In Jordan - Reaching Amman and Tasting Nirvana

I arrived in Amman, Jordan, on Saturday, November 14, after taking a red-eye flight from Casablanca on Egypt Air. Without even planning it, I and three other Peace Corps volunteers were on the same flight out of Casablanca. They were starting their Middle East trek from Cairo; I had a quick layover before heading to Amman. Before our flight, we scoured all the money exchange bureaus at the Mohammed V Casablanca Airport and none had Jordanian Dinars or Egyptian Pounds to exchange. Knowing that I was going to come back to Morocco after my Middle Eastern trek, I kept my funds and hoped that the 25 Euros that I had kept stashed from my last trip to Europe would be enough to get through customs and to get to the nearest ATM.

I blogged earlier about my arrival to the Holy Land and the great experience I had with Egypt Air. I was fortunate to get a window seat, which allowed me to take in the scenery during the descent and ascent into and from Cairo. I'm 30 years old and I still feel like the 10 year old boy who was completely awestruck by his first flight out of Venezuela and how different things looked at 40,000 feet.

Like the experience I wrote about earlier about the mountains and plateaus making me feel insignificant or being humbled by the sheer breadth and size of nature's wonders, I feel the same when staring out from my tiny window in the sky. Ironically for me, every flight is a grounding experience. It just makes me realize how inconsequential my problems are in the scope of such vast amounts of space and over the course of time. What I begin to understand is that many of these landscapes are indifferent. Men and women have come and gone and yet they are still here changing and adapting to the elements. On my way in to Jordan, I saw various shades of sand, the blue of the Nile and the Red Sea, the Sinai Peninsula's mountainous wilderness, many dunes, plateaus, rocky hills dotted with olive trees, and a few lush valleys and oases.

The flight from Cairo to Amman was about 40 minutes. Counting our ascent and descent, we probably had about 20 minutes of coasting, and in that brief lull the flight crew scrambled to give everyone their complementary drink. It was a nice surprise to be able to walk directly onto the terminal rather than taking a shuttle or walking to it like you often do when travelling outside of Europe or the U.S. The causeway takes you straight to customs where an Arab Bank money exchange branch is at the center of the hall ready to exchange almost any currency to Jordanian Dinars. I found it interesting that a money exchange branch would be situated in the middle of the customs hall, but I guess a lot of countries do not carry Jordanian Dinars, Morocco being one of them. I exchanged my 25 Euros and got 22 Jordanian Dinars(JD). I knew coming in that the Jordanian Dinar was an expensive currency, but all the blogs I read said that most things are nowhere near U.S. or European prices. So it's little startling at first to get less money for your dollar or euro, but once you get out, you realize that a JD can be stretched out pretty far.

It was 10JD to get the visa. Some of the blogs I had browsed through before coming said that the visitor's visa was for two weeks so I was surprised to hear that the visas were now good for an entire month, which makes a lot of sense. You could traverse the country in two weeks. It's not very big and transportation to the main touristy sites is readily available, but for those who wish to take their time to meet people, taste the cuisine, and ponder the meaning of life in nature as I do, two weeks goes by in a flash.

Once I passed through customs, I went down to pick up my luggage. At the luggage carousels, I found some stands with maps and guides in various languages to the main sites in Jordan. It was a great find since all I had to go by on this trip was a Lonely Planet guide titled Middle East on a Shoestring Budget published in 1997. I was planning to travel on a shoestring budget, but after sleeping in one of the hotels this guide recommended, I decided to upgrade myself from shoestring to respectably clean. I stayed at one hotel called Jerusalem Hotel in Aqaba, and it literally was the nastiest place I've ever stayed at with roaches crawling around and the grimiest bed sheets I had ever seen, but the guide was spot on with the price. It was the cheapest of all the "budget" options. After one night in that hole, I moved next door and paid 5JD more for a bigger room, hot water, and peace of mind.

The Amman Queen Alia International Airport is about the size of your regional airport in the U.S. Once you get past customs, you walk out into the arrivals waiting hall, which has a number of snack shops, car rental stands, banks and ATMs, and a couple of cell phone boutiques. If you plan to spend some time in Jordan, I strongly encourage purchasing a SIM card from one of the boutiques. They run anywhere from 4-6JD from Orange, Zain, Umniah, and others, and the purchase generally includes 1 to 2JD of credit, which is more than enough to make initial arrangements with friends and hotels. Also, right outside the airport there's a bus shuttle company called Airport Express that travels back and forth from the airport to Amman. They have a stand at the airport and an attendant is outside asking any confused-looking tourist if they're going to Amman. It cost me 3JD and it dropped me off at the North Station also known as either Abdali Station or in Levantine Arabic as Moujemma Shamal. As the bus begins to park, taxi drivers converge near the bus's drop as they prepare to pounce on the fresh-off the plane tourists. I told one gentleman my destination and he offered to take me for 12JD. I told the guy in all honesty that I did not have 12JD and immediately he lowered the price to 7JD. I told him to lower it some more so he lowered it to 5JD and said in English, "Final price."

The guy took me through a touristy route, which allowed me to see the Roman fortress and auditorium. A ride through Amman is much like your typical roller coaster ride. The taxi drivers go just as fast as they wind up and down the many hills and valleys of the city. My first impression of Amman was not a memorable one. I thought the city lacked color, but then later I heard that it's by city mandate that the buildings use the local white and beige stone for the exterior. I don't know how legit that statement is, but it certainly seems like most people are adhering to it. The only contrast to the vanilla cream buildings are a few skyscrapers in the new city.

Upon arriving at the hotel, I asked the hotel receptionist about how much it costs to get from the North Station to the hotel to which he said, "Oh about 1.5JD to 2JD." I was hosed, but fortunately it was only for 3 or so dinares. Oh well, it was a lesson learned. From there on, I didn't hop on a taxi unless they had their meter running.

I checked into the Farah Hotel, which I had made a reservation on www.HostelWorld.com. I paid 5JD for a shared accommodation for one night. The rooms were clean, the bed was soft and sturdy, and the bathrooms were well-tended too. The lobby was also nice with plush couches, a TV and DVD player, a couple of large dining tables, and a couple of shelves full of board games, books, and bootleg movies.

When I checked in, I saw a guy chilling out on one of the couches. After I dropped my stuff in my room, I asked him about his travel plans. He told me smilingly that he lived in Jordan. Immediately I asked him if he was a Peace Corps Volunteer and he said yes. I told him that I had just finished service a couple of days ago.  He then asked me if I was Jonathan and I said yes, and then I followed asking him if he was Torin and he said yes. We had exchanged a few emails prior to arriving. He had said that he was likely going to be busy touring with some friends. It so happened that he was at Farah waiting for his friends to arrive from Palestine. I was exhausted from the red-eye flight, but I had a lot of questions about travel options and sites and then we spoke for a while about his Peace Corps experience and he gave me his lowdown on Jordan. I also shared a bit of my Peace Corps Morocco experience and gave him my lowdown on travel, food, and culture. I was fortunate to have found him and to have had this exchange on the first day of my trip.

We decided to meet up later on in the evening. I ran into him at a small fast food joint and joined him for a shawarma. The shawarma was not that great, but it was dirt cheap at 1.50JD for the plate. I was more impressed by the size of the meat spikes rotating in the fire. These spikes were probably about a meter and a half long and about half a meter wide. Some of the guys tending to it had to climb a small step ladder to shave off the meat at the top.  Some used a long knife to cut the meat and others used what looked like industrial size hair clippers. 

After the shawarma, we walked over to Habiba, a confectionery shop preparing Jordan's famous kenafa. This delicious sweet treat should rank pretty high in terms of the world's greatest inventions. The scrumptious treat has a mozzarella cheese base, a thin crunchy cake layer or stringy top that is doused in a honey or sugar-based syrup, and topped off with pistachios, cinnamon, and nutmeg on top. Every bite was like reaching taste-bud nirvana.

After Habiba's kenafa, we moved on to a cafe right on the main strip of King Hussein St. called Eco-Tourism Cafe. It was a scruffy looking place. About the only thing “eco” about it were the plants that the owner had throughout the cafe. There I got my first taste of Jordanian coffee. It was a contrast to Morocco's fancy coffee presses that squeeze out the coffee from the coffee grounds. In Jordan, you get the coffee and the grounds. Moroccan coffee also seems lighter in comparison to the almost syrupy makeup of Jordanian coffee, but as far as sugar is concerned, they're neck and neck. The coffee's bitterness is offset quite well by the generous amounts of sugar in each cup.

It was a nice first night in Amman. The following day I was to head out to Irbid with Torin to meet a couple of other volunteers. Upon arrival I had heard that L3id Kabir would most certainly fall on Tuesday, November 16. When I was drawing up my initial plans, I was hoping to avoid another sheep slaughtering, but it looked like I would be witness to yet another. I felt bad for the sheep, but at the same time I was thinking that I wouldn't object to some slow-cooked or grilled sheep meat. I was looking forward to meeting up with more volunteers and was even more excited about the opportunity to experience village life with one of them.

It had only been two days since I had checked/stamped out of Peace Corps. You would think that I would be running towards the comforts of Western amenities, but here I was wanting to experience village life in Jordan, and here I was in the hands of volunteers that were making it possible for me to do so. I felt blessed and fortunate to be part of this select group of people who have invested so much time and energy to get to know the people around them and their surroundings and who are so willing to share the little bit they know with me.

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Some Travel Details

Farah Hotel

Amman Al-Hussein Cinema St.

Behind Arab Bank

Downtown

+962-6-465-1443

Email: farahhotel@hotmail.com

www.farahhotel.com.jo 

One of the best state-run tourism websites that I've seen to date:

http://www.visitjordan.com/

In Matters of Faith: Minding My Own

In Morocco, faith and religious practice is intertwined with everyday life.  The call to prayer is loud and clear five times a day and especially noticeable at five in the morning.  Every action, it seems, is preceded or followed by what are commonly referred to as God phrases.  If a Moroccan happens to notice that you took a shower, got a haircut, got new clothes, got done exercising, or finished a meal, he or she instinctively blurts out a bssHa (To your health) to which one must respond with a llah y3tik sHa (May God give you health) .  If you are about to start cooking a meal, eating a meal, about to walk out the door, jump in a car, or go anywhere in particular uttering a bismillah (In the Name of God) is necessary to bless the start of the journey or activity.  If you're grateful about anything, you should throw in a hamdullah (thanks be to God).  When you're about to walk out the door or leaving your circle of friends, you could say bslama, which according to our Peace Corps Darija (Moroccan Arabic) textbook is your equivalent of a goodbye, but a lot of Moroccans combine that with a llah y3wnk or llah yfdk (God help you or God protect you).  Lastly, if one is to mention anything that is likely to happen in the near or distant future, one should expect to be interrupted with a customary inshallah (God willing).

I've gotten so accustomed to using these phrases that now I insert preemptive inshallahs before I start any future tense verb.  Some of my Moroccan friends think that I'm being really considerate of God's will by inserting inshallahs at the start, middle, and end of my future tense sentences, but truth is that I don't really like to be interrupted when I'm speaking :). Who does?

To a foreigner adding all these God phrases can seem quite burdensome and odd if unaccustomed to invoking God in their native language.  There are so many different phrases and using one out of place can get you some chuckles or stares and is a tell-tale sign that you haven't been in the country for very long.  For Moroccans, uttering them is second nature.  They add these phrases effortlessly into their conversation.  The more you use them, the more respectful or pious you come across.  The utterance of Allah (God) is intrinsically tied to their everyday sayings regardless if you're speaking in Darija, Tamazight, Tashelheit, or Tarifit.

During Ramadan, it seems as if people are a bit more devoted to the practice of their faith than is commonly seen throughout the year.  They attend the mosque with more frequency, read the Qur'an, and wear what some consider to be more reverent attire.  More men put on their skull-caps and dust off their ankle-length white tunics.  People turn even more nocturnal than usual as circadian rhythms and blood-sugar levels are thrown out of whack by the sunrise to sunset fast and the late night meals.  The other day as I walked around Rabat just before the break of fast, I was taken aback by how people sat in front of a hot, delicious serving of Morocco's famous harira, fat, juicy dates, sugary fried dough delicacies, and a glass of juice or milk without taking a bite or a sip at least until the imam called out the end of the fast.  It was remarkable to witness this degree of self-control.

Religious traditions also play a role in the family's finances.  For every new child that is born, the father must sacrifice a sheep during its naming ceremony.  For the grand feast of L3id Kbir/Al-Adha, the family takes out the savings to purchase one to two sheep depending on the size of the family.  Every sheep can cost anywhere from 1,000 to 1,500DH or $120 to $180.  This may not sound like a lot in dollar terms, but when the average salary for a day laborer is 50DH or $6.25 p/day; just imagine the effort families have to make to have the money for this must-do religious rite.  Not too long ago, one of my Moroccan friends told me that his wife was  expecting twins.  He was elated, but also somewhat concerned because within a few months he would have to purchase two sheep for the naming ceremony.  I asked him why couldn't just one sheep suffice, but the thought of that was something he'd rather not even contemplate.  He felt a sense of obligation.  

Another ritual that all Muslims should do, according to what is regarded as the five pillars of Islam, within their lifetime is the Hajj or pilgrimage to Mecca, which can run between 50-60,000DH per person for an all-inclusive travel package.  For many Moroccans especially here in the rural and semi-urban towns, having that much cash available is something of a pipe dream; however, that doesn't mean that they don't think about it.  If the economic circumstances would permit it, they would most certainly follow through with it without any hesitation.

Sometimes people's religious fervor can also be in-your-face, literally.  During our pre-service training, we were warned that many people would approach us to speak to us about Islam with the goal of converting us.  According to our cross-cultural facilitators during our PC training, he stated that the Qur'an speaks of a reward in paradise for those that bring someone into Islam.  Most people have been cordial when speaking about Islam while some, perhaps by nature are belligerent and judgmental, speak about their faith in a forceful and absolutist way.  Others are really sly and attempt to convert you by having you repeat the shahada, the declaration of faith, without explaining to you what you're about to say--I think most volunteers have probably unintentionally converted, but supposedly according to Muslim scholars, if one does not say the shahada knowing fully what one is saying and in earnest, then it doesn’t count. Most everyone asks if I fast and how many times I pray. When I tell them that in my old church we were not required to fast and that we did pray during church services and before meals, some have said that they like the prayer before meals idea, but found it odd that we were not asked to fast.


Any response about my former religious practices were met with comparisons. If I said that some Catholics fast for Lent for a week or up to a month, I was reminded about how much Muslims fasted. If I said that my family used to pray before meals, traveling, and before going to bed, I was reminded about how most Muslims pray five times a day. If I told them that I would go to church service twice per week, I was then told that most Muslims go to the mosque at least five times per day. Every answer was met with a response showing how much more devoted Muslims were in terms of all the things that they did.


What was absent from most of our conversations was the question of what I believed. In the U.S., there are so many denominations branching out from Christianity that often what one believes is central to one's religious or spiritual identity, but in Morocco, only a handful of people asked me what exactly did I believe. When I read Seyyed Hossein Nasr'sHeart of Islam, I began to understand the questions or the absence of some questions from my Moroccan friends and colleagues. He said that Muslims are not concerned with orthodoxy, but rather orthopraxy. It's not about what you believe, but what you do. Hence, what they say throughout the day, what they wear, the number of times they pray, the slaughtering of the sacrificial lamb, complying with Shari'a law, fasting, making the pilgrimage to Mecca, and zakat (almsgiving) are a daily demonstration of their devotion and submission to God.

Having worked with previous volunteers, my tutor knew that I would be confronted about my Christian faith.  He gave me some phrases that would help to diffuse the tension and would call to question the actions of the often self-righteous and presumptuous proselytizer.  Basically, he told me to do the following: first, one shouldn't be speaking about Islam with complete strangers so one can call out people for being impertinent; second, once the person has apologized and invited you and your friends over for lunch or tea, but should they persist, one should tell them that should one decide to become a Muslim, one need not only to hear about the faith, but also to see living examples of the faith where the principles (mabadi), values (qiyam), and manners/behaviors (axlaq) are in full display; thirdly, if that doesn't prompt the proselytizer to reflect on their own lives and conduct, one can appeal to them to respect (Htrm) one's faith or call them out for being judgmental, which according to the Qur'an should only be God’s prerogative. 

With religion being ever-present, it is hard not to think about one’s beliefs.  Seeking to understand where people around me were coming from, I read a number of books that gave me some insight into my neighbors’ faith and how that faith shaped their values.  I went through Karen Armstrong’s History of God, which chronicled the evolution of Abrahamic faiths.  Ms. Armstrong’s detailed account of the birth, expansion, inner struggles, outside influences, and future challenges of each of the three Abrahamic faiths helped me understand the context in which the divine scriptures were written and how over the centuries different people in different regions with different influences read or heard the scriptures, which helped them determine a course of action for their lives and the lives of others.  Several years before coming to Morocco and before I even applied to the Peace Corps, a dear mentor of mine recommended Ms. Armstrong’s Holy War: The Crusades and Their Impact on Today’s World, which documented the interaction between East and West and Christianity and Islam crusade by crusade.  These two books gave me a lot of great insight and also gave me more of an impetus to continue learning.  

I followed Armstrong's books with Nasr’s Heart of Islam.  This book was written shortly after 9/11 in the hopes of creating an interfaith dialogue and to counter the media’s negative portrayals of his faith.  It’s a contrast to Armstrong who as a religious historian attempts to remain objective in her narrative.  Nasr makes no excuses about what he believes and has little regard for the work of Enlightenment scholars who first attempted to describe his faith.  In fact, in his preface he goes on to say that the Age of Enlightenment was “an age of the darkening of the soul and eclipse of the intellect”.  Like Armstrong, he compares and contrasts various passages in the Torah, Bible, and Qur’an to show how the scriptures resemble one another.  He counters the media critics who allege that Islam is a violent religion or that it supposedly endorses violence by pointing to other verses in the Qur’an that speak of tolerance, forgiveness, and peace.

Later on, I came across a copy of Ayaan Hirsi Ali’s Infidel, a book that supposedly is banned in Morocco and in many other Islamic countries because of what some consider to be a poor depiction of Islam, but probably most importantly because she is a Muslim turned atheist.  Ali’s struggles in war-torn Somalia, her brief stint in Saudi Arabia, living as a refugee in Ethiopia, her courageous escape to Europe, and her spiritual transformations make for a riveting read.  Even if one objects to the characterizations about Islam, her life story is a remarkable journey.  I found it insightful to read about how different people with distinctive cultural and socioeconomic backgrounds from the various countries she lived in, within and outside of the Abode of Islam, interpreted the scriptures and then applied them to their daily lives.  Throughout most of the book I believe she is intending to demonstrate how someone's culture can frame the faith, but then towards the end, she seems to forget that point and resorts to making similar generalizations about the role of the faith in various aspects of Muslim society.  She picks and chooses verses to show that the Qur'an endorses oppression and calls out some Muslism for not being true Muslims because they don't adhere to a literal interpretation.  It's almost as if she turned into the very thing she despised.

The history and culture as Ali shows are key in the exercise of an individual, community, or a nation's faith, but I can't help but think about the socioeconomic factors at play that have put oppressive governments in power. Just recently, I read a blurb on a recent copy of The Economist magazine about the curse of oil.  According to the author, one of the reasons why the U.S. has made strides in gender equality is partly due to world events that prompted change.  World War I & II forced women to the workforce and in the process they gained skills and political clout in the dynamics of the family.  Also, in our market-driven economy, we are constantly seeking new and innovative ways to generate domestic demand; therefore, ignoring the needs, aspirations, and ideas of 50% of the population would be bad for business.  On the other hand, oil-rich countries, which also happen to make up a significant portion of the Islamic World, are export driven, mostly state-controlled, and have steady cashflows that makes it less of an imperative to diversify their economy.  Also, men in some of these countries earn enough to feed the family; thus, women, aside from consumption side of an economy, are nearly absent in other areas.

I think that logic rings somewhat true in Morocco.  Because they lack the oil deposits, they have a much more diversified economy where women play a much bigger role in government and business.  The dynamics in a family where the wife is an income contributor is remarkably different.  When our CBT group asked a cooperative about gender expectations relating to work within Islam, they reminded us that the Prophet's wife, Khadija, was the head of a large caravan trade business.  The women of the cooperative did not feel at odds with their faith for pursuing a profitable trade or career.  Like Ali showed the environment in which Islam is practiced will differ and in turn so will the laws, gender roles, and expectations.  Socioeconomic policy can certainly influence the societal structural.  I'm not saying that petrodollars are the sole cause for why for instance women in Saudi Arabia are not allowed to drive, but they can certainly prop a ruling class that may have a very rigid interpretation different from those of the women's coop I worked with and from that of other Muslim countries.

After reading the Heart of Islam and Infidel, I felt I needed to formulate my own opinion about the Qur’an so I started reading it.  As of November 5, I am only about a quarter of the way through it.  It’s a tough book to read with a lot of complicated passages that I believe are lost in translation.  Other passages are quite clear especially when speaking of the Five Pillars of Islam and I can see why many Moroccans feel comfortable telling me that I’m going to hell because I decided not to fast, but then again from what I have read, Surah 5 v. 47 of the Qur’an also states, “Let the People of the Gospel judge by that which Allah hath revealed therein.”  Mid-way through verse 48 it adds, “Had Allah willed he could have made you one community.  But that He may try you by that which He hath given you.  So vie one another in good works.  Unto Allah ye will all return, and He will then inform you of that wherein ye differ.”  The first sentence of Surah 2 v. 256 says, “There is no compulsion in religion.” These passages I’m sure could be interpreted in a number of ways and should be read with as much historical context and commentary.  For me, given my background, limited knowledge, and my limited capacity to understand religious scriptures, they mean that Allah has revealed Himself in different ways, He alone is the judge, and people should stop forcing others to do something in the name of religion. But don't take it from me.  Read it for yourself!

Be mindful that even after reading through several Surahs, these were the verses and passages that stood out to me.  Why did they stand out? Because these were the verses that my innately biased mind searched for.  Back in college, we had a name for this bias.  It was called selective attention.  We all practice it, but few acknowledge it.  My selective attention derives from growing up in an all-women household in Latin America under tough economic conditions in a conservative Christian environment.  I also moved around quite a bit, and every time we moved, I heard from a different pastor who quite often focused on different passages of the Bible or interpreted various verses in his own peculiar way.  Different people with different backgrounds read the Qur'an and other scriptures, and it speaks to them in different ways.  Others pick out various religious scriptures that give them meaning or justifies their behavior and sometimes overlook or place less emphasis on other passages that may run contradictory to their absolutist or legalistic ideology.  Some people are aware of their biases, but others are not.  In an ideal world, I would have any would-be interpreter of religious scriptures add a disclaimer, similar to the pharmaceutical commercials, about their cultural and socioeconomic background and even the natural environment he/she grew up in before he/she utters one word of interpretation or offers a selection of verses.  This would provide much-needed context to the individual's deliberate and unconscious biases when reading religious texts.        

Like I said, I’m only a quarter of the way through the Qur'an.  I’m still making up my mind about what has been said.  At the same time, I don’t think I will ever get to the point where I’ll have a clear understanding of anything written in any of the Divine Scriptures.  Armstrong tells stories of scholars of the Abrahamic faiths who gave up trying to make sense of the Scriptures and just began to recite and sing them believing that their meaning was beyond human comprehension.  I would agree with her. 

Unfortunately, many are not humble enough to accept that.  My prayer is that those who are aware of their inability to fully understand the Divine Scriptures will have the fortitude to stand up to those that claim to know it all or purport to carry out God’s will.  As for now, when it comes to matters of faith, I'll continue to mind my own.

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Here's a recent speech by Karen Armstrong on TED on her Charter for Compasssion:

Assimilated Routines - The Family Platter

Dig in! Wait, did you wash your hands?

When I talk about the family platter, I'm not referring to the generous value size portions you can get at various American restaurants.  I'm talking about the tradition in which an entire Moroccan family typically eats from one giant dish.  At first, I found this practice a bit strange and unhygienic, but with time I have begun to see the logic in the custom and if proper protocol is followed as many Moroccans often do, you can easily make this routine as hygienic as eating from your individual plates and stainless steal silverware. 

In the U.S. every Thanksgiving many of us gather around a grand table and "ooh and aahh" as the house chefs bring out a series of platters of all sorts of steamed veggies, both sweet and tangy sauces, and creamy gravies all placed in what often looks like an ceremonial altar awaiting the arrival of the dish of all dishes, the properly dressed and painstakingly marinated baked turkey (makes me hungry just writing about it).  So large is the feast at times that it requires a collaborative effort to pass down or to serve everyone a portion of each dish.  Everyone has their own plate, silverware, glass, and napkin.  Drinks are served.  Then, the chowing begins.

Leid Kbir, bismillah and slice

In Morocco, I have had both humble and extravagant meals.  For the most part however, the tradition of the giant family platter is applied to both settings.  The equivalent of Thanksgiving in Morocco is Leid Kbir, a holiday in the Muslim calendar that commemorates the test of faith Abraham underwent when God asked him to sacrifice his first-born son.  The offering of an unblemished lamb was offered in its place.  Every Muslim family must in a sense do the same.  Many families slaughter a sheep and then go about dressing the entire animal.  This ritual produces a tremendous amount of meat that is then eaten over the course of three to four days.  In addition to the meat, families prepare salads and other vegetables as well.  Every meal that I have eaten during this time is grand even for those of meager resources.

Leid Kbir Morocco indoor grilling tradition

We all huddle around a small table no more than a square meter wide, which means that in some cases you are shoulder to shoulder with your host family, and then wait in anticipation as the different platters are retrieved from the smoked-out kitchens.  Smoked-out because most people engage in the still-odd-to-me custom of indoor grilling.  Some places are well ventilated, but others simply let the smoke permeate the entire house.  There's often a haze in the house, but kids go about playing their games and adults watching their television shows despite the tears swelling in their eyes.  Safe to say that everyone smells like barbecue for three to four days straight.

Let bread be thy fork...

Every platter is like your typical serving dish, but there are no individual plates.  A vegetable tray is often served first, which can include lettuce, radishes, carrots, tomatoes, and other seasonal fare.  Everyone is given a fork or spoon and then everyone begins the assault.  Sometimes small dishes of olives or sauces circle the main dish.  After the salad comes the meat, a giant serving of slow-cooked tender chunks of sheep meat resting on a pool of oil and spices served on another large serving dish.  With the arrival of the meat comes the breaking of the bread--a moment that always makes me think about the Last Supper and perhaps this is why I devote so much time to savoring every meal.  Most of the time people begin by dipping and dabbing the bread in the oils and spices and then once the moat surrounding the meat has reached a certain level, folks move on to the meat.  Your bits of bread serve as your edible glove that has permission to dig into and rip apart meat from bone.  No forks, spoons, and no individual plates are necessary.  You rip and dip and stuff your face.

For most of the holiday meals prior to any dipping and dabbing, someone is responsible for ensuring everyone has clean hands.  A basin is passed from one person to the other and the person in charge pours warm water over your hands.  For other meals, you hope and pray everyone took the time to wash.

The meals are then capped with a tray of fruit from which everyone grabs a bit of each type of fruit.  All peels and seeds are put on the table along with some of the meat bones.  Someone then brings out a dust pan (not the same one used with the sweeper) and rounds up all the scraps.  A soapy sponge then cleans the plastic table mat signaling the end to the feast.

For napkins, a medium-size towel is passed around and for drinks sometimes individual glasses are available when one is treated to a soda or juice.  When not, there's the ubiquitous community cup with a liter of the city's punch available for the thirsty.

Who needs plates and for that matter forks?

At first, I found the practice a little odd, but slowly I began to see its practicality although I doubt that's the sole purpose for its existence.  As a kid, I hated washing dishes.  It has got to be one of the most boring activities out there.  I was overjoyed when my parents would decide from time to time to use paper plates.  It made whatever meal I ate on those plates even that more delicious.

Dinner with host family

Eating from serving dishes has a lot of benefits.  Ecologically, without the dish washing, you're conserving energy from not using hot water, using less water in general, and using less soap.  Financially, you save on the use of water and electricity.  Without such a vast amount of plates to clean, you probably do not need a dishwasher or the vast amount of plates.

If you hate washing all together, replace the fork with the bread.  In Morocco, bread is the equivalent of the fork.  I remember one time during my home-stay my host father felt bad that the family had to leave for the weekend leaving me in their home all alone.  I told him not to worry and that I could cook for myself, which prompted him to ask, "Well, can I get you some bread?".  To which I responded, "No thanks, I don't need any bread right now."  He then gave me a bewildered look and asked me, "But how will you eat?" gesturing the motion of using bread to grab your food.  I smiled and said that I would use a fork.  He said, "Ah, waxa (Oh, okay)."  They only had a couple of forks and during my time there I never ate with one so it was natural to be perplexed by these bread-free meals.

I'm still leery of the community cup so I think in that regard I will continue to add individual glasses to my table for water and soda.

I gotta say though that I kind of like the towel idea as opposed to paper napkins or even individual cloth napkins as long as people don't abuse it.  There have been flagrant abusers who use the entire towel to wipe their face and hands leaving no part of it unsoiled.  I think rules can be spelled out prior to its use.

All in all this new adaptation of the family platter and family dining is a win-win for me and the environment.  I'll gain more free-time, use less energy and resources, and end up happier with less dishes to wash.  Don't worry, when you come to eat, I'll make sure everyone washes their hands before we dig in.