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Documentary, Ben Fogle New Lives in the Wild S05E08 Atlas Mountains Morocco
#BenFogleNewLivesInTheWild #NewLivesInTheWild #Morocco
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Transcript
00:00I'm Ben Fogel and over the past few weeks I've lived with different people who
00:08inhabit some of the most remote locations on earth. There is nothing here. From the
00:14mountain forests of Northwest USA to the freezing Mongolian tundra, the barren
00:20Hungarian countryside to the wild African bush, a Mediterranean island and the deep
00:27Canadian wilderness. These are the people who decided to make a massive life
00:34change. I said so what do you think should we just do it give up everything
00:37and she said okay. Are they daring or just downright crazy? Come on Ben. We didn't
00:46even know where Mongolia was. This is who I am it's not who you want me to be. I want
00:52to find out what happens when you quit the rat race. If the whole world folds up my
00:57pension is here. And create a new life in the wild.
01:12Today I'm in the foothills of the Atlas Mountains in Morocco.
01:17That's straight in the face that one. Living with couple Dina and Mustafa who shun the
01:23American dream. If you can survive without money that's freedom. To live in a mud house
01:30and work the land. I never thought of how hard it is and here I am doing it and it's live and learn.
01:39I'll discover what led this couple to give it all up. Money was my main goal. So now I have nothing for anybody to envy.
01:48Nothing. For a precarious hand-to-mouth existence. It's like trying to hurt me here.
01:54He gave me like two bucks for it. Higher, higher, higher, higher.
02:01My journey begins 3,000 kilometres away in the ancient kingdom of Morocco.
02:06It's just a three and a half hour flight from London. Yet culturally it's a million miles away.
02:15A local bus is taking me to the base of the majestic Atlas Mountains.
02:24It's so rich, all the smells, the colours. So different to the UK.
02:32And a salt on the senses really. It feels very exotic.
02:41Great, thank you.
02:43There's Lama. There's Lama. There's Lama.
02:48I think this is the place.
02:51For the rest of the journey, I hitch a lift with Dina and Mustafa's neighbour.
02:58Wow.
03:00In this arid landscape, temperatures can peak at over 40 degrees.
03:05It's dry, dusty, hot. It feels slightly inhospitable.
03:15So it seems strange that this couple have left the land of plenty,
03:19the American dream, for this.
03:27Hello?
03:29Hello?
03:31Dina?
03:32Hello.
03:33You must pave in.
03:35We've been waiting for you.
03:36What a straight... That is so surprising. The acting. You must be Mustafa.
03:39How are you?
03:39Yes, I am. How are you doing, buddy?
03:40Very good to see you.
03:41Wow, listen to your accent.
03:42Sorry, that's the first thing that strikes me.
03:43It's just...
03:44You don't sound like the environment that we're in.
03:47I think I'm the only Kentucky accent here in Morocco.
03:51The short journey here looks like it's quite a tough environment.
03:54You have to work quite hard.
03:55It is.
03:56It is.
03:57I mean, we were not expecting this.
03:58We've learned a lot.
03:59So I think we can call ourselves that we belong to this environment now.
04:0545-year-old Dina Zougaia was running a successful hairdressing business in Kentucky,
04:13when she met 44-year-old Moroccan-born Mustafa Jabor in 2012.
04:20Dina had been harbouring ideas of leaving the rat race for years, and Mustafa was up for
04:25the adventure.
04:29Selling up and settling debts gave them £17,000 to start their new life in Morocco.
04:36Within weeks of arrival, the couple bought this small plot of land for £6,000.
04:44The simple mud-brick dwelling was built over the course of a year.
04:52Oh, it's noticeably cooler in here, isn't it?
04:54It's a lot cooler.
04:55It feels good, doesn't it?
04:56What's this?
04:57It's an off-the-grid gym.
04:59What?
05:00An off-the-grid gym?
05:01Gym.
05:02Yep.
05:03With this machine here, you can work...
05:04Is he pulling my leg?
05:05No.
05:06No, I'm serious.
05:07No, he's serious.
05:08There are two heavy rocks in there.
05:09Yeah.
05:10You work it out.
05:12You can work your triceps with that.
05:13Yeah.
05:14And then you can do your back as well.
05:15Look at that.
05:16And you just pull up.
05:18This is one of the most inventive things I think I've seen.
05:20So creative.
05:21I was like, I've got to put a gym together, you know?
05:23Yeah.
05:24You know, we have rocks here.
05:25I'm going to go ahead and use them and, you know, stay in shape.
05:28This is so clever.
05:29You've made your own weight out of just a heavy rock.
05:32Definitely.
05:33And you can work your biceps.
05:36It will, like, you know, it's heavy.
05:39You feel the heat.
05:40You're, like, burning those muscles.
05:41You want to try it?
05:42Yeah, sure.
05:43Give it a shot.
05:44Whoa!
05:45Okay.
05:48I need to build these muscles.
05:51Well, don't count me in.
05:52You know what I'm going to do?
05:53No.
05:54I don't work out.
05:55There's plenty of work to do that can give you a good workout.
05:57Yeah, well, that's what I was thinking.
05:58There's not enough work already, Mustafa.
05:59No, when I came here, I was soft.
06:00Mm-hmm.
06:01This environment requires muscles.
06:03If I'm not doing any building, I have to keep my muscles toned.
06:07There you go.
06:08This is the result.
06:13The couple's two-bedroom mud house is simply furnished,
06:16but has the mod cons they can't do without.
06:19A flush toilet, running water, and a shower.
06:24This is our beautiful kitchen.
06:26This, can I say, this is genuinely beautiful.
06:28I love this.
06:29Look at these cupboards and everything.
06:30This concrete mud work surface is very in vogue right now.
06:35People are paying a lot of money for this.
06:36To let you know, I built this myself from scratch.
06:39And the paint?
06:40Oh, the paint, it's all organic.
06:42Organic?
06:43Yeah.
06:44It's made out of flour, egg.
06:46It's like making a cake.
06:47No way.
06:48And you add manure.
06:49OK, I was going to say, so I could lick it, but now I might not.
06:52Did you have much input in this?
06:54Did you kind of say, I'd like to have the sink in front of the window?
06:56I mean, that's quite Western, isn't it?
06:58This is all I wanted, because I'm simple.
07:00Are you?
07:01I just wanted a pretty view.
07:02Really?
07:03Is that the...
07:04I don't know if this is supposed to be the view or not.
07:06I don't see much.
07:07There was a view.
07:08There was a view, but he built a wall.
07:09Now he's got some branches.
07:11He's made it so the cat can't get out.
07:14The house is off-grid thanks to solar power.
07:19But there's off-grid and there's completely disconnected.
07:24OK.
07:25So, Ben, this is the guest house.
07:27So, no roof yet.
07:29This is the guest house.
07:31I'm technically the guest.
07:32Do I sleep in here?
07:33We have a room for you in the house.
07:36The staff is obviously incredibly resourceful.
07:42I love the inventiveness of his home gym.
07:45You know, that's proper creativity.
07:47And I think it's a little vestiges, a hangover from his 17 years in body image obsessed America.
07:56And that's not the only hangover from home.
08:06I thought we were going to probably be having a tagine given we're in Morocco.
08:13It's odd to be eating fried chicken in the middle of Morocco, right?
08:16Yeah.
08:17Yeah.
08:18That looks like something you would buy from the fast food outlet.
08:22OK, taste it.
08:23So I taste it.
08:26Oh, wow.
08:27You like it?
08:28Mm-hmm.
08:30How did you guys actually meet?
08:31On the internet.
08:32On the internet?
08:33Yes.
08:34You didn't?
08:35Yes, we did.
08:36On a dating site?
08:37Yeah.
08:38Which one?
08:39Arab lounge.
08:40Arab lounge?
08:41Uh-huh.
08:42Sorry, I shouldn't laugh.
08:43It just sounds so funny.
08:44Arab lounge.
08:45I've never heard of that one.
08:46Arab lounge.
08:47I always haven't been on that one.
08:48Probably because you're English.
08:50Exactly.
08:51And I'm married.
08:52Right.
08:53Yeah, that's a big one.
08:54I think that's the other big one as well.
08:56I was in Arizona.
08:58She was in Lexington.
09:00What sort of distance are we talking between those two?
09:023,000 miles.
09:03For a first date, you traveled 3,000 miles?
09:07Yes.
09:08Wow.
09:09Yes.
09:10I stayed there for a week, and then I just decided to bring him home with me.
09:13And we got married after a week.
09:16You got married after a week?
09:17Well, over the phone, she said, you know what, if we like each other, you're coming back
09:22with me.
09:23But you then got married a week later.
09:25Yeah.
09:26Yeah.
09:27We pretty much got married the day we arrived to Lexington.
09:31Yeah, but I knew it would be forever.
09:33Mm-hmm.
09:34I knew it would be forever.
09:35Like, just talking to him on the phone, we talked all day long before we met.
09:39Mm-hmm.
09:40You think you were destined to find one another?
09:42Yes.
09:43I think that we're twin.
09:44I think we're twin souls.
09:45Well, just as well, given you live in a tiny little area.
09:48It's a really good thing we love each other.
09:50Yeah.
09:51Yeah.
09:52Dina and Mustafa are amazing.
09:55Any new life in the wild is a gamble.
09:58And the fact that they married after a week and came here after a year, that's taking
10:04a pretty big leap of faith.
10:06Morocco is very beautiful, but you do have to work pretty hard to actually make a fruitful,
10:13bountiful, bountiful life.
10:16I'd love to know what draws them to this part of the world and how they actually earn a living.
10:22I'm in the shadow of the Atlas Mountain Range in Morocco.
10:36Good morning.
10:39It is about six o'clock.
10:41Everything starts very early here.
10:44Yeah.
10:45So I heard them up at about four o'clock.
10:52My hosts, Dina and Mustafa, gave up a five-bed detached house in Kentucky for the unforgiving
10:58Moroccan wilderness.
11:03Get a bundle like that.
11:07Yeah.
11:08That's it.
11:09A bundle like that.
11:10Yeah.
11:11Perfect.
11:12Mustafa is currently working around the clock to build a guest house.
11:15Let's make this the last one because I think we have plenty.
11:18Yeah.
11:19So I come up.
11:20Yep.
11:21His nearest neighbor, Rashid, is on hand to make sure us amateurs get it right.
11:26We want to secure this one to this one here.
11:30Bring it through here.
11:31And then up through here?
11:32Yep.
11:33OK.
11:34I got it.
11:35The walls are made of mud from their land and the roof is just a bunch of bamboo.
11:39So I'm assuming money goes a long way out here.
11:43Did you arrive here with a reasonable amount of money from the US?
11:46Oh, yeah.
11:47I was rich when I came here.
11:48And now?
11:49I was loaded.
11:50And now I'm not?
11:51No, I'm not.
11:52Sorry to be so blunt, but do you have any money?
11:55No.
11:56We spend it all.
11:57You spend it all?
11:58We came here.
11:59We were thinking that we still have money.
12:01So we were living large and then go to the city and go to the supermarkets and spend a
12:05lot of money on food that we don't even need.
12:07Now that we spend all the money, when we look back, we're like, wow, what were we thinking?
12:12You know, we never thought of like, you know, one day this money is going to end.
12:16So now we're down to the basic.
12:19We just get what we need.
12:21So where are you going to make your money in the future?
12:24Our dream, our hope to be like, you know, to be farmers.
12:28Mm-hmm.
12:29We don't get much of this land.
12:30And we would love to like, you know, upgrade and get a bigger land so we can grow everything
12:34we need.
12:35We can have money by growing vegetables or fruits and sell them in the market.
12:41Mm-hmm.
12:42Even livestock.
12:43That's good money.
12:44Is this like us building an extension onto our homes before we sell it so that we get
12:48a higher price?
12:49That's true, actually.
12:50We're going to get like, you know, more money.
12:52The more upgrade you have in your house, the more money you get.
12:57Yeah.
12:58When they first arrived, the couple's aim was to live off their land.
13:04We may have to eat this watermelon.
13:09Look at it.
13:10I don't get this.
13:11What?
13:12I mean, some of them are green and some of them are dry.
13:17They die off.
13:18Do they?
13:19Yeah.
13:20The veg plot appears to be a work in progress.
13:25It looks almost like it's more ornamental than it is productive.
13:29Is it enough to sustain yourselves?
13:31No.
13:32No.
13:33Do you think that was an error?
13:34It wasn't an error.
13:35Like, when we came here, I mean, we were, like, new to all this, you know?
13:38When we saw the land, we thought it was big at first.
13:41This is gardening.
13:42We want to farm.
13:43Yeah.
13:44We want to farm.
13:45We want to, like, go big now.
13:47I think I'm here at a key point in their new life in the wild.
13:50They need to go from small-scale gardeners to larger-scale farmers.
13:55This is a big turning point, and it could go both ways.
13:59You know, this could be the make-or-break moment in their lives.
14:03At this early stage of their new life, every task is a small step towards achieving their dream.
14:10Today, we're breaking a new patch of ground, so Mustafa has called in a favour.
14:16Shhh!
14:17Whoa!
14:18How are your donkey wrangling skills?
14:19Are you good with donkeys?
14:20I'm a city boy.
14:21You're a city boy?
14:22Yeah.
14:23So, I haven't...
14:24Is this all completely new to you, then?
14:25Definitely.
14:26Definitely.
14:27Look at that.
14:28Look at that.
14:29Look at that.
14:30It's biting in a little bit.
14:31Ben, you're going to have to keep a straight line.
14:32Yeah.
14:33I know you're trying.
14:34I think that's a pretty straight line, if you ask me.
14:35Come on, donkeys.
14:36Let's turn around.
14:37Come on.
14:38Okay, turn around.
14:39Come on.
14:40You see, like, the plough keeps, like, skipping.
14:41Yeah.
14:42It's a proof right now that we have hard soil.
14:43But you...
14:44This is all you've got, so you have to persevere, presumably.
14:45Exactly.
14:46Exactly.
14:47Okay.
14:48Should we try again?
14:49Set.
14:50Set.
14:51Set.
14:52Set.
14:53Set.
14:54And how have your crops been faring?
15:07Have you had crop failures?
15:08Yeah, we did.
15:10That was our first try.
15:12We did what we were supposed to do.
15:15We watered and all, but it was a nice little bit of a bit of an overnight.
15:20supposed to do we watered and all but it was a disaster how did you feel you must have been
15:25devastated oh yeah i mean it was a depression that was our dream that was our plan so it's not
15:31working so we thought everything everything else gonna gonna gonna fail i see ourselves like you
15:38know at the bottom so we can't it can't get any any worse than that so the only way is up so there
15:43is exactly there's only one way which is up i never thought of like in the one that was going
15:48to be doing this i've probably seen this on tv and i was like amazed how hard it is and how what
15:55people go through to like you know earn a living and here i am doing it and honestly it's uh it's
16:04live and learn
16:05it's a stark reminder of just how tough this environment is
16:16there's got to be a pressure on the staffer worrying about money lack of it you know what
16:22happens if they fall ill what happens if the roof collapses in the rainy season wherever you are you
16:29need some form of insurance if all things fall apart i'd love to know what their their kind of get out is
16:37one thing that is flourishing out here are the three young olive trees that came with the plot
16:50just be careful slowly okay trust me i've done this before okay okay we'll lower down here we go
16:58what we need more heat out here yeah
17:02i'm helping dina make a special brew she administers to her animals once a week
17:10after a virus threatened to wipe them out my chickens were dying two at a time so i was
17:18meditating and i remembered that i had read that olive leaf cures viruses and i was thinking this is a
17:26virus so i made the tea and i started giving it to everybody and instead of having a 100 death rate
17:35we had a 75 success rate we use it as preventative now oh this is nearly boiling yeah it's boiling here
17:42we go there we go presumably the loss of one chicken that affects your budget hugely yeah because you fed
17:50them but i mean for mustafa it's about we fed them spent money on them for me it's about i raised
17:57them you know and i love them and i don't i don't want to see them die like that have you got quite
18:02attached to the animals i do i get i am i'm very attached to the animals have you given them names
18:07yes have you all of them yes charity and fancy lulu may may buff garga it's the first rule of becoming
18:15a farmer you do not name your animals wait no my chickens lay eggs so we won't sell them okay we won't
18:21sell the chickens i get attached to them i feed them every day i talk to them i speak chicken you speak
18:26chicken yeah are they kind of would you almost describe them as company for you yeah yeah because
18:32there's nobody here but you know spending i've spent a little bit of time with you i can tell you
18:36you quite like i don't i'm not struggling to get conversation out of you well i was a hairdresser
18:41okay so i mean there was a lot of talking going on in my career so you know i have to talk i have to
18:50talk so whether it's to a dog or cats or chicken or rabbits i talk to them
18:54how do i call them you just you just sound chicken there's water chicken who wants some delicious
19:05tea look there it is come on oh look at that what do you think guys nice
19:12i think they like you i think they like my brew
19:16i've always prided myself that i made a very very good cup
19:21dina was born in lexington kentucky to a palestinian father an american mother
19:30aged 29 she set up a salon and spa with a business partner
19:36it became a huge success and afforded her a life of luxury
19:42when dina decided to leave the u.s she sold her share of the business for 56 000 pounds
19:52and after paying off debt this left her with 17 000
19:56i'm intrigued to find out what led her to cash her chips in early
20:02and pursue a polar opposite way of life
20:05i was living in a five-bedroom house in one of the best neighborhoods in lexington
20:12but there came a time when i was like well i'm a success in the world but i'm not happy
20:20and was that the moment when you thought you wanted to abandon the materialistic world
20:25i thought i have to soul search and i thought i have to find god
20:29i read every religion for four years and um and this is my interpretation of every religion
20:38put together if i were to sum it all up it's give everything up like sacrifice every luxury
20:46that's what said the house the business business sold
20:51and what did you do with the house i walked out of it it's a sin to envy what i spend most of my
20:58day doing is gathering money to buy things that other people would would be impressed with and would
21:04want so now i have nothing for anybody to envy nothing is it what you expected yeah yeah i have the
21:12satisfaction i've been looking for all my life with money it's completely opposite of what i thought
21:18life was but do you think you're in the honeymoon period of that do you think there'll be a point
21:22where suddenly actually the pressure of of sustaining this life may actually become
21:28i can't imagine any more pressure than what i was under running a business with 125 employees i cannot
21:35imagine any more pressure than that it was all about the clock and the time and schedules appointments
21:40meetings i don't do that i meet with my chickens and i meet with my rabbits and you know
21:48i have my husband that i love so much why did you not choose to lead a simple non-materialistic
21:55life in the united states we were looking at farms to buy and to do this lifestyle there
22:00but one day we were laying in bed and just throwing out ideas and all of a sudden i said we should move
22:10to morocco and i looked out the window and there was this beautiful double rainbow and i'm like that's
22:17a sign that's my sign from god and you know what we never questioned it two months later we were out
22:24we were gone
22:25it's almost like she's repenting for years of financial enjoyment you know she she feels guilty
22:38for the successes and the excesses that she's had and i've never really seen that before most people
22:45have just decided that they want a slightly simpler life and perhaps they want to experiment but she is
22:51driven by this spiritual urge it's kind of a fascinating thing it's almost like self-flagellation
22:58i'm staying with dina and mustafa in the moroccan wilderness
23:17a steep learning curve has meant their dream of self-sufficiency is on shaky ground
23:25but mustafa tells me he does have a lifeline
23:31why are we catching rabbits so we can check into soup and uh sell them get some money oh really oh so
23:38this is okay this is how you make your money yep dina are you kind of stepping back from this on
23:44purpose because these are your beloved bunny rabbits yeah i love these we're looking for males to sell
23:51the females and one male must stay put to do what rabbits do best
23:56okay okay i got one you got one there we go oops and uh you gotta be careful i mean this guy's
24:05scratching yeah do you want me to hold the front yes please
24:08see when you put the skin yeah there we go it's a boy i'd say that's a boy i think we have a boy here
24:15looks like a little willy to me this is a boy so we're he's coming he's coming yeah he's gone okay
24:21get the crate just bring it closer to to the gate here but mustafa has a special technique to double
24:27check our verdict oh no i think we're wrong i think he's a female there is a slot in there
24:35oh that's a girl is it from here it looks like a boy yeah okay but if you can come here to see that
24:41that slot yeah so there's an opening there so that's that's actually a vagina yeah so this one
24:47i hope this one is a boy it's gotta be
25:14here's a boy here's a boy i got a boy we got one you thinking of just taking this one male
25:23yeah if we take that boy we might get like six or uh seven dollars if that's enough for you to get
25:28the provisions you need yeah for like in a couple days get that yeah i got it do you want to close
25:33there the couple bought this car just two years ago but its time in the wild has clearly taken its
25:42toll pretty much the battery is drained so what i do usually i would plug it into my solar system
25:47but you you've noticed there is no sun no no so yeah so we're just like you know get by and you
25:52know make it happen we're gonna have a motorcycle come here pick me up with the rabbit and take me
25:55to souk did you have a car back in the states oh yeah i love cars really cars i had like fancy cars
26:01and i used to kind of car what you had a proper fancy car did you yeah my favorite cars were uh the
26:06benz the mercedes you had you had a mark back in the states yeah i had two mercedeses back in the
26:10states this is this is just a piece of metal with wheels yeah but i'm grateful to have it to be honest
26:17with you okay i am it's better than riding a donkey yeah yeah definitely oh look at this all right
26:24to the market bye dina bye man good luck
26:29mustafa grew up in casablanca the largest city in morocco and its commercial hub
26:41aged 25 he entered the u.s immigration lottery
26:46he hit the jackpot and lived stateside for 17 years working in the timeshare business and in
26:54healthcare he had all the trappings of the american dream
26:58a far cry from hitching a ride in a tuk-tuk to market
27:05was there an element when you first arrived here of locals thinking you were the wealthy american coming
27:11into uh yeah the countryside yeah i was like you know spending money left and right and i was like
27:16tipping people and stuff all that gone so it's uh now they notice that i'm not as rich as i used to
27:21be before i was sir mustafa now i'm just mustafa so i'm okay with that so i'm like you know it doesn't
27:27affect me but i mean actually i like it i like it this way i want to be like the lowest thing
27:33i want to be humble are you trying to shed elements of america whether it's the money the mentality
27:40being here i don't like to brag anymore i don't want i don't like to show off it's a fake life
27:46you're doing things for people you're not doing it for yourself you want to show up for people you
27:50want to dress up for people you know what i mean so here it's like it's like being real reborn
27:56if we can say that and i'm happy with this so is dina i mean this is the life i love it
28:03the souk obama's me's is held once a week and it draws people from the surrounding rural area
28:19this is pretty crazy the nearest supermarket is in marrakesh so this is where everyone buys
28:29their groceries and where mustafa hopes to make some cash oh look there's a rabbit rabbit ahead
28:36yep we are uh we're getting close oh yeah look we've got rabbits chickens
28:41oh is he asking to have a look at the rabbit what's he saying is he asking to have a look at
28:48there you go are you ready are you ready everyone want out when i get it
28:53what's he looking at the size he grabbed it and he gave me a price right away what did he offer
29:01he's like trying to hurt me here he gave me like you know two bucks for it we want more than that
29:06higher higher higher higher come on higher we want more here's more rabbits how much are these ones
29:10this one here is 40 dirhams ours is bigger they gave me 20 dirhams for it yeah so we want 45 at least
29:19yeah so you have to be a hustler you have to hustle with this here we have a serious buyer
29:28he wanted for home these guys they're going to turn around and make money off the rabbit
29:33did he literally just stuff that in your hand and take that he gave me 20 bucks so i have to give him
29:38the change back so how much have you done you've just done the deal have you yeah we're going to go
29:46for 40 dirhams 40 dirhams yeah that's about three pounds not much for a morning chasing rabbits
29:52putting it in the bag yeah it's pretty crazy you kind of blink and you miss it i didn't even know
29:59he did the deal then he's got a twinkle in his eye he loves this look at him he's like in his element now
30:05it seems that mustafa's on friendly terms with lots of the locals
30:14is it important that people recognize you know who you are trust you we're going through a rough time
30:20like hardship and all if i don't have any money on me i won't starve i can come here and get my
30:28groceries for free that's because of who i am being nice to them and i can eat and eat and eat
30:36and eat like i came here every week until you know until things get better or like i will i will do good
30:41financially and i can come back and pay these people here but just you know giving my word
30:45he's my friend i get bread from all the time oh dear i'll try a bit you're going to pay for this
30:58i'm going to try but he won't let me really he won't see so kind so generous i mean you can come
31:06here and eat whatever you want you go home like four is this part of your style then you just you charm
31:11people this is what it is isn't it you just you just go i'm a charmer by nature you know i'm a
31:16smooth talker now we have cash in our pocket we're off to buy the things we can't blag
31:23oh look stools i think i have enough money to get the cucumber and green peppers so how much money
31:29i have left and i can get the stool whose shopping list is this is this yours or dina's it's dina's
31:37it's dina's what do you want a kilo of the cucumbers a kilo try to pick a good one
31:42it's bargaining well you have to bargain and i still have enough money to buy the stool
31:52so we have converted one rabbit into a stool and a big bag of produce are you happy with that oh yeah
32:03oh yeah i don't think they think about budgets i think they live from one moment to the next the
32:10fact that we spent the morning finding this single rabbit coming all the way here blagging a lift
32:16from a neighbor and then coming to the market selling it and then buying a stool it doesn't really
32:21add up in many ways but then that's kind of the beauty of it it's borrowing hustling charming
32:28yeah everyone loves him and i love the fact that this is his insurance policy so if it all goes
32:35wrong out there if they can't get the bigger plots of land if they can't grow their crops
32:38they'll come here and do it's not begging it's charming
32:44if i have a donkey this is where i will report oh look at this and uh good luck finding your own
32:50the donkey park that is hilarious it's it's big i've never seen a donkey park
32:57oops you're gonna watch it i don't i don't trust those guys
33:10back at the ranch we're preparing for a special guest
33:13today the couple's first visitor from their old life is coming to stay what up brother how are you
33:24mustafa's best friend simo is a fellow expat moroccan and runs his own car dealership in the u.s
33:31what do you think what are your first thoughts oh wow this is quite a change yeah it's not america
33:38anymore did you imagine it was going to look like this no i would have imagined it was more um like a
33:49villa with the pool is this the green bean or the father oh you know what i'm not sure but there's only
33:59one way to find out it's bubble i want to hear simo's take on the couple's abandonment of the american
34:08dream for an immigrant
34:13being overseas for so long you start um somehow a bit by bit go trying to go back to your country
34:23it's the question is how and uh the way they did it it's either suicidal or passionate
34:31passion or suicide i love that so what is it now
34:33i'm gonna say uh first it was suicidal now with passion
34:39do you think all of their families understand why they've done this you go to western country uh
34:46coming from a third world and they expect you to live one day american dream to be with the blonde
34:51with the blue eyes and live in a nice big uh house and drive a mercedes by coming back to this
34:59it's a big shock for their family and friends uh to leave everything because they could have had
35:05way more comfortable life than this um i'm still surprised that they did it they made that choice
35:13i'm very proud of them it takes so much bravery to do it and they did it
35:19seeing mustafa with an old friend makes me wonder how much interaction dina has with the outside world
35:34so how often do you leave your little plot here um on average twice a year twice a year
35:40twice a year between these walls yeah yeah i have no desire to leave here you go for up to six
35:47months without leaving this this let's be honest it is quite small yeah and i'm okay with that
35:54really yeah do you not look i mean i'm looking at those mountains and i'm i want to go up there
35:59already right it's beautiful but do you not want to do that as well do you not look there and think i
36:04want to go and no i'm okay with staying with my animals do you don't miss company i mean i miss my
36:09family i miss my friends i do miss that but i've gotten used to this and um i like the quiet do you
36:16not feel you're missing out a little bit on on the cultures you know a lot of people will come to
36:20morocco specifically because of the richness of the souks of of the people here it's quite a vibrant
36:26place no i mean like i could go i could go every week to the souk with mustafa but um just having all
36:33that energy and in the commerce and just reminds me of the old life i was always on the go i
36:39was never at home so like this lifestyle is is is completely opposite of that
36:49it's almost like she's gone to live a monk or nun like existence
36:55it's a knee-jerk reaction against her previous life the pressures of a big business lots of employees
37:01very social lots of money she's almost taken a vow of purity and she doesn't want to dilute
37:11any of that experience how long you sustain that i don't know that's down to the individual she's a
37:16pretty resilient character she obviously did fantastically well in her previous life and i
37:21think that she will do very well in that drive to give everything away to leave everything behind
37:28and to live that monastic lifestyle out here
37:35my week with dina and mustafa in rural morocco is coming to a close
37:51chickens here you go guys it's the beginning of the rainy season and since their home is made of mud
37:59breaks it's in desperate need of weatherproofing do you get a lot of rain here when it rains it pours
38:08usually when it rains in there in the winter time the rain hits this way and uh this wall here
38:15get damaged like every year because it eats away at the earth definitely crumbles away definitely when
38:21it rains chunks of dirt like just mud falling and it's like that sound is scary to be honest with you
38:30we're sealing the walls with a mixture containing flour eggs lime and manure i'm gonna go ahead and
38:37shove my hands in lime i don't like to do that why do you don't want to put your hands in the lime oh
38:41lime is is bad it will uh it will eat your hands it's safer to use gloves but i don't have any so i usually
38:47use my hands and so far so good it looks good and it's filling all the cracks
39:00my last job is finishing the guest house
39:05ben it's inside out well we've got the bars on this side i wasn't sure the bars
39:11needs to come outside it's supposed to be inside or outside yeah
39:16mud water and plaster are all that's needed to secure the window in place
39:21and the application technique is just as basic as the ingredients
39:25that's straight in the face that one oh my bad sorry about that don't worry
39:37hey dina hi guys what do you think i love it do you like it it looks so good we've gone for the kind
39:44of rustic muddy look is that what you're after good luck it's a good look i've gone for that one
39:51myself i'm glad that yeah so i see dina if your mother came along now and saw this what would she
40:01think she would think we were crazy and they're wondering why we're not back his mother's wondering
40:07why we haven't left here yet so your mother is she's moroccan she is do you think in a way for her
40:13this is seen as a step back for for you you grew up in the city had this opportunity in america and
40:20now you've gone like it's almost like playing snakes and ladders you you've gone up the ladder
40:25and and you've kind of gone down the snake but you've chosen the way she sees it is she that's what
40:29she thinks i don't look at it that way and what about friends do they all do they also see this
40:34as a strange lifestyle choice there's a weirdness there's a weirdness like you know maybe or maybe
40:41this is a phase we're going through and you know we're going to snap out of it and go home you know
40:47just just any day we'll just get sick of it their family and friends might believe this is just a
40:54phase you can think of me every time uh you open this window i'll leave you a great apart from the
41:00week i've spent with them they don't appear to have any regrets so i'm curious to know how they look
41:08back on their old life this is a proper feast so whose recipe is this this is my recipe you must be
41:15a very different person to the dina that was in america with the big salon multi-million money was my
41:21main goal now i don't idolize money i'm a different person when i look back i realized like
41:29we work hard for something we don't even own you work hard for a car but it's owned by the bank
41:35so it's your house you spend most of your time at work working to pay for a mortgage time-wise how
41:43much time you spend at home you look back you were like wow that was a waste waste are you sold now i
41:50think they're trying to convert us are you going to sell up and uh get rid of the house and the
41:55business um it would be quite uh a while before i can make that move i mean seeing them it's they're
42:04giving me a clearer idea of um the steps that i have to follow we did not plan it i mean we just
42:12like you know we play it by ear and we went with the flow we are so i mean i mean is your dream
42:19to have no need for money whatsoever everything you can you need you consume you will grow yourself
42:27is that definitely definitely self-sustaining it's that's our definite goal like let's say oh the
42:34money just crashed could you guys eat i can eat i can eat my chickens i could eat my rabbits if i have to
42:40survive if you can survive without money you have attained freedom that's freedom
42:46drink some water to that cheers everyone cheers to dina and mustafa
42:55dina and mustafa are flying the flag for a simpler world there's a movement of people who are already
43:01giving up their possessions who are trying to declutter their lives and and they've gone for the
43:07ultimate declutter and they're living with the bare minimum it has been absolutely amazing you'll help
43:15thank you thank you my pleasure thank you thank you so much it's been absolutely incredible take
43:23care of yourselves guys thank you you do an amazing week thank you thank you for everything you've done
43:28bye bye bye bye bye they have shone a little spotlight on what we all know we all know that we're living
43:39in a system which promotes excess that we don't really need that they have withdrawn themselves from
43:48that so it's like the the treadmill is is going and they've leapt off too many of us to stay on
43:53holding on for dear life they have reminded me that actually if we shed all of that if we declutter it all
44:01and if we if we strip it back to its very basic level of what we need in life you can actually uh
44:08have arguably an even happier life
44:10it doesn't matter what time of year it is the surgery door is always open one man finds out you can
44:29get chicken pox for a second time new gps behind closed doors tomorrow at eight and it is the season
44:35to get justice for a tiny pub pug puppy that's the mission of rspca inspector anthony it's next in the
44:42dog rescuers at christmas on channel 5
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