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The Morocco:
Morocco (al-Maghrib), officially the Kingdom of Morocco , is a country in North Africa with a population more than of 36,757,175. It has a coast on the Atlantic Ocean that reaches past the Strait of Gibraltar into the Mediterranean Sea. Morocco has international borders with Algeria to the east, Spain to the north (a water border through the Strait and land borders with two small Spanish autonomous cities, Ceuta and Melilla), and Mauritania to the south.

Regions and prefectures:
Morocco is divided into 16 regions,and subdivided into 62 prefectures and provinces.
As part of a 1997 decentralization/regionalization law passed by the legislature, sixteen new regions were created. These regions are:

* Chaouia-Ouardigha
* Doukkala-Abda
* Fès-Boulemane
* Gharb-Chrarda-Béni Hssen
* Greater Casablanca
* Guelmim-Es Semara
* Laâyoune-Boujdour-Sakia El Hamra*
* Marrakech-Tensift-El Haouz

* Meknès-Tafilalet
* Oriental
* Oued Ed-Dahab-Lagouira*
* Rabat-Salé-Zemmour-Zaer
* Souss-Massa-Draâ
* Tadla-Azilal
* Tangier-Tétouan
* Taza-Al Hoceima-Taounate

Climate:
The climate is Mediterranean, which becomes more extreme towards the interior regions where it is mountainous. The terrain is such that the coastal plains are rich and accordingly, they comprise the backbone for agriculture. Forests cover about 12% of the land while arable land accounts for 18%. 5% is irrigated.

Culture:
Morocco is an ethnically diverse country with a rich culture and civilization. Through Moroccan history, Morocco hosted many people coming from East (Phoenicians, Carthaginians, Jews and Arabs), South (Sub-Saharan Africans) and North (Romans, Vandals, Andalusians (including Moors and Jews)). All those civilizations have had an impact on the social structure of Morocco. It conceived various forms of beliefs, from paganism, Judaism, and Christianity to Islam.

Each region possesses its own specificities, thus contributing to the national culture and to the legacy of civilization. Morocco has set among its top priorities the protection of its diverse legacy and the preservation of its cultural heritage.

Culturally speaking, Morocco has always been successful in combining its Berber, Jewish and Arabic cultural heritage with external influences such as the French and the Spanish and, during the last decades, the Anglo-American lifestyles.

Cuisine:
Moroccan cuisine has long been considered as one of the most diversified cuisines in the world. This is a result of the centuries-long interaction of Morocco with the outside world. The cuisine of Morocco is a mix of Berber, Spanish, Corsican, Portuguese, Moorish, Middle Eastern, Mediterranean, and African cuisines. The cuisine of Morocco has been influenced by the native Berber cuisine, the Arabic Andalusian cuisine brought by the Moriscos when they left Spain, the Turkish cuisine from the Turks and the Middle Eastern cuisines brought by the Arabs, as well as Jewish cuisine.

Spices are used extensively in Moroccan food. While spices have been imported to Morocco for thousands of years, many ingredients, like saffron from Tiliouine, mint and olives from Meknes, and oranges and lemons from Fez, are home-grown. Chicken is the most widely eaten meat in Morocco. The most commonly eaten red meat in Morocco is beef; lamb is preferred, but is relatively expensive. Couscous is the most famous Moroccan dish along with pastilla, tajine, and harira. The most popular drink is green tea with mint. The tea is accompanied with hard sugar cones or lumps.

Al-Zawaj - The Wedding:

Just like any wedding anywhere in the world, the details of the Moroccan wedding are toiled over for monthes ahead of time...but I'll just fast forward through all of that madness to the actual wedding day.

Traditionally, the day before the wedding is the Henna party where the bride's feet and hands are elaboratly decorated in Henna tatoos by the "henniya" or "henna lady" as I like to call her. Jessie and Faisal decided to combine the two celebrations into one and did the Henna ceremony during the wedding ceremony. On the table infront of the bride and groom, milk and sugar are placed in beautiful metal containers; the milk to keep their marriage pure and white and the sugar to keep it sweet. Scented orange-blossom water is sprinkled on everyone, and burning 'oud (insense) is carried around for all the guests to smell.

So on the night of Jessie and Faisal's wedding, we arrived around 8:00 pm which although instructed to come at this time, we were extemely early. Apparently the Moroccan wedding doesn't really get going until midnight or so, which indeed was the case. Fatima Zahra and I socialized with the other guests and listened to the first band play. They were very talented; I couldn't believe that the music they produced was live! Then, we snuck away to sneak a peak at Jessie while she was waiting to be dressed by her two “ngafa”, who are hired women that dress the bride in her many different gowns throughout the evening, do her henna tatoos, and announce her and the groom's entrances with a load, booming, sing-song chant that is traditional to Moroccan celebrations, and finishes with a loud ululation. I ended up staying with Jessie in her dressing room until she was ready to make her grand entrance around 11:00 or so. She looked absotuly radient, literally like I would expect a queen to look She wore a delicate pistacio green gown and loads of gold jewelry with green jewels topped with a matching gold crown and transparent gold veil flowing down from her hair to her back. Her hair alone was a masterpiece. I was thrilled to get this time alone with her to shower her in camera flashes. The Moroccan bride most always rents her gowns from the nagafa along with the spectacular accessories. She will change throughout the night between an average of 3-9 dresses and matching jewelry and tiaras. Truly, the Moroccan bride is a queen for the evening.

Once she was finally ready, she and Faisal were placed in their respective “mida” (padded, silver, circular carrying caddies) and drums and trumpets blarred as Faisal was lifted by four of his friends and Jessie by the hired “zerzaya” high above the guests to shoulder height. They swayed to the rhythm of the music of the “deqayqia”, a traditional Marrakesh band, and paraded through the guests who were crowded around them, making their way to their wedding canopy. Faisal was clapping playful to the music and Jessie was smiling with such genuine happiness, waving at everbody in a gentle, one-handed, princess kind of way. After maybe five minutes or so, they brought them back to the ground and one of the nagafa assisted Jessie with her flowing skirts as she and Faisal triuphantly made their way to their wedding canopy. This is when the henna began.

Throughout the wedding celebration, the bride and groom basically sit under their canopy and almost like Santa Clause in the mall at Christmas time, sit there and smile as everyone takes turns coming and sitting with them to snap photos and say “mabrook” and tell them how wonderful they look.

We were served fresh juices and small tarts and cookies at this time. In preperation for a Moroccan wedding, the family will make literally thousands of different types of cookies to serve through out the festivities. I had a chance to get in on some cookie-making action with Faisal's mom, and believe me it is very hard work. These are not your average roll-out-the-dough-and-cut-out-a-shape kind of cookies, but intricate designs that may take hours at a time for just one style.

After the henna was completed, Jessie and Faisal exited, again to the chanting of the ngafa, to change into their second ensemble of the evening. Faisal actually had more freedom then Jessie since he wasn't changing this time around, and was out among the guests dancing and socializing. Tom and Sue were the first ones up and dancing. Slowly more people trickled onto the lawn and got into the groove of the Marrakeshi music. Faisals two friends Mohsen and Yasseen were especially entertaining with their shoulder shimmying, hip shaking, loud clapping, Middle Eastern style dancing that really got everyone up and dancing with them. Faisal's dad Mehdi was out there with us, busting out the Lebanese dance moves. Faisal's dad Mehdi was out there with them busting out the Lebanese dance moves. Faisal's friends from high school created a big circle where one person, or sometimes two girls, who be in the middle dancing and everyone else clapping and swaying around them. I don't know what it is, but Moroccan women ALL know how to dance superbly. I tried to dance too, but it was extremely difficult due to the yards of fabric of the traditional kuftan I was wearing and my heels sinking into the grass. It didn't matter though, because it was so much fun.

Then Jessie and Faisal made their second grand entry, again with music and the chatting of the ngafa. Jessie's second dress was a beautiful white gown with silver embroidery in the sheer top layer. After posing under the canaopy for a while, they came and joined our table to eat their wedding feast with us. I was so thrilled that they came to sit with us; it felt to special and intimate to be able to share their wedding meal with them. The first course was chicken with apricots, and was served in a large dish in the center of the table, where we all ate from with bread. After the chicken dish, they hired waiter brough out another equally large dish with meat in an onion sauce topped with plums and almonds. Both were incredible delicious, as all Moroccan cuisine has been. Finally, they cleared away all out plates and even changed the table cloth, only to serve us a generous platter or fruit to cleanse our palettes.

Then the bride and groom were off again to the dressing room to prepare for round three. Now, the reason that most brides rent all their dresses, is because like in the US, Moroccan wedding dresses cost from hundreds to thousands of dollars...and paying for 3-9 of them can become extremely expensive. However, Jessie's third dress was hand-made especially for her by Faisal's Aunt Sayeedam who makes jelaba and kuftan for a living in a shop she owns in the medina in Rabat. The dress was a beautiful brownish maroon with intricate embroidery and complemented with gold jewelry. Faisal was wearing a traditional Fesi jabador with matching cape or “silham”, crowned with a “riza” on his head, traditional Moroccan shoes called “belgha”, and a dagger (“khanjar”) at his side. He really looked like he stepped out of 1001 Nights or something.

Then we enjoyed Moroccan mint tea and some of the hundreds of wedding cookies. Some were like baklava, some flavored with orange-blossom water, many with marzipan, etc, etc. The finale of the evening was Jessie entering with her last dress, a traditional Berber style wedding garb with accompanying bright orange head-dress and an abundance of Berber jewelry framing her face and neck. Somehow she pulled this very unique style off, and looked smashing once again.

A note on the Berbers: For those who don't know, the Berbers are the decendants of people who inhabited Morocco since Neolithic times. (Basicallly the equivalent of what we think of as "Native American" in the states). Amazingly, throughout Phoenician, Roman, Arab, French, and Spanish invasions, the Berber people have held on to their traditions and culture.

It was past 4:00 a.m. at this time, and we started saying our goodbyes, and ended up being one of the last guests to leave. Fatima Zahra told me that this was actually an early end to the wedding, and usually people don't leave until 7 a.m...at least in Fes. But Jessie's dad was off to drive to Casablanca with Yasseen and Mohsen to catch his flight and Sue, Fatima Zahra, and I headed back to the Hotel Majestic. Jessie and Faisal were also to be staying at the Hotel Majestic (a wedding gift from his uncle Abdel Haq) but ran into some problems at the front desk. In Morocco, a man and women cannot share a hotel room with presenting their marriage licence. Despite all of us arriving at 5 a.m., clearly from their wedding, they still insisted on the certificate before letting the very tired bride and groom retire. But it was Abdel Haq to the rescue, who went to Faisal's mom's apartment, located the certificate and brought it to them. When I was finally ready for bed, the sun was up and the bustling of the street below our balcony had already begun.

I lay in bed still exhilrated from the nights events, with one thing on my mind...

I love Moroccan weddings!

overview:

The capital of south and the first fishing port of Morocco, Agadir owes its fame to its current extraordinary range of more than 6 km of fine, golden sand, and its 300 days of sunshine per year. Its international airport ultra-modern in fact a site accessible throughout the world.

Rebuilt away from areas at risk, with anti-seismic processes, Agadir is a welcoming city white flower of restful gardens, where rise buildings and monumental sculptures as the Casbah reflecting more glorious past of the city. Other buildings are the reputation of the city including the fishing port regarded as the 1st port exporter Sardine in Morocco and the museum of art and traditional Berber traditions of the South. The many restaurants on the corniche seafront can enjoy varied menus in a musical atmosphere with magnificent views of the beach. other hand, the climate of the city is another advantage: the winter is cool and humid with a temperature of 25 ° C during this period! The summer is also cooler and the temperature crosses between 25 ° C and 30 ° C. Also near the city are steps to discover the history and traditions Berber, including Tiznit, Taroudant and Tafraout. Taken together, these strengths enable the town to be placed at the forefront of seaside tourist sites in Morocco where it is possible to practice tennis, golf, sailing, horseback, trying to water skiing, diving, fishing Big ... to enjoy fresh fish, typical of the best cuisine Maghreb ...

for visitors:

"Valley of birds:
Located in heart of a former wadi, the valley birds extends from downtown to the esplanade of the sea The 2.5 hectares of the site have been planted with exotic species such as magnolia, calistemon, Parkinson, and populated species of birds uncommon as the ladies of numides and rheas.
A feast for lovers of exotic birds from South America or Asia who thrive in an environment reconstituted with mixed success and animals of the local wildlife, like sheep to headlines and monkeys magots.


"The Kasbah oufella Agadir:
Incontournable Kasbah! It overlooks the ocean at more than 216 m on the heights of Oufella, offering a magnificent view of the city, the bay and its hinterland. built in 1540 by Sheikh Mohammed Ech, founder of the dynasty Saadienne, this fortress has not resisted the earthquake.
Its walls and the entrance have been restored while the remains of this former stronghold have been transformed into necropolis. It is reached by a road offering a magnificent panorama.

"The town of Agadir:
The medina is a cultural village recently designed and produced by Coco Polizzi, a master craftsman decorator born in Morocco, gadiri adoption. On an area of four hectares, this village takes in a clever, thoughtful features of the Moroccan Medina.
The medina is also a tribute to the craftsmen and artists from the region. Young people engaged in the 25 workshops of the medina are an extension of the regional tradition: potters, carpenters, poseurs of zelliges, ironworkers, and so on. Located in the forest of eucalyptus between Agadir of Inezgane, the Medina Polizzi offers visitors spaces and catering businesses.

"Souk El Had:
Deprived of its ancient medina by the earthquake of 1960, Agadir offers a souk in facies more modern Souk El Had.
It is the principal place of supply to residents of Agadir for food, clothing, capital goods currents. There are also many crafts. On Saturday and Sunday, days on market, Souk El Had takes more imposing dimensions.

"The garden Olhao:
The garden Olhao, Portuguese or garden, celebrates twinning of Agadir with the Portuguese city of Olhao. It also commemorates the historical ties between the two countries. In this green space dotted with water points, alleys and architecture inspired by regional tradition, is attached a museum dedicated to the memory of Agadir.
In this museum, the highlights of the city (construction, destruction, reconstruction) are exposed through a series of photographs, stamps and newspapers. It is located near the French Institute of Agadir.

"The museum:
The new municipal museum opened its doors in 1994, it has become a formidable set of Berber jewelry that represent the heritage of Souss Massa Daraa. It offers visitors a journey back in time and discover the knowledge of the jewellery Moroccan Souss. It is a treasure of beauty, the museum is about fifty yards from ICC

"Immouzzer:
A 12 km north of the city, on the right, a winding road and 24 km through rugged mountain, then an astonishing diversity of reliefs - plateaus, valleys, gorges, mountains - with a very varied vegetation dominated by arganiers and Doum palm or dwarves. At the centre of this natural botanical garden nicknamed "the valley of paradise," the white houses of Immouzzer surround a palm grove. Beekeeping is one of the main activities of the region (the feast of honey Immouzzer takes place in early May). His honey thyme and lavender wild mix of argan oil and almonds pilés gives the amlou, a delicacy that we offer the newlyweds.