Ciao my globe trotters,
Like I have said before, I flew into Morocco knowing little about the country. I only took a crash course from reading news articles and watching YouTube videos a few days before I left.
So it would only make sense that I learned a lot as I became more exposed to Morocco. Here are 5 facts that really stood out to me.
1. It is a lot greener than I thought.
Before we landed, I looked out the window and I saw squares and squares of green. I honestly thought it was going to be more desert, but I was wrong. When you exit the airport, you can see palm trees standing tall and mighty in the grass.
2. Cats are everywhere.
There are so many stray cats, casually walking around or sleeping under things. These cats are well taken care of. People lay out food for them. You rarely see a dog. Our tour guide said Moroccans believe cats can protect people from the evil eye.
3. The city is called Fes, not Fez.
Sometimes we saw the word Fez and other times we saw the word Fes. I thought it was spelled differently based on what ethnic group was using it. Our guide said Fez is the red Moroccan hats, whereas the Fes is the city.
4. King Mohammed II never gave the list of Jews.
During WWII, the Germans asked Morocco to list all the Jews. The king refused to give the list. He said, “There are no Jews here, only Moroccans.” Morocco was one of three countries to do this.
5. Moroccan mosques don’t have domes.
If you have seen some photos of mosques in Turkey or other Islamic nations, they usually have a dome in the center. The mosques in Morocoo have a tall rectangular pillar. This is because Morocco was never occupied by the Ottoman empire, so they never adopted the now Turkish architecture.
There you have it. I learned all of these things from my tour guide, who is extremely knowledgeable and also a local. So even though I didn’t verify any of these facts, I trust them and still find them very interesting.
Ciao,
Amy
amy 