Turkish TV in Morocco

 

The Turkish title of this soap  is Hanımın Çiftliği or Lady's Farm. In Arabic it is called Matensanich (Don't Forget Me). 

Everywhere I went, all the women and some of the men stopped what they're doing when it was time to watch Kholoud, the Arabic name given to the much-put-upon heroine of this limited run Turkish soap opera. Dubbed into Arabic and technically know as a telenovela, it is the serialization of a novel by the Turkish author Orhan Kemal. The series ran for a little under 2 years, and I have to admit that I got hooked. 

The story arcs were generally  short--often just 5 or 6 episodes--with kidnappings, murders, extortion, and adultery being ever so popular. Victims at death's door from being shot, stabbed or beaten on Monday  were totally healed by Friday.  One kidnapper who was shot in the leg, limped around for maybe 4 episodes and then just got over it, without any medical treatment whatsoever, simply because he had more a lot more bad guy stuff to do before finally getting caught and committing suicide.

The over the top melodrama and simplicity of the story lines made it perfect for someone with limited Arabic language skills. Just like a small child, if I couldn't figure out the words, all I had to do was look at the pictures.

The end of the series came with all story lines feeding into that of Khadijah, the  evil former sister-in-law, whose only purpose in life was to kill, betray, sabotage or destroy everything and everyone Kholoud loved.  And how often have I wanted to know what happened to the characters after the end of the story? The finale, which aired just before Ramadan, showed  all  of the characters 10 years down the road.

The Turkish series was so popular in Morocco, I've seen little girls dressed in Kholoud t-shirts. Kholoud shows up in songs. The series was so popular, in fact, that it has just started all over again. I started watching the series near it's end, so the genesis of the storyline is new to me.  I just saw episode 3 tonight.  I know a lot of Morocco is watching with me.

5 Things You Need on a Trip to Morocco

If you are thinking about visiting Morocco, here are some things you may want to bring with you:

1. A French-English dictionary. If you don't already speak Arabic, and don't have the time to devote to learning it, a bit of French will be quite useful. French is also the language of all things medical, in case you get sick.

2. Hair care products for black hair. Yes, you are in Africa, but you are in Berber country. If you are going no further south than, say Marrakech, you will find most of the Moroccans are of Berber or Arab descent. Plan accordingly.

4. Deoderant for sensitive skin.  Anti-perspirants are plentiful.  If you can't wear these pore-clogging products, you should bring your preferred brand with you.  I haven't seen plain deoderants of any brand here.

3. Thick-soled walking shoes, sneakers or sandals. The sidewalks are often gravel-strewn from all the new construction around (in Marrakech, at least). Ballet flats or thin-soled sandals are uncomfortable when doing a lot of walking.

4. Hand sanitizer. For times soap and water are not readily available.

5. You may, to put it delicately, need a clue.

Alternatives to Speaking Arabic in Morocco

If you are thinking about visiting Morocco, there are alternatives if you don't already speak Arabic, and don't have the time to devote to learning it.  French is your best bet. Many children start learning to read and write both Arabic and French from the time they  are enrolled in (paid) pre-schools at the age of 3 or 4.

Because most of Morocco was a French protectorate for about 40 years in the first half of the 20th century, French remains the language of the university and of business. If you get sick while in Morocco, you will discover that French is also the language of all things medical.

English was only introduced into the schools in 2002.  So English is still a distant second to French.

If you are going to the Mediterrean coast of Morocco, that area of the country was under Spanish rule for a time.  Knowing some Spanish could help you there. 

You can try learning some Berber as well.  Moroccan people are mostly of Berber or Berber/Arab descent.  There are several major dialects, so be sure to pick the right dialect for the region in which you will be travelling.

Women Wedding Guests Prepare Their Clothes

Women do not generally travel in their takshitas.  If possible, they dress at the home of the bride just before the ceremony begins.

The female guests will arrive at your house with suitcases. While one bedroom is devoted to the bride and her 5 or 6 or 7 garment changes, the rest of your home, save the bathroom and kitchen, becomes one giant dressing room. The women get out of their travel clothes to get dressed and prepare for the wedding. Dresses, shoes, scarves, jewelry and make-up all come out of the bags. The women transform themselves and each other into sparkling showcases. Young and old, all of the women who may not even normally wear make-up, get dolled-up for the occasion.

A formal  dress worn to a Moroccan wedding is called a takshita (tak SHEET-ah). The older women are usually covered head-to-toe, but the younger women may wear newer styles of the takshita and appear bare-headed or with short sleeves or with dresses split to show skinny-legged pants underneath. But all of this is still modest by Western standards.  No one wears anything that is cut, as they say, up to here and down to there. But all of them come with strappy sandals and glittery dresses--sequined, shimmery, or embroidered with gold or silver threads.   And of course there is jewelry of gold, silver, pearl and all sorts of sparkling stones.

Once inside the wedding tent when the music starts, out of nowhere come the scarves that the women tie around their hips to better show off the moves of their dances.

The women and closely related male relatives gather inside the tent to sing, to dance, to eat, to view wedding gifts from the groom to the bride and to get photographed with the couple in any of the many bridal outfits worn during the ceremony by the bride and groom. Any non-related men have chairs and tables and are served outside.  Male waiters, photographers and entertainers don't count. Wedding logic. Go figure.

For families that want to have a sunnah wedding with male and female guests entertained separatedly, there are a couple of options. A high-end wedding may have two tents set up for males and females separately, but that typically doesn't happen because of the expense. More commonly, if the family maintains male-female separation, they may have a sunnah wedding in which all of the wedding proceedings take place in a female-only setting.  The men will have a banquet separately.

Where is Paradise?

I'm sure scholars, philosophers, and perhaps architects have written about the link between our view of the horizon and our awareness of the spiritual world around us.  I have seen a vast ocean, and I have looked upward at the limitless night sky. Always my idiosyncratic perception of the heavens was that Allah's paradise was "up there" or "out there" somewhere.  City skyscrapers always made paradise seem, to me at least, even further away, as if the height of the buildings themselves demaracated the material and spiritual worlds.

The single-story compound I visited in the Moroccan countryside had an unexpected effect on my own perception of paradise.  I  stayed in a family compound.  On all four sides of me, there were 10-foot high walls.  Beyond those walls, I could see nothing of the level farmlands,  other nearby structures of similiar height, nor the mountains in the distance.  As far as I could see, the material world stopped at the top of those walls. 

In this circumscribed world, it seemed to my spiritual self as if the breadth and height of paradise began at the top of those compound walls.  Paradise was sitting just above my head.  I could almost touch it, or I could be crushed by the weight of it.

I had not thought, when I went to  visit a family in rural Morocco, that the trip would have such a profound effect on my own  spirituality.  But even the passage of time there was affecting as night came, and the midnight blue of the sky was highlighted by stars.  Then fajr came, and the sky was cobalt blue, backlit from the rays of a sun still too far away to bring the colors of the dawn.  Shades of paradise just above my head.