Peace be with you! I've returned safe and sound from Marrakesh and am OHSOHAPPY to be back in France. I seem to complain a lot about French machismo and daily levels of equality, because compared to California, it can be a little frustrating from time to time. And yet Marrakesh is no France. Not even close. France is the Liberté Fraternité Egalité to the T compared to Marrakesh for women. France is the hippie woman burning her bra on her college campus compared to Marrakesh. France is Hilary Clinton compared to Marrakesh! (That would make the United States RuPaul if you were keeping track)
The city itself is beautiful in a desert nomad kind of way. It's a strange combination of centuries of north African culture and (American) globalization. Long walked passageways of clay and wooden walls painted in the Moroccan colors of Islam, red and white, shadowed over by large cafe umbrellas bearing the Coca Cola brand in English and in Arabic. Paved roads that seem to be rejected by the earth itself, as if dirt and sand were always better alternatives, broken and cracked in the sun. I'm sure the camels still prefer the dirt and sand but the abundant numbers of mopeds, scooters, and motorcycles prefer the former. Like seriously, I have never felt so vulnerable to motorcyclists and scooters, not even in Rome. You get the feeling from the crisscrossing of pedestrian and motor traffic that literally anything goes. Watch out for the calèche, the horse drawn carriage because it might run you over when you're dodging bikes!! Sheer CHAOS in terms of traffic but there was also a kind of beauty, a harmony in watching all the locals just navigate through in the nanoseconds of breaks in the stream of vehicles.
ACTUAL culture shock: I thought I had a wee bit of culture shock here in France - I was wrong. If you can be utterly terrified and fascinated by something at the same time, that was me getting lost in the souks - aka the centuries old network of passageways, merchant shops, and homes aka The Labyrinthe from Hell. By the end of our 4 day, 3 night trip we almost got the hang of it... if you stayed within sight of the main square. If you delved in any deeper without a guide, you were absolutely lost for hours. Okay WE were absolutely lost for hours. The first day P-baby and I tried to master it on our own, escaping with our sanity and wallets intact, and then arrogantly reentering to take the shorter route back to the square. FOOLISH TOURISTS! We ended up latching onto some Italians who led us out. (English the universal language of out-of-towners! It tickles me to hear a Frenchman and an Italian attempting to communicate) The next day we went in with a guide and it was MUCH more enjoyable. We tipped him 10 euros (about 100 dirhams - to scale it a mint tea cost about 10 dirhams, an average dinner cost about 30-50 dirhams) and he repeated "merci, merci, merci" for about 2 minutes straight. (French is the 2nd unofficial language of Morocco) So you can live like a wealthy tourist for a few days without much trouble, which was also enjoyable.
Overall I'm very happy I went with P-baby but would also have enjoyed going with a group. I'm very pleased as well that I did not go with my sister last year, as the two of us would have been scared bunny pelts being sold in the souks.
