Happy Couscous Day!

Since I’ve been living in Morocco my favourite day of the week is now Friday, aka Couscous Day. Because it is the Holy Day for Muslims, Friday has many traditions surrounding it (one of them being couscous), and since I’m not allowed into a mosque, I’ve decided to adopt two of the less religious traditions: eating platefuls of couscous and then taking a sieste right after. Normally I just have Arabic class in the morning and then I eat lunch at home and I’m free for the rest of the afternoon. This week, we have class after lunch because we were in Fes on Monday, but we were still given 2 ½ hours for lunch. Couscous is basically really small granules of semolina wheat and in Morocco it’s served in a huge platter (bottom half of the tajine clay platter) with vegetables and sometimes meat piled into the center. Today we had cooked zucchini, carrots, cabbage, pumpkin, tomatoes, chickpeas, and beef…it was delicious! I’ve found that Moroccans are very communal, and eating is no exception to that observation…the platter of couscous is placed in the middle of the table, no one uses dishes, and it becomes an “organized” free for all. My family’s a little more modern so I get the privilege of eating with a spoon…I’m one of the few students in my program that are allowed this luxury. I said it was “organized” because there are some strict rules when it comes to couscous, but they can all be summarized into one big umbrealla rule: Stay in your Zone. I like to call it the “Zone Game”. When the platter is placed on the table, you look at the couscous in the area right in front of you and picture a 60 degree angle facing you; the couscous that fills this area is yours. You’re then free to stuff your face full of couscous, veggies, and meat. People get very upset if you break into their Zone, so it’s especially important to not miscalculate your Zone dimensions. Walls of couscous are actually formed between different zones and it’s the most awkward situation when you accidently tap it with your spoon and it all comes tumbling down. At my house, Mama Z turns the TV channel to the midday prayer and we listen to the Qur’an being read/sung. Loudly. It actually drowns out the muezzin’s “Allah akhbar!” (Allah is great) chant, and since we’re right near the mosque, I can assure you it takes a lot to block him out. The only other sounds you can hear are the scraping of spoons on the clayware, Mama Z’s orders to “kuli!” (eat!), and my responses of “safi! Sh’bat.” (enough! I’m full.). After we’ve devoured the weight of a small dog in couscous, the dishes get cleared and we all retreat to our rooms to take a small nap. Mine was considerably short this afternoon considering I have class and to be honest, I’m a little bitter. But it’s all good…nothing can be too bad on Couscous Day!
A few of us are leaving tomorrow morning for Moulay Bousselham, which is a small fishing resort town about 125 kms north of Rabat. We’ll be visiting Merdja Zerga, which according to all the guidebooks, is a prime bird watching area. The thing that really sold me is that in order to partake in the bird watching, you hire a guide to take you out on a small boat of some sort and he’ll tour you around the lagoon. I’m so boat deprived right now and I’d give anything to go sailing, so I figure this might be as close as I get for a little while. We’ll be back Sunday mid-afternoon, so it’s just going to be a short relaxing weekend away from the city…after a week of Fus’ha lessons, I’m ready for a little downtime.