Aug. 9 - Rahim dropped us off right in the hussle-bussle of “the square” of Marrakesh that evening. Our riad was right in the middle of the medina (old town), on the other side of the square. Once we were settled into our very own riad (yes, we had every room!), we were picked up again for dinner at Rashid’s house, outside of town. Rashid is another current Long Beacher, even living on the same street as we did, but he has built his home in Morocco over the last several years and it’s a beauty! It is typical Moroccan style with large open living areas with couches along all walls, swimming pool, tennis court, garden, and of course always doling out massive loads of food! We met his parents and then had a terrific dinner of the Moroccan staples- salads, tajine, and fruit. Then back to the riad to rest up for the next day.
Aug. 10 – UH OH. JJ has a tummy ache. She shakes it off and we’re all off to the streets of Marrakesh. We visited a tannery, which is where leather is processed from beginning to the end product. Using mint leaves as a “gas mask”, we toured the tannery and learned about how cow and camel hides are turned into beautiful bags, cushions, and shoes. There are literally hundreds of 4ft by 4ft pits with different liquids in them- salt water to clean the leather, ammonia pits (mainly from bird poo) to clean it and/or take the hair off, and pools to dye the leather the chosen color. As usual, the tour ended up in their shop next door where they recommended their products over any other. We submitted to the sales pitch and bought several goodies.
Later, we stopped at a “wholesale” lamp store where the worker was busy making the lamps in front of us. These lamps are known all over. They are made from wrought iron frame and sheepskin tightly wrapped around it. The skins are painted and you add a light or candle inside. They are often conically shaped in a curved, swirled fashion (hope that helps you imagine it!). As usual, we came, we saw, and we purchased.
Lunch was at a café/restaurant on the main square. Here we had good pizza and goat cheese salad, but suffered serious service flaws and Adil ended up on a mission to drill the place for it’s incompetence…and rightfully so.
Next stop- Medersa Ben Youssef. Medersa is basically the Moroccan word for religious school. This place was magnificent- the usual etchings of the Koran on the walls, mosaic tiles everywhere, and interesting dorm rooms surrounding the main courtyard. JJ’s tummy expedited our departure, so back to the riad for a nap. JJ had the cold sweats/ hot chills/ whatever…it wasn’t good. Looks like Mohammed's revenge (the Moroccan version of Montezuma's revenge aka "intense gastrointestinal smasmitis") has gotten her. Jason & the crowd went to dinner that night to a great Italian meal. Aside from the Greek-style plate crashing (with Kate’s lasagna on it!), the meal was great. Took a horse drawn carriage back to the riad with good veggie soup in tow for JJ, of which she ate about three bites.
Aug. 11 – Day 8- At brekky, JJ is about 70% better. Did some internet (one dollar for internet AND to burn a disk of photos!). Lunch was a nice low key tajine restaurant in the middle of the medina. We wandered for a while through the different souks (markets) and ended up at the carpet souk…..you know that spells trouble!
We had probably the most difficult problem of anyone looking to buy a carpet- we have no home, and have tons of wedding gifts we haven’t opened, and have no clue of the color scheme of our future home when we return. So we just tried to stay with the standard colors (blue, red, black, browns, orange maybe?) and started the UNBELIEVEABLY arduous task of dealing with the carpet boys. These guys can see you coming. If you even glance their way, they are in your face trying to get you into the store. And once you’re in, you are seated, drinking their tea, and approving/disapproving tons of rugs they throw out in front of you. The “yes” pile is then laid out across the shop and they basically expect you to pick the one (or more) that you want to buy. It is quite an uncomfortable thing if you don’t see one that really hits you as a favorite. This is because then they will explain to you why these carpets are irreplaceable. According to the carpet shop guys, the ones you have chosen are of course THEIR favorites also, happen to be older and more valuable than the others in the store, and are made with such care and talent that one would be foolish not to buy! More tea?
We had the fortitude to walk out of several places and ended up back in the store with our favorite carpet, which we really did like a lot. Then began another round of carpet reviewing. Brik, our salesman, had gotten familiar with our tastes during the first visit and found about 5 more carpets while we were gone. These new ones definitely were more in line with our taste buds, but the one we liked most initially was still the fave- so that was it. We bought our favorite along with another smaller, kitchen sized one of similar design. We moved into the negotiating stage and did what we thought was a very good job of hammering Brik for the best deal possible. Of course, he probably thinks the opposite. But all in all, he and the other employees were the nicest we had met, and worked very hard to cater to our specific tastes. We ended up with a warm and fuzzy in our bellies (JJ’s problems notwithstanding), had more tea, took some photos of us with the guys sitting on our new purchases, and slapped down the VISA. Brik packed our package with some nylon tarp and a large needle & thread, and off we went to the riad, two carpets on J’s shoulder, ready for the post office.
That night, A&K&C&A went to dinner at a friend of Adil’s. We hadn’t done the main square at night yet, and this was our last chance. So J3, Phil, and Julie were off to the square. The main square in Marrakesh is one of the most hectic places we have ever seen. It is a huge concrete area with about 100 food stands (which have bench seating for about 40 people each) serving everything from seafood, meat, salads, soups, etc. Then there are the stands that sell freshly squeezed orange juice and those that sell snails. There are also hundreds of fortune tellers, knickknack sellers, cobra snake charmers, musicians, dancers. In addition, this is THE main circulation point of the medina- cars, people, and horse drawn carriages all converge here- and try to keep moving! Consider a county fair mixed with the NY Stock Exchange floor, and add to it the most aggressive and creative touts (salesmen) in the world. We had some nibbles at one of the stands (60 dirhams = about $8 for 4 people) and then just wandered around in awe for hours. We also wandered around the backstreets of the medina, and got lost several times of course. It was fairly late, so the lack of lighting added a bit of suspense to our adventure, but we ended up safely back to the mayhem of the main square.
Marrakesh is INSANE! Of course, you have to keep your valuables in a safe place so you can just enjoy the place without continually checking your pockets and sneering at suspicious looking folks who bump into you a bit too hard. There are kids & adults begging to show you where to go (for a few dirhams), shops with fresh meat, veggies, fruit, nuts, spices...donkey carts rolling by w/short old men trying to steer yelling "bakar!" or "attencion!" or "look out!" in English....dogs, cats, birds...the ears, nose, and eyes are continually in shock. It’s one of those places that we would suggest to anyone with a true sense of adventure, who doesn’t mind being in the center of a human tornado!
Aug. 12 - On the way back to Casablanca, we stopped at a roadside shack for lunch and ate freshly ground beef patties with onions and tomatoes and perfectly greasy lamb chops. We spent that evening back and Fatima’s (Adil’s mom) watching the wedding video, arranging our next adventure in Fes, and of course eating another fantastic home cooked meal of salads & shish kababs.
wegocherug
Posted by: PapaMamaO | September 06, 2005 at 05:16 PM