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:

• 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!