Medina Madness

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I am happy to be safely tucked into the corner of our Riad tonight as it is so noisy. I am more contented in some of the smaller areas that we have travelled and there are too many people here in Marrakech for my liking. Our guide today said that half of the people in Morocco are under the age of 25, which blows my mind a little. Clearly it is going to create a HUGE job shortage and it is easy to see that it already has. Another interesting tidbit that Mohammad supplied us: The population of Morocco had doubled over the last twelve years.

He talked about much of the history of the buildings and the mosques in the area, but as usual, I was seeing the world through my camera lens. I had to make sure mom and Mohammed were always looking out for me so that I didn't get run over by a horse-drawn buggie or a small motorcycle.

It was hard for us to overlook the condition that some of these animals are in. As the carts go by the horses are easily carrying loads beyond their ability, standing all day in the heat, and often we have seen them frothing at the mouth or with their tongues hanging out like a dog trying to cool down. When we got a little bit closer we could see where they have pressure sores and scars from the harnesses that they are attatched to. I usually only cry about people, but this had me close.

The Medina was pretty spectacular once I got past all the people. The shopping only got more fun for me as I got a little tougher with my bartering skills. We did get to see some snake charmers and the men kept trying to get me to touch the snakes. No thank you! The center of the medina was busy and while trying to keep my eye on mom and Mohammad two men decided to throw their monkeys on me, take pictures and then demand obscene amounts of money. They didn't take too well to our excuse of being out of small durhams, so we had to go and get more to tip all of the people we were taking photos of... Morocco is a peaceful country after-all.

We have been marvelling at all of the wood work that has taken place here. The craftsmanship is something that uncle Rick would truly appreciate, but us mere commonners thought that it was lovely. I always get a little sentimental when I smell sawdust and I think of uncle Rick and remember Grandpa working away in his garage with his square pencil tucked neatly behind one of his gargantuan ears.

We are heading out for dinner with Aziz tonight to celebrate our time here in Morocco. I have become very attached to my new "brother" and it will be hard to say goodbye. I hope that this is only the first of many trips to come, "in Shala" as the people say (if God wills).

London awaits us, as does my RA from my freshman year in university. I am looking forward to another change of pace and mom is so excited to be one step closer to home. We are both pumped to see "Phantom" and are looking for another show that we can watch tomorrow night (yay for live theatre!) I am sure that my photo count for London will be outrageous and mom will be all to ready to get out of view finder.

Mom wants to know "why is our hair so greasy here?" And we will leave that with you to ponder along with the meaning of life.

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Photos

Street performer
You can't really see, but he was spinning a tassel on his head

Water Runners
These men used to run water to the houses of the wealthy. Now that plumbing has been updated their main source of income is attracting tourists

Would you like some spice?
They gather the spices into a cone to sell. Don't ask me how they do it...

Snake charmers
In the middle of the medina

Oh Monkeys
I'm just going to throw this out there... Monkeys smell like pee

Go hard retard!
This is what happens when you spend all day in the medina.