Tangier: Where the tourists drove me crazy

Becca and I decided to go to Tangier on a whim while finishing up our ISPJ drafts.
Once in Tangier we knew we wanted to explore and see the sights, so we hired a
grand taxi driver for the afternoon to take us to all over the place.

My deepest apologies to the man in the jalaba and the shoe-shiner who I saw exploited by American tourists taking photos with them like they were with Mickey Mouse at Disney World. Yes, Morocco is foreign, and we as a country don't know much about Morocco. Is it all camels and Palm Trees, or just out of the movie Casablanca? No, it is not, it is so much more. Do you really have to take photos of everything and everyone? The people living here are normal people with everyday lives, just like you have back home. They have a beautiful culture that if you took anytime to attempt to learn you would get so much more from your experience.

To the man who made the assumption of why you don't see dogs in the streets: No, it is not because Moroccans like cats more because they eat the mice. It's actually because domesticated pets as we have aren't as much of a thing in Morocco. There is obviously the occasional dog on a leash my friends and I ogle over, but they aren't common. Pets in the home are seen as dirty to Moroccan Muslims. In order to pray they have to preform a practice called an abolition, where they clense themselves to pray. If they are touched by their pet between doing an abolition before praying they have to redo them.

The panoramic view of one of Tangier's lush beaches. I will
have to go back someday for a beach vacation. 

To all of the annoying tourists use your smartphones to google something you have a question about, instead of snapping a bazillion meaningless photos. Take it all in, without taking a million photos, I promise you it's better that way. The few meaningful photos are the ones that are worth a thousand words. I was at the same cafe you were at earlier today, I have a funny story to remember it by (aka you), you have photos of random men who you never asked their permission to take their photos in the first place.

As an American traveling abroad you have immense power to portray our culture and people, just as the people you encounter in your travels make up your perception of the people of your chosen destination. There are good and bad people everywhere obviously, but you are the visitors. It's like going into someone's house, if they ask you to take off your shoes you do it because it's their home. 

This is the view from Cape Spartle, where the Mediterranean
meets the Atlantic.

We are able to visit a country with just the purchase of a plane ticket, our visa is waiting on arrival. It's a lot harder for Moroccans to get to America, the visa process to get to America is brutal; so you are a first-hand account of our culture. Coming from a country where Donald Trump is running for president I beg you to take your privilege of travel to really see where you are going. They hear Trump and the rest of the GOP blabbering on about how all Muslims are terrorists. That looks badly on us. I have actually been asked on multiple occasions, even on some interviews with important people about Donald Trump running for president. It's embarrassing. It's also embarrassing when large groups of American tourists act like they have never seen people different from them before. I don't know if America has changed much since I left, but I think it's still a nation of people from all different cultures and backgrounds.

In no way am I saying don't travel. Please do. Take everything in and immerse yourself in the culture. There are really special things, especially about Morocco. Travel should be a mechanism to widen our world views, not perpetuate closed-mindedness.

Our cab driver and tour guide picked flowers
for us.

Really, it's no wonder that as an American in Morocco I have been ripped off by cab drivers and merchants. Really to all of those cab drivers and merchants please continue trying to rip off people that don't try to learn your culture. However, if I am speaking shwaya Arabic to you and trying to bargain let it happen, please don't rip me off completely. (I'm talking to the man I bought my first leather bag from and the horrific cab drivers in Marrakesh, you dear men are assholes.) Bargaining is just what you do in Morocco.

While in Tangier we met some truly nice people. All of the cab drivers put on the meter, except for one, but it was so close it would have been under the minimum of 5 dirhams. I even met shop owners that were actually giving me great prices on items (yay I got a tajine, now I just have to learn to cook in it.) It was the first time in Morocco I felt like I wasn't being completely ripped off (except for the restaurant with no menus . Pro tip: go to places with menus.)

Really a little of the language and some knowledge of the culture goes a long way. I love the smile on a person's face when they see that I can speak Arabic to them. So, if you got this far, sorry for my rant; but it had to be said. Please remember to be polite while traveling. Over all Morocco is a fantastic place. Please visit, I would be happy to answer any questions you have about it.

The view from a park in Tangier.

P.S. We really can't elect Trump. So, please go out and exercise your right to vote. We are Americans. It's one of the most amazing countries in the world. We are a country built on the dream where anyone can come and work their way to the top. The system is broken right now, but if we actually focus on letting people from any background come and work their way to a better future then it will benefit us all.

This is the Cave of Hercules. It has an opening to the Atlantic
Ocean that looks like Africa. It was fun to get to do things
out of the norm. We definitely wanted to get away from the city. 

P.P.S. I'm not saying this as some self-righteous asshole who thinks I know everything since I came to study abroad in Morocco. There is still so much more I don't know, but I would like to. And I do stupid idiot American things while I'm here, though they are mostly funny stupid things, like hoping on a train not knowing where I will sleep that night. It's obviously okay to make mistakes, you always learn something; like now I know to go to always go to a restaurant with a menu. Just don't be an oblivious American that takes advantage of the "exotic" culture.