After supper in the Tiznit Hotel

In the afternoon of the first day of the 'Reunion des Amis d'Iligh' the group was taken to meet Tiznit's famous resident architect Salima Nagji. I went back to the Tiznit Hotel to take a rest in my room. Although the hotel is situated on the corner of the busiest roundabout in Tiznit I didn't hear the traffic in my room at all. The rooms of the Friends of Iligh were all situated around the landscaped and shaded court with at its centre the swimming pool. A typical three star hotel the Tiznit had an alcohol license and a bar where the local drunks and as far as I could see prostitutes gathered. Right across from the window plus balcony of my room an old gent sat during the day in the shade of a date palm. I soon discovered that he had a great view of what went on in the rooms. I slept till evening and joined the group for supper in the hotel's dining room. Of the experts who met Aisha in Leyde in October only one was in Tiznit: Herman Obdeijn. He was accompanied by his wife Louise (Wies). Poor Harry Stroomer who had wanted to come had had a minor stroke on the day before coming here. Fortunately it wasn't crippling and the prospects for recovery were good. It brought home the fact that it was 5 to 12. Harry's right hand man Mohammed Saadouni was with us. And a good thing it was. During the day there had been a lot of local luminaries that had tagged on to the group, but back at the hotel the group had thinned out considerably. Aisha, Annie and Bert were still staying at Fatima's. After supper the 5 strong delegation of the NIMAR had also gone to the rooms. Left were from left to right Paul Dahan of the Jewish Museum in Brussels, he was accompanied by his Belgian wife and 4 year old son, Herman Obdeijn, retired diplomat and Morocco specialist, Wies Obdeijn, retired medical doctor, Mohammed Saadouni and Abdallah Al Moutassir the history professor with whom Aisha was doing her phd. Paul Dahan, who cherishes his Moroccan passport, was a lively fellow who got a discussion going and who held some outspoken views that he didn't suppress. Around him it was never dull.