Zagora Desert

Saw:
the massive zagora palm oasis right on the edge of the sahara.

did:
rode camels into the desert where we spent the night in a traditional berber tent set right on the dunes. (the berbers were the indigenous, nomadic moroccans before the arabs came.)

learned:
after my little attempts at observation and talking with locals, my initial analysis of moroccan islam is: "degrees of
adherance". there are more rules and codes of conduct to this religion than i think anyone knows, but it seems its all a matter of how much you want to obey. so much of it, it seems, is strict adherance by the devout, and a sort of looking the other way when the less devout dont follow a certain stipulation. i think this interestingly parallels
Chrisitanity. There are levels of commitment. the diehards do their thing but they´re not allowed command over the nominal believers. adhering to only what you want softens the edges of religion, and it makes it into what you want. follow the pieces you like, leave out what you dont like under the guise of trying to not be an extreme fundamentalist.