We met our guide Ahmed Taoumi at the dock and he told us another family would be joining us. The family was also from Tennessee. The mother and father were teaching at a boarding school for the children of missionaries. Their school is in Germany. The mother graduated from MTSU's library science program two years after me.
Our guide took us all throughout Tangier. We started in a private mini-bus. We drove to Cape Spartel where the Atlantic Ocean meets the Mediterranean Sea. We we to the Caves of Hercules. We drove through the California neighborhood, which is where many foreigners have nice homes. Ahmed explained that it's easy to purchase property and own it outright in Morocco. Many developers in England and France are building houses in Tangier but selling them through offices in their home country. He said that most of them run around 500,000 EUR.
House in the California community of Tangier
Cap Spartel lighthouse, where the Mediterranean meets the Atlantic
Month-old donkey with boy dressed in Berber costume at Cap Spartel
Ride a camel for one euro
Baby camels are just for show
Cave of Hercules. Can you see the face?
Interior of a restored house in the medina
Fatima symbols (the hands) on a medina interior
Friendly face in the medina
We walked through the old town, which is being renovated. We also saw the marketplaces and were present during the call to prayer. This was a very interesting moment because two separate mosques were calling to prayer at the same time while we were walking through the narrow streets of the old town.
After we emerged from the marketplace, we saw the St. Michael's flag, the flag of England above a church. This was St. Andrew's Anglican church. Ahmed sent us into the church while he went to get drinks for the children in the family on the tour with us. The church has a beautiful yard with a garden, gravestones and stray cats. We entered the church and were greeted by a man who was working there. He told us that the Arabic inscription inside the church was the Lord's Prayer. The priest was also there. He asked the family with us if they were Episcopalian, which they were. He offered to give us communion. He said that anyone baptized in the name of the trinity could take communion, so we all participated. It was really nice to participate in such a thing while traveling, but especially to take part in such a thing in a little island of the Christian community in a generally Muslim land.
Interior of St. Andrew's Church. The dark brown is the Lord's Prayer in Arabic.
The priest explained that the church hadn't had a permanent priest in about 10 years and that different priests serve the church on a rotation. They each stay for just a few months before rotating out. We bought a postcard from them that was a print of Matisse's painting of St. Andrew's and made a small donation.
Our guide took us to a cafe where we ate sandwiches and had Cokes to drink. Then, Ahmed took us back to the ferry and walked us all the way up to the customs checkpoint. He explained to us that the number stamped on our passport at entry is our permanent registration number in Morocco. Should we ever return, we would give that number to customs and they can pull us up in the computer. We saw a couple of people taken away by customs officers while we were in line. The customs into and out of Morocco was very strict and I can see why it would be so with so many people in Africa seeking a better life in Europe. The actual crossing seemed more concerned with the movement of people rather than goods. While we put our bag through a scanner, many people walked away without scanning their bags and nothing was said.
Our guide knew everyone in Tangier. He did a great job of keeping us free from salesmen when we indicated that we didn't want to buy anything. I only saw one beggar in the entrance to one of the food markets. Most everyone was trying to sell something. I had been a little nervous about our safety in Tangier, but Ahmed made me feel quite comfortable in his city. He was also very knowledgeable of the history of the region.
I really enjoyed the visit to the archeological museum where we saw the interaction of Portuguese, Greeks, Romans, and many other groups. He told us of the town of Cotta where ancient people made a sauce called garum. Garum was a fermented paste made of olive oil, salt and pieces of fish that were made in large vats and poured into clay containers. Because of the use of salt, this paste was primarily consumed by the very wealthiest classes of Romans.
We also learned about the university in Fes, Morocco, the University of Al Karaouine. Maimonides, a great Jewish doctor and philosopher, was one of the people who studied there.
We returned on the 5 PM ferry to Tangier. We went back to the hotel to wash the dust away and take a siesta because we had been in the heat and tramping around for so long. We were pleased to find that the laundry we left with the front desk last night was sitting on our bed when we returned. It was only 10 EUR, the cheapest we have had anywhere so far.
We made our way to Cafe Central, a recommended restaurant in our guide book. We noticed lots of people in their Spain national soccer team jerseys and remembered that it was Spain vs. Portugal in the Eurocup tonight. At our cafe, we ordered a cheeseburger that had a fried egg on it (I've seen this on the menu several places and figured this was the day to give it a go). Andy had a chicken filet. Service was incredibly slow because it was busy and the staff was a little distracted with the game. We were able to watch the entire first half of the game before we left. A random guy came in the cafe to blow a horn in his enthusiasm for the evening. It was funny.
We strolled around the nearby church and saw the local men's club next door. In Spain, men traditionally have houses where they meet to socialize, read the paper, or have a meal. Women and even tourists can visit these clubs, now. We merely peeked and took a picture. We saw the Order of Santiago symbol on another nearby building.
We strolled toward our hotel and out to the beach, which we haven't really seen because of our schedule. There is a lighthouse just along the coast that was nice to see in the evening. As we walked back to the hotel, many people were still enjoying the soccer match on the big screen TVs setup outside the cafes. We had had a long day, so we went up to the room. Our TV selection is the most interesting yet. We have zero English language channels. There is a French channel, a German sports channel, an Arabic language channel that shows soccer mostly, and lots of Spanish channels. Unfortunately, the Spain vs. Portugal game was not on our TV, but we could tell by the noise in the street that it came down to the last minutes in the game and that Spain pulled out a win.
Tomorrow, we travel by car to Seville. We'll leave the car at the Avis in the airport and catch a flight to Lisbon with a layover in Barcelona. Sadly, this route was the best option that I could find. I couldn't find a rail option that seemed to work and most of Portugal uses buses to travel (even long distances).
No comments:
Post a Comment