Wooly Smelly Monday

Ait M'hamed Day 12

Brushing wool with Fatima

Once Abdellatif and Touda arrived and we headed to her douar and met a neighbour who she arranged to have me come with her tomorrow morning at 6am to collect from her closer fields by the river. After that we did another few survey interviews in town and finally got data from the office on population statistics of Ait M’hamed. We went back to the house so I could get my camera before we were planning to do some ecological surveys in a field. Fatima was by the front combing and spinning wool from local sheep for weaving. It was such an interesting and rather hypnotizing process to watch her spin. She showed me how to comb the fibre, (I tried on the shorter broken comb board- but still effective). I was using way to much force at first, but quickly it became a fairly easy task- although fluffing off the wool at the end was rather tricky. We then got to ask her about the importance of sheep, wool, and weaving of the Amazigh people in Ait M’hamed. Abdellatif was still feeling ill and had a headache so I told him to go and in proceeded to walk down to the river to do some plant surveys alone.

It was nice to just be walking through plants and by the river- can be quite draining focusing while conducting so many interviews. On the way there I saw a rabbit, but was too slow to take a picture- think he lives in one of the chicken coops by the road (only the second time I’ve seen a rabbit in the high atlas (the other at Yemena’s house in Amslane). It was hard doing the surveys since people kept walking or riding down the river road and starring. Although Hussain’s father had given us permission to survey there, it was odd standing and being a foreigner at the border of another’s field. Didn’t want to raise too many eyebrows, so I just did one transect and spent the rest of my time taking pictures of other fodder species in bloom. Also saw two locus- like great tan grasshoppers- so cool to watch.

The house smelled amazing when I got back- like fresh cumin and thyme- was lovely. But still haven’t figured out what it was as the other women were asleep. The smells here and in Amslane are definitely something I will remember, both good and unpleasant; the freshly baked bread- but different scents for each kind and flour, the slow roasting tagine, the spices nana (mint) and timija, burning garbage and manure, the fires of taket ovens and hamam, and here in particular- the soap suds and bleach for washing dishes and laundry.

Also I am now starting to suspect that the noises I hear at night sometimes next to my head are in fact cockroaches, not mice. There is one that has been happily inhabiting the washroom door and there were two in there yesterday- one which was sadly swimming the water bucket used for the toilet hole. Also when going through my clothes to wash, I’m fairly sure one fell out of my bag and ran under the sofa bench. Not particularly afraid of them- although unpleasant and maybe dirty- they haven’t bother me so far or gotten in the food.