{"id":2227,"date":"2013-07-29T17:33:55","date_gmt":"2013-07-29T21:33:55","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.francescaling.com\/scrapbook\/?p=2227"},"modified":"2014-01-12T23:18:39","modified_gmt":"2014-01-13T04:18:39","slug":"tangier-morocco","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.francescaling.com\/scrapbook\/tangier-morocco\/","title":{"rendered":"Tangier, Morocco"},"content":{"rendered":"

– Tangier, Morocco<\/p>\n

Tangier (Tanger) was the start of my 17-day visit to Morocco; to see my sister and what her life is like in the Peace Corps.<\/p>\n

Flying into Casablanca, I was pleasantly surprised to hear a women speak to me in French. I suppose I expected Darija. We were in the immigration line, and she asked for un s<\/em>tylo<\/em>, a pen. I grabbed one from my bag, handed it to her, and mused about how handy high-school-plus-one-year-of-college-French might be. Unfortunately, it was incredibly rusty, and \u00a0it was best to keep quiet until I could practice .<\/p>\n

That didn’t happen, either. As soon as we all reached the arrivals hall, we were ambushed by a dozen representatives from the local telecom companies, all offering free SIM cards, pre-loaded with credit. What a fantastic marketing move. I picked up one from an extremely enthusiastic young man, who rapidly conversed with me in French… conversation happened, more or less…<\/p>\n

I called my sister who excitedly screamed, which led me to laugh\/scream like a touristy Chinese person. I didn’t care. This was exciting. She elaborated on instructions to get to Tangier from Casablanca, via train.<\/p>\n

\"IMG_3953\"<\/p>\n

Once on the train, I battled boredom by photographing the scenery.<\/p>\n

One rogue, puppy dog.<\/p>\n

One rogue, empty bus.<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

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I also spent quite some time scribbling away in my travel sketchbook in French, writing narratives and thoughts, to jog my rusty French.<\/p>\n

\"IMG_4013-1\"<\/p>\n

Sheep. Er’where.<\/p>\n

\"IMG_4029-1\"<\/p>\n

\"IMG_4014-1\"<\/p>\n

Black\/White pair.<\/p>\n

\"IMG_4008-1\"<\/p>\n

Drying mud fields.<\/p>\n

\"IMG_4005\"<\/p>\n

\"IMG_4017-1\"<\/p>\n

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Lone donkey. Thinking about… ?<\/p>\n

\"IMG_4000\"<\/p>\n

One of these, is not like the other. (figures)<\/p>\n

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Prayer.<\/p>\n

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Red.<\/p>\n

\"IMG_3980\"<\/p>\n

Here, we were stalled for 30 minutes. Not sure for what.<\/p>\n

\"IMG_3993\"<\/p>\n

\"IMG_3987\"<\/p>\n

\"IMG_3978\"<\/p>\n

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More tents.<\/p>\n

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About four hours later, I am finally reunited with my sister!<\/p>\n

We stroll through the city with her fellow PC friend, and they provide the tour. It’s been over a year that they have been living in Morocco.<\/p>\n

Kindly showing me architecture influenced by other cultures.<\/p>\n

\"IMG_4047-1\"<\/p>\n

The beginning of many cats.<\/p>\n

\"IMG_4057-1\"<\/p>\n

Cinema.<\/p>\n

\"IMG_4053-1\"<\/p>\n

Affinity for all different versions of otherwise familiar objects:<\/p>\n

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Approaching the market.<\/p>\n

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\"IMG_4059-1\"<\/p>\n

This black paint has flavor.<\/p>\n

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Cactus fruit! I’m now a fan.<\/p>\n

\"IMG_4060-1\"<\/p>\n

Animal cruelty comments aside, these baby chicks were still very cute, being sold by the handfuls by this charming toothy-grinning man.<\/p>\n

\"IMG_4073-1\"<\/p>\n

Olive oil, being sold by the (water) bottles.<\/p>\n

\"IMG_4064-1\"<\/p>\n

Punk kid’s smize says, I’d rather prefer you buy the bread.<\/p>\n

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They took me up to this beautiful rooftop for mint tea and snacks that they purchased from the bakeries.<\/p>\n

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This room is part of the building restaurant\/cafe, that we went to the top of.<\/p>\n

\"IMG_4096-1\"<\/p>\n

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Friendly feline does not care about my socks & shoe combination; normally in NY a faux-pas. Awesome.<\/p>\n

\"IMG_4106-1\"<\/p>\n

Turns out this friendly feline isn’t that friendly, and just wants to aggressively eat your food.<\/p>\n

\"IMG_4112-1\"<\/p>\n

Friendly feline thinks, let go of me.<\/p>\n

\"IMG_4107-1\"<\/p>\n

Then, all the mosques sung out their calls for prayer.<\/p>\n

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\"IMG_4101-1\"<\/p>\n

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We also walked around the older district.<\/p>\n

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And when the sun set, commenced our night tour. It’s a bit of a maze, and the narrow walkways between buildings brought back memories of Jerusalem.<\/p>\n

\"IMG_4134-2\"<\/p>\n

Qui veat un chameleon?<\/p>\n

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OU CHASSURES.<\/p>\n

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Also, it was my sister’s birthday at Midnight. We got cake to celebrate. Happy Birthday!!<\/p>\n

We stayed in a nice hotel that they researched for. I am in good hands.<\/p>\n

\"IMG_4138-3\"<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

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