Last Day - Museums!

Today was a day full of museums!  Which was good, as the weather was rather cool and a little rainy until late afternoon, so it was a good day to be indoors.  I started out at the Amsterdam Museum which is a national history museum.  Its very well done and documents the history of Amsterdam from the early 15th century to the present day.  They even explain the legalization of marijuana and prostitution and how/why both of those things are good for Amsterdam and their economy!  I was fascinated to see that they also have an exhibit about Dutch conversion to Islam in recent years.  There are a couple of rooms dedicated to videos and exhibits talking about the phenomenon of Dutch people converting to Islam and how they manage in this culture once they have done so.  They focused on women and how they experience life after conversion, particularly if they decide to wear the hijab.  The exhibit contained a lot of Islam 101 material, to help people understand the religion and then videos and photos with stories of lots of folks who have converted to Islam talking about how and why they did so and how they have managed with their families and colleagues after doing so.  That whole exhibit speaks to the growth of Islam in Europe, both through immigration but also then conversion.  What I found interesting was the extent to which the people interviewed seemed intent on justifying their conversion and their decision to become religious people.  Secularism is so firmly entrenched here (and all over Europe) that being any kind of observant religious person makes you something of an oddity, and of course, when these Dutch folks take on Islam it really raises eyebrows!  

After I left the museum, I emerged onto a major shopping street. Reminded me of Oxford Circus in London!  Just down that street is another interesting sight, the Begijnhof,which is a quiet courtyard of houses which now is home to women senior citizens, but was from the early 14th century home to Beguines, women who took religious vows of poverty, chastity, prayer and service to others.  They were not nuns, but they did live in community under vows and performed charitable services for the community while also spending a lot of time in prayer.  There are two small active churches in the Beginjhof - an English Reformed Church and a Roman Catholic Church.  The Roman Catholic Church was another of the hidden churches during the 17th century when Roman Catholic Churches were outlawed in Amsterdam.  Both of these little churches are still active with regular services and small, faithful congregations.  The Beginjhof is a remarkable little oasis of spirituality and serenity in the midst of a bustling inner city commerical district.  Fascinating.

Then I got the tram down to the Southeast section of the city to visit the Dutch Resistance Museum. I spent almost 3 hours there, immersed in the story of the Nazi occupation of the Netherlands and the resistance movement.  The museum is really well done with film clips, artifacts, commentary, war posters and newspaper clippings, recordings of radio broadcasts of the time etc.  They really recreate the story of life in the Netherlands during the occupation and how the Dutch responded to it over the course of the five years. It was fascinating to learn how the resistance movement forged documents, ID cards, ration books etc., and that they had a whole array of underground newspapers that they circulated among the people encouraging resistance to the Nazi occupation.  Also, the varieties of places and ways they found to hide Jews.  The story of Anne Frank's family is the most famous one, but there were thousands of people in hiding during the war, many of whom actually managed to survive.  

After I left that museum, I hopped back on the tram and went to Rembrandt Square, which I had not yet visited.  I found a cute little Greek tavern to have my supper and then came home.  Now I've got to be about packing so that I am ready to leave here tomorrow morning at 7 for the return trip.  If all goes smoothly I should be back in Rochester early evening tomorrow!  Here's hoping!

 Pics today are shots from the Beginjhof, both the courtyard and both chapels.  Guess which one is which?? And a shot of Rembrandt Square.  And a shot of the building where my apartment is located, taken from the canal bridge just down the street.  The two open windows at the back of the building way up high are mine!!

Our Lord in the Attic and Waterland

Amsterdam Day 4

Today was very interesting!  In the morning, I walked over to visit the Amstelkring Museum, also known as "Our Lord in the Attic" museum!  (The name made me chuckle and is reminiscent of Our Lady Under the Chain in Prague!)  This is a 17th century Roman Catholic Church that is built into the 3rd floor and attic of a 17th century merchant's home.  At the time of the Reformation, Roman Catholics were not allowed to build churches and were not supposed to worship in Holland, and the churches that were here were stripped of their iconography and turned into much plainer, Protestant churches.  But the Dutch Roman Catholics did not disappear.  They merely moved their worship into house churches.  This particular one was active for over 200 years here in Amsterdam, in the home of a very rich merchant.  The first couple of floors contain his family's living space, and then the third floor and attic are a church, complete with altar, sacristy, confessional booth, lady chapel and organ!  The home itself was obviously quite elegant in its day. They say that over 200 people worshipped regularly in this attic church, arriving and entering the church by a side door in the alleyway next to the house.  The museum is undergoing significant renovation at the present time, but there was still a lot to see and it was really fascinating to see how they managed to build a bona fide church right inside a house!  

That museum happens to be right on the beginning edge of the Red Light district, so since I was there anyway, I walked a few blocks just to get a feel for this famous part of Amsterdam.  Even at 11:45 AM there were a number of women in the windows offering their services at that early hour.  By later in the day all of the "shops" have the windows full, but I saw enough to get the idea and, frankly, the whole scene is somewhat disturbing to me, so I didn't want to spend much time there.  The sex shops are all over the place in that district too.  I had not planned to visit the  Red Light district at all, but since the museum was there, I figured I should at least have a quick look.  After all, it is one of the most famous sections of Amsterdam.  So I can now say I saw it.

Then I returned to my apartment and had a sausage roll and stroopwafel for my lunch with a good cup of tea, and my Amsterdam hostess (whom I found through an organization called "Women Welcoming Women Worldwide" aka '5W'), Jeannine Van Dam met me at the apartment and took me out for the afternoon.  She lives here and has a car, so she drove me out of the city to see little seaside villages out in the countryside north of Amsterdam known as the Waterland.  She tells me that this neighborhood where I am staying is one of the most sought after neighborhoods in Amsterdam.  When she picked me up she wanted to see the apartment just to see the inside of the building and get a feel for the place.  We first stopped at her own little summer cottage, not far outside the city, on a lake, and then we drove to Markem, a famous seaside village, popular with the tourist crowd.  We parked outside the village and walked in along the lake to the harbor and then walked around the streets of the village. It was a lovely walk although out by the water the wind was fierce!  I returned to the city at the end of the day feeling completely windblown!   Markem is a prototypical Dutch seaside village.  After we left Markem, we drove to another little village, considerably less touristy and got out and walked around and had gelato while watching the boats, and then we drove to Edam (home of Gouda cheese) and walked around there for awhile as well.  It was lovely to see a bit of rural Holland and to have a local resident show me around.  Her little cottage is really quaint, like something out of a storybook. Not elegant at all, but very homey and sweet, right on the water, with a small dock and little motorboat.  Jeannine lives in Amsterdam, but spends a lot of time at her summer cottage except during the coldest months of the year.  Once outside the city, the landscape is large green pastures, full of cows and goats, with windmills and canals and lakes.   Lots of bicycles too - the Dutch really love their bikes!  When we were finished in Edam, Jeannine needed to get back home for an evening commitment so instead of driving back into my part of the city (which would have taken forever!) she dropped me at a ferry in North Amsterdam that goes directly to Central Station.  By then the weather had gotten very cloudy and a light rain was starting so the ferry ride was rather chilly and wet!  Once I was back in the city, however, the weather improved and I walked back home and had a little rest before going out to a small pub/cafe in the Jordaan neighborhood for a light supper.  The place was packed with 20/30 somethings enjoying beer, wine, munchies and some kind of trivia game that had them all carrying on at loud decibels!  I watched the crowd and mused at the similarities and differences between what I saw in Morocco and what I am experiencing here in an upscale European city.  In Morocco, after sundown, the town squares were completely buzzing with activity, but the revelers are drinking tea, coffee, water or fruit juice, and there is considerable sex segregation.  The men party with the men and the women are off with other women and with children.  The women are all covered in hijabs and long dresses and long sleeves, and the men also wear long sleeves and long pants.  Here the crowds are a mix of men and women, beer and wine are flowing freely, the girls are in tank tops and shorts, as are a lot of the guys, and everyone gets merrier as the evening wears on and the alcohol and pot do their thing!  In Morocco, the partying is interrupted by the azzan - call to prayer -and everyone goes off to pray and then returns to continue socializing and partying into the wee hours, but completely sober, whereas here, as the night moves on, the behaviors get more and more raunchy!   We humans are very social animals and we love to party, but the way we choose to do so certainly varies depending on cultural norms!

Pics today include shots of "Our Lord in the Attic" church, me on Jeannine's dock, and shots in Markem and Edam.

Amsterdam's Jewish History

Amsterdam Day 3

Today I immersed myself in the experience and history of the Jews in Amsterdam.  I had advance reservations for the Anne Frank house for 11:15 this morning. I walked there from my apartment, which only took 15 minutes.  Was I ever glad I had taken the advice of my guidebook and bought my ticket online, before I left home with a specific visit time!  The lines for general admission to the Anne Frank house are unbelievable this time of year.  They snake around an entire city block and people expect to be on the line for at least an hour if not more.  I was able to simply walk up and go on in at the appointed time!

The tour is very well done and takes you through both the offices of Otto Frank's business, where his colleagues continued to run his business while helping to hide the Frank family and the others who hid with them, and then takes you up into the secret annex at the back of the building where Anne Frank and 7 others lived for two years.  It was just as Anne describes in her diary.  Amazing that 8 people managed to live in those cramped quarters for two years and remain relatively sane while doing so.  The exhibit contains actual pages of Anne's original diaries and other writings she did while in hiding.  Very moving overall.

Then I decided to go visit the Jewish historical museum, which was not in the same part of town as the Anne Frank house.  I took the tram over to the Southeast section where the Jewish museum, which is actually a series of old synagogues joined together, is located.  I started out in the Great Synagogue, which is not a functioning synagogue anymore, but is a terrific museum. It has beautiful artifacts of Jewish religious and family life on the first floor and up in the gallery, a wonderful exhibit tracing the history of the Jews in Amsterdam.  The Jews came to Amsterdam in the late 15th century, after being expelled from Spain and Portugal.   Another wave arrived in the 17th century from Eastern Europe.  Overall, Jewish history in Amsterdam was positive, as the Dutch were pretty tolerant and Jews were able to maintain their communal life while also participating in the life and economy of the country.  They had an exhibit in the New Synagogue of photographs done by a Russian Jewish photographer during the early half of the 20th century all over Europe where he documented the rise of Nazism and anti-Semitism.  After visiting those two museums I crossed the street to the Portuguese Synagogue which was by far my favorite site today.  What an amazing building!  Absolutely HUGE and what I love is that it is still a functioning synagogue.  It was built in the 1670s.  The Ark, the bima and the pews are all dark Brazilian wood and there are enormous candelabras hanging all over the building which provide the only light inside.  The windows are huge and clear and let in a good deal of light during the day, but for evening worship, all they have for lights are the candles!  It takes the sexton two hours to light them before the synagogue is used for a service!  I went up to the women's gallery where you get a great view looking down on the synagogue below.  You can also visit the mikva (ritual bath for women), the rabbinate, where the rabbi meets with people seeking his counsel, the mourning room, where bodies are prepared for burial, the "candle room" (which Christians would call the sacristy,) containing candles, prayer books, shofars, linens for wrapping the bodies of the dead and other ceremonial objects.  Then I visited the "treasury" where they store the silver decorative tops for the Torah scrolls and the many, many Torah scroll coverings that they have, all of which are made of gorgeous,ornate fabrics.  Extra Torah scrolls are stored there too, as well as the fabrics that are used to cover the bima for worship services.  They also have a library containing rare books and manuscripts.  Apparently, most of those books and manuscripts were looted by the Germans during World War II and taken to Germany.  It is nothing short of miraculous that they were not destroyed, but were actually pretty much intact and returned to the synagogue here after the war.  Its also amazing that Amsterdam's city officials were able to convince the Nazis not to destroy the Portuguese synagogue, arguing that it was a valuable historical treasure of the city and should be preserved as a national treasure.  It is a blessing that it was not destroyed because it is such a beautiful sacred space and so steeped in history.

After I left the Portuguese synagogue it was too late to do any more museums so I got the tram back to Dam Square and then did a walk from there to the Jordaan neighborhood, which is a quieter, more upscale, quaint, area with lovely old homes, cafes, interesting small shops,beautiful canals full of houseboats and cafes with tables right along the canal.  I wandered through that area for a while (which is very close to where my apartment is located) and had supper at a cafe right near the canal.  I had a traditional Dutch hotpot meal, mashed potatoes with onions and carrots and gravy, and a kielbasa.  Hearty fare, this evening!  And, of course, a Dutch beer to wash it down! 

After supper I walked back home, slowly, and got here much earlier than I have the past two nights!  I was going to go back out again, but once here, decided to relax and not move anymore for the day!  Tomorrow, I'm on my own in the morning but will spend the afternoon with a woman who lives here in Amsterdam who is going to show me around and get me away from the central tourist areas to see something of what its like here outside the city center.  She is someone I contacted through an organization I belong to that connects women with other women worldwide.  So I'm looking forward to experiencing Amsterdam tomorrow with a native!

Pics today - The Anne Frank house, one shot of the Portuguese Synagogue, scenes from the Jordaan neighborhood walk and me and my dinner!

Amsterdam - Museums, Genever and Canal Tour

Amsterdam Day 2

Today was a full day of seeing the sights!  I got up at 8:30 (late!) and hustled out of here by 9:15 so as to make it to the Van Gogh museum by 10:00 which was the time I had a ticket reserved for.  I walked over to Centraal Station, got the tram (bought a 48 hour pass for the transit system) and got the museum area in plenty of time.  I toured the Van Gogh museum for about 2 hours.  Its really very well done and enables you to see the progression of his work over the 10 active years that he was painting as well as see works from those with whom he studied or who he liked and who's techniques he imitated.  When I left there, I went an had a cappucino and then stopped and got some delicious Dutch cookies  - verse stroopwafels.  They are thin waffle cookies with caramel inside.  Munched on a couple of them while heading to the Rijksmuseum, which is the Met of Amsterdam.  That place is absolutely enormous - you could spend a week in there and not see everything.  I toured that museum for 3 hours, really enjoying the Dutch masters - some of those paintings were breathtaking.  They also have some really interesting special collections - ship models (amazingly intricate and pretty big as models go!), porcelain, 19th century wedding gowns, jewelry, doll houses.  Clearly, this is a place you need to go back to over and over.  After I left there, I walked across the street to the Bols distillery and went through their tour explaining the Bols genever liquor distilling process.  Bols genever is a liquor that has been made in Amsterdam since 1525.  Its sort of like gin, except it has malt wine in it, so it actually tastes like a cross between gin and scotch whiskey, although it is clear like gin.  Apparently the British used the basic recipe for genever from Amsterdam to make gin, back in the 16th century.  Gin is like genever, minus the malt wine.  Bols also makes a whole array of liqueurs using the genever as a base.   The tour is fun, teaching you to smell the various ingredients that make up the genever itself and the various liqueurs.  At the end of the tour you get one cocktail of your choice - you go to a compute screen and respond to some questions about your taste preferences and they suggest some recipes for you to try.  I wound up getting an Elderflower Collins - sort of like a Tom Collins only it is made with genever (rather than gin) and elderflower liqueur.  It was pretty tasty, actually!  The tour then also includes tasting two shots of any of their liquors, so I tried one shot of the genever itself (the "old" recipe) and the elderflower liqueur, which was quite nice.   At that point it was nearing 4:30 and I was tired so I took the tram back towards Centraal Station, getting off at the Flower Market.  That's a fun place to walk through.  They have flowers for sale as well as bulbs galore, some of them marked as OK to bring into the US and Canada.  I'd want to check on that before I bought any as I know our customs folks are sticklers for plant products!  I stopped into a couple of cheese shops where free samples were on offer so got to taste some varieties of Gouda, which helped soak up the booze from the Bols tour!  Then I got back on the tram and went to Centraal Station where I decided to take a canal boat tour.  That was a lot of fun and we went all through the little canals all over the city.  It was really lovely.  When I got back from that it was 7 PM so I walked around to find someplace to get supper and stopped at a Tapas place.  Then I wandered back home through a different neighborhood, one that I had seen as we were on the canal boat and which I figured out connects to the street that I use to get back to my apartment.  On the way home I made a stop at the grocery store for some supplies and finally rolled back into the apartment at 9:00 PM!  I can't believe how long it stays light here.  Its after 10 now and its still not really dark.  My camera chose the mid-point of the canal boat tour to start acting up - the LCD screen has given up the ghost so I can't see the pictures I'm taking anymore.  I can look through the viewfinder and take shots but I have no idea what they look like.  Very annoying.  And then after the boat tour I managed to lose my sunglasses!  But other than those two incidents, it was a full and very interesting day!

Pics today - The Bols distillery, the Rijksmuseum (Amsterdam sign in front!), me on the boat, and shots of the old canal houses that are inconic of Amsterdam seen from the water during the boat tour.  And a shot from a bridge in the Jordaan neighborhood overlooking the canal.  

Amsterdam!

Today has been a bit of cultural whiplash!   Waking up in a little, traditional Moroccan hotel, where I had breakfast sitting on the ornate cushions of the dining area in the hotel which was decorated in very traditional Moroccan style (deep reds and silvers and golds and beautiful tile...) and going to bed in a third floor loft apartment in Amsterdam, just steps from one of the canals, with the scent of cannabis wafting through my open window!!

My driver arrived early to the hotel this morning and we departed for the airport.  We had only gone about a block when something made me double check that my passport was in its usual spot and I nearly had a heart attack when I saw that it was not!!  In French I told the driver to return to the hotel where, fortunately, it was still at the desk from when I checked in on Thursday.  The desk attendant had not given it back to me at that time and I totally forgot!  Whew!  It would have been a disaster if I had not caught it when I did, as the Casablanca airport is a good hour from the center city!  After that my travels went smoothly.  My bag even came off as one of the first bags on the belt, so I got out to the train and into Amsterdam Centraal Station and a cab to my apartment and arrived a mere 75 minutes after we touched down on the runway.  

This apartment is very modern, on the third floor of the building.  The "bedroom" is actually a bed in a loft which is accessed by a ladder (and a steep one at that!)  To say that this flat is not "accessible" for mobility impaired people is putting it mildly!  There is no air conditioning, but when the windows are open the breeze is really lovely and cools it right down.  When I arrived the landlord gave me a map and told me how to get to the main drag where shops and restaurants are and I went straight out to get groceries in so I could make tea, G&Ts and breakfast in the morning! The grocery store is a lot of fun, because, even though the Dutch all speak English, the products in the store are exclusively in Dutch.  Someitimes it is tricky to figure out what it is you're looking at!!  I bought a bottle of gin in the duty free in Morocco so at least for this part of the trip my nightly treat won't cost me a young fortune.  I brought my groceries back and then went back out to get myself oriented.  I found Central Station and the trams and buses that I'll need for getting around and walked along one main drag that is full of "coffeeshops" (aka places to buy pot, hashish and other such substances).  What a contrast to Morocco!  Here both drugs and alcohol flow pretty freely!!  I walked for a couple of hours and finally had dinner in an Indian restaurant then got an ice cream for dessert and walked back to the apartment with a light rain falling.  It is so much cooler here than Morocco, that I actually feel chilly this evening. Amsterdam in July  is full of YOUNG tourists enjoying the free flowing pot and imbibing the Heineken!  

Tomorrow I've got a ticket for the Van Gogh museum for 10 AM so will head in that direction and probably hit the other major museums in that area while I'm there.  Pics tonight include the outside of the apartment building (3 doors - mine is the one furthest to the right) and scenes of the neighborhood.  I'm going to make my G&T and try not to get high from the pot smoke that is fully in the air this evening!!

Last Day Morocco

This will be short today.  We finished our program this morning in Rabat with a wrap up session and then drove the 2+ hours to Casablanca where most of the participants left today for the US.  I and one other guy stayed an extra day, so our driver took us back into the city after we let everyone else off at the airport.  I had found this little hotel on Hotels.com so was not sure what I was getting myself in for, as it is pretty cheap.  Its a little worn and tired, but perfectly serviceable and right in the center city, so I was able to walk to the Old City.  Once I got into the room and settled, I headed out for the Old City.  I stopped to wander through the local supermarket as I always get a kick out of seeing what different countries have in their supermarkets and its always fun to try to figure out what things are when they are in a different language.  I just got a candy bar to snack on  (surreptitiously as one is not supposed to consume food or drink in public during Ramadan!) and then headed off to the Old City, which was about a 20 minute walk.  We had visited there last week on our first day, but we were there very early in the day, and especially in Ramadan, it is dead as can be in the morning.  By the time I got there around 3, things were hopping!  Once inside the labyrinthine streets of the Old City it is easy to wander, literally for hours, without seeing the same alley/street twice!  I had a general sense of my bearings from our visit last week, but it certainly feels different when all the vendors are there and open and business is booming.  I got completely lost several times, not that it matters much because if you just keep going eventually you come to a place where you can exit out to the main streets.  The markets have absolutely everything from fish and meat and vegetables and pastries and bread, to clothing, textiles, ceramics, leather, toys...you name it!  Due to Ramadan, none of the cafes were open so stopping somewhere for a meal was not an option, even out on the main streets.  Even when the cafes begin to open in late afternoon, no one is there yet and the chefs aren't cooking anything at that point so its really slim pickins for a meal until the break-fast at 7:40 PM.  I had decided, given that reality, that I would head to the Hyatt Regency, figuring an American chain hotel would have an open restaurant and bar that I could conceivably eat in before 8 PM!  I was right.  So about 5:30 I went to the Hyatt and was able to enjoy my ritual G&Ts and had dinner there.  I don't really want to be out alone when the mardi gras part of Ramadan starts after sundown, especially as I am alone at this point.  

Of all the cities we have visited, Casablanca is the least interesting.  Its a pretty gritty city and simply is not as charming as Marrakesh, Fez or even Rabat.  Its fame comes mostly from the movie, not from any particular charm it has on its own accord.  The traffic is unbelievable and crossing the street is a life threatening act!  I tried to attach myself to clumps of people when it was time to cross a major thoroughfare.  I also notice that lane lines in this country appear to be mere suggestions for drivers! So at this point, I'm relaxing in my room and planning on getting to sleep at a decent hour tonight, (instead of the 1 AM bedtime I've kept for most of this trip!).  I am being picked up at 8:30 tomorrow morning for my flight to Amsterdam so the next post will be from my apartment in Amsterdam some time tomorrow night!

Pics of my hotel - traditional Moroccan decor!

Surprise Symposium Presentation and Moroccan News!

Morocco Day 7 - Rabat Symposium

Well this was quite a day full of surprises!  I gave a talk in front of a couple of hundred of invited guests at the Scientific Supreme Council of Rabat (all Muslims of various professions) and got interviewed on Moroccan TV!

We left Fez early this morning to return to Rabat for the second day of our symposium on Spirituality and Giving in Ramadan.  We were hosted here by the Scientific Supreme Council and the idea was to initiate interfaith dialogue between selected members of the academic and civil service and religious community in Morocco and our delegation.  When we arrived at the hotel, Masud told me that Imam Bashar had asked if I would "say a few words" at some point in the afternoon about our experience visiting Morocco and observing Ramadan.  I said "Sure, no problem."  So after lunch, off we go to the Supreme Council.  We are met by Sheik Abdullah, who runs the place and escorted into his receiving parlor where introductions and well wishes were offered all round.  We thought that we were just going to sit in there and talk with our Muslim hosts.   I was surprised to see TV cameramen as we entered the building.  The cameras followed us into that room.  When introductions were over, we were then ushered into a big lecture/presentation hall, with a podium high up with microphones and name cards for the scholars who were going to present.  We started to listen to the proceedings, which were all in Arabic, and only loosely translated for us every 10-15 minutes or so. Then one of our hosts comes up to me with my name tag and puts it up on the podium and ushers me up there with the Muslim scholars and our Muslim trip leader, Imam Bashar.  I suddenly realized that I was going to be expected to give a presentation too!  So while the first presenter was speaking in Arabic, I made some fast notes and then strained to try to understand the translator who followed the first speaker.  It was very hard to follow.  Then the next scholar presented, a very sharp woman scholar, who, mercifully, speaks English and so I was able to follow her talk.  Then Imam Bashar made a few remarks and then the Moroccan host launched into another barrage of Arabic, at the end of which I recognized my name and realized it was my turn to speak.  I made Bashar sit next to me and do a simultaneous translation of my talk.  I mostly focused on the importance of interfaith dialogue, what it is and what it is not, why it matters in our modern context, how important it is to involve youth in this work and made observations about how our trip fits within the larger context of dialogue.  The Moroccans listening to this afternoon's proceedings were excited to be there, but are very new to the whole concept of interfaith dialogue and cultural exchange.  After our presentations, we heard another series of Sufi chants and then broke up into small discussion groups.  I was surprised to learn that I was assigned as facilitator of one of those groups!  I was then approached by a reporter for the local news station and asked to step out into the entrance hall for a brief on camera interview for the evening news.  So again, I had to do a short riff on why interfaith dialogue is important, blah, blah blah....

Then I had to return to the big hall for our small group (which wasn't so small actually - nearly 25-30 folks in circle, with only three of us English speakers in the whole group.)  We then had some conversation with questions back and forth, but it was exceedingly tiring to try to hear when the translator was summarizing what had been said in Arabic.  She clearly does not do translation very often and did not have the knack of translating manageable bits so that folks can follow.  We were kind of amused at the long speeches and animated conversation our Moroccan hosts would be having in Arabic and then the translator would give us a one or two sentence summary of what had been said!!  Towards the end, one of the Moroccans, who spoke some English started asking me some theological questions, challenging Christian beliefs, which amused me as it is clear that these folks are very, very new to interfaith dialogue and still have not  wrapped their head around the idea that one is not to debate with the other person, but rather to engage in deep listening and respectful compare/contrast dialogue.  The Moroccans were still very much intent on defending Islam and "proving" to us that it is "right" even as they don't say that Christianity is "wrong."  As Imam Bashar said, this is a first step for these folks and what is exciting is that there is interest on their part in being part of these kinds of international interfaith exchanges and so hopefully, there will be more opportunities to continue conversations and dialogue with them in the future.

While I enjoyed the experience, overall, it was a bit stressful given that I had absolutely no warning that I was going to be up on the stage and part of the presentation cohort!!  When we returned to the hotel for our before iftar rest break, I was bemoaning the lack of a bar in this hotel.  Unlike the luxury we knew in Fez, this hotel's bar is closed in Ramadan so no food or drink, alcoholic or otherwise is available until after sundown.  I could so use a G&T at this point!

After our rest we went to visit a small not-for-profit organization, run by some Moroccan women (one of whom was the translator at our afternoon break out session and is a pharmacist by profession).  This organization works with "orphans" which we learned in Morocco means children in single parent homes, primarily single mothers who are financially strapped.  This organization offers tutoring, food, medical care and mentoring to over 100 young people, and they are particularly focused on working with gifted underprivileged kids to help them reach their full potential academically and professionally.  We visited their offices and library and then proceeded to the home of the woman who founded the organization for another truly elegant iftar.  I sat at the table with Sheik Abdullah and our Imam Bashar and enjoyed pretty stimulating conversation about religion and politics.   After the iftar meal we retired to the salon where the children performed songs and dances for us, which was truly delightful.  Then as the kids were leaving for home, we had a chance to talk with the women who run this organization and it was really wonderful to have the chance to talk with Muslim women.  Most of this trip has been interacting with Muslim men exclusively, and so the opportunity to have dialogue with the women was really a treat.  These are very well educated women with a strong commitment to the work they are doing.  

After we left there, some of us did one last turn through the night market, which was hopping even at 11:45 PM!

Pics tonight are me at the symposium, me in front of the little mini-kaaba (the holy building in Mecca that Muslims circumambulate as part of their religious pilgrimage) that is in the entrance hall of the Scientific Council building, and shots of the iftar meal and the salon where we visited with the Muslim women and the kids doing one of their performances and our group.