By Aastha KC
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A riad is a traditional Moroccan home with with an opening in the middle, usually reserved to create an interior garden or courtyard complete with fountains that can be viewed from multiple angles of the house. Some riads leave the space to create an open floor plan that lets in bouts of natural light and allows for multi-level floor conversations to happen. At its core, the riad offers a private interior space away from the hustle of local vendors selling Harcha, and far from the bustle of the local neighborhoods kids playing football. The riad thus fosters an intimate exchange among its inhabitants, which in turn reveals the extent to which relationships are valued highly in Moroccan society.
Hidden in the crevices of Rue Zanata, our riad in Salé offered the fourteen of us a space that Yalies are no strangers to: the common room. Expansive yet intimate and welcoming, the riad’s common room was a colorful continuation of Morocco’s unique architecture style. It’s long rectangular shape created corners with its own distinct style, all of which could easily be mistaken as their own room. At one corner was a chair and a desk with a guestbook and a painting of a faint Mona Lisa. Directly across from the desk stood a table and two chairs with a backdrop of a wall adorned with zellige tiles, colored orange and white. Just a glance alone would lead one to believe that the chair and table were pieces transported from a Moroccan restaurant or café, rather than a piece of the larger room. The blue tiled fountain which contrasted the orange-white zellige tiled wall transported one to an outdoor water fountain while it’s mosaic drew one closer in, to examine its intricate geometric patterns. Sitting on its arches, the fountain was as mesmerizing as it was charming; it’s flowered tiles of blue, green and yellow seemed to blend in to each other, creating a larger, more unified image. From afar, it took on the shape of a massive mosaic flower.
Opposite from the fountain was the entrance to a rectangular room with multiple beds and similar high ceilings. Next to the door, stood an ancient loveseat sofa and chairs, complete with warm hues of pink and red colored cushions. In between the seats stood a table with a glass covering which revealed a checkered pattern underneath.The centerpiece, a large glass table complete with a checkered wood pattern, was surrounded by the fluffy leather bags that one could not help but indulge in. The walls and the floor throughout the riad were similarly covered in tiles of black, orange, white and blue. While the tiles, the fountain and sofa were in itself distinct features of the room, when taking an aerial view, it somehow fit together into a cohesive and united image. The varied patterns were not distractions from each other but rather became a larger cohesive unit.
Living in a riad, albeit for a week, felt very similar to living in a Yale common room, complete with different and distinct personalities that together created a unified image that seemed respectful of the shared space. Common spaces, like living rooms, parks and libraries, reflect collective values and often elicit an personal if not emotional response; the common space that we found in the riad was no different. Throughout our stay at the riad, we were able to gather with each other, reflect on the day and look forward to the next. It’s was a pleasant ending to an otherwise hectic day filled with sourcing, interviewing, crossing the Rebat-Salé border by tram or walking along the narrow streets of the medinas.
Among the first days of Ramadan, the echoes of the Islamic call to prayer reverberated throughout the riad and pulled me towards the rooftop. I spotted a group of friends and stood with them as our eyes reached the horizon of the medina, and our ears immersed in the prayer that was piercing through a dish satellite. There, in the middle of the night, even while the words we listened to were unfamiliar to us, somehow we were able to decipher the unity it demanded from us.
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Aastha is a rising junior in Pauli Murray College. You can contact her at aastha.kc@yale.edu.