Shasa The mountain Rug Hunter

I was taken into the Atlas Mountains for 2 days with Khalid the Guest House Driver/ admin man. Our goal was to hunt out antique carpet for cris to sell over the internet. We drove into secluded mud villgages where Khalid would speak to an old woman who would then disapear into her hut and return with an armfull of rugs to spread out onto the dusty earth. Some were colourfull with squares of bunched fabric, others with geometric patterns and some covered with jingly sequence. I think these are the wedding blankets and I supose are intended to make music on the wedding night. Khalid would insnspect them to determine if they were at lest 50 years old. He would then speak to the gathering crowed of local woman, often pointing at me which resulted in a great deal of laughter and me wondering whether I had just been sold to a mountain woman for an old rug. I guess I was not a worthy price as I was allowed to come back home to Marakech with him the next day.