Hajuj lessons

It’s a sad time when you finish a good book. There’s a moment of despair, knowing that it’s done, gone. I know, it’s melodramatic. For anyone who’s interested in Fez, though, I recommend some Paul Bowles’ A Spider’s House (a daring move undertaken by few academics).

This evening was a wonderfully spent bit of time with Annie. We walked around the new city after sitting atop Hejji’s carpet/justice house. We had some pizza at our favorite little spot, and then tried to find the old park. It’s in great shape! The king is really knocking out these public works projects. Hassan II looks great, there’s a pair of large fountains, and the park is a pleasant surprise! We passed on the Fez City Clan, a hip hop group, at Ait Skato, and instead took the rare opportunity to just wander the new city. When I got back to Sidi al-Awad, it was hopping! There were sellers through the entire entrance with music, shoes, pants, shirts, etc. on rugs set out on the sidewalk. A good time to come back, it seems.

I bought a hajuj today! After asking over and over again, I was confident that Abd al-Rzaq did, in fact, have another instrument. And in order to secure my lessons, I paid him 700 DH for the instrument (instead of 1000) and offered 100 DH for each 4 lessons. This gets me 12 lessons, an ambitious goal, over the next few weeks. And today was lesson #2! We worked on the bambra, the first song played after everyone sits down at the layla. My finger hurts.

Tomorrow we’re going down to Sefrou for their Cherry festival. It’ll be our first visit to the smaller town, and the first time back in the adventurous Grand Taxi.