6/24 Camel Necks

So while Farah is our director, Fadwa is our manager. Fadwa is our age-ish (25), and is the one who leads us around and tells us to get back to class after the break. Our class affectionately gave her the nickname Melikette Abdee, “Queen of the Slaves.” Other fun stuff from class apparently ‘Hemka’ the Fusha word for crazy is actually a bad word in Chinese. When we first said it in class Kacey cracked up and couldn’t hold it in. We asked him what it meant, but he just sarcastically answered that it meant crazy.

There were two afternoon lectures today. The first was by an Islamist, who explained to their views on democracy “which is the only solution.” Islamists refers to the collective action of the Islamic movement regarding the political and social dimension. According to him, the three most important changes necessary in the current government are participation, accountability, and transparency. However, change will come slow due to corrupt politicians, a vacuum of political leaders who are credible (for the parties, in comparison to the national icon the king serves), and the overall weakness of parties. He claims the tipping point will most likely come from the inevitable economic crises, but until then he mentioned how opposing sides (like the king and the Islamists, who don’t support a monarchy) must work together on reforms both can agree on, such as illiteracy, poverty, and overall lack of education, which are still large issues despite their advances. This last mention reminded me of readings from Dr. Dow’s class, who spoke of how the best method for conflict resolution was the focus and advancement of commonalities - too often forgone in convoluted politics.

In the break that followed I wandered over to the library at the CCCL. They have quite a collection here, but the most unique by far is their compositions of the previous Independent Study Papers (ISPs). I want to do mine on a health topic in Morocco, and Farah had suggested one of the best ISPs ever made, which apparently was a Fall 2004 paper. I ended up reading a very interesting report on Jnun and local health perceptions here. Jnun (Djin) are beings created by Allah made of smokeless fire. These creatures would best be equated to ghosts, as they can be good or bad, have families, and even have elements attributed to them. Various ailments can be attributed to jnun, epilepsy can be the result of bumping into one, while blindness can come from being ‘beaten by a jnun.’ Also, jnun can possess humans, taking over their blood, which can cause crippling or urges for sexual promiscuity. Though the source of this specific type of spirit stems from the Koran, I got the feeling that it largely fit in with the local customs predating Islam. Treatment from Jnun takes many forms, through prayers to Allah, or seeking spiritual shamans who can satiate the plaguing spirit. Also, there are dangerously powerful seals and incantations which are passed down in families. The seals are written in square forms, and usually all involve verses from the Koran – the partial pictures provided reminded me a lot of those used in alchemy. However, attempting rituals involving jnun powers are very risky, as mispronouncing even one word can cause a jnun to haunt you or even instantaneously transport you to an inhospitable land hundreds of miles away. Further, angels are believed by some to be sky jnun.

The last "lecture" of the day was a sneak preview into the music festival we will be attending in Essouira. A group of 5 (The Akkaf Brothers) played for us a variety of instruments both historical (my favorite made from the neck of a camel) and contemporary (bongo drums and plastic prototypes). They played for us 12 songs from a variety of tribal styles, and it took about 3 before we were all standing up dancing throughout the entire CCCL. Some of the songs were played with only percussion instruments (including drums played with sticks), while others also included string instruments. Also, one of the women maintenance members is amazing at the Moroccan style of dance (involving hips and many short stuttered steps) as well as that tongue lalalalalala thing. It was awesome. One song even had English in it – of course it was about how WWII soldiers stole the women with their cigars and alcohol, a mark against society and a dishonoring of the women. Ehh, I was just happy to understand it. I didn’t mind not knowing all the words though. Closing my eyes I almost caught glimpses of pre-colonial nomadic and rural life.