6 August, 2010

This might actually be a real journal entry...

Currently on the train from Rabat to Casa Port... changing trains there, then on to El-Jadida. Morocco has been strange so far. The first person I met in Casablanca wanted to sell me hashish for directions to the hostel and a lot of money (600 Dh, Moroccan currency). All I know is that it looked like a pretty small amount. I didn't give him that 600Dh, but before he knew I wouldn't, he bought me a the a la menthe (mint tea... sorry for the lack of accents) and guided me to the auberge de jeunesse (Youth Hostel).

I met an Italian couple and an English guy at the hostel, after spending the day trying to get to the beach. (The beaches in Casa really do suck, like everyone says... crowded, clouds of dust from football players, questionable water quality... didn't even get in).

After the beach attempt, I hung out with the English guy (James). We did a brief walking tour around the ville nouvelle, ate some snails in the medina, and had a beer at Rick's Cafe. It looked exactly like the move... but it was also far too expensive. Good for wealthy Americans perhaps, but didn't feel real enough for me.

I came to Rabat yesterday. My room was relatively cheap, but also kind of crappy. Same story as Casa with the beach: tons of kids, grown men acting like kids, and women swimming in full coverings. I'm tired of religious zealotry, but it also might be due to the fact that groups of young men (or large boys...?) harass any woman wearing less than the median.

Despite the disappointing scene at the beach, the medina was much better than Casa's. Winding paths among patchwork buildings, sometimes roofed-over by bamboo or palm fronds for shade, we home to stores whose wares I couldn't begin to name. I saw someone eating something that looked good, so I asked what it was and ordered one for myself. I've already forgotten the word for it, but it was goat milk butter on a sliced flat-bread, served with a side of an amazing yogurt (raib). I asked for a barley (?) dish after that, which the vendor gave me drowned in some sourish white liquid with curds in it. Excellent! I had some cactus fruit from a cart after leaving that little shop, and a tasty Moroccan pastry. Then I walked past the Palais Royal to the nouvelle ville for internet access. I returned to my hot, loud room to sleep.

I awoke this morning planning to find a cheaper, better room. I found nothing. So I bought a ticket for El-Jadida and I'm now on my way. Now regretting not taking more photos in Rabat...