MOROCCO - Brief Comments (On-going)

1. The people here are very upset about the cartoon caricature. Demonstrations are being held and it's constantly in the news.

2. I am so glad that I don't get easily rattled with crazy driving! It seems that here in Morocco, as with in Southeast Asia, the demarcations in the road are "suggestions" only, the goal is to fit as many vehicles across as possible despite lane markings, treat pedestrians as if they aren't really there (or at best, as if they are as "indestructible" as a vehicle themselves), and horns are to be used not for warnings but for "conversations" as well.

3. The Moroccans have processions winding through the streets for both weddings and for funerals. It's quite a spectacle! (I witnessed both.)

4. Goats look totally out of place in trees but yet they're there!

5. Men here, as with men in every place I have visited don't think twice about peeing wherever they may happen to be!

6. I'm a spoiled brat... I really like Western-style toilets! Really. And what I wouldn't give for my shower at home!

7. In Morocco each large city has petit taxis and grand taxis. The petit taxis are cars that are slightly larger than the old-school Honda Civic hatchbacks. For the grand taxis the vehicles used are Mercedes-Benz! (Petit taxis will only carry up to 3 passengers while the grand taxis will take up 5-7 passengers.)

8. It really is amazing how completely diverse the topography of Morocco is. You can go from a seaport where it's crazy windy to huge mountain peaks covered with snow to the dry desert inclusive of large sand dunes to lush green hills in a matter of hours. Reminds me of California in that regard...

9. Marrakech takes the cake in having the craziest "traffic" traversing its roads: upon entering the city today I witnessed the standard array of motor vehicles (buses, petit and grand taxis, buses, trucks), donkey- and horse-powered carts (of course with pneumatic tires), motor bikes, scooters, bicyclists, and pedestrians (yes, in the roadways as well as on the sidewalks). It is absolutely nuts here!! In the medina, I am desperately trying not to get run over by the motor bikes and scooters. I have had roughly 5 close calls. Yikes!

10. Because of the huge variety of tourists that visit Morocco, you will find people that can speak a huge multitude of languages. They may not know it completely thoroughly but well enough for conversations. The languages I have encountered Moroccans speaking include French (of course), Spanish, English (oddly not a huge number of speakers, though), German, Portuguese, Italian, Japanese, Korean, various African languages. So far, no one can speak any Chinese so I am able to get away with ignoring much of the hassles of the shopkeeps trying to ply their wares. Plus, when they hear that "I am from China" they immediately back off...I guess us Chinese are just too poor/cheap/bargain too low to be dealt with! C'est la vie!

11. Three guesses of what smells worse than wet dog and wet wool combined...
(The answer is wet camel hair! Yuck! Yuck! Yuck!) But it is awfully waterproof as it kept me completely dry when it rained couple of nights during my stay. The rain was most welcomed as it hasn't rained in months.

12. There are 2 things that I have come to believe are ubiquitous - cats and mobile phones. Imagine my surprise when I heard the melodious chimes of the mobile phone of my camel trek guide tinkling in the quiet of the desert!

13. I wonder just how black my lungs are right about now...I am getting so completely smoked out from all the cigarette smoke and vehicle exhaust. Yuck...