At the advice of our host, Carlos and I arranged a private guided tour for our second full day in Fes.  Our guide grew up in the medina, so he weaved through the streets effortlessly, stopping for a few seconds every now and then to greet someone he knew.  Carlos remarked that it was a bit like walking with a local celebrity; in a sea of thousands of people, individuals regularly approached him to kiss his cheek or shake his hand, speaking quickly in Arabic before dissolving into the sea again a moment later.

Our guide explained that there are many neighborhoods within the medina, each containing a mosque and a bakery, separated from one another by stone archways.  Carlos asked if there was a map of the medina, and the guide laughed.  “There are no maps,” he told us.  “The streets of the medina were designed to confuse invaders, even though locals knew the way through.  Now they just confuse tourists.”

It was hugely beneficial to be able to rely on local expertise during our second medina experience.  We were able to see the Fes tannery—about three times the size of the one we saw the previous day—and even when we returned to some sites we’d already seen, we were able to learn more about them the second time around.  We saw the weavers again, and this time they told us about the types of thread they use in their work; I was fascinated to see how some scarves are made with agave thread, pulled from the leaf of an agave cactus.

We were taken to the University of al-Karaouine, founded in the year 859 by Fatima al-Fihri; it is the oldest continuously operating university in the world.  We also visited another historic madrasa (school) and stood in its courtyard, where our guide explained the significance of the intricate tile designs on the walls and pillars.  He pointed to some of the marble decorating the courtyard and explained, “This came from Italy.  We traded for it: our sugar for their marble.  It was a good deal for us; they no longer have the sugar, but we still have the marble.”

In addition to sharing his vast historical knowledge of the medina, our guide bestowed practical wisdom on us, as well.  He informed us that donkeys have the ultimate right-of-way in the narrow medina streets.  “If you hear someone on a donkey yelling at you to move, do it right away,” he advised.  “If you don’t, it might be the last thing you ever hear.”