Over the past few weeks, I’ve ostensibly being doing research, and thus have been mostly engaged in that most excellent of past-times: sitting around and writing (not blog posts, obviously) or reading. Or lying around and sleeping. Or standing around and cooking. Or walking around and looking at cats.
These may sound like complete wastes of time—you’re squandering your adventure, Siobhan!—but I’ve started to think more and more about the deification of productivity is an American flaw, or even an American university flaw. I know “don’t be productive” is probably bad life advice… But—be not afraid, oh readers of the travel blog! The one travel-bloggy thing (bar cooking) that I have been doing quite a bit of is navigating Rabat’s medina. Here are the first 5 tips that come to mind.*
- Eat all the raif.
You’re going to see a lot of women selling raif/melwee/mmsimmin (all of these names for fried flatbread), on the street. Eat it. It’s about 1 dirham for a small piece, 3 for a large one. My strategy is to see what kind is cooking right now—the grilles are in plain view—and ask for that. Otherwise, they reheat them on the grille, which is great too, but not quite as great. There’s also a version with onions and tomatoes at some stands!
- Walk defensively.
You’ll be able to put your driving lessons to use here, too, just on foot! Especially in the evenings (from a couple of hours before it gets dark to a couple hours afterwards) the main streets of the medina are absolutely insane. Stay alert. Don’t text and walk. Know where you’re going.
Maybe not for food or things that are going to cost you, like, 5 dirham (50 cents). But, if you’re buying things in bulk or fairly expensive things, it’s worth trying to bargain. For this it helps knowing a little bit of Arabic or darija, as you look a lot more legit. Study up on “hello” and numbers. Ask for a lower price. Keep money in different pockets. (My personal favourite tactic is “look adorable and sad”). But also, know when to give up—shopkeepers want you to bargain, and it’s not offensive at all to do so, but it’s better to just give up that extra 50 cents to someone who probably could use it more than you.
- Carry granola bars.
Putting on my serious hat for this one. Homelessness is a serious issue in Morocco. While it’s certainly an issue where I come from too, my last summer was in part spent discovering/working with many of the organizations working with homeless or hungry people in the Boston/Cambridge community. That sort of infrastructure just doesn’t exist here. While I am no expert on the topic, nor a moral authority of any sort, it’s a good idea either have some coins in an easily accessible place or, if you’re wary of giving money, go to a grocery store and buy some sort of food like granola bars, which are nutritious and won’t spread illness, to give away.
- Remember where you are.
It’s really easy to get lost in the medina, but also some of the alley-looking places have the coolest doors, or you might be following a cat, etc etc. Keep an eye out for obvious landmarks so you can find your way back.
*There’s a post lying around, somewhere in the piles of my unfinished and over-eager thoughts from the first month, about my recommendations of things to do/places to stay in Rabat, and someday that’ll be posted. Until then, Tripadvisor and Hostelworld are excellent resources regarding Morocco. What you won’t find on these websites, though, is this.