I Could Have Been Dropped Here

Stork's Nest Atop the Medina Wall in Marrakech

Do you ever wonder what if?
What if I was dropped into Africa,
or Russia, or China
instead of North America?
What would my life be like?

I thought of this while looking at the giant stork nests perched on top of the Medina walls in Marrakech.

Momma Stork guarding her nest

Colour is the word of the day;

silver and bronze, 

silver fibula (brooch)

"hasma" hand of fatima
amulet of protection

 blue-white-gold-green mosaics

 ,     stained glass  

 turquoise blue and silver pottery

spices in every shade of green, orange yellow and red   

and the ever present dry, dusty, brownish landscape

We hired a taxi, six of us piling into a large (yikes, I don't know

what type of car!   okay, it was silver...I guess I am more

into colours, eh?) automobile and made our way

to Safi, a pottery village situated along the Atlantic Coast.

The road from Marrekech to Safi

Shepherds watching their sheep

Olive Grove

sharing the road takes on a whole new meaning

Djellaba, traditional, loose-fitting unisex outer
robe with full sleeves.

mosques dot the countryside

Safi, Morocco

We arrived in Safi to be greeted by Abdel, our host of Riad Leila,
 who was waiting for us alongside the road.
 Mary and Steve Donohoe, friends from Vermont
who are living in Dar Bouzza, met us along the road
and we followed Abdel up a dusty road toward the

Riad.   Driving on the road I thought, "where are we going???"

following Abdel to the Riad(B&B)....nervous, anyone?

 After only a few minutes we arrived at the
 top of the hill to Riad Leila, a beautiful B & B nestled in the hills

just 3 km from Safi.  

Nathalie and Abdel, our lovely hosts

the entry foyer

when in doubt read

the Moroccan room

Steve, Mary and Jude (it's Moroccan mint tea I'm drinking, no wine here!)

lunch....one main platter with serving spoons for everyone
(usually you use your fingers to eat)

Nathalie and Rachel greeting a neighbour

another neighbour!

Wood oven for grilling, cooking tagines and baking bread

water resevoir 70 metres deep

vegetables over a bed of couscous topped with
hard boiled eggs, chicken and raisins
no individual serving plates (less dishes, eh?)

Nathalie and Abdel are creating an oasis of olive trees, citron,
fig trees, and even a clay tennis court!

where's the bread?

 

new friends
Lara, Yaelle and Rachel

 Abdel graciously walked us down to one of the nearby local potteries.
Safi is known for its beautiful Moroccan pottery.  As I potter I was
especially interested in their rather labour-intensive process.

dried chunks of clay are added to a huge
container of water and slaked for 24 hours

numerous shapes are created using
a jigger;  a plaster mold is place
on the kickwheel, clay is placed into
the mold and a handle with a template
is pressed into the mold creating
a basic shape

the clay slop is removed from the water and left
to partially dry in the sun to a workable consistency

molds for the kick wheel

intricate designs are painted
on the pots using natural dyes
from plants (this pot was wheel thrown)

 

Many of the potteries use  traditional, wood or grass kilns to fire their pottery

but this is highly polluting.  There is a move

toward firing the pottery using gas kilns,

which this small pottery operation uses.

gas kiln

Buying local truly takes on a whole new meaning.  

For those of you living in Roanoke, VA

consider visiting the Blue Ridge Potters Guild

in October at Patrick Henry High School.

You will be greeted by a myriad of pottery

 made by 60 or so potters in the area.  

Get there early as the pottery sells fast!

We also drove into Safi to visit several 

of the potteries in the village.

Here is how this works:  

you park your car and a "guardian" greets you

who will "guard" your car while you are gone. 

 He is paid upon your return.

Then several men approach you,

 all associated with certain potteries in

the village, wanting you to follow 

them to their pottery.

our unofficial guide of the potteries
standing inside a kiln

grass fired kiln in Safi

Steve purchasing some pottery

Bartering is a way of life here in Morocco. 

 One never pays the initial price

 but barters back and forth until an 

agreed upon price.  Gilles felt Steve paid too much 

for his pottery;  85 euros for several large platters, 

6 or so small cups and and even more small bowls, 

all intricately hand painted with clay dug from the hills-

slaked-sieved-wedged-thrown on the wheel-

fired once to bisque-glazed-fired a second time

 in a grass fed kiln (the grass delivered by

donkey carts) and finally cleaned.

As a potter I didn't even want to barter, but then

I believe we have a long way to go

 in North America in appreciating

the hand crafted, locally made object.  

tagine cooking pot on top
of a base for briquettes or wood

portuguese fortress wall in Safi
unfortunately we couldn't visit the fort due to
restoration of its walls

portuguese fort in Safi

After a long day we walked up the hill

 to order fresh fish from one of the small

 restaurants situated along the Atlantic.

waiting for dinner!

Safi at night

our fresh fish dinner being grilled

Vacationing can be exhausting!

Saying goodbye to our new friends.

e    

Thank you Nathalie, Abel, Lara, Rachel and Yann
 for creating your oasis in Riad Leila, Safi, Morocco.