Marrakech: 22 McElaney's: -300
Trip Start
Jun 13, 2008
1
3
54
Trip End
Aug 20, 2008
Marrakech,
Morocco
Tuesday, June 17, 2008
Our walk home to our Riad took us through part of the square and down some pretty narrow alleyways. We had walked this route a couple times already and it had never been a problem. On this night, the streets were mobbed. In one particular alley, there were about 10 people across going in both directions (including bikes, mopeds, and babystrollers above heads), and about 50 people deep. Think about trying to get out of a bathroom at Fenway, but you have to go through the entrance during the 7th inning stretch.....now multiply that by 10
Djemma El Fna Square
. Lauren and I were suddenly stuck in the middle of this throng of pushing people, just trying to get to the next opening. People are clutching and grabbing everything, all over the place (including Lauren). Boys in Marrakech apparently have a thing for grabbing girls not dressed in traditional Arabic clothing. Given this perfect storm of a packed street, my baggy shorts (stupid), me concentrating on keeping Lauren in front of me, and a lot of aggressive Moroccans causing a skirmish which was thus causing the crowd, our camera was taken out of my pocket. Although I didn't see the person who took it, I knew it was happening...it was just that sort of scene. I was focused on Lauren and our passports, so wasn't overly concerned with the camera at this point. The situation never seemed dangerous, although the square is clearly filled with con artists and pickpockets. (McElaney's -$300)When we got back to our Riad, I tried in broken French to explain to the one staff person what had happened. He is about 50 years old and speaks no English. However, he quickly figured out what I was saying and he and I set off back to the restaurant. I double-checked and the camera was still nowhere to be found. On the walk back he was looking around at all of the boys and could obviously tell which ones were out stealing for the night. He would point to one and stop me and say "Tu connais?" Do you recognize/know him? Then he indicated how he would break the person if I found him. It was very thoughtful of him. We walked back, went to bed and tried to forget about it and agreed that this blog entry would be the last we spoke of it....unless I find some boy in Marrakech trying to sell me back our camera.
