Casablanca...

From Cadiz, Spain and Lisbon, Portugal to Casablanca, Morocco. I had been to Cadiz and Lisbon before on several occasions so those days were just nice to walk around and visit familiar areas and shops. Today was a day in Casablanca. Just like the movie. The last time I was here was in 2000. I didn't regard it too highly then and I don't regard it too highly today. I did realize a few things though. One, I'm not a shopper and especially not one that encounters pushy salespeople. It's just a different culture. They present you with so many things with the prosper to buy. I like to shop casually and kind of away from a salesperson unless I need one. Not the case here. They are right up in your face pushing the items fast and furiously. It was way too intense for my liking. Secondly, I realized how inept most Americans are (including myself) for international travel and communication. These people knew at LEAST 3 different languages. They knew Arabic (the language of the land), French (the language of the owners or previous colony owners I'd assume), Spanish, and some English. The last two being languages of their most popular visitors. Most know only 3 of the 4 and all the ones I encountered today knew very little English. French IS the second language though, which I should know from all I learned in high school. However I've been out of practice. The United States needs to start incorporating Spanish as a second language since Spanish-speaking countries are so near by AND French since French Canada is our next-door neighbor. We should also be offering Japanese, German, and a variety of other languages to our elementary children as a requirement so they can communicate with others outside the United States. I wish I learned a second language earlier so it would be more second nature than a recall. Needless to say I was frustrated I couldn't talk and jealous these people knew so many ways to communicate other than the way I knew how.

It started out as a rough day since I had a little too much wine the night before. My glass just kept getting refilled by the generosity of the people around me. Whew!! I walked off the ship early (since we had rehearsal later) with much the same feeling as I did in 2000. The port area isn't very nice and it's very busy. I just tried to walk into town like I did back then and didn't make it like I did back then. There were truck loads of cargo going by, things getting dumped and flying through the air, oil on the pavement, and workers everywhere. I had about 5 cabbies approach me and ask if I needed a ride and I finally caved for a $5 trip. He took me into Medina, which is the old town and the central market area. I spent about 45 minutes there wandering through the shops and not really enjoying the shopping since it was so intense. I had seen the Mosque when I was here last time so I didn't feel the need to go on that little side trip. I checked things out before heading back to the ship for rehearsal. I would've liked to see Marrakech today, but it was a 4-hour trip in either direction AND we had rehearsal mid-day. Oh well. Maybe someday.