Less pictures, more talk
So I know what I said, and I said what I meant, but last night my Casablanca experience changed 100%.
Haley had a headache, and went to bed early. That left me hanging out with our Air B&B host, Meryl. We started talking about history, quantum theory, evil spirits and alien conspiracy. We went further and further down the rabbit hole only to find we were on many of the same pages. He taught me things I didn't know, like details on Nibiru. I taught him about crystals, and my different theories on the moon.
We smoked a few hash cigarettes. Apparently Moroccan hash is THE hash. Who know? ...Apparently everyone, actually.. Oops.
I had no idea, and here I was in Morocco on 4/20 and didn't smoke at all. Silly. Especially because it's found in the mountains, and that's where we were. Hiking to the waterfall. It would have been perfect. Oh well.
So the other host, Tarek, called us over to his apartment for pizza. We walked over, it wasn't even 10:30 at night and I felt uneasy. Meryl said I was safe if I was with him, but still there were groups of sketchy men just hanging out in the streets looking like trouble.
I did this though:
And it felt rebellious and kind of dangerous to do because of where I was and who I was and what time it was. Though I'm sure that's basically what it's there for.
We got to the apartment just fine. Hung out, smoked hash, ate pizza, drank wine.
Their neighbour came by. A 16y/o girl going on 25. She was clearly very street smart, she snuck around a lot and apparently has her father always concerned about where she is. Even the guys we were with, like a second family to her since she was a kid, were very concerned about her. She wanted to leave to get smokes, and it was almost midnight. Tarek told her no, and she rebelled, and insisted.
I couldn't talk to her, but I made sure to tell her something: that I only want to empower her, but she is young and the world outside, at night, is very dangerous. That these people we were with don't want to hold her back, that they only want to protect her because they care.
Meryl translated my message to her. She thought about it for a few seconds, then said "okay", and seemed to accept what I said. She made no attempts to leave after that.
What I would have liked to continue to say to her was that a lot of the decisions she makes now will shape her future. That the people she spends time with will open her opportunities and experiences. That she should act towards a way she wants to one day be. And that sneaking around at night will only lead to trouble, it's a risk and a gamble. It has consequences she maybe doesn't yet understand, but the kind of trouble that can swallow you whole and you might not come back from.
But I didn't say that. I didn't want to preach to this teenager I'd only just met. She was sweet, and we couldn't communicate, but I cared. And maybe some of this was things I needed to hear back then.
The guys were really cool. Tarek has a plans to open the first Moroccan restaurant in the Philippines. Meryl used to be a personal shopper at Harod's. I had only vaguely heard of Harod's before. But did you know it's a store where they can pretty much get you anything? Apparently in the 80s they used to have Giraffes right in shop.
Want a pair of Madonna's underwear? Your personal shopper will call up her agent and see if it's a possibility, and what it'll cost. How crazy is that! Pretty cool if you ask me. Though I don't know how I'd feel about selling animals, not to mention wild ones, to people who just have money to burn.
What else did I learn?
I learned about ISIS. I know, that's a strange topic. I learned about free masons. Did you know George W Bush was a level 31 free mason, and that there are 33? Apparently his father, GB senior was a level 33. Crazy. He's gotta be doing some kind of black magic, hocus pocus, witch craft. Maybe virgin sacrifice? Definitely hooded cloaks and ominous chanting.
Anyway, after pizza and our hang out sesh, we had to head back. Only now it was past midnight and not a safe time for me to be walking around outside, even with a male chaperone. So their friend offered to take me back on his moped. A moped! Or is it mo-ped? I don't know but it was my first time on one and it was AWESOME! Weaving in and out of midnight Moroccan traffic. Where lanes don't really exist and they don't believe in brakes. Mostly roundabouts instead of lights.
It was the best Casablanca experience by far. My only wish was that it lasted longer… oh, and that I got some kind of photographic evidence. Cuz apparently if you don't have a picture, it didn't happen. But this definitely happened, and it was the coolest way to end my Moroccan visit.
It made me realize how much time I'd spent not meeting new people. How many nights I'd spent "staying in", and it made me want to "live" again.
Right now I sit on a plane, some 36,000ft in the air, on my way to Amsterdam. My seat buddy Tim is dutch and quite lovely. Oh and I made another friend, Ali, a Moroccan diplomat, on the train to the airport. It's been a really great day. Made plans with Sean for Italy. Said bye to Haley, and Morocco, and am now Europe bound to one of the coolest cities in the world.
I'm stoked.
AML
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