Today we split up. Ryan and Erich went and looked at architecture and did “cultural” things, Alrica and I wandered the Medina. It was a lot of walking and chatting. We connected with the guys around 1:00 pm ish, and did more wandering and shopping. We also explored a wood carving museum that had examples of all the woods used in Fes, along with many items carved from it. These included everything from writing tablets to cat flaps for the city gates. Some of it was around 800 years old – we think. There were a few different calendars referenced and it got very confusing. However, the really old wood was almost always cedar, which makes sense as insects are not terribly fond of it.

Today was also a tajine-free day. We had pizza and fresh orange juice for dinner, at a restaurant called, Disney Channel. It had pictures of Donald Duck and his nephews in several places. Good pizza too!

After dinner we walked up to an overlook and were able to see both the old and new city. Ryan got a few cool pictures of everything.

Today’s philosophic discussion was about cultural appropriation. At what point does adopting something from another culture become inappropriate? Is it when you just adopt something without learning and understanding its history and cultural significance? Or is it even that cut and dried? What about Scottish tartan? The Stuart tartan can be found all over the United States, only sometimes on a kilt, often it’s just seen as plaid. Is it cultural appropriation to wear something made with the Stuart tartan without even knowing it has historical and cultural significance? I wasn’t there for the discussion, but it sounded like they got distracted by something and never finished.

Tomorrow Ryan and I have a day trip out to see the Roman ruins and the city of Meknes.

Pictures from today and a camel picture from yesterday.