Day 70: Topics of Conversation.

It would be incredibly un-British of me not to talk about the weather during my stay in Morocco. Similar to conversations in Britain, conversations here often begin or finish with the discussion of said topic. Not through choice, but because we know weather vocabulary...

It may surprise many of you, but Morocco is now cold! I have had to purchase a very European-esque coat and Moroccans are appearing with over-sized golf umbrellas, which simply don't fit in the small, medina alleys. Ifrane, a village near Fez has snow, and I am reliably informed it has snow for up to 3 months of the year. Who would have thought!?

I've taken to walking home in the evenings, (not when it's dark, don't worry) as the sun is just about to set. Dusk, as it were. The old medina is overshadowed by Mount Zalagh and on Tuesday evening, the final bit of sunlight was shining down on to the top of the mountain and both halves of a rainbow were visible. Pretty darn special. 

Throughout all my travels, British autumn has always been my achilles heel for homesickness. Surprisingly though, this Moroccan weather has cured all that. Our evening routines of mint tea on the roof hasn't changed, except that now we wear coats and scarves (thank goodness for my over-enthusiastic love of scarves!).

Our riad has become increasingly more cosy. The large wooden doors onto the living room and dining room are now shut to retain heat, and we use the smaller doors, built into the big ones. Ingenious.  Our 'Parisian' landlord has supplied us with gas heaters and enough gas for two months. The past couple of weekends have been spent watching films, curled up with various friends and various dishes of food, in front of this magical heater.

Another topic of conversation favored among many,and certainly close to my heart, is food. Last week was the week of 'Bastilla'; a sweet Moroccan main dish made traditionally with meat and almonds, and wrapped in pastry. Our first encounter of the week was at our 'Mahaba Hefla' (party) thanks to our favourite Moroccans Yassine & Youssef. After simply gazing at the large bastilla for hours, we devoured it within minutes. The second helping was at the engagement party of Youssef's uncle which Victoria and I found ourselves dancing at. At 11:30pm we sat down to dinner in multiple languages.
Bastilla is the perfect dish to share; dig in with your hands and pass parcels of sweet meat around to all your friends.

However, my favourite food of the week, possibly of all time, is 'malawi momtez'; thick pastry, coated in chocolate spread and honey, rolled up and cut into slices. The ultimate afternoon snack or dinner...or both. Alash la. Sarah and I have made friends with the malawi-men who now put on extra honey and supply us with mint tea to wash down this meal of deliciousness. Haha. 

So in conclusion, life here is still really good. The weather is beautiful. The food is wonderful, and the people are still incredible. 

الله يهنيك

Nay xxx