Morocco

Morocco was my second trip to Africa.  We were in Tangier, which literally is just across from Spain; I could see Spain out my hotel window.  Because of its close proximity to Europe it had a different feel to it.  It didn’t feel like Egypt, which I would say had an African or even Muslim feeling to it.  However, it didn’t feel like Europe either.  It can best be described as a general mix of the two continents with noticeably less Muslim influence in the day-to-day life. 

Language and the number of them spoken fluently by everyone was a big surprise.  Our cab driver from the airport to our hotel was fluent in Arabic, Spanish, and French.  His English, while broken, was better than my Spanish or Arabic.  Perhaps this isn't saying much since I only know a couple phrases in each language but that is besides the point.  Keep in mind this guy was a taxi driver.  Most everyone in the costal cities of Morocco is fluent in Arabic and at least one other language.  French is popular because they were a French colony for a couple hundred years.  Spanish is popular because it is so near by.  While many people know English it is often a third or fourth language for people so they are not as proficient in it as you might think.   This is especially true of the older generations.  Arabic and French are required in public schooling.  English and Spanish at private schools.

I tend to like cities where I can haggle and buy knock off goods cheaply.  Tangier did not disappoint except to say that prices were higher than Shanghai.  Prada sunglasses and a Tag watch were purchased for $20.  Morocco is known for its leather goods.  Both from a quality and price stand point it is one of the best places I have found so far.  Happy to say I finally found a leather weekend bag at a price I was willing to pay.  For any of you who may be headed there keep in mind that while you do negotiate for non-knock off items like this, you are going to pay more for quality items relative to the other crap that is sold.  Meaning the bag I got for a $100 would probably cost $500-$600 if I bought it in the states. 

The Medina, or old city was very neat and exactly what I was expecting in terms of buildings and narrow, winding streets.   The pointy shoes and robes with hoods were interesting too.  See the Flickr feed. 

Couscous, chicken tagine, and lamb kebabs were the most common food.  In general the food was good but I’m not likely to crave it too often.  Not sure if it was my hotel or the fact we were drinking in a Muslim country but a Jack and Coke was around $10!  Pretty outrageous if you ask me.  In case you are curious, cheers in Arabic is Saha.  There were belly dancers at dinner most nights too providing plenty of humorous situations in an otherwise tense two weeks.

The last part I’ll mention is about the political unrest that has gripped most of the North African and Middle Eastern countries in the past 12 weeks.  The Sunday of our arrival was a planned day of demonstrations across North Africa. We knew about this before flying in and were prepared for.  We arrived to an email from the General Manager of our business there alerting us to some activities near our hotel and cautioned us to stay in for the night.  Since we arrived at 1am this was not a problem.  The streets were dark and deserted.  All we wanted after a day of travel was to sleep.  The next morning on our way to the office we saw the extent of the activities from the night before.  Numerous broken windows, burnt out cars, looted shops, and one building still smoking from the night before.  What happened was not a violent demonstration against the Moroccan government but a demonstration turned violent by a group of young men who were upset about the outcome of a football team.  After the loss they stormed the street and groupthink took over. Nothing even close to this happened again over the next two weeks we were there. Perhaps nothing further happened because the government increased both police and military presence on the streets.  Needless to say it was an interested for day or two but we never felt unsafe while there.