Ramadan is the month-long fast made by Muslims each year to celebrate God's gift of the Koran to the prophet Mohammed. The fast occurs from sunrise to sunset each day for a full cycle of the moon. Each night the end of the fast is signalled by a siren call from the Mosque, announcing that "God is great" and telling the people it is now OK to eat, smoke cigarettes, and do everything else forbidden by the fast.
It was a little after the fast began that I began my stay with the family of a drum-maker named Muli Ali, who I had commissioned to teach me his craft. We would establish a friendship and mutual respect as he taught me his craft and welcomed me into the life of his family.
When I first arrived in Essaouira, I stayed on the beach outside the city, nearer to the town of Diabat, the legendary town where Jimi Hendrix stayed during the 1960s. I made my camp just outside one of the castles that inspired the song "Castles made of sand", the lyrics of which include "castles made of sand melt into the sea..." Indeed these ancient castles had the appearance of melting into both the sand and the sea. I welcomed in the year 2000 playing my drum to a clear sky of stars, perched up on the only castle easily visible from the city walls of Essaouira.
It was through an encounter with an Englishman and two Canadians while playing my drum on the beach one day, that I was introduced to Muli Ali. I spent one month learning to make a Djembe from the skilled artisan who became my dear friend. I crafted the massive piece of walnut with a small chisel and hammer - learning the old world techniques of woodworking. It took me more than three weeks just to carve and finish the wood. Muli Ali and I went together to have the irons fashioned to the desired size. These I would wrap tightly with rope before using them to secure the newly shaven wet goatskin to my first musical creation. The rope we used for the drum was the kind windsurfers use. (Essaouira is known during the warmer season as a tourists' beach resort).
All during the course of my learning to make the drum, I fasted - I took no food, nor water. I would work steadfastly until the first signs of darkness and the blessed call from the Mosque. Then I would walk briskly with Muli Ali, both of us clad in our jellabas (the traditional Moroccan robe made famous by Obi Wan Kinobi in Star Wars) through the narrow streets to his small apartment. There his wife would welcome us and serve us soup to break the fast. We would have a meal of fish and vegetables, and on a few rare occasions, couscous, the favourite dish of both Muli Ali and his three-year-old daughter, Sarah.
After a meal, Muli Ali would smoke his cigarette and watch television with his wife and daughter. I would either read or go for a walk. Often we would go back to his shop either to work a little more or to socialise with the various musicians, artisans and friends that regularly stopped off at the small workshop. There we would sit on small stools and drink mint tea or 25-cent (two and a half dirham) coffees from the small café across the alley. Everyone spoke Moroccan Arabic, and one of his friends made an effort each day to teach me a new word or two. We regularly practised the customary greetings which consisted of 'hello', 'how are you?', 'good', and 'thank God'. The most important word I would learn was Sa'im, which is what you say when you celebrate Ramadan and basically means 'I am fasting too'.
By taking part in Ramadan in Essaouira, I was no longer the ignorant tourist. I showed my Moroccan hosts that I was willing to sacrifice in order to learn their culture. This from an American was a great surprise. I saw so many tourists drinking water, eating, and smoking their cigarettes around the fasting Muslims, totally unaware of what a month of fasting means to a person. These are the Americans that will run through a country seeing all the sights and marking off checklists in their Lonely Planets. They would never be fortunate enough to see the surprised look in a Moroccan's eyes when you say that magic word Sa'im - I too celebrate Ramadan.
Adam Matricardi visited Essaouira in January 2000
