It's probably my second favorite city in Morocco. There is part of it that is almost like any big modern cities, but part of it that is very Moroccan. My favorite part of the city is probably joining the crowd at the main square where there are tons of food stalls, shopping, drummers, dancers, monkey acrobats, snake charmers, fortune tellers, jugglers, old medicine men, etc.
It's actually my last day in Morocco today. On my first day here, I walked passed a coffee place with only men sitting outside facing the street...it was intimidating. As a woman, I wondered if I was allowed to go in. If you do go in, men will stare at you as if you've done something wrong. It's still a men's world here...but I've met Rachida, a very independent woman...she taught me a lot about Moroccan culture. There are women who push and fight, women who drive cars, women in parliament, polygamous marriages are almost completely abolished and you're actually allowed to wear short shorts and spaghetti straps in bigger cities (unlike other middle eastern countries). A few years ago, women only went outside twice in their lifetime; on her wedding and on the day she dies. Now, if a man tells a woman to go back home, other women will stand up for her and tell the man to mind his own business.
A lot of things we have in western countries is taken for granted, but we have to remember it's because there were women who fought for us to have those rights. It's such a young country...the older ones resists changes, but try to tell a younger one how it's done and he does exactly the opposite. It's a fascinating country here, and you feel the evolution when you're travelling from the country side to the bigger cities. It was a great lesson.
To be honest, the hot weather really isn't for me, and I've been sick the past few days...but I will miss desert, the medinas, the mountains and the people!
