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Saturday 13 September, Menara Gardens, Mamounia hotel

Marrakech - part VII

Elisabeth & Teije
2006-07-19 19:15:31

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remarkable thing is the behaviour of the people: as soon as a quarrel threatens to start or get out of hand (which happens a lot in the traffic), an outsider interferes to separate the arguers. The same happens here on the square. A Moroccon tourist threatens to attack one of the snakecharmers (who is very annoying, we must say, whining for more money) but a passer-by interferes with them and separates the two men. Another example: a blind man tries to cross the street. When a passer-by sees this, he takes the man's arm and brings him to the other side of the street. Then he walks back and goes his own way. A very social people.

Back at the hotel, Teije walks to the back to make a picture of the hotel and our balcony. I must be somewhere up there. Like many buildings it is coloured red. Stone red, earth red, a real desert colour. The 5 meters high wall around the Medina has the same colour, as the earth we have seen along the way to the Menara Gardens and also in the Palmeraie. Marrakech is also called the Red City for the clay that is used in the bricks.

At night we look for our favourite beggar but he is already gone, wherever he sleeps. Probably with his family since not many beggars sleep on the streets at night. He just contributes his share of the family income by begging and gets food and housing in return.

Every night we eat something different (tonight in Charly's again) but the taste always seem to be a bit the same. Is it our spoilt taste? It doesn't matter wether it is pizza, beef, or fish, it is all the same. Only the couscous is different, much more tasty but the amount of food is also three times more than the other dishes.

When we walk back to the hotel at 11, we see a woman with her child sitting under a tree, begging. They don't look very healthy and we give her 2 euro. In Holland we could buy 1 coffee for that amount, but here it is much more and she is delighted with it. She starts blessing us in French and Arabian and keeps on even when we have walked on. At least, we feel much better giving the money directly to the beggars than giving it to a relief organisation in Holland where one just never knows how much money will really be used for the people that need it. But still, it is a terrible shame that there is so much poverty in the world.

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