Ain beni Mathar

So we leave Ibrahims place to visit the local horse farm across the road. The manager greets us with a friendly handshake and of course I am invited to watch and take fotos of the horses.



My host explains me this is the place where local people and berber nomads from the surrounding area bring their steeds to "have sex" with a worthy stag.
After visiting the stables (each stag has got a different price for his services -according to origin and percentage of pure arab race - stated on small signs-and is more or less willing/able to have sex several times a day) The "act" itself lasts only a couple of seconds but is truly impressive.

After watching so much horse-power we start to feel hungry again and head for the local store to buy lunch. I must have been quite tired from the trip because I slept for more than two hours when Ibrahim wakes me in the afternoon. He asks me wether I want to change my clothes for "going into town". I do not but nevertheless he offers me a couple of trousers and a shirt for his wardrobe - a simple carton box.

We share some deodorant and off we go. We cycle past the local red light district (right beside the local Gendarmerie) and roll past the weekly market with people selling all kind of vegetables and fruit and Terfez (the morrocan truffels) by the sack- or lorry-load. We greet several friends of Ibrahims and some men in the nearby cafeteria engage me in friendly conversation, they work in Spain, Murcia, Barcelona or Bilbao and some of them insist on giving me their phone number, just in case. After a little snack of morrocan sandwich (some strange canned meat, egg, salad and mayo + ketchup) I visit a small cibercafe to check on the news and e -mails from home. A rather slow connection and the usual crappy Pc with funny letter keyboard but just fine for 4DH/hour.

School is over and we meet Ibrahims favourite girl on the street. I want to take a picture of the two but Ibrahim tells me this is not a good idea in public!

We visit the remains of a church the french built some 50 years ago and cycle homewards.

For dinner there is couscous with chicken and terfez.

They really look like small truffels but their taste is a little bit of potatoe, a little bit of earth and you hardly have to chew as the texture is really light.
A great vegetable to go with couscous !

Done with dinner we go for a stroll but it being after nine o clock at night, nearly everbody is in bed already so we do the obvious; return to base and do likewise.