Wednesday, January 6, 2010

day quatre

after our half-day of bed rest yesterday, we were itching to get out and at 'em today. we woke up, had our brekkie, and hit the streets and ally ways by 1030 am sharp.

we walked all the way to the plaza. our first mission? Monkeys!! we headed to the first monkey we saw, and the man immediately put it on mauricio's shoulder. before we went over, we had tried to get ready, by putting some money in my pocket and giving me the camera (i had originally not wanted the monkey on me). he posed with the monkey, then the monkey got on his head! pretty hilarious. then the monkey got on my shoulder. he smelled like poop and i was paranoid he was going to steal my wallet :) He was so smart. he gave me kisses. we have some really great photos. and hell we should- they cost us 200 dirhams!!

our plan for the day was to walk or cab it to the new city. but when we got the end of the plaza, one of the those typical "you see them in every city" double decker buses was sitting right there, staring at us. so we asked how much it was to hop on (it was stopping where we wanted to go), and we grabbed two seats on the roof.

it was a gorgeous day today. 65 and sunny. in the sun, i was comfy in my jeans, sandals and short sleeves. in the shade, a sweatshirt and light jacket. i alternated with all these layers all day. but the sun on the top of this bus felt heavenly.

we took it a couple stops and got out to find these markets. we wandered and wandered, but never found them. we ended up at a cafe and had some very un-moroccan food. not worth mentioning.

we found our way back to the bus, did the rest of the route, and got off where we started. we saw some new sights, it was pretty fun. but on the way, we drove around a street of markets we hadn't been down. so after getting off the bus, we walked back to that street and did some more exploring. This led to more souvenir shopping.
One thing led to another.... We ended up exploring a whole different part of the souks we hadn't been in yet. a whole plaza dedicated to baskets. i bought a souvenir for someone, did an amazing job bartering (lowered the price 100 dirhams), and got a free wooden camel!!), saw a live falcon, live turles, zebra skins, found the one street that had beautiful fancy shops with actual doors! (this is pretty significant once you see all the photos), and finished all the souvenir shopping. cleaned my wallet dry!! it was super fun, getting lost. i didn't feel scared anymore. we got turned around so much, we literally had NO idea where we were.

we found our way back to the plaza, sat down and had some mint tea to warm our bones. it was starting to get chilly around 6. getting tired from all that shopping and walking! and i should've worn sneakers, not sandals. we decided again to eat at the outdoor market, at the picnic tables. we made the mistake of walking down all the aisles, and the guys can be aggressive! they were fighting over us. they try to MAKE you sit down! but we settled on the one vendor that had sardines on the menu (i know, we're weird). stall #1. 1 is the best, you know (or that's what they made us believe). of course, we had a veggie couscous (forth day in a row?), sardines (duH!), auburgines (eggplant), sausages (mauricio gave one to a homeless guy in a wheelchair, and one to a street kid), and a veggie soup.

day is done. one day left!

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