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Archive for April, 2007

Secretariat General of the Government of Morocco – Official Bulletins

26 Apr

Well, there goes my weekend…I just spotted this article on Maghrebia.com:

In a move towards greater access to legal texts in Morocco, the Secretariat General of the Government of Morocco (SGG) has published the complete legal texts of its Official Bulletins (OB) online in both Arabic and French.

The database, which can be accessed through the Secretariat General’s website at www.sgg.gov.ma, compiles all legal texts published since 1913, covering a period of more than 93 years.

The importance of the government project stems from the fact that the database is bilingual. Both French- and Arabic-speaking Internet users can search by keyword or by date to identify the legal text they require.

I’m already searching and chatting with my resident Moroccan about various events/names etc…

SCC

 
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Discover Islamic Art in the Mediterranean

26 Apr

Thanks to a post over at Metafilter, I came across this : Discover Islamic Art in the Mediterranean, presented by ‘The Museum With No Frontiers.’ I could probably spend at least half a day clicking around in there, but this is one of the first things I came across:

QM Influential Muslim women engaged in charity work and patronised good causes. As Islamic law clearly stipulated their rights in terms of income and inheritance, many could do so on the basis of generous funds allocated for their personal use. They played a vital role in consolidating Islamic society by promoting support and solidarity between the various social classes. Many commissioned mosques and other public buildings for posterity. Thus, in Morocco, the Fihri sisters built both the Qarawiyin Mosque and the Andalusian Mosque in Fez during the 3rd / 9th century. In Turkey, Nilüfer Hatun, the mother of Murad I, had a religious structure built in Iznik in 789 / 1388, while Sultan Abdülaziz’s mother built the Pertevniyal Mosque Complex in Istanbul in 1288 / 1871, including a shrine, fountain, school and library.”

I didn’t know that! (I’ll bet Samir over at View from Fes is shaking his head in dismay…)

Also, don’t miss:

Glass from the Fatamids

Sahrij Swani (Basin of the Norias) – Another reason to visit Meknes!

Jewelry from ‘Royal Women: Granddaughters of Fatima al-Zahra?

 
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Posted in Blogroll

 

?????

24 Apr

Q: What happens when more than one Moroccan is in a room?
A: They form an association.

Moroccans, being somewhat cunning about money-making schemes, have latched on to the idea that a non-profit association is a great way to get cash and donations from Europe and the U.S. What’s not always so clever is the way they go about it. For example, a friend of mine from Oujda has an association to teach computer skills to local residents. All well and good, and he has a very fancy Statement of Purpose to go along with it. [OK, with horrendous grammatical and spelling errors, but an A for effort.] The problem arose when he tried to get me involved. He wanted me to write to “organizations” and ask them to collaborate with his group. I asked him, “What kinds of things would you need? Hardware/software, equipment, supplies, volunteers, money? What would the donating agency get in return – as in definite results, etc…” He had no idea. He just thought that I would be some sort of magic conduit.

In the little village where my husband was born, there are no less than seven associations for a population of about 500 people. If you can’t benefit from Westerners via tourism, try another way, I guess.

 
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Posted in Blogroll, Business

 

??? ??????? or, Do You Know Jesus?

22 Apr

I’ve had several prior entries about how much I detest missionaries. Another thing that infuriates me has occurred about four out of the five times we’ve met Moroccans here in the States…one of their first questions is
"??? ???????"

When the answer is “no” – my husband is a bit lax on observing the 2nd pillar – they don’t stop there. They continue to push and pry, asking “When will we go to jemaa together?” I’ve met them, and told them I’m Catholic, and they try to convince me that converting would be in my husband’s best interests. These people know little more than our names, and they’re trying to interfere in both our marriage and our relationship with God.

And that’s where my annoyance with religion lies. If the missionaries were in Morocco simply to set a good example, that would be fine by me – but their goal (as much as they try to disguise it with “good works”) is to convert others to their own religion. The same with the Moroccan Muslims we’ve met here, they consider it their spiritual duty to bother my husband – even though he probably has a much higher moral standard than they do.

I’m going to have a t-shirt made that says:


???? ??? ???????
?????
???? ???

 
9 Comments

Posted in Blogroll, Personal, Religion

 

When One Has the Mean Reds

18 Apr

As you may have noticed (cough), I have a new template again. Why all the sporadic changes?

“Listen…you know those days when you get the mean reds?” –Holly.
“The mean reds? You mean like the blues?” –Fred (Paul).
“No… the blues are because you’re getting fat or because it’s been raining too long. You’re just sad, that’s all. The mean reds are horrible. Suddenly you’re afraid and you don’t know what you’re afraid of. Do you ever get that feeling?” –Holly.
“Sure.” –Fred (Paul).
“When I get it the only thing that does any good is to jump into a cab and go to Tiffany’s. Calms me down right away.” –Holly.

What I like to do is design something…usually modifying a template, but sometimes I paint, build things, modify my clothes…you get the idea. Anyway, I used a really fun set of Photoshop brushes for tweaking this template, that’s them you see over on the left and along the top…Henna Brushes! Normally, I would have done this as a warm palette, but I kind of like black and red – also the two main colors for my djellabas!

And voila, I feel better.

 
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Posted in Personal

 
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