A Moroccan wedding!

I was very fortunate to be invited to a Moroccan wedding this weekend. Moroccan wedding celebrations traditionally begin in the evening and last all night. This one began at 8 pm and went on until 7 am the next morning (however we managed to escape at around 4 am!) The bride & groom change their outfits 7 times throughout the evening/night!
The preparation for us, the group of wedding guests who I went with, begun with a trip to the souk to hire a traditional style outfit. During the afternoon, after a delicious couscous lunch that was 'beneen bezeff' cooked for us by Zaynah in her family home, we had our hands and feet henna tattooed whilst chilling out watching t.v. Then we did our make up and got dressed into our 'wedding' outfits and were driven to a huge events hall on the outskirts of Taroudant city... here are some photos:

The bride is carried in to the hall in great style!

my henna tattooed feet & hands
apparently only married women have their feet tattoed

There was lots of music and berber style dancing!

And finally the food arrived at 2.30 am!
but not before washing our hands first

The group of friends I went with: left - right:
Zahira, Zayna, Harija and Sukrir with bride & groom behind

one of the performing musicians

My wedding outfit

Homesick today:(

Sometimes only 3 things in life can help
when you feel homesick!

My first moroccan family meal at Abdellah Soussi's house

Abdellah Soussi is the director of the Moroccan children's trust. He invited me, Oliver and our 2 Somalian guests to join his family for an evening meal. Their dining room is huge-like a restaraunt! Family life is very important in Morocco and it is usual for the whole family to live together in the same house which can include parents and grandparents...the houses are often large so that everyone has there own floor/apartment and they may visit each other's apartments for meals but also have some privacy too.

All this fruit is in season now in Morocco

A visit to Taroudant municipal library

I went with Youssef, my arabic culture teacher, to Taroudant municipal library. It is situated outside the medina in a quiet area of the city amongst all the other municipal buildings.
I have been invited by the library manager to offer some training whilst I am here (like an exchange of ideas)
They wish to expand their services within the community.

I was given a map of the Souss valley
which is where the province of Taroudant lies
and a dvd about the history of the city

We welcome our new visitors from London

A big group of MCT workers, friends & volunteers
enjoying soup and moroccan tea , lots of laughs and singing in the favourite cafe

Brahim and Souhir-the 2 MCT social workers
that I am helping with the childrens' school holiday actiivities

A token pussy cat usually 'hanging out' nearby...

Sukrir's mum helped me to arrange my scarf like a hijab

The souk never sleeps!

I took these photos of the Berber souk in Taroudannt late at night just after buying my berber shoes...

and here are my new berber shoes
a bargain deal at 50 dirhams-that's about £3.40!

 Moroccan people think english people live in houses with sloping rooves (most of us do  suppose)

                       These are some of the childrens first impressions of me - not a bad likeness!

My first session at MCT centre

We shared a typical english tea and home made scones+ strawberry jam with the students
after their english lesson - they liked it!

                                       This is Oliver the MCT volunteer coordinator

                                         we even had an alcoholic drink in the Palais Salam garden!

                              We went for a Sunday afternoon stroll outside the city walls