Sefrou – learning to live in a different rhythm

This is Abdelslam, very few people here in the old Medina of Sefrou know that his real name is Ahmed. He has a 8 sqm shop, where he serves mint Moroccan tea, for 40 years. This is his profession, a last lost tradition. He might be probably the last generation that will prepare only tea for so many years. The gestures of cutting the mint, washing it, preparing in advance ready to use glasses with mint inside, then boiling the water, knowing exactly when to turn the light off, watching the steam going up. You see, the steam is very important factor of the tea preparation, if it's too hot, people will burn themselves, it has to be at the perfect temperature between being hot and not burning. Then knowing exactly the quantity of green tea leaves to mixt with the mint. Years of experience. The place is a small meeting points of all the artisans and commercials that work in the Medina. They meet there, they share and discuss, but also argue and even get angry. Those places, where you seat and practically obliged to talk with the others, because it's only 4 tables in 8 sqm. Those places, that the social media try to recreate today, but on virtual platforms. Ahmed, in my eyes, is a master artist! His ways of pouring, measuring, testing, mixing, serving, could be compared to the excellency Caravaggio measured the light for his paintings, or Picasso evaluating the distortions of his figures, or even Grayson Perry did choose the thickness of the wires he used for his tapestries. If you thought art was just the pieces you enjoy at the museums or galleries, then you are WRONG. Art is life, and the excellency of preparing mint tea for 40 years is art. Here in the Medina of Sefrou, Morocco, 2017.
Wish you long life Ahmed.