Random Moroccan Cultural Notes, Vol. 1

Somewhere between Rabat and Marrakesh, Morocco
May 8 (Wednesday) – 3 pm

Since we’ve got a four hour train ride between Rabat, the capital, and Marrakesh, one of the larger cities in the southern part of the country, I thought I’d write down some random notes so far about Moroccan culture. Timestamping above because I don’t have internet access and so will post when I can.

1. Parking Attendants. Throughout most streets in urban areas, you’ll find these men in bright green or yellow safety vests working as parking attendants, either formally or informally. They will help you back up, direct you to open spaces, and generally watch out for your car (for damage, theft, etc). You have to pay all of them a few dirham, and their utility is of widely varying quality.
2. Sidewalk Parking. If the sidewalk is big enough and your car is small enough, it’s fair game. See:
   
3. Dress. Female dress seems to vary almost entirely relative to generation. Younger women tend to wear Western clothes (jeans, some tank tops, fancy shoes, sweaters, etc) while the older women stick more generally to traditional dresses and head coverings. On the platform waiting for the train there was a young woman wearing a male-style button up shirt with a man’s loose tie at a rakish angle, very stylishly.  I think that would be certainly pushing the envelope with the older generation. Men seem much more uniformly to stick to Western attire, although you do see some men in traditional clothes now and then.
4. Café Voyeur. At outdoor cafes, almost everyone (men especially) line up with their backs against the café wall, facing the street. The idea I guess is to watch the people going by but Becca mentioned that some of it is to ogle/hassle women who pass by. Some cafes put only half the seats facing the café, since almost everyone wants to face out toward the street. Better people watching. It is kind of surreal when an entire café is facing you in a line, with not a single person having their back to you. On a somewhat related note: Becca says women get a lot less verbal harassment/undesired attention when accompanied by men. When she and Dave and I went to the kasbah in Rabat, she got a lot less attention, simply because we were with her.
5. Unhurried Pace. A nice feature I think of the culture here is the unhurried pace. You only get your bill in restaurants and cafes when you ask for it. So you could potentially just hang out for hours in a place, taking your time and watching the world go by (see #4). American places seem to want you in and out as soon as possible so they can turn over the table (and with it a profit).
6. Yes is Yes and No is Yes. I’ve noticed only a little bit of this so far, but I got a lot of it in Panama, and even with my very rough French I’m catching it here and there. Yes and no questions almost always get you a yes answer. “Are the seats together?” “Yes.” (They are not. Well, one of them is not.) Also ran across this in India. The customer is always right, even when they are wrong. Most especially when they are wrong. Some of this is certainly just me getting lost in translation, but some of it is a desire to not disappoint the foreigner who came so far to visit their country with a negative response.

That’s all for now, but these revelations/notes seem to build up over time. I expect I’ll have more to report later on in our journey.