us men for and disposed of it out on the street. The question is, is it a locust, it looked like one; and, if so, do we have a plague of locusts or are we being invited to join the locust-eaters?

This Machine Kills Fascists

                                                                         

We watch television through the Astra 2 satellites and they give us some strange additional programmes I wouldn't usually see. There is one called "Contraversial " which seems to have a communist slant and at 5 yesterday I stumbled across a wonderful programme marking an important centenary I'd missed earlier this year. Woodie Guthrie was born on 14/07/1912.
He influenced Pete Seeger and the Weavers thus promoting the whole folk revival of my teens, and Beloved's hero, Bob Dylan, as well as Joe Strummer, Billy Bragg, The Manic Street Preachers and Sweetheart's favourites, Frank Turner and Al Baker.
Here's to you Woody. So long, it's been good to know you.

Taroudant's Tagine

                                              
                                                        

Houda Elgrich tells us about tagines in Taroudant.

     In Taroudant, we have a lot of traditional dishes that represent  our special culture. In this small topic, I am going to write about tagine and how people ,women in paticular, prepare it.  The word « tagine » comes from a dish used in the kitchen.  It is made out of clay that we put at the bakers untill it becomes baked and fit to be used in cooking. It is impossible to find a Moroccan house with no tagine because it is part of our culture. We use it to prepare different meals. A tagine contains some meat with vegetables like tomatoes, potatoes, onions, and many others.  It is so delicious and healthy especially when it doesn’t contain a lot of oil.  A good tagine is cooked with olive oil.  In Taroudant, when people invite guests, they are very proud to serve them tagine with meat and different vegetables. It is, also, cooked on a very slow  fire. Which makes of it a very delicious tagine that tastes good.


                                     

When you visit our city Taroudant, you are kindly invited to taste our tagines.

 

The tagines you get offered in tourist restaurants tend to be the classics of court food; chicken with olives and preserved lemons, lamb with prunes and almonds, and kofta with egg. The everyday tagine as Houda says is beef with vegetables spiced with the cook's particular Ras El Hanut (see 25/01/2011). Carrots, chickpeas, turnips and marrow are all regular additions, but the principal attraction is that seasonal vegetables are used. I particularly enjoyed one with cabbage as an addition, which I would never have dared cook that way.
The glazed tagines sold in the west are really only suitable for using in an oven and it you approach a trader in the market about one of the fancy tagines made for tourists they will tell you they are suitable for cooking but backtrack rapidly when they realise you mean on a hob and live down the road and may return. It is the earthernware tagines that make the genuine article and whilst these can be used in an oven or on a gas hob with a diffuser the traditional method is to use  a majmar,the second part of the tagine outfit ,with charcoal.

Because these have live coals people tend to put them outside on their courtyards or roofs and coming up to lunchtime after midday prayers the smells coming from neighbours can drive you to a frenzy of hunger.
In europe one tends to serve tagine with rice or if trying to be "authentic" with couscous, but in Morocco it is eaten only with bread, either the ordinary flatbread or tafoulet a speciality bread. The dish is served communally and only the right hand is used for eating.
Some of the most readily available authentic tagines can be had at motorway or roadside services where they are bought by weight.

Yet More Jewellery

More necklaces from Afrika Arts. These are relatively inexpensive for silver and semi-precious stones @ 350-450 Dh.

Death to Beelzebub

This summer the wet weather followed by heat gave us a problem with flies we usually avoid. It started when on two consecutive days I was driven down from  sewing on the terrace by the number of flies. We muttered about getting a zapper when we next went to Agadir. Beloved thoroughly cleaned the kitchen ,floor, surfaces, the lot to discourage them. That afternoon I went into the kitchen to find it crawling with flies like some biblical plague. Clearly we could not wait for Agadir . It must have been a general manifestation because when Beloved went to the Hanut over the road midafternoon in the rest-time the shopkeeper put two cartons of milk on the counter because 9 times out of 10 that's what we buy. Beloved said "er no" and the shopkeeper immediately reached for the fly spray without him having to ask for it. That day was obviuously the day for buying fly spray . We used it twice daily. We have also went to Agadir and managed to purchase a "KILL PEST" zapper. We didn't see them at first but to Beloved's bemused  amusement the shop assistants in Bricoma responded positively to my request "Avez-vous une machine electrique pour mosquites bzzz bzzz bzzz ZAPP!!?"
It has been on continuously in the kitchen since. It seemed effective by the number of dead in it's tray but more keep coming and we didn't cook until  after dark  when they appeared to sleep. There is a loud crack every time one is killed which can be quite startling but judging by the frequency it seems to work best in conjunction with the fly spray as though the poison prevents them resisting the allure of the UV.
Now we are back and it is cooler there are far fewer flies. This can be easily measured in that in October we were emptying the zappers tray three times a day of about 50 flies we now haven't bothered emptying it for a week because its only zapping 1 or 2 a day.

More Jewellery

More jewellery for the knitter from Arika arts

Jewellery

The knitter wants to buy some jewellery from Afrika Arts. Here are some of the items which may be suitable.

A Demonstration to Support Gaza

After Friday prayers there was a little demonstration in the main square in support of Gaza. It burst into the square from I think the nearby mosque, about 100+ people with half a dozen banners and a dozen palestinian flags. They were chanting slogans and carrying a small size coffin effigy. The overwhelming feature of the demonstration was, like the Mayday parade, how dignified it was. They sang a couple of good hearty presumably protest songs, in two parts, with chant and reply much like any cold war communist demo; shouted "God is Great" a couple of times; listened to an amplified speech of only about 5 minutes length (British union leaders could learn a lot); solemnly burnt something, I think it was the coffin but as Beloved said, at least it wasn't a Welsh flag; chanted a couple more slogans and dispersed. About 20 minutes from start to finish.
They were watched from a distance by rather more police than usual say a dozen in all and there were a few army types with them and two more serious observers in suits. We had noticed an army type lurking near the mosque on the Bab Taghout road going in, just as at the height of the Benghazi bombing, but the whole thing could not have been more dignified and to the point; Focussed would be a good description.

Back in the sun

It's Islamic New Year. Not everything is shut but the number of drums for sale suggest that the whole population are going to have 2 each.
The garden is doing well and the hedge has lost its holes and the roses are in full bloom. Only one of the new plants has died and that's the one on the patio which we watched the birds peck at so we don't have to look far for the cause. I'm not sure about the longterm survivability of the yuccas though and expect that by this time next year those pots may be occupied by cacti.

We shopped ahead of new year and of course there is no lamb to be had as post-Eid everyone has a freezerful although we did manage to get beef. We followed pickups piled with sheepskin back from Agadir, presumably heading for the Tannery, of which Mohamed Elmeddah tells us more:

     Craftsmanship or the Tannery is one of the oldest centres in Taroudant. It’s a place where tanners make all leather and wool products.The time of its peak production is the days following Eid El Adha when people slaughter sheep and send wool and skins to the tannery. These products such as leather belts,slippers, hats, wallets, bags, sandals… attract people from all over the world ( tourists). Those products are not only exported to other cities all over Morocco such as Fès, Marrakech, etc but also to many European countries such as Italy, France, Germany, Spain...

     The local markets are rich with such leather and woollen products and articles that are used as ornaments or furnishings  in houses such as  rugs of sheep or goatskin or cowhide,or as clothes such as leather jackets and slippers, which are bought in different religious ceremonies.

                                    

Tafroute Again

I Have never really "got" Tafroute. People write songs about it and wax lyrical on the page but to me it seems a pretty ordinary if tourist orientated town. We had never stayed overnight , just passed through , so we decided to stay to see if we were missing something. We stayed at the Hotel des Amandines which overlooks the town with wonderful views and has a swimming pool which Beloved enjoyed. (I had managed to leave my costume in Blighty.) I was taken by their Saarinen contemporary copy tables and chairs on the terrace.
Beloved was quite excited by one of the other guest's classic Citroen.
We wandered round town in the day and evening. Had a nice meal. But, I still don't get Tafroute. I'd rather stay at Kerkous any day.

Couscous

Here Soukayna Mechouk describes how to make couscous.

     Hi! I would like to welcome you in my mini-project which is going to be about « Couscous ».

     Couscous is another popular dish in Taroudant and all over Morocco. For Moroccan families, it is the favourite dish on Fridays. It is a very respectful meal associated with the prayer of Friday in muslim countries. It is then, part of our traditions and customs. Couscous is a meal that brings people and members of families together when they eat, and it strengthens their relationships. In my city Taroudant, when people are not served couscous, they feel as if something is missing from them. It is also prepared in celebrations such as marriage,…

     HOW TO MAKE COUSCOUS :

-The ingredients :

   *1 kilo of couscous

   *1 kilo of meat of beef or mutton, you can also use chicken

   *2 or 3 carrots, 3 tomatoes, 1 big onion, zucchini and squash

   *Parsley (you may add coriander too)

   *2 big spoons of vegetable oil or olive oil

-The spices :

   *1/2 spoon of salt,

   *1/2 spoon of pepper,

   *1/2 spoon of cumin, pinch saffron is optional.

   *1/2 spoon of smen ( butter ghee)

   *1 litre of water.

     You will need a couscous pot : the top of it is used to steam the couscouss, the bottom is used for the sauce by which we include all the ingrediants and spices we mentioned  mixed them together.

Igherm

Igherm is a transport hub in the middle of the Anti-Atlas. It has roads to Taroudant, Taliouine, Tata and Tafroute. Its public buildings are particularly attractive with their Amizigh inspired architecture.