Day 1: Leather

This is perhaps the dirtiest job that you'll ever love and a great way to get your feet wet for all the experiences to come.  Your day will start as each day will with a hearty breakfast at your riad before your guide meets you and you venture into the Medina and get to work.

Today is Leather University, from start to finish you'll get hands-on with each process involved in producing famous Moroccan leather.  Once a guild secret, this is the only program where you'll learn everything there is to know about the finest leather ever made using the smelliest process ever created.  So while the tourists stand on the terraces high above, holding a sprig of mint to the noses, you'll be in the midst of the action, being a part of the tradition rather then just watching it.

Starting with the rough hides coming from market, you'll begin by removing the hair and fat before before washing the hides.  After they're cleaned, the hides (and you) go into the coloring vats were you'll be stomping and agitating them by hand and feet to get a uniform color.  After coloring they're moved to the rooftops for drying. The dry hides are brought in for softening and thinning by hand using a blade and a strong back. Now that you've got a finished piece of leather, it's time for lunch and a shower.

After lunch, you'll pick-up where you left-off following the hides from the tannery to the workshops.  You'll work next to the craftsmen measuring, cutting, then assembling the leather into a variety of finished goods from Babush (slippers) to jackets, bags, etc.  At the end of the day the artisans go home and so will you for a well deserved evening of rest.

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