Category: Funny Anecdotes

Marrakech

Today on the way back to Rabat we stopped for about 4 hours in the “Red City” of Marrakech. We visited a Quranic boarding school that had been in use for centuries until it finally closed in the 1960s. It was very interesting… we also got a tour through the medina and the souks (workshops). We saw crafstmen making wood, leather, and metal products. We also stopped in a beautiful museum, and after that, went to the square where there were snake charmers (cobra snakes!!) and monkeys. I totally GOT TO HOLD a monkey!!! He was so cute!!!

So, um, the little guy got to second base!
So, um, the little guy got to second base!

Also (sorry for not posting yesterday, I didn’t get back to the hotel room till about 2AM) last night I saw 80s band Arrested Development at the Gnaoua festival (apparently I have been spelling it wrong) and did a lil dancing, it was great. Before that we visited a vineyard, took a tour of the cave (wine cellar) and had a really intense four-course meal. I think I had more to say on the subject but I am quite weary and can’t remember… so I’ll just have to save it for my next update.

Wrestling!

I’m watching wrestling in German at the hotel we’re staying at here in Essouaria. There are a bunch of French channels but they’re all showing suuuuper dramatic movies and the English channel has continuous coverage of M-J’s heart attack. I’m not sure it warrants continuous coverage…  anyway so German WWE it is.

We left Rabat today at around 7:30 AM and got here to Essouaria at like 4. That is like three hours longer than the trip should have taken and I’m not sure why. Lets just say it was a long time to be in the tour bus/van/thing. I listened to some great music on my iPod and slept a fair amount so it was not bad. Traveling by road really isn’t good for one’s appearance though. I mean when you get off a plane you still look alright usually. In a car, bus or van its a different story.

The Gnawa festival is shaping up to be A-W-E-S-O-M-E. We watched one concert tonight and I’m looking forward to a day full of Gnawa tomorrow!!!

Just One, Please

So today I was buying some minutes for my phone, which was a supremely awkward mix of French, English, and Arabic (which I had no idea what was going on) at this little store near my school. As I was trying to communicate with one of they guys working there, some young-ish person strolled by, caught the eye of the othey guy working there, and bought one cigarette. Yeah, just one. He lit it and continued to the corner where he was waiting to cross traffic.

The fact that here you can just buy one, unwrapped and inidentified, struck us as hilarious. Brynn and Pete tried to convey this to him, but we think he thought that Pete was trying to buy it from him. Haha–just kind of adds to the funny. Finally, Brynn said something in Arabic that was pretty “In America it is not possible to buy just one. I like this very much.” The other funny part of this is that when Brynn tries to tell us what she had said in Arabic (on this and other occasions) she slips into a wacky “Borat”-esque voice, even though we’re all Americans I guess she feels like it helps her convey her halting, stammering incorrect speech? Either way we always get a kick out of Borat Brynn.