Sefrou

Earlier this week, we took a little trip to Sefrou, the hometown of Imad's father located right outside of Fez. Sefrou is a beautiful town, not a village, but definitely a smaller city with a much more traditional Moroccan feel. The last time Imad visited Sefrou was believe it or not with me over 10 years ago. So the family all reminisced about the places we'd visited that many years ago. We again went to the famous waterfall of Sefrou and the look out point where you see the rolling hills and beautiful landscape surrounding the city.

Younis' favorite activity these days is "throw the rock in wa wa" as he says translated as throwing rocks in water. Usually shortly after waking up which is often painfully early at the crack of dawn, Younis is ready to run down to the beach and start throwing rocks, shells and wet sand in the ocean. When we got to the waterfall in Sefrou, Younis was overjoyed when Imad's cousin took off his shoes and put him in the water surrounded by a million rocks. It was a challenge tearing him away from all those rocks when we had to leave. When we got back to the house, Younis got nice and dirty discovering the joys of throwing gravel in the street... Yay!

Imad's cousins live in a traditional Moroccan house in this alley. From the outside, it looks unadorned and plain, but when you go inside the doors, there are traditional ceramic mosaic tiles on the walls and beautiful Moroccan couches. Younis spent most of the day kicking the ball and running around the alley with his cousins. One of the things I love about Morocco is how people let their kids play and run free without worrying because the older kids learn at a young age to look out for the little ones. Of course, I was worried and kept checking on Younis and everyone kept telling me don't worry. Even the adults hanging out on the street keep an eye out for the kids. The communal culture here is such a beautiful value that I will truly miss.

Younis learned some great "futbol" moves from his talented 3 year old cousin. This kid knows how to kick a ball. Younis and his cousin got along great and had so much fun playing. Younis also fell in love with his older 6 and 8 year old cousins and the neighbor girls who showered him with attention.

As is custom, we ate extremely well. Imad's cousin Layla made delicious Harira, Moroccan soup that those of you who came to the restaurant probably tasted. Most of the family only spoke Arabic and limited French so it forced me to practice my Arabic. The kids especially would talk and talk to me to see what I understood. They kept asking me to say things in Arabic and whether I understood this or that, I think it was an amusing game at my expense! It was hilarious though after eating the harira, Layla asked me how I would rate it. I said it was delicious and gave it a 10 out of 10. I said it half in Arabic and half in French so another cousin translated. Layla's reaction was one of surprise that I only gave it a 10 and didn't like it more! Her cousin said but no, 10 out of 10 is the most, it could be 100 out of 100 or a million out of a million and it would be the same thing. Everyone was laughing. I think no matter what, I would never have been able to rate it high enough.

The next day, we left in the morning and met Imad's father and brother in law at Moulay Yacoub to enjoy the natural healing waters. There was a daycare on site which was great so Younis hung out there and played while we went to the pool. I had been here many years ago before they built the fancier center. The first time I went it was a big pool with men and women separate more like a hammam experience. In this newer spot, there's a mixed pool and a women's pool. The women's only pool is small and not as nice so we all went to the bigger mixed pool. The waters were wonderful, nice and hot and smelling of sulfur. The downside was that it was majority men and it felt like all the eyes followed my every step, despite the fact that I was there with my husband. It might have just been at that moment because as we were leaving a huge group of French tourists arrived which would have created a different ambiance. It's just hard to relax when you're feeling watched so I think I'll head back to the women's hammam soon for what I know will be 100% relaxation.