I Kissed a Prostitute
It may be a little while before I can finish the Madrid story. But I remember another story from my most recent trip to Casablanca that I think I should tell.
I went to Casa last weekend to get a new external hard drive. During the week prior I had asked several friends to go with me, but they all had other plans, so I had planned on going by myself. After all, I new where I needed to go, I knew of a good hotel, and it couldn't have hurt to have time alone anyway. I just wanted to go for the night. I would get there Friday night, get up early Saturday, find a hard drive, and take the train back to Meknes in the afternoon. Things never go as planne.
First, Rachel's plans changed. She decided she didn't want to spend all weekend away from campus, like she had planned. So she joined me. Two is a good number. She can keep me company. Then, I ran into Justin. He and Christian had planned to spending the weekend in Rabat, but decided they'd rather go to Casa with me. Four is managable. At least we could pair up and I'd be able to get what I needed done. Plus, they planned on staying all weekend, so we wouldn't have to try to organize a departure time. Then I talked to John. He and Cassie had planned on going to Casa and asked if they could tag along. Six people.
We all planned on meeting outside of the cafeteria at 3pm. We were waiting for John and Cassie to show up. Christina was decided to call John to see where they were, but as she went for her phone, John called. He said that he and Cassie would meet at the train station in Meknes. They were going to leave a little later so they could ride with Tyler and Marnie. 8 people. So long nice relaxing day trip to Casablanca.
Don't get me wrong. I LOVE all of these people. They are a lot of fun. But I was looking forward to a nice, quiet, quick trip to Casablanca.
Once we got settled into our hotels in Casa, we decided to find a place to eat. Christina had heard of a good mexican restaurant by the Twin Center that we decided to go to. Once we got there (it was hard to miss as it had a giant neon sign in front that read "MEXICO") I noticed a guy laying face-down on the sidewalk in front of the place. My immediate thought was "Nice. Just like Mexico!" I pointed him out to Tyler, without saying a word. Tyler walked up to him to check on him. He crouched down, nudged the guy, and asked him he was okay. The guy, who was breathing rather heavily replied in a winded tone "Shut-up". We took this as a hint that he didn't to be bother, so we walked up to the restaurant. We were greeted by the owner of the restaurant. We told him about the guy on the ground and HE went over to check on him, as he was obviously concerned about having a situation in front of his establishment. The man leaned down, said a few things, then ran into the building saying "He's Diabetic!".
As it turns out, he wasn't telling Tyler to "Shut-Up", but was saying "Sugar". We stood there knowing what to do when the man emerged from the restaurant with a bowl of sugar and a glass of water. By this time another man had stopped to see what was happening. They sat him up and supported him as he was too weak to sit up by himself. I can honestly say that I have never seen anyone devour a bowl of sugar like that before. The amazing thing is how he began to come alive after he got the sucrose into his system. Tyler, feeling VERY bad for misunderstanding the boy, (by this time we had seen that he was young, no older than 18) was over helping the other men. After a while he was feelng better. But to make sure he was going to be okay, we brought him inside with us so we could keep an eye on him. He sat with us and we bought him a meal.
It turned out he was from Rabat and was in Casa to find a clinic that gave out free medicine to diabetics. I'm not sure if he was homeless or not, but it certainly didn't sound like he had a home or system of support in Rabat. He wasn't able to find the clinic so we helped him finger through a phonebook to find the address. Well, we didn't have any luck finding it, and he decided to just go back to Rabat in the morning. We gave him some money for the bus ride and parted ways after the meal.
We all felt really bad for him, but were pretty helpless. He didn't speak English, and none of us spoke his dialect very well so we were also limited in communicating with him. However, when we left he was looking a lot better, and he took a bottle of sugar water with him to avoid another such episode.
After eating, we wanted to go to Rick's Cafe (from the movie "Casablanca"). I had been there on my previous trip to Casa and was okay with going again. It's a nice place, and my only criteria for the night was to find Bailey's and Cubans, which Rick's had. But when we got to Rick's, it was closed. So, I suggested going to the Hyatt, which is the other place I was sure had Bailey's and Cubans. It was closed too. Lame. Apparantly this particular city with the population of over 3million shuts down after midnight.
Rachel remembered a club down the street that was open late the last time she was in Casa. We followed her a couple of blocks to a loud night club with large-ish bouncers at the front door. I was sure I wasn't going to get in, but we walked right passed them and into the dark club. We found a booth to sit at and were greeted by an old Spaniard. I asked him is they had Bailey's and Cuban Cigars. He said "yes", or the equivalent to, and left. He came back with a full, unopened bottle of Bailey's and asked me for 850dirhams (approximately $100). I nearly shat myself. He then showed us a "menu" (a printed piece of paper with prices on it) which confirmed that price of the entire bottle of the liqour. Upon reviewing the sheet, we found that a beer was 80dirhams (about $10) and the rest of the drinks following suit. I than asked him about the cigar. I can't recall the exact price, but it was also ridiculous.
For some reason John felt compelled to order a $10 beer. So we sat and waited for it to come. After the man left the table with his order, I noticed a girl standing by our table. I was sitting at the end of the table, leaving myself wide-open to introduction. She leaned over, grabbed my hand as if to shake it, and kissed both of my cheeks. This is custom in Morocco and is the equivalent to a hand-shake in American culture. She then proceeded to do the same with everyone at the table. She didn't say a word, but just kind of looked at me. Tyler then noticed that she was showing off her stomach. She was a prostitute. I kissed a prostitute.
The situation was pretty awkward. I feel more so for her than for any of us, as we were just able to ignore her, which we did. She eventually left, found a more accomodating young chap, and proceeded to make-out with him. Well, John finished his over-priced beer and we left. The night was over. We all walked back to the hotel, went to our rooms, and went to sleep.
The next day, after much looking, I found an external hard drive, and Rachel and I left Casablanca by 5pm, and I kissed a prostitute.
I went to Casa last weekend to get a new external hard drive. During the week prior I had asked several friends to go with me, but they all had other plans, so I had planned on going by myself. After all, I new where I needed to go, I knew of a good hotel, and it couldn't have hurt to have time alone anyway. I just wanted to go for the night. I would get there Friday night, get up early Saturday, find a hard drive, and take the train back to Meknes in the afternoon. Things never go as planne.
First, Rachel's plans changed. She decided she didn't want to spend all weekend away from campus, like she had planned. So she joined me. Two is a good number. She can keep me company. Then, I ran into Justin. He and Christian had planned to spending the weekend in Rabat, but decided they'd rather go to Casa with me. Four is managable. At least we could pair up and I'd be able to get what I needed done. Plus, they planned on staying all weekend, so we wouldn't have to try to organize a departure time. Then I talked to John. He and Cassie had planned on going to Casa and asked if they could tag along. Six people.
We all planned on meeting outside of the cafeteria at 3pm. We were waiting for John and Cassie to show up. Christina was decided to call John to see where they were, but as she went for her phone, John called. He said that he and Cassie would meet at the train station in Meknes. They were going to leave a little later so they could ride with Tyler and Marnie. 8 people. So long nice relaxing day trip to Casablanca.
Don't get me wrong. I LOVE all of these people. They are a lot of fun. But I was looking forward to a nice, quiet, quick trip to Casablanca.
Once we got settled into our hotels in Casa, we decided to find a place to eat. Christina had heard of a good mexican restaurant by the Twin Center that we decided to go to. Once we got there (it was hard to miss as it had a giant neon sign in front that read "MEXICO") I noticed a guy laying face-down on the sidewalk in front of the place. My immediate thought was "Nice. Just like Mexico!" I pointed him out to Tyler, without saying a word. Tyler walked up to him to check on him. He crouched down, nudged the guy, and asked him he was okay. The guy, who was breathing rather heavily replied in a winded tone "Shut-up". We took this as a hint that he didn't to be bother, so we walked up to the restaurant. We were greeted by the owner of the restaurant. We told him about the guy on the ground and HE went over to check on him, as he was obviously concerned about having a situation in front of his establishment. The man leaned down, said a few things, then ran into the building saying "He's Diabetic!".
As it turns out, he wasn't telling Tyler to "Shut-Up", but was saying "Sugar". We stood there knowing what to do when the man emerged from the restaurant with a bowl of sugar and a glass of water. By this time another man had stopped to see what was happening. They sat him up and supported him as he was too weak to sit up by himself. I can honestly say that I have never seen anyone devour a bowl of sugar like that before. The amazing thing is how he began to come alive after he got the sucrose into his system. Tyler, feeling VERY bad for misunderstanding the boy, (by this time we had seen that he was young, no older than 18) was over helping the other men. After a while he was feelng better. But to make sure he was going to be okay, we brought him inside with us so we could keep an eye on him. He sat with us and we bought him a meal.
It turned out he was from Rabat and was in Casa to find a clinic that gave out free medicine to diabetics. I'm not sure if he was homeless or not, but it certainly didn't sound like he had a home or system of support in Rabat. He wasn't able to find the clinic so we helped him finger through a phonebook to find the address. Well, we didn't have any luck finding it, and he decided to just go back to Rabat in the morning. We gave him some money for the bus ride and parted ways after the meal.
We all felt really bad for him, but were pretty helpless. He didn't speak English, and none of us spoke his dialect very well so we were also limited in communicating with him. However, when we left he was looking a lot better, and he took a bottle of sugar water with him to avoid another such episode.
After eating, we wanted to go to Rick's Cafe (from the movie "Casablanca"). I had been there on my previous trip to Casa and was okay with going again. It's a nice place, and my only criteria for the night was to find Bailey's and Cubans, which Rick's had. But when we got to Rick's, it was closed. So, I suggested going to the Hyatt, which is the other place I was sure had Bailey's and Cubans. It was closed too. Lame. Apparantly this particular city with the population of over 3million shuts down after midnight.
Rachel remembered a club down the street that was open late the last time she was in Casa. We followed her a couple of blocks to a loud night club with large-ish bouncers at the front door. I was sure I wasn't going to get in, but we walked right passed them and into the dark club. We found a booth to sit at and were greeted by an old Spaniard. I asked him is they had Bailey's and Cuban Cigars. He said "yes", or the equivalent to, and left. He came back with a full, unopened bottle of Bailey's and asked me for 850dirhams (approximately $100). I nearly shat myself. He then showed us a "menu" (a printed piece of paper with prices on it) which confirmed that price of the entire bottle of the liqour. Upon reviewing the sheet, we found that a beer was 80dirhams (about $10) and the rest of the drinks following suit. I than asked him about the cigar. I can't recall the exact price, but it was also ridiculous.
For some reason John felt compelled to order a $10 beer. So we sat and waited for it to come. After the man left the table with his order, I noticed a girl standing by our table. I was sitting at the end of the table, leaving myself wide-open to introduction. She leaned over, grabbed my hand as if to shake it, and kissed both of my cheeks. This is custom in Morocco and is the equivalent to a hand-shake in American culture. She then proceeded to do the same with everyone at the table. She didn't say a word, but just kind of looked at me. Tyler then noticed that she was showing off her stomach. She was a prostitute. I kissed a prostitute.
The situation was pretty awkward. I feel more so for her than for any of us, as we were just able to ignore her, which we did. She eventually left, found a more accomodating young chap, and proceeded to make-out with him. Well, John finished his over-priced beer and we left. The night was over. We all walked back to the hotel, went to our rooms, and went to sleep.
The next day, after much looking, I found an external hard drive, and Rachel and I left Casablanca by 5pm, and I kissed a prostitute.
posted by Doug at 10:57 AM
1 Comments:
hey Doug I was hoping to read some about our little trip across the Straights of Gibralter, our poker game and our intereting night in SidiKasem :)
I enjoyed your blog--keep it up!!
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