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In Place Seffarine, in the center of Fes's old city, smiths sell items of copper and brass to tourists. |
It's amazing and tragic just how much tourism can alter a place. Some recent incidents have highlighted for me the extent to which tourism has tainted parts of Fes's old city.
Tales of East Fes:
On Monday, Jacqueline and I led my mom and sister to Fes's less-than-glamorous eastern Andalus quarter to show them the Sahrij
madrasa. Soon after we crossed the Oued Boukhareb River, which bisects the city, I began guessing at streets, trying to weave together a route from the unfamiliar paths. I paused to ask a shopkeeper the way toward the
madrasa, and set off down the street he indicated.
After a few steps, a middle aged woman, who had apparently heard the conversation, turned to me and offered to lead us there, which she did within a minute. At the
madrasa's door, I offered her a five
dirham piece. She immediately thrust her hands up beside her head in genuine, unyielding