Ait Oudiinar

Because of the proximity to the river, water can be used for non-utilitarian purposes, like these lovely flower boxes.

Kasbah 1 of 1,000 ...

Kasbah 2 of 1,000 ...

The town is built up on the high arid banks of the small river. It's interesting to see a flock of goats cascading down the hill.

As we walked along the main (only) street, we met a 6 year old girl and a 3 year old boy who walked with us for awhile. As we turned around to walk back to the hotel, the boy followed us for awhile and the girl pleaded with us, we think, to keep her little brother.

Here you can see rugs draped over the wall to air. Throughout Morocco, people use beautiful woven rugs, sometimes on top of dirt floors, for their purely functional purpose. Any of these rugs could decorate a fine home in the US, but here they are taken for granted.

Here a Moroccan woman is doing the laundry. She has spread out a green rug on the bottom of the shallow stream and has hung the wet cloths on the bushes nearby to dry. A strange site for us but not an uncommon one.

We stopped in the home of a Berber woman who made us what can best be described Berber Pizza. It was fantastic. We got a recipe and have made it at home since we got back. For a taste of Morocco without leaving home, try the recipe. Dough 1 kilo of fine flour 1 teaspoonful of yeast 1 teaspoonful of salt "We mix all with tepid water and we press the dough 'til it becomes one unit. We make it round like a ball (make 2 balls)." Filling 100 grams of fat 1/2 onion cut in very small pieces 1/2 teaspoonful cumin 1 teaspoonful sweet paprica 1/2 teaspoonful salt "We mix all. We spread the 1st dough like a circle and we add the mixture in the middle. Then we cover with the 2nd dough. Then we press a bit for the mixture to be all over. We leave it for 10 minutes and then we bake it in a pan without oil." The above is word for word what was written in the recipe to the left. But it isn't quite what we watched this Berber woman do. The recipe leaves out the fact that you need to let the dough rise. When it has doubled or tripled, you can proceed. She took the ball of dough, flattened it somewhat, and made an indentation in the center. She then put the filling in the indentation and pulled the edges of the dough disk over the center sealing the filling inside. She then gently flattened the ball on a floured board, turning it over from time to time, to spread the ingredients throughout the disk which ended up about the size of a large diner plate and about 1/2 inch thick She cooked it in a dry pan over a fire made from straw. It really was wonderful.