Marrakech, Morocco: Day 4

By day four, I sense that my life in Morocco is settling down into routine. Every day begins to blend into the next. 9h for breakfast. 12h30 for lunch. Swim and read until 15h30. 19h30 for dinner. 22h sleep. Half the day is dedicated to packing, and the other half to tourism.

Today, it's tourism in the morning. We do a far amount of walking in the old walled city, la Medina, before arriving at a riad, owned by one of my uncle's friends, under construction in the traditional manner. Right before arriving at the door, a group of kids cluster around us, gawking, and ask "Comment tu t'appelles?" When I answer, they all repeat my name and start to giggle. This also happened on the way back, only 10 minutes later. Inside the riad, the detail is astounding. Each tile decorating the pillars is chipped into form by hand. When we visit, however, most of the workers are napping on mattresses.

After a little bit more meandering, we then happen seemingly coincidentally on Ben Youssef Madrasa, an ancient Koranic school. My uncle jokes that this was the Stanford of the 14th century. It's mind- boggling how much history this place has seen, and despite all the tourists there's a sacred ambiance to it. The "dorm rooms" are cubicle sized, but their windows look out from the second floor onto the beautiful first. There, the terrace is massive, with a fountain in the middle and tiled floors and walls.

The Musee de Marrakech is next, but by this time it's too hot for me to appreciate the modern art that mixes with the Moroccan artifacts like swords and teapots. My uncle sits in a chair and waits for me to look through the exhibits. Finally, we also go back to souks and look around some more. I feel more comfortable than yesterday already.

In the afternoon, after lunch, I notice that trying to tan and also being irrationally paranoid about skin cancer is not an awesome combination. I'm too reasonable to make any improvement on my translucence.

Before dinner we go to a huge mall, complete with a Pizza Hut and a Dominos right across from each other, to buy the groceries that Mariam had requested. I buy a Twice bar AND a Mars bar. We forgot to buy bread, and I feel very proud of myself as I run back to go retrieve some.

Instead of struggling to intersperse the relevant photos in my day's summary, I'll just post them below. The first is the new riad, the next three are la Madrasa, the next two are parts of la Medina, and the last is my favorite photo I took in Morocco :)