You may have heard about the city of Tetouan’s football (soccer) team beating Rabat for the Moroccan National title.
Well, we just happened to be in Tetouan the day of the game. What you hear in this tape is cheering for the team that turns into elation as the clock winds down on Tetouan’s 1-0 win.
The streets were filled for hours and hours with celebration.
A scene from Rabat in 2008. (Photo: Sarah Kate Kramer)
The call to prayer in Morocco seems inevitable, like the sun rising.
In this clip one of us is with a group of people in the old city of Fes watching the clock and waiting for the call for the sunset prayer. Someone says, ” I think it’ll happen,” and then one by one each mosque in the area begins the call to prayer, each one coming in a little behind the other so that it seems as if they are singing in a round.
It’s been a year since we were in AlMaghreb, but a friend who just returned from a summer in Rabat passed along this recording. It’s a recitation of Hadith (sayings of the Prophet Muhammad) that tells people not to speak while the Imam is giving the Friday sermon–so that they may get the full benefit of the sermon.
The elegant profiles of storks dominate Moroccan skies. Like us, they seem to like the old medinas! In Fes they swoop over rooftops, in Marrakesh their nests perch like hats on the old fortification walls, and in Rabat, they’ve officially taken over the Chellah, a site with remants of both Roman and Islamic civilizations. In spring, they emit mating calls, which are noisy but cool. Here’s the sound:
Walking home on a Wednesday night in Rabat we heard from a few blocks away the sound of a party (assumed to be either a wedding or a baby naming ceremony). A group of men are singing amdah, religious songs praising the qualities of the Prophet Muhammad and asking God to bless him. The sound is coming from an apartment building where several apartments are being used to house the party guests. This clip was taped on the sidewalk outside the building.
Bab Bou Jelloud, is a popular starting point for groups touring the medina (old city) of Fes. One Saturday morning a group of about 50 Moroccan women entered the gate carrying small drums and singing a traditional Moroccan song “Dayf Ullah” which means “God’s guest” and is a term used to describe someone who shows up surprisingly or uninvited – you would still accept them and welcome them because God sent them to you. At the end of the sound clip you will hear the tour guide with a bull horn trying to get the women’s attention and explaining to them where they are at in the medina.
