<-- beautiful Tetuan. Looking out at the Rif mountains from the roof of my host family's apartment building thereWell, it was quite an eventful trip up north. First, I met up with my acquaintance, Digby, in Tanger and he showed me around the city. Digby was the English man I randomly met in the Tanger train station back in November who put me in touch with Ma'alem Seddik in Essaouira and who has since been an extremely helpful contact and connector for me. It was nice to actually get to know him a little and hear about his life living in Morocco for the last 25 years.
After a quick trip to Tarifa, Spain so that I could re-enter Morocco and get another 3-month 'tourist' visa, I spent a long weekend with my host family in Tetuan, met up with Ma'alem Arafa, my teachers from the school where I studied Arabic and other musician friends.
A lot has changed with my friends and family there since I left. One of the amusing changes is that a Canadian guy, Andreas, has been living with the family for the past 5 months and although he'd been studying Arabic, he told me he “has a hang-up” about speaking other languages imperfectly so he only spoke English to the family- which means that in the last 5 months, they have all learned a fair amount of English. The most hilarious part is how sassy Chaemae (the oldest sister, maybe 25) has become with her English. She and Andreas were constantly ribbing each other while I was there, just like regular brother and sister. At one point, I heard her tell him to “go to hell” and I almost wet my pants laughing so hard. Khalid, the youngest (now 6 years old) has also picked up a lot of English and has taken to saying, “yeah, I know, I know” whenever he's told to do something.
Saturday, I attempted an interview with Ma'alem Arafa but the translator, a man whom I'd met during my first time in Tetuan, was so passionate about the questions I was asking (quite controversial issues) that it turned out to be quite difficult to decipher what Arafa was saying versus this man's opinion; I never really found out what Arafa had to say about them. Oh well.
After the interview, Arafa invited me to join him at an Aissawa gathering (another kind of spiritual/trance-inducing traditional music of Morocco). At this point, there was no music yet; the event was just getting started with everyone eating and visiting. Because I'd accompanied Arafa as his student, I ended up sitting with the men, in the mens' chamber. This was fascinating but also a bit awkward. I found myself trying to find something to stare at so that I wouldn't make too much eye contact with the men. I stared at the ceiling, the patterns in the carpet, my toes. However, trying to listen in on the conversation and observing the men was quite intriguing.
After eating with the men, I joined the common room where I chatted a little with a man next to me. I was recognized by a woman who met me in Sidi Ali (the religious festival there) and so it was nice to feel a bit more welcomed after that. At one point, the moqdama (priestess) of the ceremony plopped down in my chair with me, almost launching me out of it when she sat down, so that I had one butt cheeck on the chair and one in mid-air. She didn't say a word to me or even so much as look at me which I found a bit odd. After an hour or so, I was a little relieved to leave.
Saturday night, Ma'alem Arafa, Youssef and their group, Rif Gnawa Experience, played a party in Martil, on the coast just outside of Tetuan. It was a fun, relaxed time and was good for me to see the fusion group Arafa created (the video below is from this party).
After Tetuan, I spent a couple more days in Tanger where I met up with two ma'alemin I'd met there: one through Digby and one through Arafa. Although I didn't do any official interviews, I spent a lot of time talking with both of them, asking questions and playing along with the music. My time with both ma'alemin gave me a lot more to chew on for my research.
I also found out that despite its shady reputation, I actually quite like Tanger- more than Casa or Rabat or any other big city I've seen. Although the hassling was definitely a step up in the annoyance factor from what I'm used to, I enjoyed my time there.
I took the night train back to Marrakech where I picked up my repaired laptop (whole new hard drive- let's hope to God this is the last of the problems) although I had to fight hard to get the price we had agreed on. I also had to do all the software updates and finishing touches myself as they had done the bare minimum and charged me twice what I would have paid in the U.S.. After that, I happily returned to Essaouira to find that some things have changed here since I left, too which may or may not affect my research.
Insha' Allah, I will be able to hold a couple more interviews here in the next month or two as I continue to work on my paper.
Regardless of everything, I'm glad to be back. More than any other place right now, Essaouira is my home.
