A British Author, A Ukrainian Belly Dancer, and an Aspiring Accordian Player

I had a much needed day off yesterday after 6 straight days of teaching, reviewing the semester’s teachings, invigilating exams and then marking exams into the wee hours of the night. It was tough to get up that morning, but by noon I succeeded in feeling semi-human.

Off to Café Clock where I was scheduled to interview an author passing through Fes who was collecting ‘stories’ for a book he is writing. I don’t know if it was my foggy mind or the effect of the warm sun on the terrace that prevented me from fully comprehending the nature of his book, but I never did quite grasp the concept. Oh well. It was a pleasant enough start to the day as the gears of my mind started mesh and we shared a convivial cup of café crème. I figured I would be able to fashion some words later that would catch the essence of what he is doing here.

Later that day I was scheduled to conduct another interview (I am now writing for Café Clock’s blog). This time it was going to be much easier because the subject was an international belly dancer who is here in Fes for a month. I am no stranger to belly dance and I was looking forward to meeting Nadia. I arrived at the house where she was staying in Batha. I had Omar in tow to take some photographs. Little did we know what awaited us.

After knocking at the wrong door, we finally gained entrance into the proper place. Behind the kitchen doors sat a visitor from Zimbabwe, our Ukrainian dancer, a Jordanian chef and our Irish host and her daughter. The atmosphere was charged with laughter and the conversation was filled with the melody of English spoken in a variety of accents. It’s always interesting to me that people think I have an indefinable accent and so I wasn’t surprised when they asked me “What is your accent?” After being asked this question so many times I’ve finally pinpointed the answer and was able to readily reply. “It’s articulated English.”

Omar and I sat down at the table and greeted everyone. We wanted to photograph Nadia straight away as the light was quickly fading. Alas, she had not brought any costumes with her but that was okay. Nadia was quickly taken to an appropriate backdrop for her photo session and returned to the kitchen where our new-found Jordanian friend was preparing crevettes in a garlic and curry sauce for dinner. The smell was divine and the taste was sublime.

Before long, stories were being exchanged and several enactments followed. There was a brief rendition of Irish song, followed by some high-stepping Irish dance. We were also treated to an example of traditional Ukrainian dance and a tantalizing glimpse of Arabic dance from Nadia. Ali, the Jordanian, extolled the virtues of his country and Philomena revealed the fact that she would soon be reunited with her accordion which she fully intended to finally learn how to play it. Believe it or not I was able to tell her an accomplished accordion player is currently teaching with me --- someone who also plays Irish tunes. Omar gave insights into Moroccan culture and mentality to those recounting stories of encounters that left them puzzled while the visitor from Zimbabwe played host, replenishing glasses and serving second helpings from the crevette stew.

Later, as Omar escorted me across the Medina to my own home, we shook our heads in wonder at the gathering we had just left behind. Fes certainly is a magnet for unique personalities and our evening of ‘work’ had served to underscore the phenomenon. Of course we both realized that we, too, are unique personalities, and consensually agreed to keep accepting projects like the one that led us to Batha that evening.