Tangier;Morocco;Africa; "the Wild West"
Friday 18 March-
Mellow morning in Tarifa making final preparations for the trip. Nothing worth reporting, except the good news that Matt has booked a room at the same hostel in Tangiers last night and will join me on the ferry. I was hoping to have someone to travel with for this first leg.
Getting on the ferry was no big deal. The ride was nice, but nothing crazy, and the view was nothing to write about.
Once we arrived we found out we were supposed to get our passports stamped on the boat, so they sent Matt back to the boat with our passports while I waited with our bags. Only took a few minutes and we were on our way to the baggage screening. It was a joke. They had 2 ladies there, one was watching the X-ray screen while the other was checking someone's bag. No other security. The metal detector made a negative beep when I went through, but no one stopped me. There was no real barricade to keep you from skipping the line altogether, we watched little kids jumping over it, obviously for fun. We're not in Kansas anymore toto.
Then we're off on our own and I spotted some blue cabs which I was pretty sure where the petite taxis we wanted in the distance and avoided those people waiting outside the terminal trying to offer rides. The first guy asked "where are you going?" And I replied La shokran, which I think means No Thank you. He laughed, repeated my statement in a way that makes me think I wasn't using it correctly and said something like chill out, you're ok. So I told him we are gonna to catch a petite taxi over there, but thank you.
The next guy asked the same question and I just said we already have a taxi and kept walking. The 3rd guy asked as we were approaching the taxis. I had a feeling he was one of the drivers so I tried to tell him where we needed to go and he did not understand me. We tried a few times, I tried to bring it up on my phone but he still wasn't sure. Another guy was waiting there who did not speak English but speaks Arabic, French, and Spanish. He ended up in the cab with us, and we tried to communicate in a poor broken English/Spanish. We made it to the square we were looking for.
We were Immediately approached by Aleh who wanted to show us how to get to our hostel. I told him I had no money for him and we were happy to find it ourselves. He followed us anyway. I repeated that I had no money for him and he assured me he was happy to show us the way. I asked a few questions to ensure he knew where we wanted to go, and so we allowed him to lead the way.
I knew the walk should only take a few minutes so I said "2 minutes or else we turn around and find it ourselves"
He did get us right place and then sure enough asked for money, I think he wanted 10 Euros. I reminded him that I said no money, I was upfront, but I decided to give him just a few euros anyway since he didn't take us on an adventure elsewhere. He said we're now friends. We saw him again the next day.
Matt says I did a good job. To be honest I never would have found the place. It all worked out. Thanks New York for preparing me for this.
The hostel is pretty much what I was expecting in a good way, all decked out in Morocco style. Tiles of different color everywhere. Wall paintings. Our room is accessed from the terrace so I can see the city from my bed.
I heard the prayer calls today and it was insane. All of the mosques, and there's a few, broadcast the prayers 5 times a day and they start staggered, gradually crescendoing to a peak. It was breathtaking.
... Tangier conversations and observations.... Not all my words or ideas. ... After the hash...
Religion and how's it's all the same and made to explain Mother Nature and instill morals and control the people. If it stops people from raping their daughters I'm down. When it cause people to fight and control other's actions I'm not.
Politics. America is fucked. Even when Bernie wins he will be in control of a military that's fucked up and continues to screw with the world. A country whose style of capitalism does not look out for the population but is geared towards every man for him self. (They are calling me a communist :))
Molecules, that's all we are.
Tangerine tangerine (this is its birthplace)
Playing Soccer in the tiny lobby
I wrote a sci-fi paper as an arrogant punk kid in high school about how recycling and renewable energy was hurting the planet because the earth needs garbage to heal itself. I got in trouble cause I made fun of classmates in the process. We had a discussion about the reality that humans are a parasite. Which lead to the Cosmos show and humans are only a small blip in the timeline of the planet. Which made me realize the poignancy of the paper.
Map.me is an amazing app for offline mapping.
Ayoub, the kid who runs the hostel is pretty cool, and a tech wiz.
In the evening , after sundown, there were a lot of Kids playing in the street in Tarifa and Tangiers which was cool.
However a little later in Tangiers there are Kids on glue and gasoline, that is pretty sad.
Cats everywhere in the streets.
Went out for meat Skewers and lentils with a group of folks from the hostel then to Coffee and crepe at a pretty beautiful spot. Was nice to be out with a crew including those that could order.
Late night hash smoking, talking about Quantum computing ,, Internet of everything,
Later night jamming on guitars.
Ciao
