Ksr el Barrani, Mdaghra, Errachidia

So here I am, on my second day in Ksr El Barrani, the neighborhood just outside Errahchidia where Abdelahk and friends live.

Things are quiet here, as I said yesterday, but I have by no means been bored. On the contrary, things here are a constant surprise. I feel like a small child in this town, where all social rules and customs are different for me, the language is completely foreign, and the most natural things in the world are to me completely unnatural.

It is an interesting way to be for a while.

Last night, I participated in Muslim prayer for the first time, at the invitation of Abdelhak's cousins.

Abdelhak and I had stayed at his grandmother's house for dinner, and sat around on some cushions, watching television and relaxing. One of his cousins came into the room and asked me if I would like to pray with him. No pressure, just an invitation, which I accepted.

We went to the back of the house, where he taught me how to wash before prayer, which is a very exact science, and not unlike the methods of washing used by Western doctors.

First, I was told to wash my hands three times with warm water that I took from a bucket before me. I then brought the bucket into the bathroom, where I washed my backside and my private parts three times. Returning to the patio, I again washed my hands three times, then moved onto other parts of the body. The methods of washing were quite specific, and the number of times very important. By the end of the whole affair, I had very clean hands, feet, butt, private parts, ears, head, face and arms (to the elbow).

We then moved into a sort of family room, where three of us laid out the prayer mats. I was told to follow along while they prayed.

The singing of the koranic lines was mesmerising, and the truth is that the constant movement of the prayer cycle was nice. I am not sure that I will be converting or participating in any organized religion anytime soon, but as far as all that goes, the experience was a good one.

I have found that many people here in general are very proud of their faith, which plays a very important part in their life. What more, they seem interested in talking about their religion, but not in a pushy way. More of in a "I would love it if you too believed in what I believe to be true, but if not, that's your thing."

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This morning I saw a newborn lamb that one of Abdelhak's sheep gave birth to. Cute. As I stood there with the mother, looking at the furry little creature, still wet in birth fluids, I tried to communicate to her my happiness about the new birth..."Thanks be to God," I told her, marveling at the creation of a new life. "Yes," she told me, and made two hand motions--one that mimicked the slitting of a throat and one that mimicked holding money in her hands.

I thought that was funny.

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A final note on issues of privacy and personal space here. It is very interesting to note that these concepts do not really seem to exist here. Very few people, even in large houses, seem to have their own private room. As far as I can tell, in many families people change sleeping places on a regular basis, sleeping some days in beds and others on couches, other times on the floor. It seems to be quite normal.

This lack of personal space in the home extends to all realms, and can be both a blessing and a curse. Sometimes I just have to laugh at the whole thing, and accept that this is how it is here...Like today, Abdelhak fell asleep after lunch, and I took the opportunity to head out alone to the internet cafe, leaving him a note telling him where I was. On the way, walking down the dusty, hot street, I heard my name called. "Haj Driss," someone yelled. I turned and saw a guy that I know. We spoke for a minute, and I mentioned where I was going. "Let's go," he said, and off we went.

I sat down at the computer and he sat down next to me. I opened my yahoo and he opened his msn messenger. And for the next twenty minutes, we shared a computer. And then he left, and somebody else took his seat, and then a group formed around the seat. Strange, and sometimes hard to handle, but this is life here and here I am.

And that is all for today, from here in the neighborhood of Ksr El Barrani.