Rabat

Today is nhar essebt (Saturday).

I, along with one of my fellow volunteers, Reggie from Harrisburg, PA, met up with 3 of my students for a tour of Rabat. We had a great time and a bit of an adventure along the way!

First, Reggie and I flagged down a taxi to take us to the East-West Foundation where we were to meet up with our guides. We told the taxi driver where to take us and he seemed to understand. But it didn't take long to realize we weren't headed in the normal way we would get there. We thought perhaps he was taking a short cut or going a different way we weren't aware of. But after about 10 minutes we knew something was wrong. We tried to get him to stop and let us out but he kept telling us that we weren't there yet (or that was what we think he was saying). He spoke no English, only French and Moroccan, which made it tough to communicate. Reggie speaks a little French, but he couldn't get through to the driver. So we kept saying "safi, afeck" Moroccan for stop please. Finally he turned down a narrow street in a rather seedy neighborhood, drove for about 3 more blocks and announced "arrivee" - we have arrived. Then he charged us 17 dirhams ! Now 17 dirhams is about $2.00, so it's not like a grand rip-off. The normal cost for a taxi from our home-base to the foundation is 1o dirhams - 80 cents. But he dropped us off in the middle of we don't know where and in a very seedy part of town. We had to walk about 3 blocks to a main Avenue and flag down another taxi, and the walk was interesting. Almost all Moroccans are very friendly, but we weren't getting any friendly vibes from the people in this place. A couple times some teenagers just hanging out yelled something at us, and I don't think they were asking us how we were! Reggie is a big guy, about 6' 2" 200 Ibs and i'm no midget so no one approached us, but we didn't stop to do any window shopping on the way out that neighborhood.

We made it to a main Avenue without incident and flagged a cab which took us directly to the Institution -for 10 dirhams of course. So a taxi ride that usually cost 10 dirhams ended up costing us 27 dirhams, or about $3.25 plus we got to walk through a Moroccan "Hood".

Once we met up with our students we piled into a grand taxi for the ride to the Rabat Medina. A regular taxi is called a Petit taxi and in each city they are a certain color. In Rabat they are blue. Petit taxis by law can only carry 3 people max. A Grand taxi is always white in any city and by law can carry 6 people. Petit taxis are metered, but Grand taxis aren't. You tell him where you want to go and he'll tell you what he'll charge you for that distance. Bargaining on the final price ensues and finally a price is agreed on and off we go.

We got to the Medina and walked around for about an hour. Medina's are giant mazes filled shops. I picked up a couple things. Haggling for the final price is expected shopkeepers don't get offended by it at all. I was able to get good deals on both my purchases -with the help of my Moroccan friends. Reggie and I are going back tomorrow and will be able to finish my shopping!

After the Medina we must have walked almost all of Rabat Center. We finally grabbed a taxi to take us back to the home-base just in time for diner.

The house is quiet this evening. I think i'm the only volunteer in the house. There's a music concert in a park about 45 minute walk from here and they all went to listen to the music.

So It's nice to have the house to just me and Hamid, who is the night caretaker. Hamid is a tall guy, about 6" 7". He used to play Basketball for the Moroccan National Team. He he no longer plays, but he does referee games regularly. Hamid's very funny. He speaks no English, just Moroccan & French but he'll talk your ear off anyway and will give French lessons if you ask (or if you don't ask). He's a great guy and all the girls love him. And he loves the attention!

Well, that's about all to report for today.

A pleasant Sunday to everyone.

Dave