My first trip to Fez

Katrine, AIS headmistress, woke me up at 5 to 10 am, and asked if I'd fancy going to Fez. A quick a shower, dressing up; and I was ready in 15 minutes. The team were consisted of 5 teachers, four ladies from North America, and me. Mary Ann (from Canada), Jullia, Michelle, Katrine and I got into Katrine's small Fiat Uno, and reached Fez in an hour or so.

I bought a pack of candy on the way to have something in my stomach, since I didn't have time for breakfast. When the lunch time came, we entered a restaurant with a terrace, and I ordered tagine with beef. I was expecting more meat in the dish indeed, but it was full of boiled vegetables, and some meat in it. It was delicious, tough.

We visited a synagogue and the Jewish area of the city with the help of an official guide, to whom we paid 10 Dh per person. The imperial palace, and the narrow streets of Fez were most striking. The shops, and people on these narrow streets reminded me Eminönü area in Istanbul. The streets in Fez are much narrower here, I must say. Then we finished the day by visiting a huge mall out of the city, identical to Carrefour in Turkey, called Marge.

Here, ı want to share two very interesting conversations I had with the teachers in the group:

1) Katrine: Marry Ann says Muslim women do not go to paradise?

S: Of course, they do. (That's rubbish; why would they believe in a religion, which does not accept them in Heaven.. ) Anyone, who believes the God is the one and only One, and Mohammed is one of His prophets goes to paradise; Muslim, Christian or Jewish. (That I was explaining was shahada in its simplest form indeed, proper English translation is as follows: "I bear witness that there is no deity (none truely to be worshipped) but, Allah, and I bear witness that Mohammad is the messenger of Allah")

Katrine: Does even a bad person go paradise?

S: Yes, but the bad person has to visit the place with fire to clean off his sins first. (For some reason, I didn't want to use the word Hell, perhaps because I believe "Hell" is the worst of all places with fire, the ultimate residence of non-belivers).

2) Jullia: Do women in Turkey dress like these (pointing a woman in hijab, covering all her body, including her eyes)?

S: That is very extreme. Women in Turkey generally wear a moderate type of hijab.(I, here pointed a woman with a head scarf).

Julia: Can women in Turkey wear clothes that show their shoulders?

S: There are conservative areas across Anatolia, but in cities, you can see women in mini skirts and in all kinds of clothes.

J: That is like Jewish scarf, showing some part of the hair.

S:Yes, if you say so.

I can't say I was offended with the questions of my colleagues, since amongst my trip mates, only Katrine previously visited Turkey, and indeed her cousin is still teaching in Ankara at Bilkent University.