As we near the end of our time here in Morocco, we have seen most of what we are going to see. We still have a few days left in Rabat. Elena flies from Casablanca on the 19th back to Europe and I fly on the 22nd to Senegal.
First, it should be noted that Morocco is not a travel destination for those looking for a value vacation. It is hard to find good prices. A lot of the food is about 2/3 of what you'd pay in France which is already more expensive than the United States. Alcoholic beverages are even more than anywhere because of the rarity and taboo. While the prices are high, the service and quality tends not to match the prices. Basically you get slightly better than third world quality for slightly less than first world pricing.
I'm impressed with the number of people who speak English. You still need enough French to get by, but sometimes it's nice that your interlocutor speaks English. French is written everywhere. I learned to rely on reading French. In fact, when a restaurant kindly gives me an English menu, I don't really know what everything is, whereas if they had given me the French menu, I would have known. It's like a Chinese menu. I can read Mabo Tofu, but the English translation is usually something along the lines of Soft Bean Curd In Spicy Minced Pork Sauce. So I just look those 4 yummy Chinese Characters that all Mabo Tofu lovers know.
When somebody starts to talk to you, it is almost certain that they want something. Nobody is friendly to tourists here just for reasons of friendliness. Actually, there are some people who are happy to show you the way to something, maybe from boredom, maybe from a desire to give a good impression. But they are few and far between. And the number of people who want something make it so even such people aren't given the benefit of the doubt. The guy who showed us the way from the Petit Socco to the Continental Hotel in Tangier didn't seem to expect anything but was happy with the €1 coin I placed into his hand. A man in Essaouira showed Elena and I to a few places and didn't seem to expect anything in return. A guy in Fes wanted to show us the way to the tourist information center when we were looking for it but we ignored him fearing he might want something. Sometimes people are eager to lead us somewhere and Elena and I simultaneously say, "No, we're OK". It's sad that all the faux guides and wannabe middlemen make it hard for those who just want to be friendly and helpful. It's so hard because in the United States, nobody ever expects something. If you ask someone for help, they are usually happy to tell you how to get somewhere, but we Americans keep our distance until asked--which is how I like it. We don't try to anticipate that someone wants to go somewhere. Occasionally, in Seattle or Vancouver a passerby will see tourists looking at a map obviously lost and if they offer help, there is absolutely no expectation whatsoever of something in return other than gratitude.
The poverty level is hard to gauge. It's interesting because it looks like there is poverty, and there is certainly a wide gap between rich and poor, but the middle class certainly exists. Most people seem to have enough money to enjoy cafes--at least in the cities--and some can even afford to eat at pretty nice places. I imagine a beggar can do pretty well here. There is no safety net really--if you're old and have no other means of support, you need to beg. I give the old people 1 dh coins. It's worth about 15 cents, but a 1 dh coin can buy a round of bread. A day's worth of vegetables costs only 4, 5, or 6 dh. I'd say you need a little more than a dollar per day to survive, but you can get by with daily needs for probably 20 dh per day which is about US$3--provided you own your home and get water from common wells. I don't mean to imply that it's a pleasant life, but it's doable for those at the extreme end of the scale. In fact, they are better off than all the kids on Broadway who beg for money in Seattle. The funny thing about poverty is that you tend to see it when you see the dirty streets, run down buildings, old store signs, and ancient cars. But those trappings don't really speak to the poverty level. The middle class even has to deal with funny smells everywhere. It's not until you are rich that you get to start making it so that even bad smells are eliminated from the environment. The United States has very few streets that stink and few streets that are filthy. But that is because we are a very rich country. We dot our i's and cross our t's with the infrastructure in a way that poor countries can't.
Traffic! Oh my God! It's chaos. The worst is Casablanca where the taxis run fast and leave very small margin for error. Hence, the number of people in Casablanca who are crippled, I suspect. Casablanca has the most crippled people I've seen in Morocco. Our ride to the bus station to leave Casablanca was the most frightening car ride I've ever been in my life. We had many close-calls where we missed stuff by inches. Motorcycles are everywhere--in Marrakech, many driven by women--and they basically ignore all laws, signals, and lines in the road. They obey only the laws of physics--much to their chagrin. In Marrakech we saw multiple accidents and unexpected contacts. It's a madhouse on the road. And people wonder why I didn't get an international driver's license. Ha!
Girls. Some are very pretty, but I guess I don't really get the Moroccan look. They sort of strive toward the ideal that many feminists in America seem to strive for--being regarded as a sex object. Except, they do it by making sure they don't appear to be sexy whereas American women seem to want to be sexy--just not treated as they are sexy through force of shaming men who show signs of enjoying their shape too much. It's kind of sad and fortunately the younger generation seems to be dressing a little sexier. The body is after all, nature's billboard to advertise one's sexiness. I guess Islam seeks to control our natural urges. European and American cultures tend to embrace our natural urges. I'm all for natural urges, myself. The choices seem to be 1) embracing the urges, 2) hypocrisy, and 3) moralistic self-flagellation. If you can't do the third one, it's better to do the first one rather than the second one.
Art & architecture: as expected in Islam, no images. Just geometric shapes and patterns and calligraphy. It is forbidden to create an image of Mohammed. The Second Commandment is actually followed. Only Christians gave up on the Second Commandment. Certainly a good start. I gave up on the first few commandments. I don't care if the Judeo-Christian god is a jealous god--I'll chant to Ganesha in my yoga class if the instructor asks us to. In fact, I kind of like the repetitive "Ganesha pradanam--Pradanam Ganesha" chant. And there ain't no way I'm going to keep the Sabbath holy. Rabat has what I guess is still colonial architecture inspired by the French government. It is quite pleasant--white buildings with arches and balconies and windows and arcades. The medinas are walled cities within the city. They have the Moorish door shape on all their gates or babs. The interior is filled with narrow streets and tightly packed stores and shops that spill out into the road.
The telephone situation is interesting. Cell phones everywhere and teleboutiques everywhere. Internet in a lot of places. I am almost used to the French/Arabic keyboard. The 80/20 rule applies. That's the rule that says 80% of the problems are caused by 20% of the potential problem makers. For me 80% of my typing is trying to type the 'm', 'a', '.', and '@'.
