Sometimes I wonder where our travel choices come from. We have decided to rent a car today (we named him Mustafa) to drive us through Morocco. Good idea? Worst idea ever? We will soon find out. We are praying we have a GPS after our map adventure yesterday in Amsterdam. A result of poor planning, or just sheer stupidity we are taking a taxi into Casablanca for the night just to go back to the airport to rent the car tomorrow morning. We sure wouldn't take the easy road and just stay by the airport. Hellllllll No, say Brian and Marisha, that would be lame and far too easy and stress free. FYI, after driving to and fro the airport yesterday we are now second guessing this self-drive idea.
It was a quick stay in Casa (We are officially locals now and that's how the Locals say it) but it always is for us in the big cities. In and out. We picked up our car this morning and drove to our first stop - a small town called El Jadida. Originally a Portuguese Fort, it's now a major port. We hit the Medina ("town") which was super chill unlike most here (so we are told). Most of all Morocco's medinas have the same general layout. They typically have a packed urban conglomeration with defensive walls and lookout towers. There are countless narrow winding streets and tiny alleyways. For me (M), the directionally challenged, it would take me approximately 1.5 minutes to get lost. Anyway, the Mosque (place of worship) is always at the center and other religious and ethnic groups are separated out. Home and work places are separated. nd the location of certain activities according to social hierarchy are also partitioned. Every Medina is laid out according to these factors.
