Excursion to the Medina

Today I really wanted to get out of the apartment in Marrakesh and go to the medina, the old town.
With the taxi.
And also drive back again. A dear young friend here offered to accompany me. I've known him since May from a road trip through Morocco together.
He doesn't speak a word of English. Not a word of French. We communicate with gestures.

🙃 Something went wrong in the communication today. 

After visiting the café in the medina, I wanted to go back “home”.
It was really hot and there were construction sites everywhere because there was work going on on the streets in Marrakech day and night. Because the big annual meeting 2023 of the World Bank Group and the IMF will take place here in the city of Marrakech from October 7th.
That means construction sites everywhere! Marrakesh wants to show off its best side. Understandably, I don't really feel like going out!

I explained to him with gestures that after visiting the café I would like to go to Hangman's Square (Djemelfna) to drink a juice and then take a taxi back.

Hahahaa, wonderful!
It became: drink juice, yes! That's exactly what I wanted.

Afterwards we walked through the souk. Mhh, I thought after we walked in circles that he might want to do me a favor. My politeness didn't allow me to make him understand that I didn't want to go to the souk under any circumstances!! I was sweating 😥 He kept looking at his phone. I assumed he was looking where our taxi was waiting.

We ran and ran. Through construction sites, stumbling over torn up streets and I could already feel blisters on my balls. At some point it dawned on me that there was probably a misunderstanding... So I stayed brave. He also.  

I turned the situation around. I thought, OK, Nora, since you haven't expanded your radius from the front door and the café where I'm sitting with my laptop for a week, this is a workout. And you get to know the Neustadt. In the meantime he bought water for us. By then I knew that this journey home would take some time... Shortly before the longed-for front door, I saw some nice cafés. Out in the open. With fountains. I'll visit them tomorrow.

This can happen if you don't communicate clearly and are too polite. I laugh. We laugh about this experience that evening. I ask him (someone else translated) if he will accompany me again next time? He laughs. I didn't receive an answer. But I know: He will. He's just a caring person, and incredibly helpful.

A sensitivity to people's needs

The young man I'm talking about here only understands Arabic, but he still intuitively understands what I need.
For example, when I eat, he immediately finds out what I like most on the plate.

And then he sorts it out to put these delicacies on my plate. He seems to be watching my gaze. Because before I even say anything, he has already realized it. In general, I observe that the guest is really king or queen.
I was once invited to visit friends 2 days after Ramadan.
We were 7 people. They still had the rhythm of the night in their daily routine.
Because in Ramadan you eat at night until sunrise. So he went out and got something to eat after midnight. He brought meat with bread and put it in the oven. Because of all the partying, he forgot the meat in the oven. When it occurred to him, it was 3:00 a.m. and the good pieces had turned a pretty dark color. We all laughed. That's another wonderful quality of Moroccans: accepting everything as it is and laughing about it.

The food is served on a large tray in the middle.
In this case, the baking sheet went with the semi-charred meat in the middle. As always there is no cutlery. The bread is the cutlery. The best, uncharred pieces were pushed to my side. That was a bit embarrassing for me at first. But then I understood that this is normal for her.
Sharing is normal.
Giving the other person the best piece is normal.

In a culture that relies on one another in community and cohesion, helping each other is vital.

There is a lot that we can learn in our individualized social structure here in Morocco.
Because in our society the focus is on self-realization, personal freedom and autonomy.

I stand behind these values. But my travels here also made me question this form, as it can often increase isolation. This country moves me because it shows me exactly this and so much more.
Not everything is fantastic here!

Definitely not! It's important to me to talk about all sides. The good and the not so good, the glorious and the cruel. As always, there is everything everywhere. And I tell my stories of encounters, experiences and my perspective. Every trip is an experience.
But every journey shapes you and every journey will leave its mark on us. We learn that not everything is as it seems.
Prejudices quickly arise from ignorance. It is my pleasure to dismantle these
and that is why I write about my experiences in this country that moves me so deeply.