Morocco Moments #2: Avocado juice, Islam, and Eid in Morocco
Subject: #2: Avocado Juice, Islam, and Eid in Morocco
Date: Monday, 9 June 2025 at 12:28 PM
Boy has it been a day.
I don’t even know where to start, so I’m going to start from the start and write this newsletter as through it were last night and today hadn’t happened and then by the end you’ll be brought up to speed. I write this to remind myself that writing is healing and cathartic and if I can write about it, then it can’t be that bad.
To stray from this ominous note, lets discuss religion!
Religion
I am learning a little bit about Islam, mainly through observation, discussion, and a book I am reading about the rise of political Islam in Morocco. There is such a great difference in religion between Aus, US and Morocco. As much I do know about each major monotheistic religion, I still feel like I know nothing and the answers to my questions are so insurmountable that they might as well not exist. Like they’re not even questions, just a lack of understanding due to my different perception of life.
Here it doesn’t seem to be a question, are you religious or not? Everyone is religious, yet they often go about their days in the same way that I would, maybe just with different intentions and thoughts in their heads.
Eid al Adha
This Saturday was one of the major holidays celebrated in Islam called Eid al Adha. It is about celebrating family and good fortune and of course god (because religion, duh) for when Abraham took his son Isaac up to Mount Moriah to sacrifice him to god he was stopped and god replaced Isaac bound and gagged with a ram to be killed in his name instead. And now every year Muslims are meant to slaughter a sheep and praise god, but no sheep were slaughtered in these Moroccan streets this year because of the national sheep shortage and the king's national decree. I read somewhere about importing sheep from Australia - don’t know if that happened or not - none the less, I still ate well this Eid (just not sheep).
We had a big lunch for Eid at the grandparents' house. The grandparents are looking after another of the Princeton students, Mitchell, so I got to hangout and chat with him while mayhem ensued elsewhere, what with children running around and people coming in and out. We ate skewers of foie and gras (not French fois gras bc halal) and chicken skewers and bread and salad. There was also a dish of what I believe was stewed sheep's heart and you best believe this want to be vegetarian was trying that shit. I mean it was just there; I had to try it, and now I never have too again. Same goes for the liver.
Moving onto more tasty discoveries of this past week;
I love the souk with all the little food sellers' side by side. I love to buy fruit and dates, both abundant and delicious for a fraction of the price I would pay elsewhere. I remember buying a box of like four dates from the airport in Doha on the way to Serbia for like $5 USD. That would be about a kilo of juicy, soft, sweetness here. Oh and the sweets. Don’t get me started on the sweets.
Sweet shops and juice places line the streets of the Medina. Mysteriously placed on the menu I’ve found banana juice, strawberry juice, panache and avocado juice.
Avocado juice
Yes, I mean juice. Avocado. Juice.
It is delicious - you should try it.
See originally, I was like what the actual hell. Jus d’avocat? Lawyer juice? Avocado juice? Either is a neither, because it sounds rogue and gross, but then I took the leap to satiate my curiosity and man oh man it’s my best friend. Avocado juice is a creamy green concoction comprised of avocado, milk and sugar, blended into a light, refreshing, strange drink that tastes a little bit like avocado, green melon, and melted ice-cream. I’m trying my hardest to describe it with words but ultimately, I think you will have to see for yourself.
Another amazing discovery is flat peaches. They are so good! So much better than regular peaches.
Park bench friend or foe
I happened to be drinking one of these avocado juices on a park bench the other day when I was continually accosted by men. I was trying to read my book and they kept creeping up and sitting next to me, subtle (not), distracting and sometimes even annoying too. But then I made friends with one of them - ended up walking to the beach to watch the sunset and did meditation while staring at the waves… yeahhhh. Thats all, it was nice, companionable, then this man had to RUIN IT by wanting my number, arghh, and to see me again, double arghh, and has led me to my conundrum.
The conundrum
If everyone you do not know is a stranger, and every stranger a person you don’t really want to know, then you’ll never know anyone except for the people you are put in contact with and forced to interact with. Like how at Uni the only people you can talk to are people you already know from somewhere else. That is something that I hate.
So yes, I talk to strangers.
But I only want to talk to them once, to talk, not to know them beyond that.
I like talking to people, even those I don’t know because I feel like that is the point of being alive - to learn about life and others. Talking is the best way to feel present in a conversation and in your life. I truly think it is one of the best and most precious things, especially when there is no objective attached. No future or past, just present and learning. So, it does me no good when people add objective to it and then, well, that just can’t be, because now I feel hounded and bothered by it.
Most of the people I have met here have been really nice. Very friendly and eager to talk. It's still fun, just from now on at the end of every conversation I need to add ‘No phone, sorry, I lost it.’
Fessing up
So yeah, umm. I lost my phone. Someone stole it.
😱🫢😳😡🥸
Please do not worry about me, and know that I am OK and I am working to solve the problem. If you need me, email is my friend! (Or insta DM’s ;))
Love,
Emma
