Day 20: a camel adventure! June 3

Fez was the first city (789AD) in Morocco. It is believed to be the world's largest contiguous (adjoining) car free, urban area. It is amazing! It is also home to Al-Qarawiyyn, the oldest university in the world, established in 859.

“Today, Ahmed made us another yummy breakfast. Since there was no Mormon church, Dad asked the three oldest kids to prepare a talk. Talie’s talk was about keeping a scripture journal. Dallin’s talk was about service. My talk was based on a general conference talk by Elder Nelson. It was titled, “What Christ thinks of me.” Ashlynn.

Now that the fear is gone, we love wandering through the Medina! There is always something to catch you eye or your nose;) We are definitely in a different world and it is just amazing to be in the midst of it! We can even almost always find our way to our home through the winding maze.

Every time we pass the shop with the turtles and the iguana, the shopkeeper - who is missing half his top teeth - lures us over to pet and if not buy, at least borrow the iguana while we are in Fes.

Every where we went, people would kiss Kennedi, and it didn't even phase her. But on the last day, somebody kissed Peyton on the top of his head. he quickly wiped it off and looked at me like, "what just happened?"

 “ Guys would look at me and say things like “your beautiful”, “wow”, “angel” and other things it was weird! They waved, made kissy noises, winked and whistled as we walked through the Medina. 

A public water fountain. Look at the beautiful detail!

Because there are no cars in the entire city, they would use donkeys to transport their goods.

On the way out, we saw some boys cooling off in the public fountain.

We drove around and explored some old ruins and a cemetery on a hill overlooking Fes. 

 

Here's Tanner in the car, happy like always!

  We had decided not to drive to the southern, desert part of Morocco, where the camels are, but we still want to have a camel experience in Africa. So  we drive around trying to find camels. On the way back, we see what looks to be a camel farm. Benson, who is always good at drumming up an adventure, turns around drives right up to a little group of shacks that sit next to the camels. He hops out of the car and approaches a man, a toddler and his wife. He doesn't speak a word of Arabic, and they speak that much English, but  he is able to get the green light for us to see the camels - that man is amazing!
On the way back, we saw some camels and asked the owner if we could see them. He had like 20!” 

They actually pose for pictures. “He said they were too dangerous to ride, but the took my Dad to a Mommy camel with her baby and milked her! He brought over a filthy cup surrounded by flies! And put the milk in there! He gave the cup to my Dad. His face got bright red! He took a sip and then we all drank some. I hesitated but took a tiny swallow. It was warm and thick. Yuck!

Dallin, who won't eat my cooking, even tries some.

Ashy's face says it all.

Ok., your'e right, it's not camel's milk;).

A few seconds later, the camel started to clear his throat. I thought he was going to spit on us!”

Feeling fully satisfied with our camel adventure, we return to the Medina.

We have fun taking pictures outside of our Morocco home, now that it is not dark, and we are not scared for our lives.

 
 

 

Tanner takes his first steps in Morocco - but doesn't start walking 'till we return home from Europe (@15 1/2 months) - he much rather have Dad carry him in the back pack!

“Later, me and Mom went out around the shops that were scattered in the old city.” I want to get scarves as it reminds me of the majority of the women who wear them. We even see some women who are completely covered, except for their eyes. I don’t know why, but these women leave me feeling uneasy. I can’t imagine not having any identity at all.  “We saw some earrings some earrings that were cheap, so I got one pair. They were called the hand of Fatima.” Talie.
  
 It is a sign of protection in many cultures. Named after Muhammed’s daughter, Fatima. “So it looks like we’ll be safe! Mom got a bracelet with the hand of her on it. We also got postcards and scarves. It got dark and was late, so we walked back to our palace. Dad came looking for us. We brought our treasures in and met everyone out on the terrace. We could see all of Africa. The houses didn’t have roofs. Africa’s streets were piled with litter and trash. Roaming around were diseased, stray cats and baby kitties with ribs showing =(. It smelt horrible in parts of town. Out on the terrace we sat there and listened to Muslim prayers. It flowed through the city. It was a loud radio with cool sounds.” Talie