We are finally in Morocco! We had to wake up very early, and eat breakfast, and by 0730, Achal and I were on the bus. We didn’t really know anyone else on the trip except my roommate. We were supposed to leave at 8, but we had to wait for some late people. Ironically, one of them was Pamela, the lifelong learner I had met a few days before. We finally left, leaving one student behind who didn’t show up. That really sucks for that student, but we gave him or her more than enough time to show up.
Our tour guide was named Lotvi, and he was really cool. He was the only tour guide who was wearing a jaballah, a traditional floor-length robe, and he cracked some interesting jokes. We drove out of Casablanca and the drive to Marrakech was beautiful. There were huge green fields, and we saw several very small villages along the way. We stopped for a bathroom break about 2 hours in, and Achal and I met one of our goals: to pass as a local in as many countries as possible. One guy came up to us, and I greeted him in Arabic, and he thought we were locals, and greeted us back and then continued to speak in fluent, full-speed Arabic. We had to tell him twice that we were just tourists, and he looked very confused. I guess growing out my beard really helped. It was an interesting experience, and we climbed back onto the bus and continued to Marrakech.
Finally, we arrived. The city was amazing. We drove through several different parts of the city, including the new, developing section, and the Medina, or the old city, which was surrounded by the original city walls. We stopped and then did some sightseeing, and then walked to a restaurant for lunch. I was STARVING to death by now, so I couldn’t wait. We saw the restaurant, and it looked very normal from the outside. But then we walked in, and were shocked at how nice it was. There was very pretty Moorish architecture throughout, and the main restaurant had a very elaborate setup with small sofas to sit at. Again, Achal and I were afraid that there weren’t going to be vegetarian options. The first course was all vegetables, cole slaw, and a very spicy chili paste. I was so happy cuz I hadn’t had any spicy food in a long time. The first course was pretty good all in all. Then, they served some rice and the main meal, which was definitely not vegetarian. We asked the waiter if they had any vegetarian options, and curiously, most of the people at our table asked for the same. We were shocked, because all but 2 people at our table were vegetarian. In fact, almost 1/3 of the students on the ship are vegetarian. The waiter said, as they say a lot in Morocco, “No problem, I go get something nice for you.”He brought back a huge course of steamed vegetable and couscous. It was DELICIOUS, and we had a phenomenal dining experience. Definitely up there on my top dining experiences of all time.
Full, and very happy, we left the restaurant and took a tour of the palace. It was kinda boring, as we had already seen some beautiful Moorish architecture in Spain, and it was more or less similar. Afterwards, we made our way to the Medina, and the highlight of Marrakech, the Djma el Fna grand marketplace. At the entrance stood the Qut’mina Mosque, the tallest structure in Marrakech. In fact, there is a law in Marrakech that forbids any building from being taller than the Mosque. The entrance to the marketplace was huge, and then we saw the marketplace itself. It was larger than I had expected, stretching out in all directions before us. It was fairly empty, and Lotvi said it was not rush hour, when it would be packed like crazy. We found a bank, and I converted $40 and 20 euros to Moroccan Dirhams. Then, we roamed the marketplace for a bit before Lotvi gathered us and said we were going to walk through the souks (small stalls/shops). We entered the souks, and it was truly a labyrinth of small alleys lined with small stalls, selling everything from pirated DVDs to jewelery. It was pretty amazing, but now I saw how easy it would be to get lost. After making several turns, we went into a small bazaar, but the items were very overpriced. Achal and I had our first Moroccan bargaining experience…and it was FUN! Yea, we didn’t end up buying the item, but bargaining was fun.
By now, by the way, we had been stopped several times on the street because we stood out from the group, which was primarily composed of Caucasian SAS students. Some guys called out to us and asked, “India?”as we walked by. We nodded in agreement, and they all said, “Very nice!”Some even started singing Bollywood songs. I guess we really stood out from the crowd. It was really funny. This happened about 4 times while we were navigating the mazes of the souks. One girl ahead of us tried to take a picture of one of the souks, but the guy said, “No pictures.”Then, as we walked by, he looked at Achal and said, “That girl…not pretty…not beautiful”and laughed. Achal and I cracked up and could not stop laughing. Then, we realized that 2 students were missing, and we decided to return to the main marketplace to look for them. Yep, we did find them and they explained that they took a wrong turn, and got completely lost. The only way to find the marketplace again, and get any sense of direction is to find the mosque’s tall minaret. So, we came back to the marketplace, and then we had 15 minutes of free time. Achal and I took off and went looking through some of the nearby shops. We ended up buying 2 Morocco T-shirts after bargaining like crazy with the dude. It’s pretty crazy what kind of stories the shopkeepers come up with to rip you off, but I have been to India before, and they couldn’t fool me ;)
After 15 minutes, we met the group again, and reluctantly everyone left the marketplace to go to the hotel. It took us about 15 minutes to get to the hotel, and it was very nice. I was rooming with Achal, so we went upstairs, dropped off our stuff, and came back down to go roam around the city. It was about 1800, and dinner didn’t start until about 1930. As we were walking out, we ran into a group of 3 kids (Brian, Lindsay, and Emily), and they decided to follow us. So, for the next hour or so, we just walked around the city. It was very interesting, and we had some crazy experiences. First, we saw a pretty bad accident. A pedestrian was crossing the road and got nailed by a motorcycle. He went flying, and hit his head hard on the asphalt. On the motorcycle, a guy was driving, and a girl was with him. She got up, looked around, and fled the scene, holding her head. A huge group of people gathered around the pedestrian, and he finally started moving again. We were terrified, and hoped he would be all right. We left, and about 2 minutes later, heard an ambulance go by. That was a damn good response time. Next, we ventured into a small market, and were just walking through, when one of the shopkeepers came up to us, and started chatting with us. The conversation went on for quite a while and he told us stories about his life, and his sister, and how he respected women, and lots of other stuff. In the end, he invited us to come to his house and have some mint tea. We were tempted to cuz it sounded like fun, but resisted the urge cuz it seemed too sketchy. We said Shukran (thanks in Arabic), and walked away. I think he was looking for a chance to practice his English, actually.
We kinda got lost then, and started wandering in circles. We walked by the Moroccan McDonald’s three times, and Lindsay asked for directions in French a few times. We finally got back to the hotel, and ate dinner. It was really good, not as good as lunch, but still really good. We were done by about 2100, and decided to go back to the Djma el Fna, cuz it was supposed to be AMAZING at night. We packed into a 4 person taxi, and got to the Djma, and boy was it packed. From a distance, we could see a huge throng of people…I was sooo excited. As we got closer, we started to hear all the sounds. From street performers, to small bands, to snake charmers, to loud Arabic music, the Djma was very much alive and awake. It was completely transformed from the semi-empty marketplace we had seen earlier in the day. Next was our marketplace experience, which I will say was some of the best hours of my life. I have never had so much fun in one place, and never have I interacted so much with the locals.
So, let me describe the Djma el Fna, which is actually impossible to do. Apart from reading this blog, you readers must check out my pictures on my site (they will be up ASAP), and some videos I will eventually upload to You Tube. Only then can you get an idea of how insane it was. Basically it was a huge marketplace filled with shopkeepers who were trying to sell their stuff to mainly tourists. The shopkeepers thus knew several languages. Once again, at several souks, they asked Achal and I if we were Indian, and when we said yes, they proceeded to name off Bollywood actors, and sing Bollywood songs. It was great. I bought several things, and bargained like crazy for all of them. For example, I bought a knock-off Ronaldo jersey for 100 dirham, when the shopkeeper started with 300 dirham per jersey. I can’t even describe all the encounters we had, because there were so many. At almost every shop we wandered into, we had a different experience. Near the end, Brian wanted some fresh orange juice, so we stopped at a small stall. The owner gave us some juice, then started screaming, “America! Obama! Very nice!”and gave us a big thumbs up. We all took several pictures with him. By now, it was about 2200, and we were thinking of leaving but didn’t want to. We walked towards the center of the square, where all the restaurant stalls were. As we walked by each stall, one person would run up to us and try to convince us that his stall was the best. The one that left the best impression was a guy that ran up to us shouting “you from India? Shah Rukh Khan and Amitabh Bachchan”Then he started singing and dancing. We laughed and kept walking.
After a while, we reached a stall that was selling DVDs (they were of course legitimate and not pirated ;) ) and I bought Transporter 3, which I don’t think is out on DVD yet in the US. But hey, in Marrakech, anything is possible. Then, we were craving some more mint tea (the best thing EVER), so we went back to, you guessed it, stall 65. The guy saw us, and everyone at the stall started clapping. It was interesting to say the least. We all ordered some tea, and joked around with the shopkeepers. They loved Obama and Bollywood movies. We had a great conversation. One of the guys slapped my hand and said, “Hey! My brother from another mother…welcome to Morocco! Go India!”Then, Lindsay wanted a picture of all of us, so, very reluctantly, handed her camera to the main stallkeeper (I guess that’s what he is called…lol). He looked at it, took a few steps back, and then TOOK OFF running. Lindsay freaked out, threw her bag of purchases, and got up to run, screaming. He stopped, turned around, pointed at her, and just started laughing. He was joking the whole time. By now, we were all cracking up too, except poor Lindsay, who was laughing and crying at the same time. In a minute or so, everyone in the area of stall 65 was pointing and laughing too. I could not stop laughing…my stomach was hurting. We finally calmed down, but the stall keeper kept making fun of her for the next 10 minutes. We finally paid, took some pictures, and left. We walked towards the taxis. Then, we saw an interesting game. There was a fishing rod and a bunch of soda bottles. If you hooked the end of the fishing rod on a bottle, you got the bottle. Brian went fishing for soda, but failed miserably for about 15 minutes. By then, we were all very tired, and it was 2300, so we decided to head back to the hotel. We jumped into a taxi after negotiating a reasonable fare (10 dirhams/person) and got back to the hotel, called Hotel Imperial Holiday. And thus ended one of the most amazing days of my life. I love Morocco so far!
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