Around The World w/Scott 2011: These are the Days of My Life

OMG...I have had sucha lovely time sine I arrived in Marakech. I met some of the coolest people that I have hung out with that have made this a magical experience in the middle of utter kaos in the streets. The experience is hard to explain as it is really living in the real lives of the locals with their shops, stalls, carts, the souk, the donkey carts, the motorized bycycles, mopeds, cars, swarms of people, the snake charmers, monkeys, storytellers, fruit juice stalls (orange...yum/grapefruit, lemon), nut stands, grain stands, tobacco shops, spices, leather shoes, wool handmade sweaters, scarves, lanterns, rugs, live animals for dinner anyone (chickens/rabbit) all slaughtered before your eyes...yikes..rabbit tasted like chicken...don't ask. Butcher shop with cow hoofs hanging in the stall, sandwich shops..YUM...take that with ftittes. Am I the only one that didin't know that Morocco was at one time a French settlement...everyone starts theor conversation in arabic then berber then French so it allows a get away before they actually get to Englich...run...I just don't want to go to your shop to see anymore of your stuff.

My hostel (Riad Massin) is the best experience in the whole trip..well one of the best experiences of the whole trip because those that run the place are so special. I got this referral fron a girl from CA while I was in Madrid. She couldn't stop talking about how much fun she had there so I passsed on the Equity Point option that experienced twice in Spain...Barcelona rocked....Madrid not so much so I decided to try somewhere new and boy was I glad I did. i definately opted for the airport pickup as all Marakech hostelworld comments mentioned get ready to get lost...Oh boy my favorite pasttime...lost in a new land. Needless to say I found my way from the souk all the way home...all by myself!! Yipee!! It is the winding streets of the souk that can get tricky...but I was only lost once and then I ended up right outside the main wall just around the corner from my hostel...telll me I was releaved!! The souk is cool the first time but then like all theses markets every stall has pretty muc the same stuff. If you are female there are definately more options but if you like to haggle...you are in paradise...guess which one I was in?? Needless to say I wandered and wandered and made so many new friends...lol but I actaull found what I think may be the only men's row of stalls. I again found that they have the same t-shirts as there were in Turkey but for twice the price even with negotiations. So of course I bought 4 GStar t-s for the bargain price of $5.00 each. Only a $55 savings if I would buy them at homw. There is actaully a g-star store im Madrid and I went in and priced the t's...hehehe...I got a bargain.

More shopping as I saw everyone here with these oversized wool handmade sweaters that look really cool....the catch...are you sitting on the edge of you chair..,they all have a hoodie but once you pull it up it has a pointed cap. Reminiscent of the clan. So I rethought cool for the locals not so cool for bringing it home to the south...so much for the local souvenier. So now my next purchase will be a pair of the leather slippers. No I will not be buying the pointy toed that make you look light an elf but some really nice leather slippers for walking around at homw or those wuick trips to the store or what the hell to be trending instead of flipflops...lol Other than that I am done with the foreign shopping spree around the world....Yeah right. Well let's seee, Paris is going to be too expensive for my budget this year and Amsterdam as far as i know is not a fashion paradise so no shopping there and finally I have already been to London earlier so no additional shopping there is required.. Yipee bring on the Holiday finally for the first time in my life I have completed my holiday shopping in advance of Christams eve.

The best part of Marakech has been the weather. I have once again lucked out and the weather has been beautiful...in the 70's everyday. The Riad is similar to the lodging that I stayin Bejing. The houses in Marakech are mostly 2 story with an open or covered center courtyard (common area)some with pools and then the kitchen, bedrooms and baths are off this central courtyard. It is awesome setup for meeting people and getting to share the day. Most also have rooftop courtyards for sunny and just hangin out. I have had a blast getting know people and jsut hanging out. Good Times!

Another great fun time has been that the 11th annual 2011 Marakech International Film Festival started on Dec 2-10 so I have been able to see some of the films that ordinarily I would have missed. I also see them when I get back knowing that this is where it all began. Last night was the India film night and alot of peopel were thrilled that one of the huge Bollywood male leads was here and made an appearance in the main square. It was crazy fun to be there and hang out. A few of my best buds have departed so time to make some new friend for my last two nights here. But that is half the fun!!