From Marrakech to Taroudannt

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The Imam is having some technical difficulties for the 7:30 pm Call to Prayer. I'm sitting on my roof terrace watching the main square in this authentic Moroccan town. A long day --- last night I downloaded pictures, chatted with Al, and had snails in the central square of Marrakech. Woke up at 7:30 am, for breakfast soup (no spoon given this time) then off to the bus. Met what I thought was a couple from Switzerland named Jean-Claude and Noemi. It turns out she’s his 20 year old daughter. Eight hour bus/taxi ride to Taroudannt through the High Atlas Mountains. I later found out that these weren't the High Atlases (People here don’t seek their own seats on the bus when many are available. I guess personal space isn’t as valued. Also most aren’t 6’4’’)

Noemi seems to like me, too bad her pops is around. Didn’t email my mom or Deb as I don’t want to set a precedent of frequent emails. I contemplated lying to my mom to ease her worries.

For dinner: Shish Taouk plate with Al Jazera. I’m wearing my Malaysia soccer jersey tonight --- I hope people don’t think it’s a US flag. I took Myfloquin tonight! It’s dark now, going to the Souks tomorrow.

Am I paranoid? Chatting with a Berber named Muhammad Isa. He was extremely nice offering to take me to the souks tomorrow or even take a walk around town tonight. He’s staying at the hotel, although he claims to work at a farm 20 minutes away? Also when an old Moroccan man I met on the bus showed up, Muhammad Isa seemed very disappointed. He’s no longer talkative. One interesting thing he said was that the Berbers are friends with the Israelis and that the two languages (Berber and Hebrew) are similar. I still don’t trust him!! Must avoid.

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Photos

En Route
Rest Stop somewhere between Marrakech and Taroudannt

En Route2
From a bus window between Marrakech and Taroudannt