At the souk

Of the week I have had here in Marrakech so far, the other students, host siblings and I have been to the souk at the "Square of the Dead" three times. It gets its name from a period in history during which enemies of the state and rebels would be executed and then their heads would be displayed in the square. Now it's busy pretty much all the time. The square itself is very big and open, with shops and cafes lining it and a view of the Koutoubia Mosque (the biggest one in the city). It is populated by tourist attractions mostly: snake charmers, monkey handlers, orange juice sellers (we have been told not to accept juice because the cups are not washed), henna artists and whatnot.

At the edge of the square, the souk (marketplace) begins. It gradually turns into a very narrow alleyway with shops back-to-back on both sides. After a few minutes, you have pretty much seen everything - leather purses, shoes, counterfeit sunglasses and soccer jerseys, scarves, etc. All the shops offer virtually the same prices and goods, so I don't really like staying there for too long because it's rather claustrophobic. You have to barter for everything, but now that I know Moroccan numbers it's not so hard. So far I've picked up a few gifts for friends and family and a shirt, camel shoes and necklace for myself. It seems like it's the place to go at night. There's really not a lot to do here in Marrakech. Most of the economy is supported by tourism, but this is not a city I would recommend as particularly historic or tourist-friendly. Lots of locals go to the shops as well, so it's not quite as easy for shopkeepers to take advantage of the other students and me especially when we bring our host siblings with us.

One of our favorite pasttimes here is spotting Inappropriately Dressed Europeans (IDEs) and taking stealth pictures of them while shouting "ya haram" which means "forbidden." We have also developed a system of "rajul" ("man") and "imra'a" ("woman") points that we give each other when someone does something stereotypically male or female. It's not very funny but somehow we always laugh at each other whenever someone brings it up. Well, time to try again with pictures... this computer lab is not as well-equipped as I was made to believe, but at least it has air conditioning.