A Dongle

Ammar now has a dongle so that he can communicate from home instead of going to the net and using the dirty computers there.We went to Rissani yesterday and did some shopping. We got some baby clothes,a baby duvet, perfume for Aicha, threads for my family shawl, a dongle and two cables and a scarf with fluffy balls on it. We had our lunch at Rissani, the same as the other day. Ah also I got to print out my boarding pass. I was getting a bit worried that I wasn't going to be able to do this as I had tried twice at Merzouga. So nice to be able to do this blog using the dongle. What a fantastic invention.

Today we went to see the new baby, who still hasn't got a name, but he may be called Marwan. The baby party has been postponed until Friday as some people couldn't come on Wednesday. We won't be going as we will be travelling to Marrakech then. We will go to Ourzazate tomorrow and stay at La Vallee for one night.

Another thing  did yesterday was to buy a jellaba, which was made for me. It cost 400 dirhams, which is about £33. A jellaba is an outer garment that has a hood. Men have them too but they are not so decorative. Mine is light green with some embroidery on it and trimmings all made by hand to match the cloth. There is a tassel on the hood which is made of beads.The tailor who made it is trying to be more modern in his approach to tailoring. Ammar got his jellaba from the same tailor.

Something nasty to report. I think I have bites from cat fleas. I have two on my face and two on my left leg. They are round and red and do not bleed. They feel very hard. I must have caught them from Shrad as she got to my face a few times. I will go to the chemist when I get home and get something to get rid of them.

Don't think I wrote in here about my bee sting. I got it one day washing clothes in the courtyard which is a place that Zaid's bees can reach. Something got on my face and I wiped it away, unfortunately it was a bee and it stung me. The pain came straight away and got worse. Then I got swelling and that got worse and lasted for about 4 days. All is fine now, just a little scab there now.

The weather is getting hotter. I was hoping to wear my jellaba today but it would have been too hot.

We had a meal at an auberge the other night. Its one of the best auberges in Merzouga and is called Riad Nezha. They had cous cous but it was too expensive at 80 dirhams each. We asked if we could have chips and an omelette with onions and tomatoes.They obliged. I couldn't eat any of the fruit after as I was so full. In fact we left some of the omelette. It is not an omelette as we know it in England as it is not folded over at the end of cooking but stays in the tagine.

Back to the preparations for the baby party. Khadija, Zaid's daughter, was starting to make some biscuits. They had made some round ones earlier and I was given a parcel of them wrapped in cellophane and tied with a bow. I will eat them at home. We visited Youssef's house on the way home and there was also some biscuit/cake making going on. This was different though and something that I had never seen before. Hyatt made small squares from the dough and then wrapped 3 squares around a small stick of bamboo. The squares were put on corner to corner. Then she lowered them into a pan of hot oil to fry - bamboo stick and all. A photo opportunity was missed  but I want to go there again to see if I can take a photo of the finished biscuits/cakes. I think the term sweetmeats is more appropriate.

A new Ouadirou

I haven't been on here for a while as we went to Tafraoute, where it was very windy. We stayed for three nights from Sunday to Wednesday. The new brides are fitting in well. Youssef the student was there - he cameon the bus with us. The journey takes about 3 and a half hours across the desert. There are a few isolated houses on the way and they get their water from a well. The bus driver is a sort of shopping service and when he nears the village he goesto different houses to deliver stuff. A sheep was lifted down from the roof of the bus at one house. Must have had a bumpy ride. We made a toilet stop, which was very welcome.

Youssef is learning English at university in Meknes, but now he has finished his exams he has come home for about three weeks. On arrival he immediately began helping with the goats, which were being put into their night quarters. His brother Idir was there too. He took a test to become a teacher and is waiting for the results. I hope he gets a job.

On the first day I sat outside on a plastic patio chair with Fatima, Ammar's sister. It was hot there so we moved to the shade. There were plenty of baby goats to watch jumping from stone to stone.  I also looked into the smoky oven - really a small room with a clay oven inside where the bread is baked. Here they put the dough onto a metal plate covered with hot stones. Despite a chimney in the roof and two holes in the wall it's still very smoky in there.

Zhour,one of Fatima's three daughters, was using her knitting machine and she made one side of a jumper. I hope I will be in Morocco for her wedding to her cousin Hamid in May. I call him the original Hamid as he was from his mother's first family and in her second marriage she called another son Hamid.

Fatima's grandson Mubarack  came with his mum but he is still wary of strangers (me). We gave him some bubbles and he liked them.

When we came back to Rissani we had a long wait for transport to Merzouga, long enough to buy some yogurts, another 5 litres of water, 9 boxes of incense cones - all different aromas and to meet Mohamed, another teacher. We had lunch at the Panorama cafe and while I was waiting for Ammar to find a tailors I started on the chips. He came back and said that he had met Ali his nephew outside the hospital, where his pregnant wife Aisha, had gone earlier. By the time we left Rissani she had given birth to a boy.

After lunch we went to the tailor where I ordered a jellaba to be made. It should beready by Wednesday and I can wear it to the baby party. We visited the new parents and baby at Ali's father's house in Merzouga. The baby was lovely and I got to hold him. I saw him being wrapped in the traditional way in a white cloth held in place by a woollen rope with a cowrie shell attached to keep away the evil eye. His head was also covered with a white cloth fixed inplace with a small white scarf. Aicha looked well and happy. Fatima and Mohamed have come from Arghbalou to help with the catering.

There will be a baby party on Wednesday and we will learn the name of the baby.

New kittens

Tricky has had her kittens but I don't know how many. She is in the place in the cafe where she had the previous two sets. So that has made my day. I saw her and one kitten tail so I will just have to be patient.

Nothing else to report really. The day is a bit cloudy. We had lunch at Ammar's nephew Youssef's place, which was tagine and a bowl of couscous from a neighbour. Ammar wore his new jellaba, which was bought from the tailor's shop in Merzouga. The shop has only been here for about 2 months. The owner is very nice and has some lovely clothes. I would like to have a jellaba made for me so I will look for cloth when we next go to Rissani.

This computer is not the easiest to use. The keys keep getting stuck. I tried to get to my virginmedia email today but couldn't.

Now to go back to the cafe and to see Shrad and do some more sudoku.

Parties

Haven't been  here for a few days as other things took over. The party last Saturday was a success. In the morning the girls started making cakes. First they made a bucketful of biscuits and then some sponge cake. The biscuits were proer ones as they were cooked twice.

Khadija from Erfoud made the yogurt sponge cake with the help of her cousin Khadija from Merzouga. In this area they mix all of the wet ingredients first with their right hand and then add the dry ones. The sponge mixture was poured into a round cake tin and baked in a very simple gas oven. At no time did I see anyone looking at a recipe book.

Meanwhile Rkia was busy cleaning the chickens and Zhour was washing some clothes. All in the same room. In another room Zaid, Youssef and Mohamed were making bee boxes. There is no such thing as a garden shed or workshop at residences. Later Rkia and her friend Biddah were making the couscous and tagines in the cuisine or kitchen. Guests began to arrive later in the afternoon and the women were served their food in the best room after the men had eaten.

But before the couscous and tagine there was tea, caékes, biscuits and nuts. The chicken went into the couscous and lots of beef went with the tagine. We couldn't have music as one of Ammar's sister in laws had had a bereavement.

It was a good visa wedding party and the party poppers were well received, especiqlly by the young women in the family. We took lots of photos. I wore my pink caftan with the sequined scarf and my pink shoes. Some others wore their caftans for a while.

The following day we had another walk to the lake with Rkia - Ammar's sister, Ammar and Mohamed her sons and Khadija and Asma her daughters. Youssef from Agadir had also come to Merzouga and so to the party. He had come to get a family book as he had recently married a French woman. He was on the walk too. It was a sunny walk and hot too so I was glad of my shawl which kept the sun off my head. Khowla came too and for a 4 year old she was a good walker and never complained once.

The lake was very calm and we could see flamingoes in the distance and hear the honking of geese. We sat for a rest and ate some orange and biscuits and drank water while mating dragonflies drifted past. On the way back we encountered a few darting lizards and were followed by a lone yellow butterfly.

Youssef and Ammar were still at the lake but when they caught up they told us that they had seen a snake, which Ammar identified as a cobra.

Yesterday we went to a baby party at Rkia's family home. The baby was born on the day of our first lake walk so he was 7 days old. He has been given the name Hamid. He was with his mother in a small room which was lined with older Berber women along two of the walls. Whenever a woman came into the room she greeted everyone individually and a few said bonjour to me. Later Khadija came to take me  outside so that I could have an early lunch with two French women Beatrice and Mary. We sat by the swimming pool and ate our couscous and tagine. A cat came along and had a drink from the pool but wouldn't come to me.

In the evening we had a meal at our favourite auberge La  Petit Prince where we ate a plate of chips and an omelette with Youssef from Agadir. Then I asked if we could have some drumming so Ammar, our waiter Said and another guy called Mohamed played some tam tams. I love this sort of drumming. I made a small video of them.

The third party was a wedding, which was taking place at the end of the main street. We went along tonight as we could hear some traditional music. Soon after we arrived a group of 4 men stqrting playing their tambours and they were joined by three women to do ahidous - which is a slowish dance done at weddings where the men play tambours and sing and the women reply in song to the song of the men. This was done on the street with a crowd looking on. But there was no sign of the bride or groom. This was the third and last day of the wedding.

I somehow don't think that we will apply for the visa this time as Ammar has some marks on his face and this is not acceptable for the biometric photo which has to be taken. So many hoops to jump through.

We have planned to visit Ammar's sister Fatima on Sunday and will return on Wednesday. She lives in a straggling village not accessible by tarmac road. We will go in a little bus, usually a Mercedes; and the journey will take about 3 hours. The village is called Tafraoute and has only recently been connected to mains electricity and to the mobile phone.

Time to go now as dinner will soon be served. I will add photos later.

To The Lake

I am getting annoyed today with this cursor as it is not being friendly and going where I want it to go.

This week we went for a walk to the lake which is right by Merzouga. An expedition of German speakers; led by Michael, went ahead. There was Michael's friend Petra, a young family with two small daughters Laura and Freya and Norbert from Austria. Ammar went back for my pills as I had forgotten to take them.

Nice weather for walking. Met some camels on the way. They are set free from the auberges and allowed to wander to the lake to drink. An English man was with his Ford Transit admiring the view.

The family and Norbert left us to return to La Petit Prince, which is the auberge where they were stqying with camping cars. We carried on to the barrage where we could hear the songs of frogs from a small offshoot of the lake.

On another day this week we went to Erfoud and I had henna. A girl called Fatima did it.My hands were so cold that a gas can was brought to dry off the henna and to warm my hands. On the way home I picked off the dried henna. So satisfying.

Tomorrow evening we are having a party. Yesterday Ammar did all of the shopping in mud ridden Rissani. Yes there is rain in the desert. He spent 1000 dirhams and we still have to get 3 chickens. Here they buy things in kilos and there was 8 kg of beef. We are catering for about 40 people. There is one extra now. He is Ammar's nephew Youssef from Agadir.  We haven't told anyone from Tafraoute where Ammar's sister Fatima lives but they are coming from Erfoud.

I did some washing today. It has to be done by hand in water and Tide, which seems to be the powder most widely used here.

Some thing I just wrote has gone. The cursor is still playing up. Ammar thinks that a dongle and a wire will be better so that we can use the laptop at home.

So I will finish now and wait here for Ammar who has gone to a cafe with Youssef.