Top Ten Things: Marrakech

Ten Things I Love About Marrakech

1.      The Doors and Details in Architecture

Morocco is filled with beautiful doors.  From painted to tile to iron work, etc… each door has its own captured beauty and is unique.  My favorite wall and door is at the Veggie market- bright pink wall and a bright blue door.  Absolutely breath taking.

2.    The Pace of Life

Life here is slow.  Everyone moves slow (except driving) and you never feel rushed- anywhere. 

3.    The Freshness of Food (an dinexpensive too!)

Little to no pesticides our veggies and fruits are farm fresh.  In fact, at the veggie market, we can also pick out our live chicken if so desired.  All for less than 50 dhs. Keep in mind, processed food is expensive.  I found Oreos for 65dhs (8 dollars) at our local store. 

4.    The Ease of Finding Things (pharmacies, cliniques, cafes)

Nearly every street corner has one of the above.  Cafes line every street, pharmacies located on every other corner and clinques on nearly every block.  Easy to find!

5.  The Diversity (Spain, France, Africa)

Morocco reminds me of what I imagine to be the 60s and 70s but also what I view as if Spain, France and Africa had a child. 

6.   The Souks

The souks are simply amazing.  Craftsman ship, pricing, haggling, beauty, salesman, hollering, mopeds- always busy.  Not the place to go when you aren’t prepared to fight through crowds or want the ease of a store with set prices.  To me, that is all more the wonder.

7.   The History and Cultural Importance

The history and culture in Morocco is inspiring.  The stories and meaning behind the architecture is filled with richness, faith, and heart.

8.   The Tea

Although Morocco is one of the countries with the highest number of people diagnosed with diabetes, probably due to the tea consumption- it is amazing.  Until you know how much sugar goes in to the recipeJ

9.    The Welcoming

I have been greeted by numerous people just verbally welcoming us to Morocco.  They often just say ‘You are welcome in Morocco.’

10.   The Community of Expats

Always amazing to have a group of people who support one another is such a life changing transition.

Ten Things I Cope with in Marrakech

1.      The litter (garbage everywhere)

Garbage litters the streets, the corners, the curbs, the fields.  However, it seems to be getting better even since we have been here.  The mayor is finally speaking out and so are the businesses.

2.    Stray Cats and Dogs

Seeing all of the stray cats and dogs breaks your heart.  They are everywhere.  Sleeping, hiding, seeking food. Today, we saw nine stray cats in just one area walking home from Carrefour.

3.    The Driving

Two words- crazy, scary.

4.    The Taxis

It is illegal to not run your meter in Morocco, yet, it is normal.  Always haggling on prices.  I find that I avoid taxis as much as possible because of this reason.

5.  Planning my Laundry

No dryer means that I need to plan my laundry well in advance.  I work in a couple hours for the clothes to line dry either inside or outside.

6.   The Streets

We walk a lot.  The streets are not clean.  Therefore, Chad and I do not wear our shoes in the house and often wash our feet when we come home.

7.   Being the Minority

People do not hassle me, but you do get started at or even just glanced at- by the locals and the other minorities.  Now I understand how it feels to be the odd man out. 

8.   The Smoking

Unlike The States, there is smoking allowed nearly everywhere… including cafes.  Unfortunately, Marrakech is well endowed with cafes.  This means people are smoking inside, outside and everywhere in between. 

9.    The Sand

Living in the desert means that there is always sand everywhere.  The bottoms of your shoes, sneaking in the crevices of the windows, etc… Needless to say, I should sweep daily.

10.   The Stores

Going to the big box stores is interesting.  I need to pay more attention.  Often, items are missing from boxes, tags and not on the item (they don’t go look for them either), things are half eaten and you get cut in line often.  I am learning to ensure that my items have tags (after about 5 times of not learning my lesson), opening packages to ensure they are in good condition and not leaving space for people to cut.  Oh the Moroccan ways of some places!