Berber husbands Muslim wives

I've just spent four uncomfortable hours in the company of possibly the most genuine person in Morocco. They didn't rip me off or even pressure me. But I think I inadvertently auditioned myself for Moroccan desperate Housewife, hence the discomfort.

My mother always tells me not to declare my Muslim heritage when I travel but I think this has some currency, particularly in hostage negotiations!

So it was with much joy that Hamid and my taxi driver learned that I knew of the five pillars of Islam. And consequently discussed my marriage potential (plenty), what went wrong with my first marriage (Islam was not in his heart), if I will ever go to Mecca (inshallah) and what has happened to my mother's faith (lost soul). It wasn't the cous cous that gave me indigestion!

In other marital auditions, sixteen year old Abdoul Couscous (the second person I have met with this name) told me that Berber men make the best husbands (they are good at massage), that he was here for my every need, including making cous cous, and that j'ai besoin de vous (he needed me).

Apparently dowry here is some 5 million dihram. Bring it on, berber wanna be husbands and others.