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The people of the Atlas Mountains are Berbers, a group distinct from Arabs and other North Africans, who have their own language and traditions. In appearance they resemble the Spanish or the Romany people. They are nominally Moslem, but seem fairly liberal in their practices, and are very welcoming to strangers and easy to get along with. The children are particularly cheerful and good-humoured, and play around happily all the time with no signs of aggression or temper. As in many groups with extended families and a traditional way of life the older children look after the younger ones and there is a general feeling of family harmony and warmth. School is provided but is viewed as something of a luxury to be indulged in when there isn't too much work needing doing elsewhere. The children are taught in Arabic, beginning with the Koran, and French is not taught until they are 10. The children's own language, Berber, is not used in the schools. It is of course a very hard way of life and with the spread of satellite television and increasing contact with the outside world it is likely that the young will drift increasingly towards the cities and jobs abroad to try to earn the money to pay for a Western lifestyle. The days of villages like this one are surely numbered. The presence of the gîte and the tourists that it brings to the village may in the long run produce a Berber theme park, selling its goods and culture to the outsiders, but the ancient way of life in its pure form can hardly be expected to persist long into the 21st Century, which is a pity. On the other hand I would not choose mountain subsistence farming as a way of life so why should I expect others to?
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