1/14/2014 - A Day in the Life in Tineghir

Today our day began with a walking tour of a typical community farm, followed by a visit to a madrasa (Koranic school). The 300-year old madrasa is no longer used, but we learned all about how strict the education was when it came to memorizing the verses of the Koran. Young boys would be subject to lashings on the bottom of their feet if they did not remember their verses. 

There were minor ablutions to be followed after using the bathroom - involving using water to cleanse various body parts 3 times, starting with the hands, feet, mouth, ears, etc.

There were also major ablutions to be followed after sex - involving a cleansing similar to a complete shower.  

(Top left community farmland. (Bottom left this conical shape was used as a portable private toilet for workers to use while they were working in the fields.
Center right & right: stairway to the madrasa terrace & mosque.

We were split into 3 groups to purchase vegetables, fruit & chicken for this evening's dinner.  I opted to follow Aziz to get the chicken - watching the shopkeeper take his last 4 chickens from free range to the range - pretty interesting.

Scenes from the marketplace. Our chickens were slaughtered, put in buckets upside down so they would bleed out, then boiled quickly
and defeathered in preparation for our dinner.

From the marketplace to the blue men (Berbers) carpet store, where we learn that the blue men are the Tuareg, a nomadic group of people in the Sahara whose traditional territories included Mali and parts of Niger, Morocco, Algeria, etc. They got their nickname from the blue robes they wear. Originally their clothing was deeply dyed with natural indigo. This was absorbed by the skin, which also took on a blue tinge. Th

ese Berbers would also apply indigo dye to the faces and bodies as protection from the desert sun.

Top (L to R): A Tuareg woman scrapes dirt & other impurities from camel hair in preparation for weaving; Berber dinner entertainment.
Bottom: scenes from the Berber carpet shop.