Marrakech - A shopper's paradise... if you can haggle!

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Our last three days in Morocco were spent in Marrakech, which I have found is a delightful corner of the world. The city, like the rest of the country that I have explored, is welcoming and bustling. The city pulsates with people, smells, and especially the noises at nearly all hours of the day.

Into the Belly of the Beast

My favorite part of Marrakech was by far the shopping experience in the souqs. We spent the bulk of our time walking around the labyrinth of vendors, looking into shops, getting lost in the maze that surrounds Djemma el Fna, and enjoying all the banter with shopkeepers. I loved how many people came up to us, asking us where we were from, shaking our hands, and ultimately inviting us in their stores. Oddly, when people guessed our nationality, NOT ONE person ever guessed American! We got Dutch before American. Granted, Keith had an Italian flag sewn on his daypack which prompted a lot of "Italiano!" shouts from across the alley; however, we usually were assumed to be Spanish, British, or French. BUT once we told people we were from Chicago, we'd get the usual, "Yeah, Obama!"

We definitely had a strategy for our shopping extravaganza. First, we decided to just walk around, take pleasure in getting a little lost, and scope out just what exactly was out there. It was harder than we thought it would be; as soon as you would show the slightest bit of interest in anything, someone would approach you and try to engage in a hard sell. Evidently, there is no such thing as window shopping in Marrakech. Eventually, we figured out little convenient ways to scope out some goods and figured out kind of what is offered.

The short answer to what is offered is "a lot of the same things." Every twist of an alley had the same stores: a pottery shop, a luggage shop, a tea set shop, a tajine shop, a woodwork shop, another shop, another shop... Then you'd turn the corner and there they were again, the same shops, different location. It was like having a chain of the same stalls, just with different owners. Ah, artisan works. And there were definitely sectors of the same shop. We discovered a lane with only lamps, a row of tea shops, an area that was clearly the purse district. It was great too, it worked toward our advantage! Upon seemingly reaching a bargaining impasse, we could eye the shop across the way, say "thank you, but (pointing to another shop) he offered me a better price." And just like that, the price that was the best price ever offered just came down another notch. It was a perfect exercise in competition, the consumer's best friend.

After our preliminary pass around a good number of stalls, Keith urged me to "start somewhere" and start bargaining. We happened to be right near the medina, and despite the fact that I knew that this location would make bargaining to the lowest possible price harder (especially as a novice haggler), I went for it and ended up with my mother's tea set. The price we ended up at was a tad higher than I had set out to get, which irritated me to no end when I eventually bought a tea set for myself at half the price. But, I have to chalk it up to being a learning experience and reminding myself that the price that I paid for the first tea set was still astronomically inexpensive.

The rest of the bargaining experience was a joy. I made several "good friends" and "special friends" over the course of the 3 days we were in Marrakech. And, to my surprise, I discovered that my best ventures were done in French! We got by okay in English, but I think being able to speak two languages made us look less like fools. Just think of the rock bottom prices we could have gotten if I spoke Arabic!

I ended up buying in Marrakech: two tea sets, a set of kabob skewers, a pair of shoes, a large tajine, a pashmina and a lamp. Keith got a smaller tajine, a few spice boxes, a set of kabob skewers, some perfume and a pashmina. Most of our goodies are gifts, which in the end makes me wish I had bought more. But, carrying around all of our stuff is going to be a logistical point that will make traveling become even more chaotic.

Passing days in the Red City

The rest of our time in Marrakech was spent enjoying the food, a little bit of the nouvelle ville, the sights of the Djemma El Fna (crazy!!) and the snow capped Atlas mountains in the distance. Djemma was a great place, full of snake charmers, water dancer people, henna artists, and best of all the food vendors. I loved just walking around and listening to the sounds: ten different snake charmers blowing away at their horns, the clip clop of horses and donkeys and the throttles of the dozens of motorbikes zooming in and out of every entrance of the square, a lady asking you if you want henna (non, merci!), merchants yelling as a handcart comes up right behind you, a prayer comes on the loud speaker of a mosque only to be followed by three other prayers shortly after, food vendors promising you free tea and bread, a crowd cheering to acrobats doing a round of tricks, another crowd listening to a story, music is played from a near by shop. It was amazing. At night, the intensity increased, as more people pushed into the square and electrified the scene. I'm sure some people could get tired of the never-ending push and pull of the interactions with people approaching you, but really, it's no different than any other major city's hustle and bustle. The only difference is people are more welcoming and open to interaction.

Keith did get sick our last day, though I felt it was better than getting sick at the start. I'm also pretty sure it was drinking a lot of tap water, but it could have been some undercooked meat... reader beware! When I ventured out alone to get some sprite and sustenance to bring back to Keith, laid up in our riad, I was shocked at how a lot of the Moroccan men acted toward me. There were many rather lewd comments made in my 10 minutes out that I never heard when Keith was by my side. I guess there's a certain perception about Western women walking alone, but I even had my head covered. It wasn't horrifying or really that alarming, but I was struck at what a difference it made to have someone else with me.

On the whole though, I loved our time in Morocco. We picked it because we felt like it would be a good first step away from a European/Western culture. I would definitely come back and explore more places like Fes and Essaouira. It also has whet my appetite for places that are more off the usual route. Marrakech / Morocco wasn't too exotic, but I'm not sure I can say I know of many people who have been there (just 3, actually). Maybe soon, more people will. Regardless, the week we spent in Morocco was fantastic. As we packed up all of our newly purchased Moroccan goods (I seriously could outfit a whole house with Moroccan things) and rearranged our bags numbers of times to make sure everything fit, I was excited to be heading on to Italy, but also very sad to be leaving such a charming place. The chaos of Marrakech was exhilarating and people are right when they say it's unlike any other place on earth. So for now, M'a ssalama (goodbye) from Morocco!

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