A la plage

Day 16
June 22nd

The beach again! We went on one of our first weekends with our friend Houda, a Yemeni/French/Djbouti woman living in Rabat. When I started packing for Morocco, I hardly thought that I would be able to wear a bikini on the beach. Turns out that that is not the case at all. There are plenty of women and girls wearing string bikinis on the beaches. There are even still a few women in headscarves. Moroccan beaches are always crowded, no matter what time of day, especially on the weekends. Coming from a landlocked state, anything regarding the ocean or beaches has always fascinated me.

This time we drove to Skhirhat beach with some Moroccan boys. We had to drive through a dry, dusty field to get to the dirt parking lot for the beach. First we passed by a ramshackle house made of corrugated steel. The owner, a weather-beaten and leathery farmer charged us 5 dh ($0.71) for crossing his land to get to the beach. Looking at the two hundred cars parked on the other side, I'm guessing that he made much more money charging a toll than he did for farming.

The beach is just like a beach in any other country. The sand is deep, the Atlantic cool and refreshing. But you do have to watch out for strong currents. Someone is always playing ping-pong or volleyball—you can easily join the game because everyone is very friendly.

Houda at Bouznika beach

Scouting out the goods

Day 15
June 21st

I found the true souq of Rabat! After all my comparisons to the medina of Casablanca, Rabat has finally revealed its treasures to me. Our internship director from Wellesley, Tere, came to visit and check up on the interns. After traveling throughout the world, she has a solid background in bargaining for antique jewelry in developing countries. She led us to Rue des Consuls, which is lined with shops selling gold jewelry, silver jewelry, leather shoes, leather coats, leather poufs, brass lamps, wood furniture, artwork, pottery, cheap shoes, knock-off purses, goods imported from sub-Saharan Africa, and anything else that you can imagine. It was like the whole other half of the medina opened up to me. Although I didn't buy anything, I now have a long shopping list.

One of the stores that we stopped in had a beautiful pair of silver earrings in the shape of vines with several dangling coral beads. I decided not to buy them right then, but to wait instead. Tere spent twenty minutes bargaining with the shop owner for a Berber-style antique silver brooch. To seal the deal, she threw me in as an extra bonus for the shop keeper. I had thought that he was simply impressed by my French but apparently he gave her a better deal with the promise that I would return to his shop. Maybe I'll get a good deal on those earrings…

Photo courtesy of Stephanie Brown