The shock of the stray cats brings me back to Israel. Someone opened a dumpster to throw a piece of trash away, and it was like someone was shooting a bazooka gun full of cats out of it. Dozens of cats jumping in a straight line out of the dumpster.
Maybe some kind of anti-rat paranoia that keeps anyone from attempting to control the cat population. Association of rats with plague? I know things spoil more quickly in hot/dry areas. Italy assimilated to adjacent European norms which are more about animal rights/control/welfare. A European sees a stray cat and thinks, "omg we must fund an organization to control this problem," meanwhile the Moroccan or Israel strolls through a Bazaar full of chaos and squabbling and thinks "it's a great day for a stroll" and doesn't even notice the stray cats.
In 1979, my best friend and I took the ferry from Algeciras to Tangiers. While in the casbah, after trading three Swedish women with whom we were hanging for a camel, we bought djellabas, which we decided to wear on the ferry ride back to Spain. My best friend assumed the name "Sheik Yerbouti." The Moroccan immigration guys were unamused, and strip-searched him on the dock. I sometimes wonder what became of those three Swedish women.
Did you see any difference between Berbers and Arabs? I know they tend to mix nowadays and a lot of ‘Arabs’ are really Arabised Berbers, but still there’s a lot of complicated history there
Lol no. The only provenance I heard people care about is whether someone was a "Doukkali" or not. Apparently people knew that was me because I was tall.
You could be describing India, or most of the non-Western world: grinding poverty, cheap labor, glaring inequality, ostentatious weddings, over the top hospitality, stray animals, street harassment of women (the ridiculous Indian term for it is “eve teasing”; your wife’s clothing and huge tattoo made her a prime target). But the streets look relatively clean, Indian streets are filthy.
Do Moroccans obey traffic rules, like staying in your lane and not driving on the wrong side?
I once read that divorced women over 40 are highly sought after by young Moroccan men for their sexual experience. Is that true?
The shock of the stray cats brings me back to Israel. Someone opened a dumpster to throw a piece of trash away, and it was like someone was shooting a bazooka gun full of cats out of it. Dozens of cats jumping in a straight line out of the dumpster.
There were zero stray cats in Italy. I don't really get what predicts this.
Maybe some kind of anti-rat paranoia that keeps anyone from attempting to control the cat population. Association of rats with plague? I know things spoil more quickly in hot/dry areas. Italy assimilated to adjacent European norms which are more about animal rights/control/welfare. A European sees a stray cat and thinks, "omg we must fund an organization to control this problem," meanwhile the Moroccan or Israel strolls through a Bazaar full of chaos and squabbling and thinks "it's a great day for a stroll" and doesn't even notice the stray cats.
Dude, you Moroccans don't mess around when it comes to a feast. Damn.
My daughter married into an Israeli Morroccan family. She always tells me about the incredible Shabbat meals.
In 1979, my best friend and I took the ferry from Algeciras to Tangiers. While in the casbah, after trading three Swedish women with whom we were hanging for a camel, we bought djellabas, which we decided to wear on the ferry ride back to Spain. My best friend assumed the name "Sheik Yerbouti." The Moroccan immigration guys were unamused, and strip-searched him on the dock. I sometimes wonder what became of those three Swedish women.
Fascinating. Pity about the poverty, though. Aside from that it seems like an amazing country.
Great shots! Most of what I know about Morocco is from you lol. I would be just like your wife, stopping and making friends with each and every cat.
Everything about this is great.
Cats.
Love pictures, lovely cats, lovely wife.
Did you see any difference between Berbers and Arabs? I know they tend to mix nowadays and a lot of ‘Arabs’ are really Arabised Berbers, but still there’s a lot of complicated history there
Lol no. The only provenance I heard people care about is whether someone was a "Doukkali" or not. Apparently people knew that was me because I was tall.
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Doukkala
You could be describing India, or most of the non-Western world: grinding poverty, cheap labor, glaring inequality, ostentatious weddings, over the top hospitality, stray animals, street harassment of women (the ridiculous Indian term for it is “eve teasing”; your wife’s clothing and huge tattoo made her a prime target). But the streets look relatively clean, Indian streets are filthy.
Do Moroccans obey traffic rules, like staying in your lane and not driving on the wrong side?
I once read that divorced women over 40 are highly sought after by young Moroccan men for their sexual experience. Is that true?
Way to end on a different note!
Both sides of my family are hella tall, so blame genetics. American diet just made me fat