Friday, March 07, 2008

First day in Casablanca

Arrived in Casablanca
Got cheated by a cab driver on the way to the hotel
The hotel is great. The bellboy showed me how to get CNN international on the TV. I guess I can't really get away from Atlanta
Walked around and saw lots of art deco
Went to the precarious top of the cathedral bell tower
Tried twice but failed to catch a train to El Jadida
Ended up taking a taxi to the remote suburban Jewish museum instead, which was small but great--the only Jewish museum in an Islamic country. Great cab driver too. Taught me a little French.
Could not find a taxi back to the town center-don't know if it's part of the Jewish suffering experience.
Ended up hitching a ride on a moped which brought back memories of India. Driver said "Shah Rukh Khan" when I said "je suis Indien." Thus total time between arriving and hearing "Shah Rukh Khan": 8.5 hours.
Stepped into the medina and immediately got approached by a hustler who was reasonably interesting but got me to buy two things I didn't need. Learned some useful Arabic from him though and killed an hour or so. Then he ended up begging which was just absurd.
Then got a book to help me learn some French. There was actually one available here despite what would seem like a lack of demand.
Had a decent shawarma for a snack and now heading to the hotel for dinner. Will probably start the day tomorrow by visiting Hassan II mosque followed by El Jadida and maybe Azzemour.
Getting used to using Internet Explorer and Windows in French. Not too hard.

1 Comments:

Blogger Wavefunction said...

Hilarious, especially the begging, the moped and Shah Rukh Khan. And immensely interesting, everything. Take care and just don't let anyone else cheat you. Have fun.

3:30 PM  

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