Nothing like waiting out a desert monsoon in a tiny sweltering convenience store with nothing but knock-off Oreos for dinner to make you grateful for the things you have in life. “No no, you girls will stay here,” the kind stranger in the store assured us, as we braced ourselves for the trek to our hostel right as the rain started to downpour. Truth is, had it not been swirling dust and mud outside, without a map, technology, or a friendly face, we still didn’t know our way back to our home for the night.
When my childhood friend who had never been out of the United States said she would join me for a portion of my European adventure I excitedly asked her where she wanted to go. To my surprise she said she would follow me wherever I wanted, but her number one destination was Morocco. I never had much of a desire to visit Northern Africa and while I had plenty of experience roaming Europe, I had none outside the Western world. While the suburban raised cautious girl within me was hesitant at the thought of heading to an Arabic country with a friend who had never even been to Mexico or Canada, the world traveler within me (very deep within me) was anxious to check another continent off her list.
While I enjoy spontaneity in travel, I also like to be prepared and well read on the location I am going to so that I am respectful, safe, and smart when visiting. I love the romance of getting lost in a city - just as long as I have a map in my back pocket. All of that went out the window when I stepped outside the airport in Marrakesh. All the reading I had done didn’t compare to experiencing the city firsthand. All of my usual travel tactics weren’t available and I had 5 men surrounding me shouting cab prices, pulling my arm to follow them and my wide-eyed friend looking to me saying, “What do you want to do?” Feeling uneasy and unprepared I followed the least aggressive driver hoping he wouldn’t rip us off. As I sat in the back seat I watched the desert landscape go by through watery eyes from the dust and heat coming through the window, pondering what exactly we had gotten ourselves into. When our driver (who totally ripped us off we would later find out) dropped us off at the edge of the old town Medina walls, a local approached us asking where we were headed, and said, “Oh, go straight, right, right, left, right, left, then right and right.” Recognizing the look of defeat on our sweaty faces, he followed up with, “I’ll take you there.” Dirty, hungry, and weighed down by our packs, we agreed to follow (at a distance) in the 113-degree heat through the unmarked streets of Marrakesh. It quickly became apparent a back pocket map would be no help to us here.
After checking in to our hostel, we met our dorm mates, 4 girls from Argentina who gave us some advice on navigating the noisy labyrinth that is Marrakesh. Feeling empowered and ready to take on the world we ran into a fellow American on our way out. He had been living in Marrakesh for three months and was shocked that my friend and I had come to the city alone without a guide or tour. Strangely enough this made us more confident and we stepped out the gates of our oasis of a hostel with plenty of hours until nightfall to find our way back. After several wrong turns we made it to the main square, Jemmaa el-Fnaa. Intimidated and amazed all at once we began to meander the souks and markets in search of dinner only to be interrupted by the dark skies above and dust whipping through the air.
Back in the convenience store, watching the storm outside it became very real to me that I was absolutely on the other side of the world. Never had I felt so out of my comfort zone and unsure of my surroundings. Suburban girl may have been saying, “This is horrible,” but miss adventure secretly whispered, “This is way too cool.” We were thankful for our only friend in Marrakesh, the old man from the store who allowed us refuge from the monsoon, who we said hello to every morning on our walk to town and even gave us suggestions on places to go and scams to be aware of. It only takes one kind soul to have a positive impact on an otherwise unsettling experience. I felt so far away from home in this store but as he spoke to us about Muhammad Ali and Mike Tyson and his relatives in the states it amazed me just how small the world really is. I am grateful to have been humbled by the feeling that I didn’t belong and have the privilege to witness a culture I knew very little about. When you’re on your own, with limited resources you have the best opportunity to surprise yourself with your capabilities. Intuition, experience, resilience and an open mind can lead you to more places than a map ever could.
Ben Youssef Madrasa
Jardin Majorelle
Jardin Majorelle
Ouarzazate
Marrakesh rooftops
Ben Youssef Madrasa
