It's Friday night, the work week done. Had an early dinner - TGICF - Thank God It's Couscous Friday! I might have mentioned before that for reasons unknown Moroccans eat couscous on Fridays. Works for me - I like the stuff. Didn't know it was a pasta instead of a grain. Did some errand shopping. The taxi system here is crazy!
You have the white taxis (gran taxis) which will take you along main roads and outside the city limits. They are mid-sized Mercedes, and they pack them 5 minimum, quite often 6, and I was one of 7 in one last weekend. Then there are the red taxis (petit taxis) which are SUB-compacts and are supposed to hold 4 max. Apparently they usually hold to that because the cops will actually stop you for that. They try to cheat us foreigners all the time (like 1 hr ago) but I'm told that this is absolutely normal. It would almost be an insult if they didn't. I'm just thankful that in orientation we were taught how to handle such things. It's like a game to me.
You all know how I've spent a huge chunk of my adult life working with people who have significant special needs. I've seen countless times people get frustrated to the point of absolutely losing it because of an inability to adequately communicate their needs and wants. Only now do I know what that's like. I'm extremely patient with my students. I'm far less patient with others (who have no excuse). I have zero patience with myself.
Arabic is the official language of Morocco and French the language of business. I speak all but two of those. I've only pitched small fits thus far. It's really affected my diet - it's hard sometimes to know exactly what I'm buying at the Marjane (like WalMart) and worse, how to prepare it when I get it home. I'm getting real tired of eating the same foods for breakfast...and dinner for 3 weeks straight. Baby steps.
It so happens that back in December the largest mall on the continent, and one of the top 10 largest in the world, opened maybe 5 minutes straight down the road. Imagine the Franklin Mills Mall, but with a stylish futuristic look, and real high-end stores instead of real low-rent ones. Oh yeah, put two more of them of top of each other. And tack on an Imax theatre. And put in a two-story aquarium that you can go 'inside' and be surrounded by it. And add along the one side an outdoor dining area next to a huge pool with fountains that do a show like at the Bellagio in Vegas, but unlike Vegas, this is along the ocean. I can't afford to shop in there, but it sure is nice.
I'm getting tired, so I will leave you now with some mall pics. Bonsoir!
http://www.moroccomall.net/concept
You have the white taxis (gran taxis) which will take you along main roads and outside the city limits. They are mid-sized Mercedes, and they pack them 5 minimum, quite often 6, and I was one of 7 in one last weekend. Then there are the red taxis (petit taxis) which are SUB-compacts and are supposed to hold 4 max. Apparently they usually hold to that because the cops will actually stop you for that. They try to cheat us foreigners all the time (like 1 hr ago) but I'm told that this is absolutely normal. It would almost be an insult if they didn't. I'm just thankful that in orientation we were taught how to handle such things. It's like a game to me.
You all know how I've spent a huge chunk of my adult life working with people who have significant special needs. I've seen countless times people get frustrated to the point of absolutely losing it because of an inability to adequately communicate their needs and wants. Only now do I know what that's like. I'm extremely patient with my students. I'm far less patient with others (who have no excuse). I have zero patience with myself.
Arabic is the official language of Morocco and French the language of business. I speak all but two of those. I've only pitched small fits thus far. It's really affected my diet - it's hard sometimes to know exactly what I'm buying at the Marjane (like WalMart) and worse, how to prepare it when I get it home. I'm getting real tired of eating the same foods for breakfast...and dinner for 3 weeks straight. Baby steps.
It so happens that back in December the largest mall on the continent, and one of the top 10 largest in the world, opened maybe 5 minutes straight down the road. Imagine the Franklin Mills Mall, but with a stylish futuristic look, and real high-end stores instead of real low-rent ones. Oh yeah, put two more of them of top of each other. And tack on an Imax theatre. And put in a two-story aquarium that you can go 'inside' and be surrounded by it. And add along the one side an outdoor dining area next to a huge pool with fountains that do a show like at the Bellagio in Vegas, but unlike Vegas, this is along the ocean. I can't afford to shop in there, but it sure is nice.
I'm getting tired, so I will leave you now with some mall pics. Bonsoir!
http://www.moroccomall.net/concept
That mall looks amazing!! You should go there and buy a Morroccan cookbook :-). Have you eaten anything really weird?
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