Dynamic

Tonight I am writing from my new home, an apartment in la ville neuveaux (French quarters). My family consists of the father (Moustaffa), the mother (Majda), the oldest son (Iman), and the young son (Mamoon (sp?)). The apartment is large and there are two maids. Moustaffa is a doctor and Majda is a nurse.

However, our day began in Tanger which is what I'd like to focus on in this blog. Tanger is an international city where one hears Arabic, French, Spanish, and English. It is an ancient city, dating back to preroman times. It has also always been an important city, a capital of a large Roman province and in more recent times, a trading fort used by the Portuguese, English and French.

We took a walking tour of the fort. The fort dates back to the 9th or 10th century. The Portuguese built a protective wall around the fort in the later part of the 1400s and handed the fort over peacefully to Charles II of England many years later. The streets within the medina are narrow and winding. It is a maze that would take a person years to figure out completely.

Since it is Ramadan, the streets or should I say alleys, were very quiet despite it being rather late in the morning-better to sleep than work if you can't eat during the day. We stopped at a palace that has been converted into a museum. The museum held artifacts discovered in the region dating back to the 10th century B.C. and resembled the Alhambra on a smaller scale.

We wandered further into the medina and found ourselves at a pharmacy or herbalist. He welcomed us in and had us sit on little stools arranged in a U shape. Jars of different spices and herbs filled shelves from top to bottom, and the shelves wrapped themselves around the entire room. The main herbalist had a little stand set up in the middle of our chairs and began selling his products-rose cream for bags under your eyes, ginseng for the gentlemen (if you know what I mean), spices that cure snoring, salve that treats herpes, balm that stops mosquito bites from itching... you name it, he had it. He walked through his most popular products one at a time, giving us a sample of almost all of them. Then he got to the cosmetics. Henna for eyeliner (can you imagine putting on eyeliner with a wooden stick that you dip in henna?? I couldn't). Then came the magic lipstick. The stick itself was clear, but after it came in contact with a person's skin, it turned pink. The shade of pink depended on the person's skin. He walked along and gave each person a little on the palm of their hand. When he got to me he stopped as mine turned the brightest, most vibrant shade of pink. He looked at my hand with interest and indicated to sit still before continuing down the line. When he'd finished he came back to me, turned to the group, held up my pink-stained hand, and announced, "She is the most dynamic woman in the group!" Why thank you Monsieur Herbalist!