Morocco: Coming Home - Beni Mellal, Part III
After the apartment, I check out the dar chebab, or the youth center, where I used to work. On Monday, it is closed. Fine, I don't insist. It would have been nice to walk through those gates one more time, maybe have a word with the new dar chebab director, whoever he is, and see just how many faces I can recognize all of those years later.
Finally, there is one person who does recognize me. The hanout owner, the shop owner around the corner, where I would buy the most basic things back in the day, but especially the gas needed to warm up both my stove and my water. The place is still the same hole in the wall located next to the mosque that hasn't changed. The hanout owner smiles when he sees me. I was his favorite customer, since I never ran up a bill and always paid cash.
Approximately 200 yards from my neighborhood there is a Carrefour supermarket. Whereas Beni Mellal used to be just an endless row of hanouts, little Mom and Pop stores, now the corporations are beginning to roll in. It has finally dawned on somebody that this is a town of 200,000 people where a potential profit can be made. Even so, one thing Beni Mellal still lacks is good eating establishments. There are a couple I can think of that still exist, but other than that, it's still very Moroccan - not necessarily a bad thing.
Finally the ride up to Ain Asserdoun. I remember running up that hill many times early in the morning (don't do it during the day; remember what I said about temperatures in these parts), sometimes I would navigate the even steeper cross country paths leading up to the castle if I didn't conk out first and found the fresh water sources too alluring.
Ain Asserdoun, like most of Beni Mellal, has changed. Back in my day as a Peace Corps Volunteer, people talked and raved about it, but did so little to maintain in. Back then, the place smelled. Back then we talked about it being the biggest public toilet in town. Back then, it was still dirt everywhere mixed with the anarchic whims of some of the locals.
Now they put a gate around it. A key is needed to get in here. The tourist can admire the place but can't climb its stairs anymore. Maybe it finally did dawn on somebody that certain edifices need to be protected if you are to show them off. There is a tarred road leading up to Ain Asserdoun, as well as a large parking lot below where paying is optional. There's a guy sitting at the entrance of the lot, not very official looking. You give the guy a couple of dirhams, and you're off.
For lunch, we have a Moroccan tagine, meat and vegetables all cooked and mixed together with the most delicious spices. And no forks and knives, just bread. You use the bread to dip into the sauce and to pick up bits of meat and vegetables. I am a vegetarian now, so I only have a vegetarian tagine. It is still very delicious. I've waited 16 years to taste a real Moroccan tagine again.
The kids, of course, are less convinced about the virtues of Moroccan cuisine. We have to improvise with them...and drink a lot of Sidi Ali, the Moroccan bottled water. There's actually a real Burger King at a services station, and we jump on it.
There's still one day left to go in Beni Mellal, and I will use this day to visit the blad, or the countryside.
Finally, there is one person who does recognize me. The hanout owner, the shop owner around the corner, where I would buy the most basic things back in the day, but especially the gas needed to warm up both my stove and my water. The place is still the same hole in the wall located next to the mosque that hasn't changed. The hanout owner smiles when he sees me. I was his favorite customer, since I never ran up a bill and always paid cash.
Approximately 200 yards from my neighborhood there is a Carrefour supermarket. Whereas Beni Mellal used to be just an endless row of hanouts, little Mom and Pop stores, now the corporations are beginning to roll in. It has finally dawned on somebody that this is a town of 200,000 people where a potential profit can be made. Even so, one thing Beni Mellal still lacks is good eating establishments. There are a couple I can think of that still exist, but other than that, it's still very Moroccan - not necessarily a bad thing.
Finally the ride up to Ain Asserdoun. I remember running up that hill many times early in the morning (don't do it during the day; remember what I said about temperatures in these parts), sometimes I would navigate the even steeper cross country paths leading up to the castle if I didn't conk out first and found the fresh water sources too alluring.
Ain Asserdoun, like most of Beni Mellal, has changed. Back in my day as a Peace Corps Volunteer, people talked and raved about it, but did so little to maintain in. Back then, the place smelled. Back then we talked about it being the biggest public toilet in town. Back then, it was still dirt everywhere mixed with the anarchic whims of some of the locals.
Now they put a gate around it. A key is needed to get in here. The tourist can admire the place but can't climb its stairs anymore. Maybe it finally did dawn on somebody that certain edifices need to be protected if you are to show them off. There is a tarred road leading up to Ain Asserdoun, as well as a large parking lot below where paying is optional. There's a guy sitting at the entrance of the lot, not very official looking. You give the guy a couple of dirhams, and you're off.
For lunch, we have a Moroccan tagine, meat and vegetables all cooked and mixed together with the most delicious spices. And no forks and knives, just bread. You use the bread to dip into the sauce and to pick up bits of meat and vegetables. I am a vegetarian now, so I only have a vegetarian tagine. It is still very delicious. I've waited 16 years to taste a real Moroccan tagine again.
The kids, of course, are less convinced about the virtues of Moroccan cuisine. We have to improvise with them...and drink a lot of Sidi Ali, the Moroccan bottled water. There's actually a real Burger King at a services station, and we jump on it.
There's still one day left to go in Beni Mellal, and I will use this day to visit the blad, or the countryside.
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