Thoughts on Morocco: The Wrap-Up

The next day (Monday) we shopped for carpets. Actually the correct term is Kilim.

Kilim rugs is a tapestry rug woven from fairly harsh, thick wool. Most kilims are reversible, but rarer Kilims have loose ends on the back. Kilim rugs are made by nomadic peoples in Turkey, Iran, Iraq, Russia, China, Pakistan, India and Morocco.

All of the Kilims that we bought were made by Berber women. The Berber is a ethnic group that still lives up in the mountains of Morocco (Yes, Morocco has mountains).

Professor Angry and I woke up early that day. She gathered all her information and research, placed it in her bright orange bag that would eventually become too heavy as the day drew on.

Omar walks us down a alley in the medina to the carpet store. And once we walk in we see. Carpets.


and more carpets.


I don't get impressed easy but DAMN this place was incredible. They were very happy to see us in a genuine kind of way. We sat down and the salesman called over his assistants to give us a demonstration. The assistants literally roll out the carpet in front of you with an elaborate flourish. Then the salesman talked to us about where the carpets come from and the different styles. Now keep in mind that Professor Angry spent 7 months prior to this trip doing all kinds of research on Kilims. So she knew exactly what she wanted. She laid out all her research from the internet and called the salesman over to give him an example of what she was looking for. It took about 3 hours for us to choose from there selection. We walked away with an undisclosed number of Kilim for a decent price. Omar and I were very instrumental in the negotiation of the final price. After all that we went back to the hotel and rested.

Tuesday was Professor Angry's birthday so Omar decided to take us to a Fantasia at a place called Chez Ali, a fantasia is a tightly choreographed spectacle complete with charging horses and plenty of trick riding and action. The ornate costumes of the participants will remind you of "1,001 Arabian Nights. Going to a fantasia showed me how people in Morocco really know how to pimp their culture. The food at Chez Ali was amazing for a place that looked like a tourist trap. Earlier that day I had the pleasure of meeting one John Weiss a photographer is now a professor of photography at the University of Delaware. Back in the 80's Mr. Weiss released a book called The Face of Baseball.

Wednesday morning we went to a Berber village in the mountains. We had McDonald's for breakfast and I crashed once we got back, I swear the McDonald's overseas is more potent than the McDonald's here in America. After my nap, I spent most of the afternoon chilling by the pool and checking email. Wednesday would be our last day with Omar but at least we would have Abdul as a substitute.

Thursday Abdul drove us to Essouria. The drive was about 2 and half hours. But it was worth it. I listened to my iPod for most of the ride and just sat back and checked out the view. The drive to Essouria was probably one of the best things that I got to experience on this trip. While we were there we ran into Arthur a nice gentleman we met on the way in. He's what I like to call a MAD COOL BROTHA. Arthur is the type of person you can talk to, and feel at the end of the conversation that you've learned something. He was staying at this PHAT riad near the beach and man did he have a view. We also had the pleasure of meeting a nice Jewish man named Joseph who had happened to live in Forest Hills, Queens for a number of years. This was cool for me cause me cause I went to HS in Forest Hills. We chatted in Hebrew for a while and talked about how NYC has changed since 9/11. We ended up buying a painting and some jewelry. If any of you people reading this ever go to Essouria. Do no leave there without trying the fish.

Friday we ended up chilling for most of the day. We went to a nice garden in the day and at night we hooked up with Arthur and drank wine til about 12AM in a riad. While we were there we ran into a Eurotrash table of people that were interested in finding out where we were from, I personally had enough of people asking me if I was an NBA player or the bodyguard of the famous singer (Prof. Angry) I was with.. We blew them off and headed back to the hotel to get a good night's sleep.

Saturday we woke up at 4AM to catch our flight out of Marrakech to Casablanca. The flight home was long and not easy. First off we were at Casablanca for 3 hours with nothing to do. While on the plane I got 2 fevers and was in the middle seat. Let me tell ya something folks being 6'3 and in the middle seat between a woman that is 6'1 and a another gentleman who is 6'2 isn't fun.

So this wraps up my trip to Morocco. All of this was made possible by Professor Angry. Thanks sweetie. I might not be smiling in all the pictures we took but don't think that I didn't have a great time.