Moroccan Hospitality
Rissani, Morocco 1997, A Visit to a Kasbah
I hired a Berber man to lead me through the large castle-like kasbahs of Rissani. These are fortified apartment houses. Long, dark tunnels thread in all directions lit only (in those days) by shafts of sunlight streaming through openings in the roof made for that purpose. The floor of the tunnel is packed into humps and lumps: depressions from thousands of feet packing the mud into foot shapes and hoof shapes during decades of rainy seasons. The middle of the floor has a shallow ditch running down the center for waste water. You need to watch your step.
Old, nail-studded, wooden doors open off the tunnel. Some lead to stables and some to ‘apartments’. The woman in the photo above lived with her old and sick husband in one of the apartments. She invited us in to her home.
In the darkened main room, an elderly and obviously ill man lay on blankets. No bed, just blankets. He was propped on a cushion leaning against the wall with his legs stretched out before him. The woman laid out more blankets and gestured for us to sit. The old man welcomed us. “Marhaba!” My guide’s response: “Shokhran”…thank you. Then the old man and my guide began what sounded like a friendly conversation.
The woman had disappeared. I got out my camera and tried to get some shots of the old man as he spoke to my guide but the corner where he sat was too dark. In a moment, the woman appeared. She had changed her clothes. She now wore a fresh white blouse with touches of cross-stitch embroidery. She carried a plate of home-made cookies which she set before us. Then she began to make the tea.
Moroccan culture cannot be surpassed for hospitality. No matter where you are or who you are, Moroccans, although maybe I should say Berber Moroccans, will invite you into their homes for tea if not a complete meal. I think the woman in this photo, asked us in to amuse her ill husband, to brighten his otherwise dull day. My guide and he seemed to enjoy chatting and she prepared tea not only out of courtesy but because she wanted us to stay as long as possible. We did stay a while. Although the guide was in his early twenties, he felt at home chatting with the old man. Moroccans respect their elders. Conversations between generations is natural and enjoyable.