More traditional craft stuff!

More traditional crafty stuff...

The turquoise set that I want but we didn't get because we don't know how to get it home intact. :( There were far more pieces than this though; there were also couscous dish, oval fish plates, laban jug and mugs, large serving plates, beautiful latticed fruit bowl. I'm so disappointed! I now wish we'd bought it and brought it back a few pieces at a time, leaving the rest at my in-laws to collect later!

And some traditional Kabylie jewellery:

Home comforts

For me, it's always nice to get home after being away for any period of time and this time was no exception. I was in Algeria for just over 5 weeks and we were all so happy and relieved to step in the front door last night.

It was a good journey; the first leg of the journey was from Algiers to Istanbul and took just over 3 hours. The airport in Istanbul is fairly cosy but well equipped so the first thing we did was to go to the prayer room and do our Zuhr and Asr prayers. After that we freshened up, changed baby's nappy and then went back to the prayer room to wait 10 minutes for Maghrib prayer and we joined our Maghrib and Isha prayer. After that we made our way to the lounge and it wasn't long before we boarded our onward flight to Riyadh. The plane was almost empty so I was able to move and have 3 seats to myself and lay baby down next to me instead of juggling her and my food when dinner was served. It was a nice meal which I was able to enjoy for once!

Our arrival in Riyadh was smooth too, the airport was quiet, no queues and long waiting at immigration so we got through to baggage arrivals quickly and since the plane was less than half full, the luggage came quickly.

A truly hassle-free journey and I think I have DD12 and DD10 to thank for making so much du'a and reminding me to do so too that day and the days beforehand!

Back to quite a mess and a very warm, dusty house but I am so happy to see my washing machine, tumble dryer, Comfort fabric conditioner that makes the clothes smell so delicious (!) and my bed. Also nice to have air-conditioning and not feel sweaty and melty all the time... Algeria is nowhere near as hot as Riyadh but the humidity knocks me out. Nice not to have 3 brothers-in-law and 2 teen nephews about the place too which means I don't have to live in my abaya and hijab.

It's the little things I appreciate after being away from home. We had a good stay in Algeria, it was nice to see the family but it's nice to be home.

Hammam Melouane

Hammam Melouane is a small town at the foot of the Blidean Atlas mountains; 37km south west of Algiers. Hammam is the Arabic for baths and it is the presence of the baths with thermal spring water that gives the town it's name.

The drive from Algiers to Hammam Melouane is a beautiful one; as you turn inland away from the coast the scenery quickly becomes mountainous and you drive past fields upon fields of olive trees, apricot trees, orange groves already bearing tiny green spheres which will grow and become ripe by December, fig trees which have already been harvested for the first batch of larger figs - the smaller sweeter ones will come later, grape vines and prickly pear cacti which are interestingly named in Algerian although I am unsure as to why: they are called Qarnous Nasaara (Pears of the Christians) or Hindi (Indian).

As you enter the town of Hammam Melouane, you drive along a narrow road through the mountains and arrive in a populated valley with green mountains rising on all sides; these mountains are covered in snow during the winter.

If you pass right through the town, you will come to another mountain road and the stream which comes from higher in the mountains and people enjoy bathing there.



The actual hammam, Station Thermale, is reasonably priced at 120Dinars (6Riyals/75p) for adults and 60Dinars for children. The men's section is to one side and ladies' section to the other side. There are private rooms with a chair and bath so there's no need for communal bathing.

The water is hot and salty and full of minerals, rare gases, nitrogen, magnesium and iron. It is especially recommended for those with any kind of rheumatism; illnesses of the bones; joint pain; problems with the intestines, liver, pancreas and kidneys; circulation problems in addition to other conditions.

It is not recommended for those in the final stages of cancer, those with advanced tuberculosis and those with acute infections. *



On the main road through the town there is a busy street market and shops selling seasonal fruits, traditional clayware and other souvenirs and novelties.

Friday Hadith

A couple of hadith relating to Jumu'ah

Narrated Abu Huraira: Allah's Apostle (p.b.u.h) said, "When the Imam is delivering the Khutba, and you ask your companion to keep quiet and listen, then no doubt you have done an evil act." (Bukhari: Volume 2, Book 13, Number 56)

Narrated Abu Huraira: Allah's Apostle (p.b.u.h) talked about Friday and said, "There is an hour (opportune time) on Friday and if a Muslim gets it while praying and asks something from Allah, then Allah will definitely meet his demand." And he (the Prophet) pointed out the shortness of that time with his hands. (Bukhari:Volume 2, Book 13, Number 57)

Traditional Algerian crafts

I love all the traditional Algerian/North African handicrafts - there's just too much that I want to buy! We went to a market this week for a browse and there was just so much to see and at such reasonable prices.

The traditional clay dinner services were gorgeous; the one I want is like the orange and lime ones in the pic below but in turquoise. The plate with a pyramid lid is for serving cous cous and the lidded bowl beneath that is for shorba (soup).


The clay plates in the photo below are tagines for baking traditional Algerian semoline bread, matlou'. There is the type with a plain base or the spotted one has a patterned base so the underneath of the bread comes out with a nice pattern.

Clay couscousieres... the bottom part is for making the stew and the top part is a steamer for the couscous, it has holes in it.

Beautiful, intricate woollen woven rugs:

Random tiling that you see around the place on walls and even around the outside tap in my in-laws house. This was just a tiled area on a wall and you buy this sort of thing framed to hang at home: