Wednesday, 23 June, 2010 --- Day 02

I woke up at around 6:30 but did not get up till almost 9:00. I spent all morning arranging my stuff in the pannier, the knapsack, and the fanny pack in the most sensible way. Most of the time, however, was spent on updating the computer files. I had a late shower and left at 14:00. I went through the ancienne medina where the hotel is located and made it to the port.

As I was walking through the ancienne medina I was approached by a guy, whom I sized up as a tourist profiteer. He spoke to me in broken English and when he found out I was Greek he spoke to me in Greek that was more broken than his English, enough, however, to understand him. He tried to sell anything I could imagine including brunette(melaxrini) and blondy (xanthia) which are the words the Greek underworld uses for hashish and heroine respectively. This was impressive so I asked him how come he knews Greek and especially these words. He said that lots of Greek ships anchor at Casablanca. Before I exited the walls I was approached twice more. Both knew some Greek as well as the underworld terminology including the word “mastoura” which means getting high.

Access to the port is prohibited and the only part one can visit is the fishing port (“port de pesce.”)

From there I walked to Hassan II mosque which is really impressive.

Alley on the way to the mosque

First glimpse of the mosque

Mosque seen from the cornice

Better view of the mosque

Frontal view of the mosque

One of the gates into the mosque

The mosque was closed and surprisingly enough opened as I was about to walk back. Unfortunately when I asked if I could enter, after asking me whether I were Muslim and getting the appropriate answer, I was denied entrance. It is the first time that I’ve seen someone denied entrance to a mosque.

View of the mosque’s front yard

Be that as it may I walked back taking a different way

As you may see, shanty homes never lack a satellite dish

As I was walking by a coffee shop I heard people cheering. When I asked what was going on I was told that the US that was playing against Algeria had just scored. I asked a few more questions trying to find out why. The answers were mixed. My first understanding was that they like the US. This is not surprising given that Morocco is the first state to have recognized the US as an independent country in 1776 and that the longest treaty that the US has with any country that is still valid is with Morocco. On the other hand, some other answers led me to believe that they cheered for the US because they disliked Algeria.

Alley