THE OLD CITY
Nothing I have evern witnessed could have prepared me for what I was about to walk into. From the pictures on the previous post wou get a good idea of what the streets of the old medina are like: crowded, narrow, without symetry or pattern, chaotic. Not only did I have to compete with masses of people, but there were other obstacles.
The first obstacle is a tricky one. As a tourist, it's nice to have a guide. Someone to make sure that I don't go down a wrong alley, of the 9,400+ alleyways and streets that make up the old medina. Someone to take me to the shops that have authentic, quality products, at a not so inflated price. Someone to translate when needed and someone to shoo away the people who may want to mug or exploit me. This is very tricky. See, all tourists carry a sign with them that scam-artists and faux guides can see. These people seek you out. They see you and persist on helping you find the "good" shops. They say they don't want any money, but only want to practice their english. They want to show you the "real" medina and provide information about the city and it's history. Again, these people seek you out. And when they seek you out, it's generally not a good idea to go with them.
The young boy who insisted on helping us was quite possibly one of these faux-guides. Of course, he was also possibly a young man who genuinely wanted to help us. It is possible that his uncle has a little shop deep in the oldest part of the medina and this boy brings people to his shop to buy his genuine products. The boy may have genuinely wanted to practice his english and hopes of one day traveling to America, or going to school. The one thing I have learned by being in the medina, however, is that things are rarely genuine...especially when they seek you out.
We will never know what his true intention was. We didn't allow him to lead us too deep into the medina. We were just as persistant as he was about getting out before dark. His type wasn't the only type to seek us out though. Soon after we entered the medina, I was confronted by a guy, probably in his early twenties, who rushed up beside me and asked me if "I wanted something good to try before I die". Now, I know this guy wasn't threatening my life. I know he was just trying to get me to buy some drugs from him, but this seriously creeped me out. I ignored him and kept walking.
On the way out we were confronted by another guy, about the same age, who just kept shouting "Charlie Brown" at us. I'm not sure what this phrase means. Perhaps it has something to with drugs (brown = heroin) or maybe "Charlie Brown" is so distinctly American that that's how he identifies the tourists. Whatever it meant, it wasn't the last time someone yelled that to us.
The next day we decided to enter the medina again. This time we weren't going to be bothered by anyone. We were going to ignore anyone who tries to get us to follow them and just carry on with our business...or so we thought.
We made it through the first part of the medina, which opened up into a sort of parking lot. On one side was a couple of archways that led to an old palace. On the other was a low doorway that led to the oldest of the old medina. This is where we were approached by a couple of people. One man, in his late thirties, wanted 100dhs (approx. $10) so lead into the old medina and to show us the old shops. We declined and were approached by another boy, about twenty. He offered his services, free of charge. He only wanted to practice his english. We tried to tell him no, but he insisted on at least showing us down the right path to the old medina.
Once we entered the old medina, i noticed that the first man had followed us. I became very uneasy and insisted that we leave the medina all together. The others agreed, but the boy who was leading us became very aggetated and insistant. We stood our ground and he began to lead us back. As we left, I noticed that man was still following us. He trailed us at a distance, but always within eyeshot. He followed us all the way out of the medina and into the streets, where we were confronted by anther kid shouting "Charlie Brown". We were all on edge at this point and proceeded to where we had previously seen taxis. We got in a cab, noticed that we were still followed. Not only by the same man, but by the new kid. Once we got into the cab, I saw our two tails chatting together under a doorway. Then the kid ran over to the taxi and told us he was going to get in a cab and follow us "to make sure we get back okay". Luckily we never saw him again.
Again, I can't be sure of the intent of the people we encountered, but I'm very upset about the events. I wanted to go into the city, buy some authentic goods, and take some pictures. These people made this very difficult and I feel cheated of a wonderful experience. However, I do plan on going back. Next time I will hopefully have a native friend accompany me. Someone who knows the language and the tricks of these people. Someone I can trust.
Nothing I have evern witnessed could have prepared me for what I was about to walk into. From the pictures on the previous post wou get a good idea of what the streets of the old medina are like: crowded, narrow, without symetry or pattern, chaotic. Not only did I have to compete with masses of people, but there were other obstacles.
The first obstacle is a tricky one. As a tourist, it's nice to have a guide. Someone to make sure that I don't go down a wrong alley, of the 9,400+ alleyways and streets that make up the old medina. Someone to take me to the shops that have authentic, quality products, at a not so inflated price. Someone to translate when needed and someone to shoo away the people who may want to mug or exploit me. This is very tricky. See, all tourists carry a sign with them that scam-artists and faux guides can see. These people seek you out. They see you and persist on helping you find the "good" shops. They say they don't want any money, but only want to practice their english. They want to show you the "real" medina and provide information about the city and it's history. Again, these people seek you out. And when they seek you out, it's generally not a good idea to go with them.
The young boy who insisted on helping us was quite possibly one of these faux-guides. Of course, he was also possibly a young man who genuinely wanted to help us. It is possible that his uncle has a little shop deep in the oldest part of the medina and this boy brings people to his shop to buy his genuine products. The boy may have genuinely wanted to practice his english and hopes of one day traveling to America, or going to school. The one thing I have learned by being in the medina, however, is that things are rarely genuine...especially when they seek you out.
We will never know what his true intention was. We didn't allow him to lead us too deep into the medina. We were just as persistant as he was about getting out before dark. His type wasn't the only type to seek us out though. Soon after we entered the medina, I was confronted by a guy, probably in his early twenties, who rushed up beside me and asked me if "I wanted something good to try before I die". Now, I know this guy wasn't threatening my life. I know he was just trying to get me to buy some drugs from him, but this seriously creeped me out. I ignored him and kept walking.
On the way out we were confronted by another guy, about the same age, who just kept shouting "Charlie Brown" at us. I'm not sure what this phrase means. Perhaps it has something to with drugs (brown = heroin) or maybe "Charlie Brown" is so distinctly American that that's how he identifies the tourists. Whatever it meant, it wasn't the last time someone yelled that to us.
The next day we decided to enter the medina again. This time we weren't going to be bothered by anyone. We were going to ignore anyone who tries to get us to follow them and just carry on with our business...or so we thought.
We made it through the first part of the medina, which opened up into a sort of parking lot. On one side was a couple of archways that led to an old palace. On the other was a low doorway that led to the oldest of the old medina. This is where we were approached by a couple of people. One man, in his late thirties, wanted 100dhs (approx. $10) so lead into the old medina and to show us the old shops. We declined and were approached by another boy, about twenty. He offered his services, free of charge. He only wanted to practice his english. We tried to tell him no, but he insisted on at least showing us down the right path to the old medina.
Once we entered the old medina, i noticed that the first man had followed us. I became very uneasy and insisted that we leave the medina all together. The others agreed, but the boy who was leading us became very aggetated and insistant. We stood our ground and he began to lead us back. As we left, I noticed that man was still following us. He trailed us at a distance, but always within eyeshot. He followed us all the way out of the medina and into the streets, where we were confronted by anther kid shouting "Charlie Brown". We were all on edge at this point and proceeded to where we had previously seen taxis. We got in a cab, noticed that we were still followed. Not only by the same man, but by the new kid. Once we got into the cab, I saw our two tails chatting together under a doorway. Then the kid ran over to the taxi and told us he was going to get in a cab and follow us "to make sure we get back okay". Luckily we never saw him again.
Again, I can't be sure of the intent of the people we encountered, but I'm very upset about the events. I wanted to go into the city, buy some authentic goods, and take some pictures. These people made this very difficult and I feel cheated of a wonderful experience. However, I do plan on going back. Next time I will hopefully have a native friend accompany me. Someone who knows the language and the tricks of these people. Someone I can trust.
posted by Doug at 3:14 PM
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