Day 15 - Tangiers

Today we woke up at 9:00 am and went downstairs to our usual cafe to have our last breakfast there. The waiters already know us and what we like to drink. After breakfast, we went back to our place where our host, Rachid was waiting for us and said: why didn’t you wait for me, I would have paid for breakfast like yesterday”. He never made it very clear if breakfast was included or not, in any case, food is inexpensive in Morocco and we said that it was fine. We decided to move to another house where we can have a common area for the family plus a kitchen, not that I want to cook. Also, Rachid’s place was quite noisy and we were in need of a good night’s sleep. We thanked our host and took a taxi to our new place, which was not far away from where we were. Actually, it is very close to the Catholic cathedral.

Our new place is a much bigger and more modern apartment. It is not as fancy and traditional as our previous one, but this will do for the extra two days that we are staying here. We met the owners who speak perfect Spanish, they live in Cadiz, Spain and are here for vacation. Suad, our host, showed us the house, the rooms, the washing machine, and when she showed me the ironing board, I said, I don’t do it all, even at home when we are not on vacation. She thought it was funny but I wasn’t joking!

After they left, we walked to Medina, where we were, to take a taxi. The driver was really nice and he took us to “the cave of Hercules” on the Atlantic ocean. He offered to wait for us there. On the ride home, we stopped to see some camels just for the picture, but since it was on our bucket list, we rode the camels for a little bit. I think it was the highlight of the day for the children. It felt very bumpy but Sabrina, my camel, was sweet and behaved well(despite a little bit of screaming from me).

After that, our driver took us to Cap Spartal to see where the Atlantic ocean and Mediterranean ocean meet. There was a restaurant there, but Gregory had said that the taxi driver was going to take us to his house for food, I didn’t say anything. The driver knew everybody and he showed us where he lived, and his brother and father’s houses. It was stressful to see that taxi drivers don’t seem to know the names of the streets. Gregory kept explaining to him exactly where we were but he didn’t seem to know. I mention the church, Greg mentioned the name of the street and nothing. He finally found our home, and told us that he was coming to pick us up tomorrow at 1:00pm to take us to his house for good Moroccan food! We paid 20 euros for having a private chauffeur for half the day, what a deal! By then, we were exhausted and starving. Gregory stayed home because he was exhausted. He is like a camel, he can go for many hours without food or water. But not me or Sunshine, we were shaking from low blood sugar, and my family knows how I act if I don’t eat fast.

The kids and I left the apartment, found an ATM and withdrew some money. It was 5:30pm and every restaurant was closed, we walked and walked but the only places that were open were the little general stores with sodas and snacks. We almost gave up when up to the hill we found an “Arab subway” and ordered some baguettes with chicken kebab and french fries. It was a little challenging ordering the food since the whole menu was in Arabic and the cook behind the counter spoke very little French. I was so hungry that I almost did the chicken dance to tell him I wanted chicken on my sandwich. Luckily I was able to point at most of the ingredients. After paying, we walked to a very clean and pretty park to eat our sandwiches on a bench while watching the people walk by. It was interesting to see that the population in this area looked more upscale and modern. Many of the young girls were wearing pants instead of their robes and some of them were not covering their heads at all. The older ladies were wearing the traditional robes and scarfs and many of them were even covering their nose and mouths. We were also stared at by a couple people, it was obvious who the foreigners were. Gregory came to meet us at the park. After eating, we walked a little bit and saw some boys climbing a monument in the park. Daniel wanted to try it, and the group of boys helped boost him up right away, not even asking if he needed it. It was very nice seeing Daniel talking to them. They asked him where he was from and what grade he was in. I took some pictures. After saying “chocran (thank you) and pslama (goodbye)”, which means thank you and goodbye, we walked back home. By then, all the cafes and stores were open, people seem to come out when it cools down and the city is more alive in the evening than during the day. We stopped to buy some groceries for breakfast at one of the many tiny stores full of basic supplies. At home, I was thrilled to be able to do some laundry!

We are bummed that there is no Wifi at home, but instead, we decided to watch the cable T.V. in the kitchen. It was funny to see the cartoons characters wearing hijabs and even covering their mouths and noses. We watched the news in English and found out they show more here that we don’t see in the US. Gregory finally found a movie in English with Arabic subtitles while I worked on the blog, which I will have to post later when I have internet. At night, Gregory and I decided to go out for drinks around the neighborhood while the kids stayed home. It was a different date, we didn’t find any place where we could hang out and have a coffee. There is one cafe next door but it is only for men and it looks more like a chimney than a cafe. We ended up walking, and buying fruit in a tiny store and then toothpaste in small “bon marche.” On our way back, we noticed a lot of tiny shops where they repair electronics, shoes, clothes and more. Also, every other block had a barber shop that it was only for men. We went home a little disappointed. Gregory is desperate for a drink!

The caves of Hercules