Fezzz

Walking home from the tea shop from where I posted my last blog, I felt a stronger pull from Tangier than I had so far. It was around 11:45 PM, and the streets were full of people sitting at tables outside rows of tea and coffee shops, sitting around parks and squares, or just strolling along the markets, still open. I was reminded of the Italian "passeggiata," when everyone walks along the main course of the city just to enjoy the evening. The Moroccan version was unexpected, but August is the month of Ramadan, and so I suppose life (and tea and dinner) really begin in earnest after sundown. The streets were brightly lit, crowded but tranquil, and the evening was finally a bit cooler.

However, the train to Fez was stifling. I felt disgusting. I was fanning myself with a map of Tangier and a man walking down the aisle stopped beside me and said, "it's hot!" I said, "yeah, it is." He asked where I was from, and I told him Canada, and he said, "welcome!" before he continued down the carriage. When people are that nice I kind of feel guilty about the Canada thing...

But then this morning on the way to the train station some guy stopped me in the street to ask where I was going--he did the same yesterday, we recognized each other--and then asked, trying to look into my bag, for a souvenir, despite the fact that he did NOT guide me anywhere or help me in any way. I know where I'm going. Leave me alone. And so the point is, I never know if people who start innocent conversations are hawking me or welcoming me to their country. What's a blonde white foreigner to do? I just can't blend in.

Fez was more of the same, but in a less ominous/threatening kind of way. It's a lot bigger--the medina (that is, the old traditional city) is the biggest in Morocco, and maybe north Africa, and it may be an illusion, but it SEEMED like there were less tourists in the medina. The medina is somewhat labyrinthine, good maps of its thousands of streets and alleys just don't exist, and therefore being a foreigner attracts a LOT of attention from locals who want to give you unofficial tours and expect to be tipped. They're persistent in varying degrees; some polite and friendly, some REALLY not wanting to take no for an answer. If I had a dirham for every person who shouted the word "tannery?!" at us, trying to guide us to the tanning district... I'd have like 50 dirhams, which is actually only like 5 euro. But I could buy 25 liters of water to fend off my dehydration. My favorite hawkers, depending on a liberal definition of favorite, are the ones who want to lure you into their restaurants. If you're not interested in eating, they don't mind--just take a look at their menu anyway. Why? I don't know, and I don't want to. But looking past hawkers, there were a lot of cool markets and things to see (and the tannery WAS very cool, when an actual guide took us there). All-in-all, much cooler than the medina in Tangier. I understand why everyone says you shouldn't miss Fez.

We stayed three nights in a hotel in the new medina (a different district--I can't really explain it well), but hotels in the medina are not what you're thinking of. It's more just a rented room in a building where a lot of Moroccans actually live. The guy we rented from, Mohammed, was awesome. He invited us to eat with him and his family/friends (unclear, really, as most of them didn't speak English) our first night, which was a surprise. And then the second night, too, which was a surprise. And the third night we went out because we didn't want him to feel obligated to invite us again, but when we came back he insisted we come eat again, and he had looked for us to invite us before, but we had been out. So we ate. Moroccans want you to eat. They really do, and they don't accept no. Even the ones who don't speak English keep putting food in front of you--they just do it without asking if you want more. I don't know how to spell it, but I know how to say "eat!" in Arabic. All of our food there was in-freaking-credible. And they had real toilets.

Today, our train to Marrakech is going to take 7 hours. Morocco is SO much bigger than it looks on a map. Africa is a deceptive freaking continent. God, I hope it's cooler than our train to Fez.