Mad Englishmen and Dogs
Mustafa takes us to his house to stay a few days. His mum, dad and sister are overjoyed to see him and then his mum fusses over the two interlopers to make sure we’re good. Makes me miss my mum to be honest. A massive meal is prepared for the homecoming directed by mum with sister helping and Namor the slave girl from the country doing most of the hard work. This last is very odd for us two. Having someone like Namor was fairly common amongst middle class Moroccans, she (I think) came from a poor family in the countryside and like many children came into the town to work as a skivvy to save on her family’s food costs. She seemed to be the happiest of the household even though the others were hardly miserable They had a family dog and as Mustafa gave his dad a run down of his recent life Simon petted the dog. They had another less healthy dog chained up by the door and Simon asked why. Cos that’s the guard dog, the other is a pet. I won’t relate the whole of the heated discussion but Simon’s offers to take the chained dog for a walk were incredulously refused. Whilst the boy wonder was trying to get us evicted I took in the house. Single story with tiled floors and rugs for the night time. Neatly tended garden within 6 foot walls around the house. Soon the meal is ready and our appetites sharpened by the journey we pile into the couscous lamb and veggies. Absolutely delicious. We eat like it’s Christmas which is probably an inappropriate comparison. Anyway, for the second time in a couple of days we’re stuffed. We spend the evening digesting and chatting to Mustafa’s charming sister who wants to practice her english. Mum and dad communicate with us in appalling french, me and Simon being appalling I hasten to add not mum and dad. Simon and I sleep in the living space conscious that a different god was looking down on us than was usual. As I slept as soundly as the innocent I assume that the gods themselves are not as bothered about their names as us mortals are. We awake to strong coffee fruit and pastries then head off with Mustafa to explore Casablanca which is very sophisticated very different to Tangier very different to Bath. I imagine that the French Riviera is a bit like Casablanca but still not explored there.
Mustafa's friendly family with pet dog, as opposed to the guard dog