An Overnight Train Ride From Hell

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This morning we left the blue town to spend the day in the seaside town of Tangier. We caught the local bus which was an interesting experience as there was some fascinating characters on board. I unfortunately got stuck sitting next to a woman who appeared to be having motion sickness and was throwing up into a plastic bag. When others vomit it, usually triggers a reaction in me that causes me to vomit as well. Thankfully, her friend in a nearby seat agreed to switch seats with me and I didn't have to hear any more vomiting. We arrived in Tangier at lunch time and I was a little impressed at all the modern looking residential buildings. I was beginning to wonder why Tangier had such a bad repuation for seediness and danger. We all caught taxis to a Lebanese restaurant called Ali Baba that was located on Avenue Mohammed V. We would be storing our luggage here for the day while we explored Tangier as well as having lunch. I was a little leery of trying anything too exotic as I was afraid of having any stomach issues while aboard the overnight train tonight so I settled on a delicious kefta sandwich. After lunch, everyone in the group walked over to the American Legation, the only American historical landmark outside the U.S. The American Legation is America's first ambassadorial residence establilshed and was established in 1777. Located just inside the medina, the American Legation is a formers 3 storey palace that contains artifacts and paintings that depict Moroccan history and American-Moroccan relations, as well as photographs by American expats living in Morocco. We simply wandered around looking at the items on display not fully aware of the significance of the items we were looking at. Afterwards we wandered around the surrounding markets trying to locate the Grand Socco which is a popular square filled with cafes. After about a half hour of just walking aimlessly amongs produce stalls in the markets, we kind of just gave up and headed back towards the beach to find the camel that Abdul recommended we find for a good photo op. At the beach, a few of us were amazed to find out how close Spain and the European continent was to Morocco. Out in the distance we were able to see some of the moutains of Southern Spain. We found the guy with the camel who was charging 20 dirhams for a photo op and a quick ride. The camel seemed miserable as it's mouth was covered with some kind of mesh netting probably to prevent it from biting anyone. The whole time we were taking photos, it was obvious the camel wanted nothing more than to just nurse it's baby instead of taking tourists for a ride. Prior to arriving in Tangier, I had read that Tangier was known for very agrressive children beggars. We had our encounter with them at the beach while posing with the camel. The entire time we were with the camels we were kind of being stalked by a group of 4 young boys. They kept trying to get us to give them some money despite our best attempts to ignore them. I don't know why Melanie decided she was going to give them 20 dirham but when she pulled it out of her wallet, they quickly grabbed it and ran off. What happened next was easily the lowpoint of the entire trip. As we were walking along the beach, the 4 boys quickly returned but were 10 times more agressive than they were earlier. They were particulary targeting Melanie with their pleas for more money. There were 5 of us and they kept pulling on our sleeves and I knew at any moment they were about to start putting their hands in our pockets. Despite our yells and threats to leave us alone, they persisted and the situation kept getting worse. I wanted to hit one of these brats but I had a feeling there was somebody watching us hoping we would hit them and then threaten us with a huge bribe in exchange for not going to the police. I had a feeling it was just a matter of time before they rushed at Melanie and take something. At one point, Melanie's husband Troy seemed like he was about to hit one of the kids but then he took out his anger on Melanie for giving them money in the first place. He started yelling at her for being so thoughtless and it was obvious Melanie was about to cry. It was a very stressful situation for all of us. We eventually took refuge at an upscale gelateria. It was a nice, quiet, and calm refuge from the 10 minutes of annoying pestering we had just endured from those kids. We relaxed here for about 30 minutes enjoying a cool gelato while decompressing and calming ourselves from that stressful situation. After calming down in the gelateria, we made our way back to Ali Baba Restaurant. Abdul had told us to meet at around 6pm if we wanted to pick up some alcohol for the overnight train ride. We all stocked up on beer, snacks and I purchased an entire bottle of vodka. After my near claustrophobia attack earlier in the trip, I was worried that the sleeper train was going to be hot and claustrophobic. If so, I was going to need that entire bottle to get me through the night. After dinner at Ali Baba Restaurant, we all got into cabs to be taken to the train station. Tangier's train station was surprisingly modern and I was hoping that our train would be just as modern. Unfortunately, my worst fears were coming true once we boarded the train. Each cabin slept 4 people but in very tight quarters. The hallway was extremelhy narrow and we were basically confined to just our carriage as the doors leading to the other carriages were locked with chains. The bathroom was the grocest that we'd experienced thus far with a toilet that basically had a hole that emptied to the tracks below. I pretty much started drinking immediately, hoping to knock out right away. I shared a cabin with Abdul, Sophie, and Liz but most of the congregating ocurred in the next cabin. The train set off at around 9pm and we spent the next few hours playing cards, drinking, and listening to music on our phones. We were never overly loud but the train attendant kept looking into our cabin with an obvious look of disapproval. Probably because of all the empty beer bottles were had sitting around. Eventually all my vodka consumption lead to me knocking out in my top bunk.

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