The Generations of Lazar
By Rachel Woolf
A pair of wrinkled hands snapped open lima beans. One empty pod quickly joined a small mountain of peels, tossed next to a bright purple bag of lima beans.
Khayra Lafkire, rested her hands on top of the small white fur carpet before playfully hitting her great grandson, Mouad Lazar, with a pod.
Lafkire was sitting cross-legged in the center of a colorful chaos. Dim light spilt into the room from the kitchen, painting the orange and purple rugs with a yellow tint. As Lafkire continued her work, Mouad ran in circles, his feet slapping the rugs with each step.
Café El-Griny
By Lauren Kopchik
Photographs by Rachel Woolf
RABAT, Morocco — On a lazy Sunday afternoon, El-Ayadi El-Griny sits in a dimly lit garage watching the people of Rabat stroll along Lalou Avenue. They walk past hole-in-the-wall shops like his that surround the old medina marketplace, with its narrow streets and close-knit neighborhoods, without casting a second glance.
El-Griny, 39, makes a comfortable seat using plastic bags filled with the only product he sells: wool. It surrounds him, with overstuffed bags filling the corners of his shop and excess white and blue fabric spilling onto the floor.
A Brotherly Butcher Shop
By Rachel Woolf
RABAT, Morocco – A line of cow legs hangs on hooks above a counter containing a bleeding brain and an assortment of meat. Behind the counter, Abdlmola Rochdi wipes his forehead with his sleeve before slicing into a raw lamb’s leg late one evening in January. Abdlmola is the co-owner of a butcher shop along Rue Mohammed the 5th in the ancient medina of Rabat, the capital.
Two brothers own this butcher shop: Abdlmola, the elder brother, and Noureedine Rochdi, the younger brother. Each day, the brothers work for two hours in the morning and two hours in the afternoon.
