I've been thinking a lot about the Muslim women I saw in Morocco so I did some reading. Here's a short excerpt from my Rick Steve's guide book that I found interesting:
"Morocco happens to be one of the most progressive Muslim countries around. As in any border country, contact with other cultures fosters the growth of new ideas. Bombarded with European television and visitors like you, change is inevitable. Another proponent of change is King Mohammed VI, who was only 35 years old (my age!!) when he rose to the throne in 1999. For the first time in the country's history, the king personally selected a female advisor to demonstrate his commitment to change. The king also married a commoner for... get this... love. And even more shocking, she's seen in public. (It's a first - locals don't even know what King Mohammed VI's mother looks like, as she is never in the public view.)
Recent times have brought even more sweeping transformations to Moroccan society. In order to raise literacy levels and understanding between the sexes, schools are co-ed - something taken for granted in the West for decades. In 2004 the Mudawana, or judiciary family code, was shockingly overhauled. The legal age for women to marry is now 18 (just like men) instead of 15. Other changes make it more difficult to have a second wife (for example, the first wife's consent is now required). Verbal divorce and abandonment are no longer legal - disgruntled husbands must now take their complaints to court before divorce is granted. And for the first time, women can divorce their husbands. If children are involved, whoever takes care of the kids gets the house. Of course, not everyone has been happy with the changes, and Islamic fundamentalists were blamed fora series of bombings in Casablanca in 2003. But the reforms became law, and Morocco became a trendsetter for women's rights in the Islamic world.
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We had one morning left in Morocco before flying home. Stone is sitting by me as I write this, so I am going to let him narrate each photo.
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| "I'm flipping a fried bread with sugar on it, and it's really yummy." |
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| "We're eating in the hotel in Morocco" |
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| "This means no carts pulling on the sidewalk, no motorcycles on the sidewalk, no bikes on the sidewalk. We saw this sign when we were walking trying to find the tombs." |
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| "I'm running in an alley." |
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| "That's the minaret by the mosque." |
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| "The sun was shining too bright in my eyes and you took WAY too many pictures." |
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| "These are the tombs. It's in a castle. I thought it would be spookier so I was disappointed." |
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| "This is me and Sophie in a little thing that's fun for kids." |
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| "We were snuggling on your bed, Mommy." |
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| "Sometimes you let us listen when you read Harry Potter with Lucy." |
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| "That was our treasure hunt list while we walked around the city." |
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"Daddy and I went through the boy line and the girls had to go through the girl line at the airport." (Amy's comment: They patted down every single passenger in addition to the metal detector - male pat-down workers for males, females for females.)
And home we went to the Western world. Morocco was so close - just a 1.5 hour flight - but it was like another world.
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