Life in a Riad

“Excusez-moi, thé à la menthe s’il vous plait,” the middle-aged French woman ordered while adjusting herself in the chair.

“Oui Madame.”

Aliana slipped through the grand stone-carved doorway into the back kitchen to prepare mint leaves for Madame Monjée’s tea. It was 8:00am, which meant the patisserie driver should be there soon to drop off the croissants, baguettes and sweet pastries. As one of their premium guests at Riad Belle, Madame Monjée had very specific requests for her petit déjeuner, however the large tips more than made up for her high demands. Aliana felt grateful for her job at the Riad, and especially to the owner, Ms. Lacroix, for giving her the opportunity to work at such a beautiful hotel.

By the time Aliana was ten years old she knew that she would need to work hard to create a better life than what her parents had endured. Life in the Medina was rough and grueling, but her father still thought it was better than the conditions in their old neighbourhood in the country. Several people told her father that there were good opportunities in Morocco, especially for families. With tourism continuing to rise, it wouldn’t be too hard to find work for him and his wife.

After many long days travelling to Morocco, Aliana’s family settled in Marrakech. It was a modest space within a large stone building in the Medina, but it was one they could call their own. Her mother found a job assisting a local tailor, while her father worked as a labourer for a construction company. He tried to get less physically demanding work at a hotel or café, but the managers demanded that all employees be fluent in French. Aliana’s father tried to learn this new language, but after working 12-15 hour days at the construction site he was just too exhausted.

Aliana stared down at the mint leaves starting to soften in the silver teapot. She placed a small glass cup on the tray with a bowl of sugar cubes and satin napkin. She was just about to bring the tray out to Madame Monjée when the doorbell rang. She set the tray back down and went to answer the door.

The large wooden door had a commanding presence, and she often felt like she was opening the door to a castle. It was stiff and heavy to open, but she enjoyed being the first person to welcome people into this beautiful Riad.

“Bonjour Aliana. Dix croissants chocolates, huit baguettes et vingt gateaux marocains,” the driver said.

“Merci Abdull. C’est combien?”

“60 Dirham, s’il vous plâit.”

Aliana pulled the money from her robe pocket and handed it to him.

“Merci beaucoup, au revoir!”

Abdull handed the bag of pastries to Aliana and quickly left to continue his morning deliveries. She closed the door and brought the bag into the kitchen to prepare the rest of Madame Monjée’s petit déjeuner.

“Thé à la menthe s’il vous plâit!” Madame Monjée demanded, and tapped her long painted fingernails on the metal frame of the chair.

“Oui madame. Pardon-moi,” Aliana replied as she brought out the tray and set it on the table beside the Madame.

Although the Madame didn’t turn her head to greet her, she knew from the slight smile on her face that she appreciated it. Aliana returned to the kitchen and started cutting the baguette in even slices and arranged them in a circular pattern on a plate. The chocolate croissant sat on its own plate with a drizzle of chocolate sauce swirled around the edges for added artistic flair.

Recently, Ms. Lacroix gave Aliana a few lessons in French cuisine, which she eagerly learned. Using her new culinary skills, Aliana prepared a few dinners for guests at the Riad. She often dreamed of becoming a chef at a French café in Paris, where she would serve the most savoury and sweet dishes to elegant European customers. But for now she did important work at the Riad such as breakfast and dinner preparations, room cleaning, laundry and helping out Ms. Lacroix with any additional duties.

Aliana brought out a tray of baguettes, butter, jams, cheeses, boiled eggs, and the chocolate croissant and set each dish out carefully beside Madame Monjée’s mint tea. When each of the dishes was arranged on the table it looked like a delicious medley of colours and textures, which Aliana took great pride in. It was almost too beautiful to eat, but while she was admiring her artistic creation Madame Monjée smeared the croissant through the chocolate sauce and took a big bite out of it. Her swirls were now smudged streaks on the plate.

Madame Monjée noticed Aliana gazing at the plate and asked with a full mouth, “Quelle est le problème?”

“Pardon-moi. Bon appetit Madame Monjée.”

It took the Madame just two more bites to finish off the croissant before she moved on to the baguette slices.

With a flushed face, Aliana quickly resumed her duties in the kitchen, and then began the room cleaning. She had about two hours before the new guests started arriving, so she needed to get started. But before she did, she made sure to tear off new petals from the stock of flowers and scatter them in the centerpiece fountain. They lay in the pool of water so peacefully that it made any hectic day feel more serene.

Aliana walked up the steep, narrow staircase to the upper level rooms. The blue and white-checkered mosaic pattern was starting to wear from years of use, but it still looked shiny when the sun beamed in through the open roof. Rooms 2, 3 and 5 needed to be cleaned from last night’s guests, so she started on Room 2 at the far end.

She stripped the sheets off the 4-poster bed and replaced them with crisp clean ones, and then carefully arranged the decorative pillows and duvet on top. She then cleaned the mosaic tables, ceramic pots and vases, stone carved lamps and large antique wardrobe unit. The ensuite bath just needed to be wiped clean, and fresh towels, soaps and potpourri set out for the new guests.

After finishing all the rooms Aliana looked around to inspect her work. She always enjoyed gazing at the intricate stone-carved borders or painted geometric pattern on the ceiling. The metal and stained glass overhead lights were her favourite, especially when the light peaked through the tiny holes to show off its vibrant colours. After working at the Riad for five years she still feels like she lives and works in a royal palace.

Aliana locked up all the rooms and looked down over the iron grid railing to the main floor below. The sun lit up the floral patterned mosaic floor, and made the water sparkle as it cascaded in the fountain. Just then the main door creaked open, which meant that Ms. Lacroix just arrived. She looked up and saw Aliana peering over the edge and smiled.

“Bonjour Aliana!” she called while removing her Dolce & Gabbana sunglasses. Her voice echoed all the way up to the second floor.

“Bonjour Ms. Lacroix!”

Madame Monjée was finishing off the last piece of baguette bread and decided that she’d like more.

“Plus de baguettes, s’il vous plâit,” she called up to Aliana.

Since Madame Monjée checked into the Riad, Aliana has had to increase the daily order of baguettes to keep up with her demand.

“Oui, Madame. Un moment.”

Aliana rushed down the steps to cut more slices of bread for the Madame. After a few minutes she brought out another plate and replaced it with the empty one sitting at her table. Madame Monjée quickly stuffed the spongy bread into her mouth and took a big gulp of mint tea to wash it down.

“Aliana, entrez my office s’il vous plâit,” Ms. Lacroix called, who had a habit of mixing English and French together in the same sentence.

Aliana was still trying to master English, but since there was a serious tone in her voice, it made her anxious that something was wrong. Did she not perform her duties well? She tried to hold in her nervousness as she walked into Ms. Lacroix’s office and stood in front of her desk.

“Aliana, vous avez working at Riad Belle for cinq ans maintenant.”

“Oui, Ms. Lacroix.

“You have been an excellent worker here, mais j’ai une autre occasion you may be interested in.”

“Quelle occasion?” she replied with wide eyes.

“Mon frère owns un café à Paris, and he needs some help préparant des repas. The job involves la preparation de sauces, des potages, et quelques plats de pâtisserie. Mon frere can teach you all the skills needed. But since you have done excellent work ici, je ne vois aucun problème in you handling this new job. Of course we would provide un appartement pour vous to stay in, until you have enough money to manage the rent. Are you interested?”

Aliana felt like she could faint, with her eyes transfixed on Ms. Lacroix.

“Aliana?” Ms. Lacroix asked again.

“Oui, Ms. Lacroix. Merci pour l’occasion, mais ma famille….

“Je comprends. Je voudrais offrir votre current position à un de vos membres familiaux. Cette aide la situation?”

“Oui, Ms. Lacroix, oui! Merci, merci!”

“Marveilleux. Mon frère would like you to start in deux semaines. C’est possible?”

Two weeks! Aliana replied with a resounding “Oui!”, and walked out of her office in a daze. She smiled ear-to-ear, and continued her duties with heightened enthusiasm. In two weeks her life would be completely different.

All of a sudden the doorbell rang, and Aliana sprinted to answer it. A young woman stood in the doorway with an enormous backpack, her hair pulled back in a ponytail and a tired but eager smile on her face.

“Uh, bon-jour. My name is Kate Sanders. I booked a room for three nights here. Uh, pardon-moi, parlez-vous anglais?”

Aliana smiled back at the young woman and thought, clearly this girl needs some French lessons. But as with all guests who stay at Riad Belle, Aliana greeted her with a warm welcome and showed the young woman to her room. Kate’s look of wonderment as she gazed up at the beautiful architecture reminded Aliana of her first experience at the Riad. In two weeks she’ll have that same sense of excitement and first-time experience once again as she begins her new life in Paris. Her father would be very proud.