First Post from Morocco

May 23, 2013

Hello all! This is Tiffany checking in from Essaouira. We did a whole lot of travelling yesterday and luckily all our luggages and bags have arrived safely. (…despite all of them being opened and checked by TSA (the security) and even retaped as a package). We have also met up with our mentors, Dean and Lee, who are both very excited for the project. We have some supplies to pick up and groceries to get before heading to Ait Bayoud. But after a good night rest and a nice shower, we are ready to head into the village and for some action and bridge building.

Until then!

Update on Winter Assessment Team

Hello travel blog readers!

I’ve just received word that the team has arrived safely in Essaouira, Morocco, where they will stay the night before traveling by taxi to the bridge site tomorrow morning. They’ll update us more on their experiences later, but in the meantime, here are some pictures of what they will be assessing. Our new Peace Corps volunteer in the area snapped these during a visit last month.

May-June 2012 Implementation Trip and Travel Update

Hello world!

Welcome to our travel blog. Thanks for reading! Posts from this trip will appear on the main page as they are written. They will also be organized under the category “May-June 2012 Implementation Trip”, which has a link on the menu to the right. Blogs from our previous trips can be found on the same menu. The first team is currently on route to Ait Bayoud and will soon write posts from there.

In the meantime read an article that appeared this week on the front page of the Columbia SEAS website:

http://engineering.columbia.edu/building-bridges-morocco

 

Travel Update: The first team (Marcus, Andrew, Margaret, Kevin, and Garrett) were delayed in JFK for approximately 3.5 hours and missed their connection in Paris. They were able to walk around Paris for some time when they arrived in the morning. The students will travel through Toulouse and then on to Casablanca to meet with Marcus, who has a direct flight, this evening. From there, they plan to drive straight to Ait Bayoud and arrive there early the next morning.

Day 9-10: Farewell to Ait Bayoud and the Return Home

January 13-14, 2012

In the morning we caught early taxis back to Essaouira, the first leg in our long journey back to the New York. I think we all found it difficult to leave Ait Bayoud, where we had been so warmly welcomed and received this past week.

In Essa, we had time to shop in the medina, before catching our afternoon bus to Marrakech. I picked up a pretty spiffy pair of traditional Berber yellow slipper-like shoes and planning on wearing them to the next EWB meeting. Derek and Ryan found some fancy soap and Dhristie finally found the perfect vase for her family’s collection. Additionally, we all loaded up with fresh olive oil to smuggle back to the states. Nina escorted us to the airport, where she wished us farewell.

Upon reaching Marrakech, and now without a multi-lingual guide, we had to try our hand at getting a reasonable taxi offer, which we accepted at 60 DH. It seems that in Kech the drivers all agree to charge extra to tourists, as it is such a frequently visited location. In comparison, we routinely got taxis in Essa for the same distance of about 3 km for just 6 DH (~80 cents). After successfully splitting cabs and rejoining at Hotel Sindi Sud, we dropped our luggage and headed out to Jamaa el Fna, the main square to get dinner. During the day the square is largely open, with a few fruit and nut vendors, by afternoon there are snake tamers and dancers that entertain the throngs of tourists. At night the square turns into a giant open-air restaurant, full of food vendors and tea stands. We had a grand time sampling all sorts of kebabs, deserts, dried figs, and spiced tea. I particularly enjoyed the point when, in effort to attract us to his stall, a vendor called Ryan “Justin Bieber” and Derek “Harry Potter”. Ha! After we felt stuffed we retired to bed early in order to wake up at 5:00 the next morning. Our following day of travel went very smoothly and we were able to touch down in JFK at around 4 pm EST.

All and all, we agreed that the trip was extremely successful. We set out to accomplish and achieved all our major goals including: continued engagement with the community, a firm site choice and detailed geotechnical/topological data for the site, and a pledge from the community for labor during bridge construction. I would like to personally thank Nina for so graciously sharing her own house with us messy, needy engineers; and also for being such a helpful guide, source of knowledge, tireless contact, and all-around enjoyable friend of the program. Thanks also go to Ryan for donating his valuable time and expertise to the project (not to mention his generosity with snacks). Thank you both again for making the trip as successful was it was.

Throughout the next few months we will be designing the bridge, determining construction needs, and partially pre-assembling components in order to implement the bridge early this summer.

Until then,

Tim

The group before leaving Ait Bayoud

Decorated pots in Essa medina

Tajeens in Essa

Olives and olive oil in Essa

Spiced tea to end our last night in Morocco

Jemaa el-Fnaa by night

Day 8: Surveying and Community Meeting

January 12, 2012

Hi all!  Today was (sadly) our last day in Ait Bayoud.  The day started off bright and early, around 8am, when we headed out to do some soil work and surveying.  Ryan, Caroline, Monica, and I, set out to Site 1 to do some final surveying, while Derek and Tim went to Site 7 to collect some soil samples 2 feet down into the ground.

The surveying at site 1 went really well, and we found a couple of great potential bridge landing spots, as well as places to anchor the main cables.  We used a hammer to take samples of the rocks, and get a rough sense of how hard they were.  All in all, the site looked great, which brings me to the big announcement – we’ve decided on a site for the first bridge!  Site 1 looks like the best option right now.  There are some really sturdy rocks that we can anchor into, which is great for the safety aspect.  We also briefly began brainstorming design ideas that would fit in the space, and Ryan feels pretty good about it!

Later on in the day, we all met back up at Nina’s house, and cleaned up for lunch at the Haaj’s house.  The house was a big surprise to us!  The Haaj, being one of the wealthier members of the community, had couches and a big flat-screen tv!  He was extremely hospitable, and provided plates, knives, and forks to eat with to make us feel comfortable (we were all kind of clumsy at first, and Nina explained that we had gotten so used to eating with our hands, we forgot how to use forks!).  He even had an American movie playing on the television to make us feel at home!  We were so appreciative of all his effort – but the main event was definitely the food.  Everything was beyond delicious (I personally loved the lamb dish, with prunes and almonds – amazing).  Though there were mountains of food served to us, we did a pretty good job cleaning our plates.  We also got a chance to meet Kamal at lunch – an English teacher whose family originated in Ait Bayoud.

After we were all thoroughly stuffed with food, it was time to head over to the Community Meeting.  We were all slightly nervous, because we were announcing the final site decision!  Our team sat in the front of the classroom facing the rest of the community members (the meeting took place in the school building), and Nina did most of the talking of course!  To our relief, the suggestion to build at site 1 was received well.  We also left a volunteer sign-up sheet with the Rais detailing the specific number of workers we’d need per skill.  The meeting went really smoothly, and ended with touching thanks from the Rais on behalf of the community (translated into English by Kamal).  He told us we were welcome back in Ait Bayoud anytime, and that they all appreciated us taking our vacation time to come and work on this project with them.  Ryan then returned the thanks, explaining that it was our pleasure to collaborate with them, and that we look forward to building two beautiful bridges (all translated by Nina into Tashlaheit).  All in all, it went great, followed by many group pictures of us with the community.  Shout-out to Tim for taking some great shots, and even learning to count to 3 in Tashlaheit before clicking each picture!

We all left the meeting feeling awesome, and went to Tahimin’s house for tea and snacks.  After great food and great conversation as per usual, there were a ton of fun pictures and sad goodbyes with the family.  We then headed home to take a breather after a really good, productive day (Tahimin was nice enough to walk us all home!).  We finished up most of our packing, in preparation to leave early tomorrow morning for the airport.  I think we all agree that this trip has been a success, and extremely productive!  I’m sure I can speak for everyone when I say we’ll really miss Ait Bayoud and all the members of the community that we’ve gotten to know, including of course, Nina.

Well, time for bed so we don’t miss our flight!  Look out for the last post of the trip!

Dhristie

Derek and Tim were lucky enough to get a ride to site 7

Inside the Haaj’s house, Ryan enjoys a feast

Community meeting

Community meeting

Post-community meeting

Honey dip with tea

Day 7: Izgouaren and Site 1

January 11, 2012

Hi all! It’s Monica again with quick summary of Wednesday.  Tim will fill in some of the technical details in later paragraphs.  Nina woke us up, and we left the house around 8.  First, we went to site 7 near the school to discuss the feasibility of the site and possible bridge models.  A couple hours later, we caught a ride with the bride’s father to site 1 on the other side of town.  Site 1 was extremely appealing for reasons Tim will elucidate.  We did not feel like we had surveyed enough of site 1 when lunchtime approached.  The farthest dwar, Izgouaren, had invited us to lunch.  The people of this dwar are some of the poorest.  Nevertheless, they take the time, effort, and initiative to come to community meetings and gently advocate their needs.  The trek to Izgouaren would take approximately two hours; it was a rough, uphill climb.

Izgouaren is one of the most remote dwars.  It sits atop a high plateau.  Whenever its residents require water to wash with or drink, they must trek a steep, rocky path to the river.  Since irrigation is impossible, the farmers rely on rainwater.  Morocco was affected by a severe drought this year, the likes of which have not been seen for over 10 years.  When asked what they would harvest this year, the men joked darkly, “hay for our animals.”  To reach the market, the men must hike with their donkeys down the plateau and across the river and somehow catch a ride to Mescala or Zem Zem (the market towns).  In times of drought, they will have to rely on these weekly trips to the market to obtain food.  When Ait Bayoud is flooded, the men are unable to cross the river and reach the market.  At one point, Izgouaren had to rely on grain stores and oil for 6 weeks during the rainy season.  Can you imagine rationing grain and oil for around 2 months without any other vegetable- or fruit-derived nutrition?

Izgouaren has its own school, however teacher attendance is inconsistent.  As Derek, Caroline, Nina, and I trekked up to the dwar, we could understand why.  While we found the hike exhilarating and beautiful, hiking 2 hours to and from work for the teachers who are generally accustomed to city life can be difficult.  Perhaps with at least a bridge near site 1, the teachers would be more willing to cross and climb.

We will post pictures that better convey the difficulty of the climb and the remoteness of the dwar.  One picture depicts women washing clothes in the river at the base of the plateau, only to hike back up the rocky terrain with a heavier, wet load of laundry.

During lunch with the Izgouaren men, we learned that there was yet another dwar located an hour north of Izgouaren.  This dwar was even farther from the river and more remote than Izgouaren.  The only advantage it had was its proximity to another road to Mescala.  Filled with new knowledge (as well as couscous), we had new resolve to help the most unfortunate of Ait Bayoud.  We trekked back down the cliff and walked by Tesila, another plateau-top dwar located on the opposite side of the river.  The people of Tesila want a road to connect them to the main road that leads to the markets more than they want a bridge; they have made that abundantly clear.  We walked by the dwar and onto the main road as dusk set in.  A path to the main road may provide us with our next project.  As we recapped the day’s events, we ran into Tahami, who showed us the motor controlling the water tanks and the water meter.

While Caroline, Nina, Derek, and I hiked around town, Tim, Dhristie, and Ryan continued to survey site 1.  The scoop and technical details provided by Tim, below:

After the other group hiked out, Dhristie, Ryan, and I stayed and got our Mo-rock on. (Sorry about that terrible pun!) We’d briefly evaluated site 1 before, but we were still unsure about the integrity of the rock face above the banks and wanted to take a closer look. Essentially, the northern bank looks like a group of large sandstone-covered granite slabs. These slabs are angled down the length of the river by approximately 20 degrees and have sustained intense weathering. This leads us to thinking that this rock has sit there for an incredible amount of time and actually upon closer investigation, we spotted several tiny clam and snail fossils. Additionally, Ryan found a pretty good-sized geode.

The general test for rock integrity, as provided by Bridges for Prosperity, is a simple wack with a hammer. If the rock emits a ringing noise, it should be clear of any internal voids or unseen cracks. But if the rock emits a thud, it is likely not suitable to drill into. Ryan and the group agreed though, considering that we’re looking at a 200+ ft span we’d like to do a little more thorough job judging the rock

So we spent the next few hours banging around on the rock, circling spots with sharpy, collecting rock samples to be reviewed later, photographing, and garnering quite a few perplexed looks. Eventually, we became certain that there were significant rock masses that we could safely anchor and land a bridge upon. From a purely technical standpoint, site 1 appears easier to implement a bridge at first, as opposed to site 7. This is chiefly because all components of the suspension bridge would be anchored or attached to solid rock, rather than having to construct our own mass and making sure it holds fast in the dirt on the south bank of site 7.

Luckily this technical recommendation was in line with our leaning towards site 1 for social reasons (as Monica explained). We plan on announcing our final decision on which site to build the first bridge at tomorrow’s Ait Bayoud Association special meeting.

 

Ryan explains potential bridge designs at site 7

Site 7 onlookers, residents of Ait Aissa dwar

View above site 1

Fossil at site 1

Geode at site 1

Eureka! Granite

Day 6: From the Chef

January 10, 2012

Morning folks!

Caroline here again: Today’s post is written by Ryan Woodward, our professional mentor. (To us and the community, we call him the chef, aka the Boss). He has been extremely helpful in leading site surveying at all the bridge sites, especially since the rest of us have limited technical skills. He is part of the EWB professional chapter, and has international development experience in Cambodia. We are honored to have him travelling with us!

Today we returned to Site 7 to document and survey the proposed crossing.  As we were preparing to embark from Nina’s house, the commune president dropped by to invite us to lunch with his nephew later in the afternoon.  Now, Nina has a skill for navigating the occasionally elusive intricacies of conversational Tashlihit, and though she was unable to decline lunch (who could, really?), by the end of the conversation we had secured a ride to the Site in the President’s car.

We have already walked the length of the river within the limit of the development association, and we feel that we have a good sense for the relative strengths of each candidate location.  Sites 1 and 7 have stood out to us as the best suited in terms of technical feasibility, community access, and impact on adjacent crops and olive trees. We were excited to haul the surveying gear down to Site 7 and develop a cross section of the river.

The north bank consists entirely of exposed rock ledges, sloping steeply uphill. Monica and I examined the rock to characterize its type and relative quality.  The rock abruptly transitions from smooth mudstone at the first ledge to lightly weathered sandstone to hard granite at the third ledge.  Striking the mudstone with a hammer, it emits a low, thud-like crack.  With a few blows, the rock flakes in layers.  Immediately above this the hammer rings as it strikes the hard sandstone.  The rock quality continues to increase uphill, and we suspect the pink granitic outcropping would make a good candidate for anchoring the main cables of a suspension bridge.

The south bank consists of dry, fine soil with a severely eroded, nearly vertical face.  A stand of olive trees populates the clearing perched atop the bank, and Tim speculates that the root structure is helping to stabilize the soil mass, and suggests this is another reason to avoid impacting any trees with the new bridge. A small outcropping of mudstone and limestone is situated behind the first two rows of trees, and could possible form a suitable foundation for a masonry tower.  Beyond the outcropping, the olive grove steps uphill in ledges about four feet high and about 10 feet wide.  Derek is interested in returning to the site to collect a soil sample from the third ledge, where we envision possibly placing gabions to anchor the main cables of a suspension bridge.

At least a dozen residents gathered on the south bank to observe our work, and Nina used the opportunity to gather more site history.  The residents indicated that the high water on the south side can reach up to the top of the eroded face.  At the north bank, it reaches up to the footpath just beyond the small irrigation channel.  They were curious about the transit level that Caroline and Dhristie had set up at our benchmark along the rocky outcropping.

In addition to site surveying bridge site 7, we also looked at bridge sites 6, 5 ½, and 4. While on our first day on the river we didn’t have a good feeling about these sites, we wanted to find more concrete reasons for ruling them out. The general issues with bridge sites include erosion on the north and south banks, the rock has fractures, and property of community members lined the banks.

The Columbia team has given a great deal of consideration to the types of bridge that could be well suited to the potential sites.  Among these, we discussed a stone or concrete arch, reinforced concrete beam bridge, steel truss, and probably a few others.  A truss is simply not well suited for a remote site with no roads and no heavy lifting equipment.  An arch and a reinforced concrete beam bridge have the disadvantage that they each would need substantial amounts of falsework.  We could not justify the expense of the falsework, which could be greater than the cost of the bridge itself.  At this point, we are contemplating a suspension bridge, and we are very excited by the concept that we feel can be built very inexpensively, harnessing the skills of the local community within a challenging timeframe.

In addition to understanding the technical constraints, we have to place a strong emphasis on the social aspects of the community as well. Nina taught us a valuable lesson: connecting with the community is as important if not more important than site surveying. Today’s lunch was at the Rais’s nephew’s house, and it was Nina’s first time dining here as well. We were showered with tajeen, cous cous, almonds, and tea (of course). We ate until our stomachs practically burst! Tim has proved his superior Moroccan dining skills, and became our MVP of the day. He can really roll that cous cous. It’s become a daily tradition to eat lunch and discuss daily life in the bled.

Site 1

Site 7

We got a little help surveying

Bros at site 7

Day 5: Imik S Imik…

January 9, 2012

Hi everyone! My name is Derek; I’m a Junior studying Materials Science and minoring in Sustainable Engineering. I was a member of last summer’s travel team, but I’m just as excited to be back in Ait Bayoud. I’ve really appreciated being able to reunite with some of the community members I met last time. So far, this trip has been every bit as great as the last trip –and often times better!

To complete today’s title, “…Asay Kshm Arram Tikint!” Or, for those who are Tashleheit-challenged, “little by little, the camel gets in the pot”. And, sure enough, our steady efforts during our trip so far have helped us guarantee that there will be enough room in the pot for our bridge, too. Today was another day full of little steps, but the bigger picture of our project has slowly come into focus.

We started early again today with a quick visit to site three (or “Nina’s crossing”). During our previous trip, we thought that the site would be ideal for a concrete bridge since the distance between the banks is very short – around 30 meters. However, a bridge at this site would either require the excavation of (or cutting through) private fields to access a lower bedrock layer for a foundation. Heavy erosion along the north bank of the site was visible, exposing a roughly ten-foot tall layer of soil on top of some bedrock. As we later learned at our bridge committee meeting, the community members would likely not be willing to give up large areas of private land used for crops, so cutting a path through crops to access the bridge would likely be very difficult. Ultimately, we decided that the site involved too many complications – namely the lack of an easily accessible landing zone on the north bank – to warrant further investigation.

We also took some time to look back at crossing one. Since we determined during our last trip that site one would be too long for a concrete bridge, we had not initially planned on spending much time looking at upstream sites. However, after taking another look at the site, we noticed a few attributes that make the site well-suited for a simple suspension bridge. Site one features rocky outcroppings that could be useful for anchoring our cables and also does not have fields immediately adjacent. Furthermore, the location of this site at the upstream end of the community means that it would work well with a two-bridge long-term plan. We spent some time collecting rock samples as well as performing our first real survey of the site from both sides. By the end of the early afternoon, we were all comfortable with the equipment and took a series of points that we could use to construct a cross-section of the river. After some adventures coming down the river back to home base (we noticed that the water level was slightly higher today – a good sign for the unusually dry winter Morocco has been having), we finally made it back to the house in time for a quick stop before our couscous meeting with the bridge committee.

Our lunch was our first official meeting with the bridge committee this trip, which consists of the Rais (the “president” of the local governing association) and community members from each dwar. First, we had excellent couscous with mutton, carrots, turnips, and plenty of delicious turmeric sauce. We all had a great time showing off the couscous eating skills we learned the previous day at lunch (editor’s note: again, Tim was clearly the couscous champion ). After some delicious tea and an assortment of almonds, peanuts, and cookies, we got right down to business. First, Rais el Madi welcomed the entire travel team to Ait Bayoud. Nina then introduced all of us and briefly explained reviewed our previous trip and what we were hoping to accomplish this summer. We also had the opportunity to clarify a few questions that we needed to ask of the committee members. In term of labor, the bridge committee was confident that we would be able to recruit the roughly 25 laborers necessary to complete the project. We’ll have the opportunity to ask the entire community for volunteers during our meeting on Thursday. We also learned that the farmer would likely not be willing to give up any significant amounts of farmland for the project: this constraint is especially important considering that most of the farmland is dedicated either to farming for subsistence or cash crops (such as olive trees). Finally, Nina also directly addressed the representatives from Tasila and Izgouaren, the two dwars that are located extremely far upstream and who would not directly benefit from this project. Since these two dwars are so far away from the rest of the community, they have historically benefited the least from development projects. Though our bridge will unfortunately continue this trend, Nina was emphasized that we would like to assist the community in a future project.

All in all, the day was full of great information both technical and qualitative about the constraints of our project. Tomorrow, we’ll be taking a closer look at some downstream sites, so stick around for more adventures!

 

Attempting to take a soil sample at site 3

Surveying in action

View from a cave overlooking site 1

At site 2

Nina speaks to Rais and Association members

Day 4: First Trek on the River

January 8, 2012

Salaam, and Shoukran for reading our travel blog. My name is Tim. I was born and raised in Portland, Maine (lobster is my spirit animal!). I am a sophomore in SEAS. Although I don’t see bridge building in my professional future (I’m also a BME), I am still really excited to be part of this team and working on this fascinating project.

If you’ve been following our trip, today is now our fourth day and we have yet to do any serious evaluation of the Tagawowt River we plan to build a bridge over. This may be due to the numerous social obligations, including a wedding yesterday, frequent tea gathers, and a traditional pastime for lounging. Regardless we were all more than ready for a full hike down the river.

Nina woke us up at 7:15, sharp. We must still all be recovering from the jet lag, because even after three days, we can’t seem to wake ourselves up (she normally has to knock several times). Additionally, this morning was fairly chilly, making the wake up especially slow. Our groggy group of engineers left the door by 8:30 and proceeded to site three.

This was our professional mentor Ryan’s first time seeing the River, and the first time any of our mentors saw the river with the simple suspension bridge design in mind. We made our way from site 3 down the river to site 7 in about four hours, taking photos along the way. For those interested in engineering particulars of each site, see the note at the end where I detail each. Also appended are photos of each site.

Following our morning hike, we were invited to a lunch date with Mena and Tahmi. We first were served a steaming tagine of chicken complete with “bled bread” (say that ten times fast!) and Moroccan French fries. Next was a full course of cous cous, served in another tagine and filled to the top with cooked vegetables and mutton. On the way out Meena made us promise to come back for tea after our second round of surveying.

In the afternoon, we returned to site 3 and trekked upstream to sites 2 and 1. This leg of the trip was somewhat more difficult—a few boots might have plunged into the Tagagwowt River along the way—but we finally made it to site 2, where Ryan conquered an impressive boulder. Because Nina had long been interested in a particular cave in view from site 1, her and Monica decided to lead a hike up the canyon. We were delighted to find an awe-inspiring view of Ait Bayoud and a large hollowed up cave. We concluded that cavemen had to have occupied the cave. We returned again to Meena’s house for tea and were surprised to find a freshly-baked delicious bled cake. Meena is really too nice. We bid her and her family farewell and followed Tahmi back to the road leading back to Nina’s house.

We finally returned home well after nightfall and began planning for the upcoming week. Most importantly we drafted the questions we intend to ask at the cous cous lunch tomorrow at the Rais’ (mayor) house.

Again thanks for reading our blog. Good night!

Tim

Technical Evaluation

Each site 1-7 is a commonly used river crossing. Site 1 is the furthest upstream and closest to the Rabi Nessim Ben Nessim Mausoleum. Site 7 is furthest downstream and near the Ait Aissa dwar. The logic for considering crossings only is that each crossing is publicly used and not on existing farming land.

Site 1 – The flooding zone is quite wide. Access on the south bank is difficult as it is a steep switch-back path. Does not seem optimal, but the rocky face on the south should work.

Site 2 – The large boulder halfway across the crossing reportedly rolled from a point further upstream. This is pretty incredible, but immediately disqualified its use as any sort of anchor. The group wasn’t very enthusiastic about the soily banks on either side.

Site 3 – This site is a good geographic mean. It is the closest to Nina’s house and the closest to the larger of two schools. During the July 2011 trip, our mentors expressed an approval of site 3, but in reevaluation with Ryan, site 3 did not seem like such an ideal choice. Under the 1 bridge plan, this site would clearly be a certain choice, but we are now fairly certain about building two bridges. In fact we had a difficult time recalling what exactly led us to the so called one bridge plan in the first place. In September, it seemed that a multiple bridge plan would be costly. Further, the reported span length (100ft) made site 3 seem like a solid choice for those of us would had not traveled yet. Truthfully though, site 3 is anything but solid. The north bank is very susceptible to erosion as evidenced by the crumpling stone embankments used for erosion protection and a fairly plastic layer of topsoil known as loam covers the south bank. Additionally, in order to build a perpendicular span, we would have to encroach on farmer’s land on either side.

Site 4 – Site 4 looked far too wide to build on. The Rais prefers this spot because it is closest to his dwar. We likely will not build here, but we have not entirely eliminated it.

Site 5 – This site is also looking quite wide. The south bank may be too loose. According to Derek, the tree that they had used to record the span during the summer trip is now missing.

Site 5.5 – Between site 5 and 6, Ryan pointed out a promising spot that included a large rocky outcropping on a slight turn. The issue with any bridge built here is that it would most definitely cross through someone’s fields.

Site 6 – Located just after a large turn in the river, site 6 looks feasible. The north bank is exposed bedrock and slopes down into the river. The south side is not nearly as attractive, but should still be buildable.

Site 7 – We all seemed confident about site 7 during our initial walk-through. Both sides were rocky, especially the north side. On the south side, dirt covers the rocky steps down towards the riverbed. The only impediment appears to be the olive trees that line the south bank. Ryan is confident we can build a reasonable span between the olive trees.

 

Caroline and Dhristie hike over the river

Day 3: A Moroccan Wedding

January 7, 2012

Salaam!

Isminu Monica – a third junior biomedical engineer on the travel team.  I am a frequent flier and am excited to be in Morocco for a second time.  Experiencing Morocco with EWB has been vastly different than traveling Morocco on the general tourist circuit.  Interacting with those from the bled, or countryside, exposes the many nuances of rural Moroccan culture invisible to the city traveler.

Today, Nina woke us up bright and early at 9 AM.  We rolled out of bed around 10 AM and dressed for the wedding.  The boys wore formal shirts and pants, and the girls wore varied clothing.  Nina wore a kaftan, Caroline wore a long skirt with a tunic, and Dhristie and I wore Indian salwaar-kameezes (long, decorated tunic, baggy pants, shawl).  We took pictures then walked to Tahami’s house to pick up the family: Khadduj, his wife; Meena, his daughter; Fatima, his daughter-in-law; and Heeba, Fatima’s daughter.  Of course, we were unable to escape tea; Moroccans are insistent hosts. The Rais, the leader of the region, drove by on the only road in Ait Bayoud as we walked with the neighbors to the wedding.  He came back to pick us up and drove us to the home where the wedding was held.

The family hosting the wedding is relatively well off.  Their home was spacious.  We arrived at the wedding before anyone else – around noon (Editor’s Note: we thought we were running late, but that’s just Moroccan time for you).  Women and men sat in separate parts of the house, so the following narrative speaks mostly to the female experience.  As guests entered the room, they made sure to greet everyone in succession.  A couple pecks on the cheek or a handshake and a kiss, coupled with salaam w’alaikum or lebes, was the traditional method of greeting.

After the room was filled to capacity, mint tea and homemade pastries were served.  Chicken marinated in spices and oils and surrounded with fresh olives and chicken innards followed the tea.  Meena prodded us to eat; eash! she insisted.  Convinced that I wasn’t eating at a satisfactory rate or couldn’t adequately claw and rip at the intact chicken, Meena broke pieces of the chicken and pushed them to my side of the communal plate.  Like most of the Moroccans we’ve met so far, she was extremely accommodating and helpful!  A lamb platter with prunes and sesame was served next.  All meat was eaten with some sort of sesame flat bread.

After lunch, a couple of the women initiated the musical portion of the wedding.  They started singing with three instruments: a skinny, tall drum; a round, flat drum that’s played like the tambourine without the ‘zils’; and two large spoons that create a sharp sound on a large silver plate.  The total band set is called ahawash.

The instruments were passed among the women.  They asked Nina, Caroline, Dhristie, and I to play an American song.  We told them that American songs might not work with ahawash.  As soon as they deduced that Dhristie and I were Indian, they asked us to teach them how to dance Bollywood-style.  We decided instead to sing an Indian song, which is probably more attuned to the Moroccan ear.  Dhristie quickly whispered the lyrics in my ear and before we knew it, we were singing a duet: ‘Mehendi Laga Ke Rakhna,’ both a Bollywood movie song and a wedding song. Fun fact: the ladies of Ait Bayoud watch a ton of TV, Bollywood movies included.

The style of dance was surprisingly scandalous in comparison to other aspects of Moroccan culture.  The ladies could shake their hips like Shakira!  The rest of us attempted to dance in a Moroccan manner but ended up looking more like we were hula hooping for the majority of the time.  The dancing was absolutely exhilarating, and the music was rhythmic and raw.

After the dancing, we watched the bride depart with her husband.  They departed in a car, rather than the traditional mule, because the groom lives in Casablanca, an impossible distance to traverse via mule.  Fathers don’t normally show an exorbitant amount of emotion at their daughter’s departure, but the father’s eyes welled up.  After the bride drove away and as the sun disappeared into the hills, we (Caroline, Dhristie, Nina, and I) caught a ride back to the house with the only driver in town (AKA ‘Dude with car’).

P.S.  The boys relayed their experience of the wedding: sat in the room, greeted guests, drank tea, ate the two-course meal, talked to M’barq (the Rais’ nephew), and generally just bro-ed out.

Stay tuned to read about our exciting hiking adventures!

 

Before the wedding with Tahimin’s family

View down the river