Have Wedding Rings, Will Travel!

Please forgive me if mistakes in this post turns up. The keyboard I'm using in this Moroccan internet cafe is even more different from the one I used yesterday in my hostel in Spain with Arabic added to the keys and the web pages in French!

It was a beautiful ferry ride across the Mediterranean. The water was a slate grey that I have never seen in a body of water. Although it was pouring rain and the waters appeared rather choppy, it was a very peaceful (though long) crossing.

It was a very easy passport check and a short walk across the border from Melilla into Morocco. Then again, the guard was too busy telling me how unlucky he was because I was "married"! When I inquired as to whether or not he was married, he informed me that he was, with one very young son (he was very proud of that fact)! I asked then how could he be "unlucky" then? He laughed, shrugged his shoulders and then proceeded to stamp my passport.

The need to bargain hard began as soon as I approached the taxi drivers in order to get to the first town of Nador where I will be spending the night. Ah! I wish I could remember more of my basic, first semester French! Anyhow, the driver and his friend were crazy funny. After the basic drill of inquiring as to whether or not I had a boyfriend or husband (to which I affirmed - a lie I think I will be telling over and over while touring around Morocco, it seems), they started to tell me how much alike China and Morocco are. (I didn't bother to correct their assumption that I am not from China.) The only bad part about all of this was that the driver kept turning in his seat to speak directly to me - all the while driving on a poorly-lit road, trying to dodge other cars, and slap at his friend for trying to also talk to me! What an introduction to the country and its people!