STREET PEDDLERS WON'T TAKE "NO"

By Bob Van Leer

  (FEZ, MOROCCO, Monday, June 29, 1992) - Most of today was spent in a walking tour of the Medina, or old town, of Fez. The old part of the city was founded in 808, more than 1100 years ago.

  The streets and alleys are too narrow for motor vehicles and too tortuous for casual visitors to negotiate. A guide is essential for casual visitors.

  Donkeys are the principal means of moving goods around the Medina. The animals are ill-treated and long-suffering. Most appear never to have had a square meal. Cuts and sores on the beasts are common.

  The market area is an assault on all the senses. Exotic sounds, smells and sights clash until you begin to doubt your own reactions.  The Medina is divided into different areas for shops. Gold is sold in one area, produce in another and brass in still another. The narrow streets are alive with peddlers who won't take "no" for an answer. 

Persistent Peddlers

  If you exhibit any interest in their merchandise they will follow you literally for blocks badgering you to buy.  Our guide, Assam, said there are 200,000 people in the Medina making a living from handicrafts.

  These kinds of markets are called "souks". There are no bargains in the Fez souks.

  The Medina is what many commonly think of as the "Casbah". Casbah actually translates to "fort" or fortified city. Assam said the Fez Medina is the biggest and oldest in Morocco.

  As in all Muslim cities, the muzzein's call to prayer echoes through the whole city five times a day. Non-Muslims are not permitted inside mosques in Morocco. But in other years we were readily invited into mosques in Turkey and Egypt.

  Assam said the difference is the French, who behaved boorishly in mosques in Morocco.

  When Morocco gained independence in 1956 mosques were closed to non-believers.

Recognized U.S.

  Morocco was the second country to have recognized the fledgling United States and the Treaty of Friendship signed by Jefferson and Madison in 1786 is still force. Fez is a religious stronghold.

  Students from around the world study Islamic law and theology at the thousand-year-old Karaouine University and mosque. Our guide claims it was the first university founded anywhere.

  Tomorrow we will leave early in the morning for a long drive to Marrakesh, the gateway to the Sahara.