We were told last night to be at the airport by noon for our flight to Morocco but I was so paranoid that Andréa got me there around 11h00. I told him that he could just drop me off but he walked me in anyway. I appreciate it even though I told him it wasn't necessary. I know it's 2013...and I'm trying to roll with the times, but I still believe in chivalry :-) Andréa and I said our goodbyes again. It was less emotional this time, for me anyway, because I knew I wouldn't be gone as long.
Security was pretty easy to get through today--maybe 5 minutes tops. There was no one in line. Probably because none of the flights were leaving MR2 for a few more hours. As soon as I got to the lounge I saw that the flight to Marrakech was already delayed...Again due to the weather in France. Apparently it was dangerously windy. I waited for the girls in the dining area. I grabbed a table with four chairs expecting the girls to get there at any moment. Sarah, Kami, and Molly didn't end up getting there until 12h45...And within that time I had become extremely aggravated. Not with the girls, No. For all of the people who continuously asked to take the chairs from me, and for the bitch, yes bitch, that threw my bag on the floor and took a chair without asking. All she said to me was "I know you're saving this chair but I need to charge my phone. And I'm going to sit. Thank you." I was so perplexed that she was so rude, I didn't even say anything, I just glared at her and so did everyone else around me. The man at the next table happened to speak english and he said to her "That was really unnecessary and you could honestly do with some standing." HA HAHA!!! This englishman immediately gained a place in my heart.
As soon as my girls arrived, more than half of the people in the waiting room were getting up to leave for the first flight of the day. The four of us got some lunch and after our nearly 2 hour delay we were able to start boarding our plane! When I got to the passport control window I said "Bonjour!" as I normally do. The control officer just drops everything that I just handed to him and said "Dites 'bonjour' encore?" I was scared out of my mind that he wasn't going to let me pass for some reason--especially since I don't have my OFII sticker yet...So I carefully said "Bonjour?" And he just starts grinning from ear to ear. I was so confused because I didn't know what was going on but then he said "J'adore l'accent!" I was so relieved at this point. I let out a great big sigh and said "Je deteste mon accent..." He didn't even look at my paperwork really, he just opened my passport up, stamped it and said "Bon voyage!" It really baffles me how much the french like the American accent whilst speaking french. I think it sounds stupid. But I feel that way no matter what language I'm speaking. Half the reason why I've forgotten a lot of Vietnamese, Lao, and Thai phrases is because I was embarrassed to practice due to my horrible American accent. Looking back though, it's even more embarrassing now...Knowing that I was fluent in 5 languages, and now, as an adult, I really only know 2. Well, I guess I'll have to live in my parents' countries for awhile then ;-) How's that for motivation? Lol.
I slept through most of the flight to Marrakech. The previous aggravation at the airport had exhausted me. There are no set seating arrangements on RyanAir flights so the four of us were split up. It was so strange looking over the African landscape for the first time. It was so bare but so beautiful at the same time...When we finally found our bus and reached the city center it was such a culture shock! I had been to plenty of third world countries before but none of them were Arab. I didn't know what to expect so I was a bit overwhelmed. Kami seemed alright but Sarah and Molly seemed pretty stressed.
As soon as we got off the bus night had just fallen and we were on a mission to find our hostel, Mama Marrakech, which was supposed to be short walk from the main square. We were given extremely detailed directions but still got lost. If you can believe it, the directions were too detailed. We were looking for specific landmarks instead of general signs so we ended up going in circles. During this time, we were hounded by everyone. People in Morocco are always trying to sell you something, even their services. And we obviously looked like tourists with our backpacks. One specific guy was following us around and wouldn't take no for an answer. He wanted to take us to our hostel and for a price of course. He tried to grab the directions out of Kami's hand and she firmly said no, put up her hand, and turned around. We all walked away, and some time later we found a passageway that seemed like the one described on paper. At the top of the stairs we met a guy that asked us if we were looking for Mama Marrakech. The girls hesitated but I was so tired of walking that I said "Yes!" I was also worried about Sarah who is diabetic. The rapid walking and lack of sugar drained her so if he was a haggler, I wasn't worried about having to pay him--I just wanted to get her to the hostel.
The guy introduced himself as he led us back "I'm Karim. I work at Mama Marrakech." We walked down a strange corridor into an unmarked building. When we entered we were in Moroccan wonder. The decor was just what I had imagined. So intricate, so beautiful. It was obviously a hostel from all of the posts on the announcement board and the melting pot of people lounging around. The four of us sat down and Karim brought us a pot of mint tea. This is the most delicious tea I've ever had! There's something about the flavor that makes it unforgettable. There was a sign on the board that said "Free Mint Tea" which made us all shudder with glee.
Since we arrived a day late, Karim notified us that he had given two of our beds away. It wasn't a big deal to me. I was just happy to have a place to sleep for the night. The four of us dropped our things into the lockers and headed back out toward the square to get dinner. Eating in the square is absolutely mad!!! There are 100 food trucks with tents and tables lined up next to each other, pretty much serving the same thing. As you walk through you're plagued by employees of each establishment trying to get you to eat there. We stopped at one particular food truck that had a bunch of tourists. I don't know if this was done on purpose or not, I just followed. Our waiter was hilarious. He offered to give the girls half of Morocco for me. I don't know what it is with Moroccans and orientals but it's funny. The food turned out to be fantastic here though! We tried the Tagine for the first time--a Moroccan staple.
The four of us had agreed to take turns buying meals so I picked up the tab tonight. It was 150 diram for the whole meal--> 15 euro for the four of us to dine plentifully!!! I could get used to this...When it came time to leave a 'tip' I had thrown down 2 diram. The waiter came by and said "Could you please give a little more? This is nothing." The four of us just chuckled and said "But we didn't know!" so Sarah asked him what was typical for a meal. He said "Maybe one euro" so I looked in my wallet, but all I found was a 2 euro piece. I thought he deserved it though so I gave it to him. We bartenders and servers in Harrisonburg do this thing...We all visit each others' bars and restaurants and tip excessively. At home, I normally give my servers at least a 30% tip. If they're my friends, I normally tip 50-100%. It's just what we do. And they all visit me at my bar and do the same too. I know I'm never going to see this guy again, but he sure made us feel welcome. He got so excited about his tip that he pulled me up for a picture.
The girls and I walked around the market a bit after dinner but headed back to the hostel when we got tired of people trying to get us to buy stuff. We weren't at the hostel long before we headed out with some new friends to see the nightly street shows. It was a bit perplexing to me that you couldn't enjoy a show without someone demanding money from you. In America, and France even, it's up to you whether or not you want to give a tip. Here, it's basically mandatory or you will get bitched out. Everything here is worth something--even something as simple as a guy playing the drums. He's not playing for pleasure any longer. It might have started that way, but now he's playing for money.
The 8 of us headed back to the hostel for the night. The shows weren't that great and we were all tired of saying 'no' to all of the hagglers and beggars. Kami and I went to bed around 23h00 but weren't able to fall asleep because everyone else was still up. Sarah came in around midnight and said that there were 3 people leaving for an excursion in the morning. She asked for our opinions. Kami didn't answer. Molly said she wanted to wait. But I said "Let's do it!" And that's where the real adventure begins ;-)
Security was pretty easy to get through today--maybe 5 minutes tops. There was no one in line. Probably because none of the flights were leaving MR2 for a few more hours. As soon as I got to the lounge I saw that the flight to Marrakech was already delayed...Again due to the weather in France. Apparently it was dangerously windy. I waited for the girls in the dining area. I grabbed a table with four chairs expecting the girls to get there at any moment. Sarah, Kami, and Molly didn't end up getting there until 12h45...And within that time I had become extremely aggravated. Not with the girls, No. For all of the people who continuously asked to take the chairs from me, and for the bitch, yes bitch, that threw my bag on the floor and took a chair without asking. All she said to me was "I know you're saving this chair but I need to charge my phone. And I'm going to sit. Thank you." I was so perplexed that she was so rude, I didn't even say anything, I just glared at her and so did everyone else around me. The man at the next table happened to speak english and he said to her "That was really unnecessary and you could honestly do with some standing." HA HAHA!!! This englishman immediately gained a place in my heart.
As soon as my girls arrived, more than half of the people in the waiting room were getting up to leave for the first flight of the day. The four of us got some lunch and after our nearly 2 hour delay we were able to start boarding our plane! When I got to the passport control window I said "Bonjour!" as I normally do. The control officer just drops everything that I just handed to him and said "Dites 'bonjour' encore?" I was scared out of my mind that he wasn't going to let me pass for some reason--especially since I don't have my OFII sticker yet...So I carefully said "Bonjour?" And he just starts grinning from ear to ear. I was so confused because I didn't know what was going on but then he said "J'adore l'accent!" I was so relieved at this point. I let out a great big sigh and said "Je deteste mon accent..." He didn't even look at my paperwork really, he just opened my passport up, stamped it and said "Bon voyage!" It really baffles me how much the french like the American accent whilst speaking french. I think it sounds stupid. But I feel that way no matter what language I'm speaking. Half the reason why I've forgotten a lot of Vietnamese, Lao, and Thai phrases is because I was embarrassed to practice due to my horrible American accent. Looking back though, it's even more embarrassing now...Knowing that I was fluent in 5 languages, and now, as an adult, I really only know 2. Well, I guess I'll have to live in my parents' countries for awhile then ;-) How's that for motivation? Lol.
I slept through most of the flight to Marrakech. The previous aggravation at the airport had exhausted me. There are no set seating arrangements on RyanAir flights so the four of us were split up. It was so strange looking over the African landscape for the first time. It was so bare but so beautiful at the same time...When we finally found our bus and reached the city center it was such a culture shock! I had been to plenty of third world countries before but none of them were Arab. I didn't know what to expect so I was a bit overwhelmed. Kami seemed alright but Sarah and Molly seemed pretty stressed.
As soon as we got off the bus night had just fallen and we were on a mission to find our hostel, Mama Marrakech, which was supposed to be short walk from the main square. We were given extremely detailed directions but still got lost. If you can believe it, the directions were too detailed. We were looking for specific landmarks instead of general signs so we ended up going in circles. During this time, we were hounded by everyone. People in Morocco are always trying to sell you something, even their services. And we obviously looked like tourists with our backpacks. One specific guy was following us around and wouldn't take no for an answer. He wanted to take us to our hostel and for a price of course. He tried to grab the directions out of Kami's hand and she firmly said no, put up her hand, and turned around. We all walked away, and some time later we found a passageway that seemed like the one described on paper. At the top of the stairs we met a guy that asked us if we were looking for Mama Marrakech. The girls hesitated but I was so tired of walking that I said "Yes!" I was also worried about Sarah who is diabetic. The rapid walking and lack of sugar drained her so if he was a haggler, I wasn't worried about having to pay him--I just wanted to get her to the hostel.
The guy introduced himself as he led us back "I'm Karim. I work at Mama Marrakech." We walked down a strange corridor into an unmarked building. When we entered we were in Moroccan wonder. The decor was just what I had imagined. So intricate, so beautiful. It was obviously a hostel from all of the posts on the announcement board and the melting pot of people lounging around. The four of us sat down and Karim brought us a pot of mint tea. This is the most delicious tea I've ever had! There's something about the flavor that makes it unforgettable. There was a sign on the board that said "Free Mint Tea" which made us all shudder with glee.
Since we arrived a day late, Karim notified us that he had given two of our beds away. It wasn't a big deal to me. I was just happy to have a place to sleep for the night. The four of us dropped our things into the lockers and headed back out toward the square to get dinner. Eating in the square is absolutely mad!!! There are 100 food trucks with tents and tables lined up next to each other, pretty much serving the same thing. As you walk through you're plagued by employees of each establishment trying to get you to eat there. We stopped at one particular food truck that had a bunch of tourists. I don't know if this was done on purpose or not, I just followed. Our waiter was hilarious. He offered to give the girls half of Morocco for me. I don't know what it is with Moroccans and orientals but it's funny. The food turned out to be fantastic here though! We tried the Tagine for the first time--a Moroccan staple.
The four of us had agreed to take turns buying meals so I picked up the tab tonight. It was 150 diram for the whole meal--> 15 euro for the four of us to dine plentifully!!! I could get used to this...When it came time to leave a 'tip' I had thrown down 2 diram. The waiter came by and said "Could you please give a little more? This is nothing." The four of us just chuckled and said "But we didn't know!" so Sarah asked him what was typical for a meal. He said "Maybe one euro" so I looked in my wallet, but all I found was a 2 euro piece. I thought he deserved it though so I gave it to him. We bartenders and servers in Harrisonburg do this thing...We all visit each others' bars and restaurants and tip excessively. At home, I normally give my servers at least a 30% tip. If they're my friends, I normally tip 50-100%. It's just what we do. And they all visit me at my bar and do the same too. I know I'm never going to see this guy again, but he sure made us feel welcome. He got so excited about his tip that he pulled me up for a picture.
The girls and I walked around the market a bit after dinner but headed back to the hostel when we got tired of people trying to get us to buy stuff. We weren't at the hostel long before we headed out with some new friends to see the nightly street shows. It was a bit perplexing to me that you couldn't enjoy a show without someone demanding money from you. In America, and France even, it's up to you whether or not you want to give a tip. Here, it's basically mandatory or you will get bitched out. Everything here is worth something--even something as simple as a guy playing the drums. He's not playing for pleasure any longer. It might have started that way, but now he's playing for money.
The 8 of us headed back to the hostel for the night. The shows weren't that great and we were all tired of saying 'no' to all of the hagglers and beggars. Kami and I went to bed around 23h00 but weren't able to fall asleep because everyone else was still up. Sarah came in around midnight and said that there were 3 people leaving for an excursion in the morning. She asked for our opinions. Kami didn't answer. Molly said she wanted to wait. But I said "Let's do it!" And that's where the real adventure begins ;-)
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