To be clear, I do not have a husband, though my boyfriend of six years is pretty close. However, this has become my refrain while wandering alone in Morocco, which really annoys me to no end.
But, I've received several date offers, typically just when walking down the one main street connecting my hotel to the conference center, and somehow just saying "no, but thank you" or "sorry, I'm on my way to meet people" hasn't been enough. These guys are really persistent. Maybe it's those scandalously bare arms of mine? That was my one resistance in dressing for Morocco... I'll wear skirts and cover my shoulders, but damned if I wear long sleeves in Africa. :-)
I'm now telling all men whom I speak to for more than about a minute that the ring on my finger is my wedding ring... which only partially discourages them. Also, some cheek kisses after sales (seems maybe normal for Arab men, but hard to imagine them doing that to women...), and friendly hands on my arms and back as I'm being "guided" or sold to. Nothing obscene like was mentioned online, but I'm still a little uncomfortable... not sure what to think. Reasonable, or copping feels? I'm thinking they're just showing off for the Western women. What's the best response in Arabic, besides "la" ("no"), I wonder?
Thursday, May 29, 2008
Wednesday, May 28, 2008
Crap goes the credit card
Argh... I've gotten my credit card account frozen due to "unusual credit activity", and, conveniently, I can't unfreeze it until I can call a 1-800 number. From the U.S., obviously. Great.
The unusual activity may have been the act of using it in Morocco, but more likely it was due to the situation I got myself in during my day of wandering yesterday.
Day 0.5 while I wandered the medina with a few conference mates I met on the flight from Casablanca, I saw some hand stitched quilted blankets that I loved. So, my first full day after a few hours of wandering and practicing my bargaining skills, I decided to give it a go. I went to a shop where I'd seen some the previous day and asked to see a range of colors and tried to begin the process of bargaining. The guy charmed me into considering buying several instead of just one, and as I thought they might be enjoyed by others as well I eventually agreed. 30 minutes of negotiation over, we settled on a price... then realized that he didn't have a way to charge my credit card, and I definitely didn't have that cash on me. While it may seem obvious that credit cards aren't guaranteed, I'd had better luck at other places and thought they might be able to accommodate.
Anyway, the sales guy, panicked at the thought of losing the big sale he'd worked on, offered to walk with me down the plaza to an ATM. I agreed, a little embarrassed at the situation. Which was only then made worse when I realized that I was carrying only my credit card -- and not my check card -- around. Cash rates for a credit card are abysmal, but again, I was a little uncomfortable already and the guy was accommodating.
Next problem: putting my card in the ATM I realized that I'd never used it for cash before, and my regular PIN wasn't going to work. I tried to guess what the number was twice, then gave up. The sales guy wasn't having it though, so we went to one more ATM, where my next possible number also failed.
Final plan, which probably is NOT what the State department would recommend: the sales guy and I took a cab back to my hotel where my other card waited, then tried to get cash from the hotel exchange desk (once again, they're out of dirham!), and finally to an ATM. Check card gives me cash; guy gives me blankets.
And, after our bonding experience, he also gives me his number, email address, a request to join him at the disco that night (he tried to make me promise before giving me said blankets, but I demurred), and finally asked for us to take the picture you see here.
Not sure all that was worth getting my credit card canceled, but perhaps there are life lessons to be found in any case. :-) Beyond always carry your debit card.
The unusual activity may have been the act of using it in Morocco, but more likely it was due to the situation I got myself in during my day of wandering yesterday.
Day 0.5 while I wandered the medina with a few conference mates I met on the flight from Casablanca, I saw some hand stitched quilted blankets that I loved. So, my first full day after a few hours of wandering and practicing my bargaining skills, I decided to give it a go. I went to a shop where I'd seen some the previous day and asked to see a range of colors and tried to begin the process of bargaining. The guy charmed me into considering buying several instead of just one, and as I thought they might be enjoyed by others as well I eventually agreed. 30 minutes of negotiation over, we settled on a price... then realized that he didn't have a way to charge my credit card, and I definitely didn't have that cash on me. While it may seem obvious that credit cards aren't guaranteed, I'd had better luck at other places and thought they might be able to accommodate.
Anyway, the sales guy, panicked at the thought of losing the big sale he'd worked on, offered to walk with me down the plaza to an ATM. I agreed, a little embarrassed at the situation. Which was only then made worse when I realized that I was carrying only my credit card -- and not my check card -- around. Cash rates for a credit card are abysmal, but again, I was a little uncomfortable already and the guy was accommodating.
Next problem: putting my card in the ATM I realized that I'd never used it for cash before, and my regular PIN wasn't going to work. I tried to guess what the number was twice, then gave up. The sales guy wasn't having it though, so we went to one more ATM, where my next possible number also failed.
Final plan, which probably is NOT what the State department would recommend: the sales guy and I took a cab back to my hotel where my other card waited, then tried to get cash from the hotel exchange desk (once again, they're out of dirham!), and finally to an ATM. Check card gives me cash; guy gives me blankets.And, after our bonding experience, he also gives me his number, email address, a request to join him at the disco that night (he tried to make me promise before giving me said blankets, but I demurred), and finally asked for us to take the picture you see here.
Not sure all that was worth getting my credit card canceled, but perhaps there are life lessons to be found in any case. :-) Beyond always carry your debit card.
Bathing myself, continued
Somehow, wherever I travel, I manage to have problems bathing. In Prague, of course, my apartment had a hose shower (coming from the bathtub), but no shower curtain and no place to *hang* the shower head (if I wanted water, one hand had to hold it over myself the whole time), so I managed to regularly flood the bathroom floor until I finally arm-twisted the accommodation service into finding a removable shower curtain for me.
The morning of Day 2 in Morocco (or Day 1, if the first, showerless with no luggage, day is considered Day 0), I slipped in my bathtub. Not only that, but I tried to carefully step in holding onto the metal towel rack above the tub, which immediately pulled out of the drywall (hence the fall). All towel, by the way: immediately soaked. My right knee is killing me. Bathroom partially flooded, and immediately the towels on the fallen bar fell into shower. And, I can't figure out how to drain the tub. Housekeeping did it... maybe it was just super slow. Adventure for tomorrow morning.
Set the bar low, I always say. So, my shower this morning ought to have been a piece of cake. And it was definitely a partial improvement.
I figured out why I fell in the shower -- while I'd assumed that the far end of the tub would be a box like the watery end, it turns out it's a smooth gradual slope, meaning the real bottom of the tub doesn't start until about three feet in. Stepping on sloping wet surfaces: not so good for balance. However the flooding appears unavoidable. There's a platform on the back end of the tub where the curtain doesn't go, which quickly gets covered with water and drips all of this water onto the floor. Flooding is a big problem, partly so I don't feel a need to hide from the cleaning staff, but also because my slippers become beyond slippery if the smooth rubber bottoms get at all wet. Enter fall #2. My joints are never going to forgive me.
Goal for the conference: leave Marrakesh hotel one morning with a dry bathroom floor. It's important to dream big, I know.
The morning of Day 2 in Morocco (or Day 1, if the first, showerless with no luggage, day is considered Day 0), I slipped in my bathtub. Not only that, but I tried to carefully step in holding onto the metal towel rack above the tub, which immediately pulled out of the drywall (hence the fall). All towel, by the way: immediately soaked. My right knee is killing me. Bathroom partially flooded, and immediately the towels on the fallen bar fell into shower. And, I can't figure out how to drain the tub. Housekeeping did it... maybe it was just super slow. Adventure for tomorrow morning.
Set the bar low, I always say. So, my shower this morning ought to have been a piece of cake. And it was definitely a partial improvement.
I figured out why I fell in the shower -- while I'd assumed that the far end of the tub would be a box like the watery end, it turns out it's a smooth gradual slope, meaning the real bottom of the tub doesn't start until about three feet in. Stepping on sloping wet surfaces: not so good for balance. However the flooding appears unavoidable. There's a platform on the back end of the tub where the curtain doesn't go, which quickly gets covered with water and drips all of this water onto the floor. Flooding is a big problem, partly so I don't feel a need to hide from the cleaning staff, but also because my slippers become beyond slippery if the smooth rubber bottoms get at all wet. Enter fall #2. My joints are never going to forgive me.
Goal for the conference: leave Marrakesh hotel one morning with a dry bathroom floor. It's important to dream big, I know.
Day 3: the conference begins
So, now for the reason I'm here: the conference.
Of course, no exciting pictures from the day... a lot of oral and poster sessions, some interesting talks, some not-so-interesting talks. And, the best part of conferences: running into old friends from other institutions, and making new ones as well.
Trying to arrange my post-Marrakesh travel, though it's hard to find time to sit down with my travel buddy Ves. I want to ask around a little to find others to travel with as well or instead; we'll see. They have a few organized excursions here, including to Essaouria (discussed in a great NYT article), which is supposed to be beautiful though not so traditional, and out of the way from Fes/Casablanca so I'd removed it from my mental itinerary. We'll see.
Tonight, LREC advertised that there would be a "cocktail reception", which sounded suspiciously like hors doeuvres to me. Rest assured though, the Moroccans were prepared to show all 1100 conference attendees a good time. It was literally an extravaganza! A huge outdoor event, with singing, dancing, fire eating, camels, food, drink, cannons, acrobatics (seriously)... the whole shebang. Beyond all expectations!
Of course, no exciting pictures from the day... a lot of oral and poster sessions, some interesting talks, some not-so-interesting talks. And, the best part of conferences: running into old friends from other institutions, and making new ones as well.
Trying to arrange my post-Marrakesh travel, though it's hard to find time to sit down with my travel buddy Ves. I want to ask around a little to find others to travel with as well or instead; we'll see. They have a few organized excursions here, including to Essaouria (discussed in a great NYT article), which is supposed to be beautiful though not so traditional, and out of the way from Fes/Casablanca so I'd removed it from my mental itinerary. We'll see.
Tonight, LREC advertised that there would be a "cocktail reception", which sounded suspiciously like hors doeuvres to me. Rest assured though, the Moroccans were prepared to show all 1100 conference attendees a good time. It was literally an extravaganza! A huge outdoor event, with singing, dancing, fire eating, camels, food, drink, cannons, acrobatics (seriously)... the whole shebang. Beyond all expectations!
Tuesday, May 27, 2008
Getting lost in Marrakesh
I wandered Marrakesh alone all day, an experience in itself though I'm glad I did it.
I got lost plenty, made worse by the fact that most roads (even major ones) are often not marked with names, are not straight despite appearances on the map, and for the most part, those names are not on my map anyway! And made again worse by the fact that, with the streets always bending and changing, it's impossible not to get lost without holding a map, which only makes you be pounced on by 100 "unofficial guides" willing to nicely lead you (almost) to where you wanted to go, then charge a fee. Seriously -- everytime I pulled a map out. I would try to peek through my bag or find a quiet corner, but they always found me and were very difficult to shake. Anyway, didn't pull out maps often, no signs, and many times wandering in circles, which also makes it harder to shake the shopkeepers, madly clicking their tongues and screaming "hello, miss! Here, here!" in every language they can think of.
I got lost plenty, made worse by the fact that most roads (even major ones) are often not marked with names, are not straight despite appearances on the map, and for the most part, those names are not on my map anyway! And made again worse by the fact that, with the streets always bending and changing, it's impossible not to get lost without holding a map, which only makes you be pounced on by 100 "unofficial guides" willing to nicely lead you (almost) to where you wanted to go, then charge a fee. Seriously -- everytime I pulled a map out. I would try to peek through my bag or find a quiet corner, but they always found me and were very difficult to shake. Anyway, didn't pull out maps often, no signs, and many times wandering in circles, which also makes it harder to shake the shopkeepers, madly clicking their tongues and screaming "hello, miss! Here, here!" in every language they can think of.
I give you good price: bargaining in Morocco
I bought many, many items today. Way more than I originally budgeted for, though it will work out overall. I think I got decent prices in the end (or at least, far, far below their initial offer), but still probably ended up buying some things I wasn't excited about in the end because it was the closest to what I wanted and I was trapped.
This included some interesting cactus fiber carpets, which it turns out you can hold flames to without them burning or scortching... sure to be helpful. Still, for the carpets, after a 30 minute presentation showing me dozens of carpets without being willing to discuss price, his opening offer was a ridiculous 6500 dirham (nearly $1000USD)!!! After I thanked him and tried to leave him twice, he finally settled at my maximum price of 600 dirham (~$90) for two. Hand woven with embroidery and seemed decent quality, so hopefully okay price. I'm comforted by the fact that he didn't seem thrilled with the final deal, not to mention it was less than 10% of the original offer.
I also got some beautiful embroidered small table runners and leather slippers, though one pair of the latter smell a little too fresh from the tannery -- definitely not what you want. I am set for Christmas presents I think. Every single item was handmade in Morocco start to finish and is unique, so I'm happy. :-)
This included some interesting cactus fiber carpets, which it turns out you can hold flames to without them burning or scortching... sure to be helpful. Still, for the carpets, after a 30 minute presentation showing me dozens of carpets without being willing to discuss price, his opening offer was a ridiculous 6500 dirham (nearly $1000USD)!!! After I thanked him and tried to leave him twice, he finally settled at my maximum price of 600 dirham (~$90) for two. Hand woven with embroidery and seemed decent quality, so hopefully okay price. I'm comforted by the fact that he didn't seem thrilled with the final deal, not to mention it was less than 10% of the original offer.
I also got some beautiful embroidered small table runners and leather slippers, though one pair of the latter smell a little too fresh from the tannery -- definitely not what you want. I am set for Christmas presents I think. Every single item was handmade in Morocco start to finish and is unique, so I'm happy. :-)
New day, new adventures
I slept well (starting around 8pm and skipped dinner, but it was worth it), and the conference starts tomorrow, so I had all day today to explore and get thoroughly lost in the city and old medina (means "town" in Arabic) all day. And it was exhilarating.
So much to see! I bought an Eyewitness Guide to Morocco in preparation for my trip. Though many swear by the Lonely Planet guides (which my traveling buddy Ves has anyway), my guide has done me well (reconfirmed at end of trip as well). It's not so great for finding hotels and restaurants, as well as many "big picture" details (like where to find walking tours, etc.), but the history sections at the beginning of the guide were incredibly informative, and the pictures and descriptions of the sites are great. Especially important since in Morocco, if there's a non-Arabic description of anything, it's only in French. My Arabic is good enough to pronounce words I see and exchange niceties, and my French is probably just worse than that, so having the guide to give a good description was important in showing myself around town.
I took many pictures of everything I saw... too much to describe individually, though I did what I could on the photos themselves. (Thanks to Ves... I stole many of his pictures too, when his were better). I extracted a pseudo-"best of" and posted them here:
Today was packed full of adventures and mishaps which will no doubt richen my experience. :-) I'm attempting to write a journal of some of these experiences, but doubt I'll have time to keep it up. In the meantime,
So much to see! I bought an Eyewitness Guide to Morocco in preparation for my trip. Though many swear by the Lonely Planet guides (which my traveling buddy Ves has anyway), my guide has done me well (reconfirmed at end of trip as well). It's not so great for finding hotels and restaurants, as well as many "big picture" details (like where to find walking tours, etc.), but the history sections at the beginning of the guide were incredibly informative, and the pictures and descriptions of the sites are great. Especially important since in Morocco, if there's a non-Arabic description of anything, it's only in French. My Arabic is good enough to pronounce words I see and exchange niceties, and my French is probably just worse than that, so having the guide to give a good description was important in showing myself around town.
I took many pictures of everything I saw... too much to describe individually, though I did what I could on the photos themselves. (Thanks to Ves... I stole many of his pictures too, when his were better). I extracted a pseudo-"best of" and posted them here:
Today was packed full of adventures and mishaps which will no doubt richen my experience. :-) I'm attempting to write a journal of some of these experiences, but doubt I'll have time to keep it up. In the meantime,- I'm also getting some weird reactions when I say I'm American (like unprompted "don't worry, America and Morocco are good friends"), so I'm now saying my name is Katie and I'm from near London when asked. ;-) So much for doing as the Romans do.
Monday, May 26, 2008
First impressions
I am here and well, after slightly adventurous trip losing my luggage (it arrived late yesterday, though the airport would not deliver it), and in typical me fashion, almost losing my poster at JFK. ;-) But only almost.
I was nervous preparing for my travels, primarily due to the fact that I'd be traveling alone as a single woman through a fairly conservative Muslim nation. My boyfriend, a Spanish-Syrian Muslim who grew up in the United Arab Emirates (very liberal) felt pretty sure that they would be very sensitive to my dressing style, so though I was heading to the desert in early summer, I had to take shorts and tank tops out of my repertoire. Shopping trips for ankle-length skirts and natural fiber shirts with short sleeves soon followed.
Leaving the Marrakesh airport to get my first view of the city though (sin luggage), I was struck by many initial observations:
All in all, I'm loving it, and can't wait to explore further tomorrow!
I was nervous preparing for my travels, primarily due to the fact that I'd be traveling alone as a single woman through a fairly conservative Muslim nation. My boyfriend, a Spanish-Syrian Muslim who grew up in the United Arab Emirates (very liberal) felt pretty sure that they would be very sensitive to my dressing style, so though I was heading to the desert in early summer, I had to take shorts and tank tops out of my repertoire. Shopping trips for ankle-length skirts and natural fiber shirts with short sleeves soon followed.
Leaving the Marrakesh airport to get my first view of the city though (sin luggage), I was struck by many initial observations:
- While the country may be conservative as a whole, immediately I saw women riding motorbikes by themselves, hair uncovered with tight jeans. Arms are nearly always covered, but still, a little more relaxed than feared. Nice to know.
- The landscape is sandy and dry, not so different from the natural UAE landscape, but yet it appears to be more naturally green.
- Drivers here are LOCO!! Lane lines optional, stoplights nearly nonexistant (and motorbikes ignore them anyway), and tailgating is an art. Glad I'm not driving. :-)
All in all, I'm loving it, and can't wait to explore further tomorrow!
In Morocco!
A few months ago, I learned that a conference publication of mine had been accepted to LREC, the Language Resources and Evaluation Conference in my research field of natural language processing. Good news after months of hard work. And the even better news is... the conference would be held in Marrakesh, Morocco!
مراكش
So, here I am, Day 1 of a 10 day adventure in Northern Africa. While the conference itself is only three full days (Wed-Friday of this week), I have arrived mid-morning Monday, have all of Tuesday to explore, and then have Saturday through next Tuesday to leave Marrakesh and see what else Morocco has in store. Because I attended a wedding outside New York City this Saturday, it was convenient to fly from JFK to Marrakesh (through Casablanca) on Sunday. Convenient, but a lot of traveling, and less conveniently, my luggage didn't make it all the way there with me. The airline claims that they'll deliver the luggage to my hotel when it arrives, but we'll see....
(postscript: they definitely didn't. I had to make my way back to the airport and pick it up myself later; fortunately I was carrying around my passport or I couldn't have gotten into the baggage claim, which I hadn't thought of before)
I really wish I had brushed up on my two semesters of Arabic before I came. Despite the fact that I learned the formal dialect and parts of the Syrian dialect (far different from the North African dialects), it definitely could have come in handy. Instead, I'm left with a 1st grade reading level and a vocabulary which roughly allows me to exchange niceties and shoo away the shopkeepers but not much else. Definitely something to brush up on, but I'll have to do it by massaging my memory or asking around, since Arabic-English dictionaries at my level (vowels included) don't really exist, and definitely aren't sold in these parts in any case.
All in all though, I immediately loved the chaos and the newness of it all. I'm exhausted from the flights, but can't wait to explore. :-)
مراكش
So, here I am, Day 1 of a 10 day adventure in Northern Africa. While the conference itself is only three full days (Wed-Friday of this week), I have arrived mid-morning Monday, have all of Tuesday to explore, and then have Saturday through next Tuesday to leave Marrakesh and see what else Morocco has in store. Because I attended a wedding outside New York City this Saturday, it was convenient to fly from JFK to Marrakesh (through Casablanca) on Sunday. Convenient, but a lot of traveling, and less conveniently, my luggage didn't make it all the way there with me. The airline claims that they'll deliver the luggage to my hotel when it arrives, but we'll see....
(postscript: they definitely didn't. I had to make my way back to the airport and pick it up myself later; fortunately I was carrying around my passport or I couldn't have gotten into the baggage claim, which I hadn't thought of before)
I really wish I had brushed up on my two semesters of Arabic before I came. Despite the fact that I learned the formal dialect and parts of the Syrian dialect (far different from the North African dialects), it definitely could have come in handy. Instead, I'm left with a 1st grade reading level and a vocabulary which roughly allows me to exchange niceties and shoo away the shopkeepers but not much else. Definitely something to brush up on, but I'll have to do it by massaging my memory or asking around, since Arabic-English dictionaries at my level (vowels included) don't really exist, and definitely aren't sold in these parts in any case.
All in all though, I immediately loved the chaos and the newness of it all. I'm exhausted from the flights, but can't wait to explore. :-)
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