Eid in Fes

Eid Mubarak Everyone! 

We woke up early this morning to go to a mosque for morning prayer. Well, I guess it’s more accurate to say that we took a two hour nap before going to morning prayer since Auntie Sureia and I were up until 4 am trying to figure out how to actually find a mosque open on Eid day. 

We ended up calling reception, who then personally arrived at our door because Auntie Sureia refused to believe a landline with no dial tone was a working phone. When we opened the door we were shocked to see our waiter from last night! Poor Ayouh couldn’t catch a break with us haha.  P.s. I was right, the landline WAS working without a dial tone. Anyways, Ayouh told us that only a few mosques in Fes were open for Eid prayer, which we hadn’t heard of before. Usually all the mosques are open and you just pick one! Apparently in Morocco, it’s not unusual to host a massive prayer outside the mosque and that is how we ended up praying on the hills of Fes. 

And don’t worry, we literally walked over to the next hill to do a photoshoot because I was not going to get kicked off the first hill for not having my hair covered. I literally couldn’t leave the hotel without my hijab on because no one believed I knew how to go to mosque covered appropriately and would stop me in my tracks and gesture wildly. You’d think they’d get the ethnic memo based on my clothing choices…but guess not. They practice some weird form of Islam here. I am SO glad I never moved to Morocco liked I planned to in 2017. Literally, most of my Eid was spent explaining myself to others as they refused to believe I fasted this Ramadan or any Ramadan before! I think I need to learn to give up earlier, you can blame law school for my tenacity, but it didn’t really serve me well these past few days in Fes because let’s be honest, none of these men will ever change their minds so I should save my breath for better causes.

At least I had an amazing breakfast after prayer and the three of us felt like queens on our throne! That is, until the birds in the lamp above decided to poop on both my plate AND in my orange juice!! The waiters definitely had a good chuckle as they had to replace my food and drinks two separate times. I wonder if real princesses back in the day had endure similar hardship as they lounged around their palace. The open to the elements floor plan is cool until there are actual elements lol.

We really enjoyed our midday taking in all the peace and beauty the hotel lounges had to offer. And by we I mean, Auntie Sureia and Susan sat outside while I went to our room to take a “twenty minute” (aka two hour) nap hehe. Afterwards, Auntie Sureia’s friend, Youssef, who’d been taking us around Fes the past days joined us and took us to the market to have street food for lunch. The butcher was right next to the griller, so he literally cut and spiced the meat and then handed it to the stall next door to cook. The stall next to the griller was empty, and the butcher informed us that his cat has a litter in there. The locals just pick random street cats as theirs and then feed them. The babies were too little to come out but the mom sat by us to say hi. Okay, I’ll admit that she was more likely there by us to beg, but let’s just interpret it my way for the story’s sake alright? Also, I can’t help but wonder what kind of fine dining the butcher’s cats have! 

Auntie Sureia, Youssef, and Me 

The butcher then invited us to his home for tea. When we opened the front door I was shocked to see a tree in the middle of his house! This is not uncommon in Morocco since there aren’t really gardens in the traditional English sense. Here there have terraces and indoor gardens as the center of their homes. Still, it’s very strange to be able to walk out of your bedroom and pick oranges from a tree growing under tiled floors. All the rooms surrounding the center garden have a raised threshold to keep the rain out, which is very clever. Susan and I were clearly impressed!

We were served traditional Moroccan mint tea, which has a really lovely flavor depending on who brews it. So far, only one of the places made mint tea the way I liked it. The coolest thing about the tea is the way they serve it, pouring at a distance from the little glass. If you’re curious, the coffee here is not even worth talking about, which is wild since they have Ethiopian beans grown nearby! I can’t wait for a cup of good coffee when I go home. 

After a bit of time we bid the butcher goodbye before making our way back to the hotel to plan and prepare for our trip tomorrow. We are tentatively going north or south. Yup, you read that right, we’ve got no clue what we’re going to do but I’m excited for any adventure to come. 

Speaking of adventure, it seems like our day wasn’t quite over yet. Once back at the hotel, we went to ask the manager how to get more cash converted. He told us we’d have to walk to a bank to withdraw it because nothing was open that evening. Susan cleverly mentioned we were getting cash to settle the bill with the hotel and politely inquired whether it would be safe to walk back with it in our bags. That genius move is the reason why she and I got a tour of Fes from the hotel owner in the first electric car in the entire city, a Porsche Taycan no less. Can’t say I minded driving around Fes in style. Nevertheless, I’m very excited to be leaving, this city and I didn’t mesh well. I’m hoping for better luck in the next! Wishing everyone a great Eid back home. 

Much love, 

Aisha