Grand Kasbahs

Apart from the dunes in the south of Morocco, the great attraction is the myriad of kasbahs. This is a feature of the Kasbah Amerhidil used in the filming of many well-known movies. My local guide, Abdul, was looking for a Westerner to help him fix up the kasbah he had bought. While some kasbahs have been restored, many are crumbling or maintained at a subsistance level by families, who have moved in for lack of better housing. While large slums are apparent in Casablanca, for example, there is also a large gap between urban and rural areas. While water is clean in the larger cities, many nomads and people in mountainous villages spend a lot of time gathering water and lead a much harder life. My journeys in the south exposed me to the Berber way of life (actually quite diverse, since most of the people are Berber). My driver, Hadji (Berber from the Middle Atlas) said Berbers are always happy. Since much of the culture is still largely oral, music is of great importance socially and culturally. And it is very enjoyable. Gnaouia, raï, and Arabic music are also associated with the country. I saw some great drums-one of which was from Senegal. There are three major Berber dialects. While Berber is now being taught in schools and an alphabet supposedly dates from some 4,500 years ago, I would think there would be a shortage of teachers and resources. Also, standardization of the language is a problem. Half of the male population of Morocco is illiterate, with the percentage higher for women. In the bank at Tinerhar I encountered "globalization" in an entirely unexpected and serendipitous manner. While waiting to have some traveler's checks changed, I heard the jingle "Happy Birthday" begin to play as a ringtone on someone's cell phone. While, to me, hearing the Happy Birthday melody in a Berber village in southern Morocco was startling and incongruous, I'm sure to most Moroccans the tune was but one among many others.