Casablanca

Catched a train from the airport. Man it was such a big effort trying to fit us three, three board bags, three backpacks and three small backpacks to an already full train. On the way to the city I was trying to soak everything in - the landscape, the people, the sunset, everything. I saw tons of ruins of what supposedly used to be housing at one point. The crazy thing was, that you could tell by the clothes, that had been put out to dry, that people were still living in that ghetto.

Casablanca was a rush. It looked like a city straight from a catasrophe movie where all the survived people have cramped into one dirty city filled with cars and pollution. The traffic was a mess. Three or four lained roads and people constantly honking. The air was so filthy that the fumes i was breathing almost set alarms ringing in my head for the need of public transportation.. Never the less, I was in awe of the city. Never had I ever been in somewhere so exotic. Mexico was pretty wonderful and different and I loved it, but it's not like the women out there were walkign around in head scarves and the men in long robes.

I did how ever pick up the fact which I has read somewhere: Morocco is one of the most progressed Islam countries in women's rights. In major cities like Casablanca and Marrakesh some women were walking around in a head scarf and a robe when others choose to lead the same styled fashion sense as we do in Europe. You could also see them walking in the public by themselves.

But back to getting to the hotel: me, Tom and Sam got a cab for 50 dirhams (I huggled for once!) but I reckon we could've easily gotten it for much cheaper. We arrived to our cute arabic style hotel and the receptionist was adorable! He was so cheery, saying "Cawabunga", making the surfer hand (with our pinky and your thumb up, like a telephone) and high-fiving us all the time :)

As I went to the computer room so send my parents an e-mail that I was alright, I glanced on my left. I was looking at a man's compuer screen and reading the text little by little - wait a minute
"Mówisz po polsku?" (Do You speak Polish?)
So I started to chat with this Polish man in my broken Polish. Damn, should use it more..
I asked him for a good Moroccan restaurant and he gave his recommendations (we ended up going to another one) and he also told about this surf town Essaouira. He and his wife were from Kraków and the man was a writer for a weekly newspaper. He gave me his business card and told me to contact them if (WHEN to be exact) I would come to Poland :) Love meeting random people in a language you can speak!

After this Tom, Sam and Me met these American girls in the lobby that told us never to say never to tea, since it's delish. Note taken. We walked to buy bus tickets to Agadir for 190 dirhams (19€) and took a cab to this lovely restaurant which was full of tourist to our misfortune. Nonetheless the food was splendid: cous cous, a glass of beer and lamb with plumbs. Wow. The lamb with plumbs was absolutely delicious.... better than what dad makes ! SORRY 8)

Oh random thing, before going to out hotel room to pass out, I met this Finnish girl from Tampere who was also in the hotel with an Aussie 8) rndm.