We spent a lot of time in Morocco trying to decide what to do outside of the big cities. We considered taking a magical camel ride out into the desert to be alone under the stars, but those excursions are far out there and really expensive. After much research we finally found the ideal answer.

Setti Fatma is a small town tucked in the mountains outside of Marrakesh. During our weekend there we went on three hikes, each more impressive than the last. Our first night we made friends with our hotel manager who took us all around the neighboring vilages. The scapes kept changing as we passed different huts and mountains of ten different colors. The next day we followed the river to a hill full of goats, so we spent most of our time following them and making fun of them. Our last day we found a trail that led us high up a mountain, almost making it to the low clouds. That was the best hike because we had to scramble up rocks and jump through waterfalls, and because we were all alone until we met the hay ladies.

Throughout Setti Fatma and the neighboring towns the hay ladies are hard at work. They wear practical dresses and watershoes, with colorful scarves on their heads. They spend hours collecting from the hay fields and joking with their friends on the long haul back to their farms. From a distance they look like giant bundles of hay bobbing along in a single file line. When Scott and I were towards the end of our hike we chose a rock to sit on to get out of the way of a couple of these ladies. This time instead of gossip and jokes, we heard singing coming our way--the kind of boysterous, jovial singing you hear at children's camps. When Asha and her friend found us on our rock they came right up to us and started a conversation. I think they asked where we were from, if we were married, if we had kids, and tons of other questions, but Arabic and Berber are tricky for me. So we smiled and nodded and tried out our ten Arabic words, and we were laughed at a lot. This encounter proved what I had heard so much but couldn't believe: the people here are happy. The may not have enough money, but they choose their daily activities and they are part of a huge, cooperative community.