All About Azilal

text by Chaimaa Ait Alaarif
photos by Brandy Blue

the hills of Azilal

Azilal is a small city and it is in the middle of Morocco. It has a lot of beautiful natural things.

Moroccan students on the streets of Azilal

We have the Atlas Mountains, the forest, and nature in general.

The mosque in the city center of Azilal

We also have some places for tourism such as Ouzoud Waterfall and the city of Beni Melllal. It is a beautiful place and anyone should visit it!

Ouzoud Waterfalls outside of Azilal

Bin Ouidane lake north of Azilal

This city is very simple and clean. Most people also hope to have a job.

A shepherd in a small village in Azilal Province

Snack Time!

In small towns like Azilal, there is no such thing as a big supermarket. Instead, people buy their groceries and other necessities at little shops called hanuts.

Most hanuts are so small that in order to buy things you ask the shopkeeper, called the mul hanut, for what you want and they will take it from the shelf, bag it up and give you your total.

One of our favorite mul hanut's in Azilal is named Mustapha. He has a hanut with many various snack foods. 

Here he is with his favorite snack, paprika pringles. 

Today with the Access students we went on a trip to the hanut and each student picked out their favorite snack to buy. 

They all asked Mustapha to help them get their favorite things. Lets see what they picked!

Bouchra Taghjanout, 16, decided on a bar of Nestle chocolate. We asked her why and she said that chocolate is more healthy. This big chocolate bar costs 10 dirham, which is just a little over $1.

El Habib Bibih, 16, chose a small bag of M&Ms because he says they are "very tasty!" This treat costs 8 dirhams, which is about $0.80.

Hmad Bahhou, 16, said that he likes spicy food. His favorite treat is a bag of Red Chili Crunch brand chips. At 15 dirham they are the most expensive thing anyone picked, about $1.50.

Finally, Khadija Assou, 16, likes original Pringles the best. "Because I like chips!" she said. $1 is the price, 10 dirham.

Did you notice everyone picked something you might like to eat in America? 

For the American Peace Corps volunteers working in Azilal, the favorite things at the snack hanut are the fresh roasted nuts you can buy. The mul hanut has a big roaster outside and sells almonds, peanuts, cashews, pistachios-- anything you can imagine! You simply tell him how many dirham you would like and he weighs them out for you. Then he wraps them in used schoolbook pages and sends you on your way! 

Brandy likes the salty roasted pumpkin seeds the best and picked a 3 dirham package, $0.30 of snack. Emma likes most the local almonds wrapped in a crunchy, cheesy coating. They taste like almond cheetos! She picked a $0.50, 5 dirham, paper cone of them. 

Thanks for going on a trip to the hanut with us! What is your favorite snack and what kind of store do you buy it from? 

Student Spotlight #29: Lycee Ouzoud (Morocco)

Leila

Hi! My name is Leila ElQably. I am 16 years old. I speak Arabic, French, English and Tamazight.

I live in Azilal with my family. My family is big and generous! I am the baby of the family, I have 1 brother and 4 sisters. My mom stays at home and my father is home too because he is retired. 

Three words to describe me would be friendly, stubborn, and competive. 

In my free time I like to listen to music, especially classical music. I like to dance with my friends. I cook with my mom, watch TV, play sports (especially handball) and read a lot of books.  I love Moroccan food like meat and vegetable tajine. 

One very sad thing happened this year. My friend was ill. I spent a lot of time with her and visited her a lot. In Morocco we spend a lot of time together as friends, especially when someone is sick. 

I am happy American people want to learn about Moroccan language, food and culture!