SWF in Morocco

First off, I'd like to say that I've contemplated for a few days whether or not I should publish this post.
Also, I'm speaking about men in this blog, and mainly the men of Marrakech.
Ok, here it goes:

Morocco was one of the countries I was really looking forward to seeing. My first impression of Morocco came from the movie "Babel" with Brad Pitt and Cate Blanchett. Cate accidentally gets shot in the chest by a local Moroccan boy while traveling on a tourist bus with Brad. (very good movie, if you haven't seen it) It didn't paint the best picture of Morocco, but it's Hollywood.

Moroccan spices

Before I left on my trip, I wasn't fortunate enough to actually speak with someone who had traveled to Morocco, so I had no warning of what I was getting myself into. I will do you a favor and give you fair warning.

The people of Morocco are some of the most mean spirited people I have ever met. I've never seen such a high concentration of nasty people in one place as I did in Marrakech. If I had to choose one word to describe Marrakech, it would be "evil".

I hate to say such negative things about a country, but in this case, it's much needed. This is a blog about my perceptions around the world and I think my readers would appreciate if I was honest. I'm not going to sugar coat this. A lot of Moroccan men are sexist pigs who treat women inferiorly. I feel so sorry for the Moroccan woman. They seem very nice but any socializing by them is shunned, so sadly I haven't been able to speak to many of them.

I'm not saying all Moroccan men are this way.... just, like, 99.9% of them. These spiteful locals are only artificially nice if they think they will get something from it. They seem to be nice people in the beginning, but their true colors show soon enough. I arrived in Morocco with an optimistic attitude, I had no idea the locals were like this. The accumulation of my sour experiences is twiddling away at my tolerance and has left me feeling jaded. It's not the landscape, it's not the climate, it's the people. The one crucial element that determines if I like a country is the warmth of the locals. Let's just say Moroccans are ice cold.
Their economy depends on tourism, but ironically, they treat their customers with appalling disrespect. I've even heard them say "I hate tourists!".
Their main goal in life is to extract the most money possible out of tourists.
Walking through the souks (the scrambled maze of shops) is like subjecting yourself to a constant state of harassment. For me, it's like being thrown to the wolves. I've seen a side of Morocco that perhaps a lot of tourists will never know exists. I'll tell you why....

The souks in Marrakech

Speaking with other tourists, I discover they have similar stories about the nasty locals, but nothing as extreme as I've experienced.  Their travel experience is COMPLETELY different than mine.


My main point is, I have 4 things going against me:
1. I'm alone
2. I'm female
3. I'm blonde.
4. I'm young

Yea, I don't look like any of them, I get it, but why should I have to be put through all of this?I only met one girl that was traveling alone in Morocco, she was Korean and didn't have these problems to the degree that I had, so I don't have anyone to accurately compare my experience with.

It's rough traveling as a solo female here. I would say it's worse than Egypt.
I'm constantly the victim of sexual harassment. The men, from adolescent boys to old men, will give me catcalls like a horny construction worker. I feel like a dirty prostitute when I walk down the street from all the up and down looks I get along with the inappropriate comments. Let me point out that this happens when I am fully clothed, and the only skin showing is my face.


Some of the worst harassment comes from the shopkeepers as I pass by their shop. The harsh, desperate shopkeepers even resort to physically grabbing my arm like hungry piranhas. My most valuable tool against this haggling: my earphones. With these on, I'm in my own magical musical world. Sunglasses are also very helpful. I'm somehow able to deal with the unforgiving nastiness a bit better when there's a little music flowing through my ears. I simply ignore them, and they give up a little quicker. Unfortunately, one day my ear buds broke. I felt naked without my protective devices used to ward off the hustlers. In the span of about 30 minutes while searching for new ones to buy, these are some of the comments I heard from different men on the streets:
"Very nice (while clapping)"
"Excuse me, come take a look in my shop"
"Are you looking for a husband?"
"Come smell my spices"
"Wow"
"You have nice eyes"
"Which country?"
"Mmmm, I like" (in an Arabic accented bedroom voice)
"Muah"
"ahh, you're beautiful"
"Looking for romance?"
"Why don't you talk?! All you tourists are the same! Fuck you! Bitch!"


These are just the English comments, there are many others in French and Arabic that I'm unable to understand. As you can see, they have no respect for women. Its very tiring.
It's shocking to be talked to like this, especially after coming from countries with such extremely nice people.

In Marrakech, there are men in the main square with monkeys on leashes. It's very sad. I asked one of the monkey owners how much it was to take a picture with his monkey. He said "as you like". I said "ok, I will give you 10 Dirham." he says "ok". After he took my picture, and after his ill-treated monkey bit me on the cheek (Luckily, I haven't started foaming at the mouth yet) he demanded I pay. I gave him the 10 Dirham we agreed upon and he starts yelling "200 Dirham ! You need to give me 200 !" I said "No I don't, we agreed on 10." I walk away and he follows me yelling at me to give him more money. I keep walking. He keeps following. I mean, really, this is uncivilized. Are they TRYING to scare away all the tourists?

This is just one small example of the daily headaches I have to deal with in barbaric Morocco. There is a huge lack of manners here. This occurrence was very mild compared to many other encounters I've had with nasty locals. They have all involved taxi drivers, shopkeepers and guides. I'll refrain from telling those stories, I don't want my mom and sister to worry too much.

Another fact that confuses me about Moroccans is how much they hate having their picture taken. They must not want the world to see their scowling faces. They either cover their face or run and hide. Even if I ask, they say no. (even though I've never said no when they want to take a picture of me). So I either have to pay them or sneak a picture. This is when a good zoom lens comes in handy.

Snuck this one with my zoom lens

This same kind of harassment happens in Italy, but I don't mind so much when it happens there. The Italian demeanor is different. Here, you can just see the evil spiritedness in their brown Moroccan eyes. The more I travel, the better I am at reading people. I can tell the character of someone almost instantaneously, by their facial expressions, gestures, dress.... I believe this strong intuition has kept me safe in my solo travels. Any twinge of bad feeling I get from someone, I'm outta there. I perpetually have this feeling while in Morocco.


On a lighter note, there is a tiny bit of humor present in this grim environment. Their pick-up lines crack me up. My personal favorite is: "Excuse me ! You dropped something !" After I turn around to see what it is, they put their hand over their chest and say "My heart !"
Good one.
Sorry.....not in a million years.


Their #1 pick-up line is: "you have beautiful eyes."
What an original.
Clever, boys.
If I had a quarter for every time I've heard that, I would have enough money to travel around the world 8 times.
The locals also give celebrity names to the tourists. Attempting to get my attention, I've been called "Shakira" and "Barbie". Other tourists have reported being called "Hannah Montana", "Lady Gaga", "Brad Pitt", and "Ali Baba".
Hahaha.
If you do decide to brave the cruel Moroccans at some point, and decide you want to buy something from them in their shops, here are a few tips that will help prevent you from losing a wad of cash when bargaining for your goods:

-wear your least expensive shoes when shopping. The shopkeepers look at your shoes to gauge where to start the price negotiations. They also ask which country you're from to help them determine how wealthy you may be. This is more difficult to lie about with your accent.

- don't let them see your iPhone or expensive camera.

- barter with a smile, even flirt if you have to (sorry, girls only). Though I found it difficult to smile at a Moroccan shopkeeper that has a blatantly obvious artificial kindness.

- if you are young enough, tell them you're a student or a poor backpacker. I never divulged the fact that I'm a nurse.

-sometimes they will ask where you are staying. Even if you're staying at the Ritz Carlton, tell them you're staying in a cheap hostel.

-tell them the item is cheaper at another owner's shop.

- if all else fails, walk away. They will usually give you the price you wanted when they see you're leaving.
(these tips are also transferable to other countries)
It's also probably 10 times easier to bargain if you are male.
I scored a glass Moroccan lamp for dirt cheap with these tactics. It took me 2 days of negotiations but I finally got it for the price I wanted. Let's hope it doesn't break in the mail :(

A Moroccan lamp, not the one I bought

Sorry about the negative post, but this is honestly how Morocco has been for me.
I'm stuck here for another week dealing with the Moroccan's shenanigans and getting swindled out my precious travel dollars. So, I think I'll follow the advice my mom has always instilled in me: Kill them with kindness !

Soon I will be in Thailand, the "Land of smiles". From one extreme to the next !


Smile! This poor donkey has some serious orthodontic issues, but he's still nicer than the local :)