Marrakesh, Morocco
To be honest, I felt both excited and nervous about this new city. Europe was more or less familiar but Marrakesh was so foreign in language, culture, rules and landscape. Once I understood that the people here spoke French as well as Arabic I knew my survival skills would be just fine—and I actually found myself loving the chance to speak French regularly (not sure how well the verbs were conjugated though). Being blond presented no issues at all either. I walked home from my office alone late at night and never had an issue. Not bad considering there were men everywhere on the streets and cafes —their women tucked at home out of sight.
Veronica (Chicago lawyer) and I shared a pretty decent apartment located in an upscale hotel and bank area—20 minutes walk from my work space and downtown shopping. My bed was hard as a rock and we were told this is a sign of quality—one step up from sleeping on the floor which many people do. The kitchen had almost no cooking supplies so I kept my cooking to eggs and pasta. Two pigeons lived on our small balcony—and snuck through a hole to cruise around and nest above the ceiling above my bedroom. Their tender cooing to each other woke me up each morning—along with the call to prayer that they broadcasted all over. Reminded me of a cow giving birth—not pretty— especially everyday at around 3:00am and then 5:45am.
The first week there we all enjoyed Marrakesh’s hosting of the International Film Festival —right across from our apartments. So lots of nights watching the red carpet comings and goings and in the end, I went to see three of the films after work at 10:00pm. Very interesting films—nothing like you will see from Hollywood but still they gave insights into the creative arts scene here. It was interesting to experience reaction to some scenes (Lesbian lovers) by the locals.
After all the film mucky mucks left town, many world leaders arrived to our neighborhood (the King has a hotel nearby) to discuss Immigration. Trudeau was here but I did not hear if Trump was. It was exciting as the police love to create fanfare with motorcades and honking whenever the dignitaries were driven around. Marrakesh is clearly building a reputation as a happening place.
Ok, I must tell you about shopping in the Medina now…as this may be the most famous image people think of when Marrakesh is mentioned. Think about bins piled with colorful, exotic spices, also think about metal lights with tiny holes hammered out, think woven or tied rugs in gorgeous rich colors depicting the special creative whims of the women weavers. There are about 2,000 tiny hole in the wall shops in the Medina and when you start down the narrow alleys it’s like a dark maze. My motivation was to buy what I fell in love with on the spot because there was no way I could find my way back to many of the shops in the maze. My special skill was to learn to avoid he monkey handlers and snake charmers. They sneak up on you, pop a huge cobra on your neck then insist on money to remove it. Tourists pay up as the idea of having the life squeezed out of you while on vacation is scary and not worth arguing about.
One night a small group of us went to a very upscale club with a burlesque show complete with a singer, belly dancer and lots of booty shaking. No nudity. It was another side of Marrakesh I’m glad I experienced. It was neat to see how the other half lived and were entertained - apart from the tourist masses. The people dress to the nines and seem to act in a very sophisticated way plus the cocktails are yummy.
How can one visit Marrakesh and not experience the bath? I went to a lovely Riad and had a “hammam.” Think Turkish bath where they put you in a room, dump water on you, scrub the life out of your skin with a black olive soap, rinse and then oil you all over. This was followed by a massage,more oil, a tagine lunch, a play with their kitty and and lounging in the sun on their upper deck. Totally lovely experience.
Tyler (my 21 yr old son) blessed me with a visit the week before Christmas and he had a chance to be an honorary “remote” or “Exuper hero.” We had a full agenda including shopping in the Medina, private guided tour of historical sites, YSL gardens, wining and dining then traveling to the Sahara desert to ride camels and star gaze. Cool that our night in the camp was a full moon to light the way up the dunes. True to form, Tyler led the group to the very tippy top. For Christmas, I enjoyed just hanging out with my remotes at two different luxury Riads. We hired a chef create our dinners and just relaxed and played games. It was a nice change of pace and the Riads are designed for kicking back.
It was sad to leave this Diva city—a city with many secrets. I have more to tell about my overnight side trip to Essaouira and will do so in another short blog with pictures.