Here I sit, on my leather cushion in a Riad in Marrakesh, Morocco. I must say, I'm in love with the place. We landed today in Marrakesh and immediately were enthralled by the tile mosaics and the smiles that we were greeted with, instead of the stone faces in Paris.
After we got through customs we grabbed our bags and headed out, looking for our driver who would be waiting with our names displayed on a piece of paper. We decided that was much easier than trying to find the riad on our own and it was really cheap!! Couldn't go wrong... when we saw him we were very grateful, he was even the cute one of the bunch. :)
Our fantastic driver greeted us with a smile and took our bags, he walked us to his car and loaded us up and off we went... From what I gather the traffic rules consist of "don't hit anyone or anything," that's it. On our way down the street it was FAST or STOP, no inbetween. We would pass at will, not obey traffic signs, merge when we needed... once we needed to go left at a round about, did we go right and 3/4 of the way around? Heck no!! We turned Left and carried on our way... He did a great job of getting us there safely, even pointing out a few things on our way. He showed us the ramparts (big red stone walls) that surround the original city, the kings groves of orange and olive trees, we saw a few stray donkeys eating out of the trash, lots of people on scooters (think Mexico style) and all sorts of other things that I've NEVER seen before. Soon he pulled up and stopped in a small opening and joked with us as he got our bags and we headed down small walkways between tall red earth buildings. We came to a wooden door and he knocked, an opening big enough to crouch and walk through opened within the door... we were "home."
Inside we found this place, it is absolutely GORGEOUS and very comfortable and welcoming. There are only four rooms here, very small and quaint. The entire staff is female and they are very welcoming and hospitable. They walked us into the main square and drew us maps on how to get back. We feel absolutely at home here and couldn't be any more comfortable. When we got here we were introduced to "Tootsie," the cat you see here in the courtyard in the center of our riad. Tootsie is friendly, until you try to pet her, then she attacks you with her massive paws...
Zannah took a nap while I went on a photo spree around the riad. It's absolutely beautiful and the light here is incredible. I don't think I have ever been this far south in the world, I think that combined with the earthy colors combine for a truly unique look.
After my photo spree I laid down to read a bit and I happened to be lying there while the 4:00pm "Call to Prayer" was done. It was honestly one of the most spiritual things I have ever witnessed. Although I was by myself in a small courtyard, I listened to the approximately four minutes of Arabic language as prayers were sung out. It was stunning.
After Zannah woke up we went into the main square and tried to take it all in. We definately are somewhere new and different. I don't even know how to start talking about the main square. I will try to get you a short video and pictures tomorrow, but honestly the thought of having a camera to my eye the entire time worries me. Today I used all four limbs and a keen sense of awareness to keep myself out of trouble and away from salesman... tomorrow Zannah said she will "block" for me if I wanted to start taking some pictures... Good thing Zannah and I both have a hockey background, I think we might need to use it tomorrow!!
When I mentioned that Paris is good for your self esteem I had no idea what to expect here in Morocco. I knew we would get attention because we are white, young women... but honestly, here in Morocco it's at a whole new level. The men here are quite obvious with their affections, apparently it isn't rude to stare (or they simply don't care) and we must stick out TERRIBLY. We got hissed at and commented at... combine that with aggressive salesman and we were practically accosted at least three dozen times in our two hour trip to the square this afternoon. Zannah and I discussed what we actually think would happen if we did go along with whatever they wanted us to do... We aren't quite sure, but we do know it would probably involve excessive "friendliness," if you can call it that.
There are two times that stand out from our experiances at the square today... Both involving boys, believe it or not.
We had walked through the square for a bit and decided to sit and people watch in a park that neighbors the square. The many park benches were filled with men and we were aware that we stuck out... but we enjoyed sitting and people watching. As we were sitting there a woman in full traditional dress was walking past us with a little boy in tow, he was probably about four years old. When they were about 20 feet in front of us she stopped abruptly and bent down to say something to him gruffly, obviously he was in trouble. Zannah and I noticed and watched him a bit. She straighened back up and marched past us with him in tow, again. We assume he got in trouble for staring at us or saying something, probably about us being different; because as he passed he tried not to look at us. I turned my head and watched them walk past us and he looked back at me, as he did he stuck his tongue out at me!! I laughed and looked back at him again, he did it again! This time I couldn't help it, I smiled and stuck my tongue back out at him. There was a brief exchange of sticking out our tongues and then as he got to the street with his mother he skipped a bit and threw up a hand to wave goodbye to me. I laughed, Zannah laughed and we decided that Moroccan children are adorable.
When they grow up they must keep some of that charm, but it gets quite a bit more aggressive it seems.
We were passing by the many food stalls in the market and were constantly accosted by salesman trying to get us to look at their menu and eat at their stalls (these guys work in herds, a couple tend the stall and a couple go out to recruit). One young man, in his early 20s, approached us and tried to get us to look at his menu. As we tried to ignore him and say "no" he kept jumping in front of us. He tried talking to us in english, as many do, but then he tried to persuade me by saying "You look like a starvin' marvin'!!" Yeah right kid, I'm overweight!! I started to smile... I couldn't help it. He continued on, "You are my Sista from another Mista!" I started to laugh, it didn't help that I could hear Zannah laughing behind me. He then finished, as we were finally escaping, with, "Remember, One One Seven (the number of his stall)!! Your ticket to heaven!!" As we quickly walked away I heard, "Hunny Bunny!!" We barely got away from him, laughing histerically. I had to stop and compose myself... Although, I have decided we will eat there tomorrow. A salesman that good deserves to get the sale.
After our time in the market we headed back to our Riad. We had dinner planned there and they were expecting us. We have heard that the cook here was the best they have had throughout the city, we were hungry and VERY excited.
I personally have never eaten Moroccan food and didn't know what to expect. But through these doors I was given one of the BEST dinners I have EVER eaten. We started off with three different dishes, one was a luke warm diced potato with cilantro and onion, one was chilled soft carrots with cinnamon and another was what I can only describe as Pico de Galo with cucumber and served in lettuce leaves. Tons of vegetables and SOOOO yummy. The main dish was served in a tagine and was amazingly tender chicken with figs, mint and onion, it was served with pasta and was INCREDIBLE. For desert we had a small coconut bread and I WAS CONTENT. Truly amazing food.
Tonight I'm going to bed in my riad, truly LOVING IT HERE. I am excited to be woken up by the call to prayer. I'm eager to go defend myself in the market again tomorrow. I am determined to take a ton more pictures and I'm going to soak up every bit of this experiance I can. This is easily the most exotic place I have been and it again teaches me that this world is a truly incredible place, with many fantastic people.
More adventures await.... Love you all!!
P.S. Tuffy!!! I wish I could show you all the cats here! You saw a picture of Tootsie, but there are seriously cats everywhere! When we got off the plane there was a cat laying in the middle of the floor at the airport by where we got our bags! A big empty airport... with a cat laying in the middle! Here at the riad (which is my hotel) there is not only Tootsie, but many other cats that try to come visit. They walk on the roofs and walls that connect their homes to our hotel and they peek their heads in to see what is going on. Tootsie dosen't like it much and chases them off; she is truly Queen of the House! When I'm out walking around on the streets there are quite a few cats, they seem to enjoy it here. I will try to get some pictures for you... Love you! Say Hi to Chiefy for me, all the cats here look a lot like him, they are the same orange and white color.
