Marrakech

As I approach the end of my time in Morocco, a feeling of sadness sweeps over me and a single tear rolls down my cheek. Oh wait, no. That was sweat. It is ridiculously hot here. I am a little sad to leave, though. I have just 2 days left here in Marrakech before heading back to Madrid and then on to London and Dublin.

Marrakech is a Fun Times city. All kinds of craziness goes on in Djemaa El Fna (the main square) at night. Craziness such as snake charmers...with their snakes...um...charming them; performing monkeys; storytellers; musicians; other random crazy people; there are also guys who walk around wearing hats with tassels on them and carrying a set of cymbals. One of these guys will walk up to a tourist and start rolling his head around to get the tassel spinning while simultaneously singing and crashing his cymbals together. After a few moments of this he will pull off his hat and hold it before the tourist, asking for money. Right. Last night I also observed one guy walking around with a chicken on his head. He didn't appear to be doing anything other than just walking around with this chicken contentedly stationed on top of his head. Weird.

Besides the great entertainment, there are many tantalizing food options which are cooked in open-air food stalls. Each food stall is encircled by picnic-style tables and benches for the convenience of the happy diners. These are lit by bare light bulbs strung over the tables. For any of my readers who are planning to check them out, I have one piece of advice: Don't sit near the lightbulbs unless you wish to share your meal with the local insect population. Regarding the typical fare at these food stalls, a couple of good options are sheep's head and snails. Although I have not tried those specific dishes myself, I have had some lovely couscous, tajine, and brochettes. Maybe I'll try the sheep's head tonight. And maybe not. Ok...not.

Not everything about Marrakech is Fun Times, though. As we were eating our dinner last night, countless children approached us begging for money or attempting to sell small packs of tissue and souvenirs. At one point I reflected that when I was that age, by that time of night I would have already eaten my dinner and gone to bed- but these children were running around in the streets and who knows when the last time was that they had eaten?

Another sad thing here is the general treatment of animals. As I was sitting outside a café drinking mint tea yesterday, a couple of horses pulling a cart went down the street in front of me. They were so painfully skinny that their ribs were sticking out. For the most part, it seems that horses and donkey are overworked and beaten all day long, and they aren't even fed properly. I have also seen quite a few cats, but they are all very skinny and most of the cats I've seen have been kittens, so I assume that not many make it into adulthood. I suppose that animals being malnourished should not be surprising in a country where many people struggle just to feed themselves and their families. Still, it's sad to see and the abuse is even harder to observe.

The souks in Marrakech are pretty impressive. Most large cities in Morocco have souks, they are a labyrinth of shops which sell everything from chess sets, to rugs, to caftans, to tea sets, etc. I bought a pretty cool chess set this morning. I haggled with the guy and got it for half his original asking price. Very fun. Then Matt and I played chess this afternoon and I lost. Not as much fun. Oh well. Next time I'll beat him up first so he lets me win.

We're planning on going back to the souks and doing some more shopping. So if you want a souvenir, post a comment on here with your requests/suggestions. I guess it pays to check my blog...heh heh heh(devilish laugh) But I think I hear the call to prayer (which we loosely translate as the call to mint tea), so I'm off to do my duty and drink some mint tea. Mmmmm....mint tea.