Moroccan tourism promotion slogans: "Open for business [except restaurants]", "Pardon our dust"

Okay so today was the first day of our visit to Morocco, where we'll be until Tuesday. Its also, coincidentially, the last day of Ramadan (or maybe the 2nd-last... it depends what the imams say). This meant that no restaurants were open. Except McDonalds. I took a nap during the on-ship lunchtime (we weren't allowed off until about 2pm) so that was my excuse for eating at a McDonald's in Casablanca. They had some good steak fries actually.

Tomorrow (or Saturday) is the Eid al Fitr. This means that EVERYTHING is closed except in touristy areas. What a great coincidence, since I'll be spending my only day in Marrakech tomorrow. Oh well. Hopefully there will be a few stores open. I want to get some mint tea and maybe a shirt or something.

The first things I noticed in the port of Casablanca was the smell and all the construction. There is a massive sulphite plant on the way into the industrial port and I was advised by someone who had visited here before with SAS not to go outside until we were past it. Didn't have to tell me twice.

Also, the US diplomats that came on board and spoke to us said that the king of Morocco is investing huge amounts of money in improving infrastructure and the economy. It certainly showed since for every building I saw in Casablanca there were 18 under construction. They were also building a tramway and new ports. This is just what I saw from a brief walk around the port area.

Fun times in the bazaar:
-Two of my friends wanted to get henna tattoos. They found several stands with women who would draw them. The first stand charged 30 dirhams (8.6 dirhams to the dollar today... it actually fluctuates against the $ a ton.) The second stand which seemed less sketchy charged 50 dirhams. This is how the conversation went: "This costs 30." "Really? The other stand was charging only 30!" "Oh okay we'll do for 30 then!"...... WOW! Bargaining is awesome.

-I bought a pair of pants. I did this because I didn't have good pants for hiking around tomorrow until Monday, and shorts are not okay, especially outside of cities. When I tried the pants on, I went inside the market stall and the salesman was very friendly and knew a lot of English. But then came the time for me to try them on. Where was the fitting room? He answered by taking a large mirror and putting it behind the counter and saying "here try and see here!" So basically I dropped the pants I was wearing and tried on a pair of Moroccan pants (made in Italy... they're actually really nice) in the middle of what I would consider "public." Interesting experience. As I wandered around the bazaar more, I saw many Moroccans try on clothes this way, except stores with women's clothes do have a special changing room. Best part of the experience? A quality pair of pants for 260 dirham.

-There are traffic lights but no crossing signals in Casablanca. There are crosswalks. This makes crossing the road slighlty less terrifying, although your first reaction upon seeing a bigger street here is "holy shit I am not going within 15 feet of that or I will be hit by 18 cars before I can even realize whats happening." But drivers do stop for people in the crosswalks. I saw a man try to get on a city bus just after the doors had been closed, and the driver waved his hands to say "sorry can't stop again." So this guy takes off across the street full speed THROUGH TRAFFIC so that he can catch the bus at the next stop. Seriously... brass balls.

-Moroccans touch you while talking to you all the time, even total strangers. I guess you just have to get used to it. We Americans with our 15 mile personal space bubble understandably get sketched out. And then there was that kid that begged for money, my sunglasses, and my camera for about 15 minutes. He asked in broken English, French, Spanish, and German, and I answered him in each. I guess he thought I'd be like "you know now that you mention it, I don't need this digital camera. Here, take it for free."

-The bazaar area was surrounded by streets that smelled like a combination of barbecued meat and piss. I don't want to know.

Anyway, tomorrow I'll be in Marrakech. They have a famous, huge outdoor market where you can buy stuff from haggling. I look forward to getting some small crafts there with my remaining about 300 dirhams. Then after Marrakech I'm getting bused out to the middle of nowhere in the Atlas Mountains to hike around and visit Berber villages and stay at their wayfarers houses. They're famous for their hospitality so I've brought some postcards of Washington DC and pins with the US and Moroccan flags on them to reciprocate what I'm assuming will be their generosity.

Next update will probably be on Tuesday. A man told us that the internet cafes are closed until the end of the Eid which lasts about two days, so no updates from Marrakech, sorry.

Time to eat and sleep to get ready for some trekking.