A few observations about Morocco

Fighting

There's a lot of arguing going on on the streets here. I can't even keep track of how many would-be-fights I've seen. There's never any actual physical violence beyong wild gesituclations, loud shouting and the odd shirt grabbing. After the initial outbreak one of the two people involved will turn and pretend to walk away only to turn around after a few steps to come back with more flailing arm gestures and shouting. Sometimes there's the odd long kick that looks as though the person who is extending his foot didn't calculate the distance very well and therefore has to extend his entire leg rather than deliver a short, hard hit from the knee. More than kicking though head budding seems to be a favorite mode of attack. It looks totally ineffective and painful. The bud can't be too aggresive since injuring yourself would sort of defeat the purpose but then again, maybe there's so much anger welling up in your veins that it won't matter at all. The head bud is accompanied almost always by the shirt grabbing which makes sense since that is what gives the attacker some control over the force and direction of the bud and the victim a lack of choice in movement.

At times a third party, the peacekeeper, will get involved. He will seemingly risk his own neck by positioning himself right in the middle of the two (often mustached) fighters and extend his arms while speaking calmly. I imagine this person to be saying things like "Easy. Let's all calm down and talk the matter over" or "What are all these shenanigans about? You're grown men. Control yourselves." One of two things happen at this juncture: the fight ends with some indignant looks and with one party really walking away (and not just pretending to) or the peacekeeper is ensnared in the brawl with insults (I think) for sometimes even the PK seems to pick a side and get all indignant at one of the fighters. Sometimes the peacekeeper is a woman, usually a relative of one person involved and she usually tries to pull him away while yelling insults over her shoulder at the other person or else she just joins in and gesticulates. It should be noted that she is never grabbed or head budded. If that were to happen the entire street would end up in one massive fistfight with Mr Shirt-grabber or Head-budder.


What actually incites people to such fury is sometimes a complete mystery and other times I've seen these quarrels break out over parking tickets, with taxi drivers, after a small car accident that didn't hurt or damage anything, over bread among street kids and other times it looks like a serious fight but then one person will walk away with a huge smile turning to wave goodbye at his friend whom he just pretended to kick and yell at.

Haggling

Haggling is an art. I believe that. There are places in the world where one can haggle with a smile and then there are the experiences that make you never want to buy another shisha again. In Southeast Asia people would sometimes get offended when they quoted you a ridiculously high price for their product and you quoted a ridiculously low price back. Most times you had to leave their stall or shop.


In Morocco there's the invite to tea and a short little chat about the weather and the American presidential race and then the discussion about how the kilims and carpets are knotted in the High Atlas versus the Middle Atlas. Those sessions are easy enough to leave. Sometimes though you get the full on infuriated face gestures and pressuring. This has happened when trying to negotiate a price for a bus ride. For some reason one of the touts at the taxi/bus station got involved by quoting a price for a taxi and a price for the bus and then being impatient for us to make a decision. He pressured, he asked repeatedly for us to make a decision as though all the buses and taxis were going to dissapear all at once. A few minutes later when the price came down to a respectable number we paid. He turned and said in French with a smile "You're a nice lady". Then a public bus turned into the station and the price for a seat on that bus with the same destination was lower. I think I learned something from this experience.


The best is when a taxi driver pulls out a little piece of paper that was laminated (badly) and now serves as the official pricelist. It's official because it was printed and laminated. Negotiations center around the official lamination and prices don't drop that far thanks to the invention of the inkjet printer.

Rabat

Rabat is the capital not only of this country but also of protesters. This is my second time through and again there was protesting across the street from the hotel and in the streets. I saw some chasing going on through the trees below the internet cafe. Police in green overalls armed with black battons and headscarved women and men with signs running zigzag around the cafes and the park to avoid being caught. The police don't seem to overzealous despite the battons and the chasing. Either they are just scaring the crowd into scattering or they are incompetent and out of shape despite their youth. I'll never figure that one out.

Visa

We have a visa to Mauritania. Two months before it expires. Just 500 km of hot, hot sand between Dakhla and Nouakchot... I hope their national dishes do not consist of tajines and couscous.