AFRICA MOROCCO-ALGERIA

This week in class All Around This World ventures to North Africa.

We start our exploration in Algeria, embracing this historic home of Berbers and Barbary pirates, a land of vast Saharan deserts and lush, green oases. Algeria has been subject to the rule of Carthaginians, Romans, Ottomans and French, yet it experienced its most difficult civil war after becoming independent.

We also take a jaunt out to Morocco, where the vast percentage of its native citizens are of mixed Berber-Arab descent, to get married. The town of Imilchil, located in Morocco’s Atlas mountains, hosts a unique yearly Marriage Festival, during which Berber families from all over the region gather with the hope of finding spouses for their sons and daughters. The festival is full of music, food and flirtation. Several dozen couples form and become engaged to marry each year.

According to legend, two young people from different Berber tribes around Imilchil fell in love but their families forbade them from marrying. In their grief they cried themselves to death, creating the companion lakes of Isli (his) and Tislit (hers) separated for eternity by a mountain. Their families honored the anniversary of their death by creating a festival during which members of local tribes can meet and eventually marry.