2 Camels for my sister=not a bad deal
After a crazy day in Tetuan we arrived with a sense of optimism knowing that things could only get better. We had our hotel and a couple of recommendations on things to do so we felt pretty good. This time we decided to get an official guide from the tourism office to navigate the market which is the largest in the western hemisphere. We spent all day touring the market.
If you ever have a chance to go to Morocco, the market in Fez is unbelieveable. You could easily get lost for hours without a guide. The market is an assault on your senses. The stench overpowering, the colors vibrant and alive and the sounds of mass people bartering fill the air. It is quite a site to behold. That afternoon we wandered into a shop with a friendly young man who spoke perfect English. He was a rather attractive guy in his early 30′s so I was surprised that he paid such intense interest in my sister and her friend. (Granted, he did have one arm). After a few minutes he pulled me aside into another room. He proceeded to tell me how lucky I was to be with 2 beautiful (his opinion) women. Then he became serious. He asked what it would take to have both of them. Once again, he was dead serious! Unfortunately I was so shocked I wasn’t thinking straight. I laughed it off and proceeded to grab my sister and her friend and we hurried from the store. To this day I still regret not trading them for at least 2 camels. Why hadn’t I taken the time to weigh my options! My sister is…well, my sister, and her friend Kelly, I haven’t seen her since. From now on every time I hear my sister nagging I simply picture her as a camel and think what might have been.
After a great day in the market we decided to go and see a light show in the city that night. We had decided that it would be best to try and speak spanish and tell everyone we were from Spain. As Americans we were looked down upon and we felt it would be easier for us to blend in. We took a cab to the show and it only cost about 14 dirham, which was about $1.40. The show was great and afterwards we got back into a taxi. The driver was friendly and spoke in Spanish with us thinking we were from Spain. I noticed that the meter had started on 15 dirham but didn’t think anything of it. When we arrived at our neighborhood I was expecting to pay a bit more because it was late at night. However, I did not expect for him to charge us 50 dirham! At first I was trying to be friendly and let him know that the ride there had only cost us 14. He conveniently forgot his spanish and acted as though he didn’t understand a word I was saying. (One of the themes throughout my Morocco trip is that I didn’t make very good judments. It doesn’t take a genius to figure out this was over $5). I began getting agitated and next thing you know we were screaming at each other. I saw that he had some coins on his dashboard and I grabbed them telling him I wanted change. He grabbed my arm with such force that I immediately realized what I was doing. I dropped the coins, left my fifty and started to walk away as he continued to yell at me. Chela, Kelly and I walked briskly down the street trying to leave the cabbie behind. Just when we thought he was gone I turned around and saw him coming up behind us. He was accompanied by two huge men on either side of him. They drawfed him in size as he was probably only about 5’5 and they were each a foot taller. I looked at the 2 girls nervously and we began to move even faster. Unfortunately, so did they. At this point I panicked and screamed, “run”! We began running down the streets lined with cafes. The Moroccan’s, who obviously deduced we were foreigners, began to yell from the cafes as we hit a full sprint. I’ll never forget the broken English and the thick accents as they yelled, “why are you running!” Luckily we were close to the hotel, we turned the corner with them about 50 yards behind us. We slipped inside hoping that they did not see us.
After a few anxious moments inside the lobby we realized that the cab driver had either not seen us or had given up. I proceeded to tell the front desk clerk everything that had happened just to be safe. We then retreated to our room. It was Halloween night and we had decided earlier that we were going to go out that night. However, with the events that had occured we decided it was best not to leave the hotel. Besides, we were convinced he was waiting downstairs in the cab. We stayed in the room talking and reminiscing about our travels when we heard a knock on the door about an hour later.
My sister opened the door and we were told that someone wanted to see me at the front desk. There could only be 2 possibilities. The cab driver or the police. I looked at my sister in angst and she told me to stay put. She went down stairs to find the cab driver waiting. He demanded to see my passport so that he could report me to the authorities. Fortunately my sister refused. After arguing with him the front desk clerk stepped in. Having heard the entire story he told the cabbie to leave the hotel or he would actually report him to the authorities. The cab driver decided that it was time to drop it and he finally left without incident. Once again we had had an eventful day in Morocco. One that I’ll never forget!
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