- Street Harassment
I really cannot overstate how annoying the street harassment is in Morocco. It’s near constant, and it does really start to wear on you. As a woman, it makes you feel very unwelcome in the public space, and at times, can be unsafe. On my last full day in Morocco, a man tried to push me up against the wall by my school. Nothing that bad happened, but it’s pretty jarring to get accosted in broad daylight while walking with other people, one of whom is a guy. But not all street harassment is physical. I am just as annoyed by the catcalls. We all had our own strategies for dealing with cat calling. I was a fan of the “walk like a badass” approach, where I walked through every street as if I was holding a very large bat. Or, for my fellow nerds out there, Mjolnir. But my friend took the much more interesting, “shame approach.” During our last week, whenever my friend was cat called, she would turn to the man who had yelled at her, and ask him to apologize. Amazingly, it actually worked (sometimes). There is hope for ending cat calling in Morocco, but I’m glad to be leaving it behind. - The Souika Butt Poker
The oddest form of street harassment I encountered was a man (I assume) who I have dubbed the Souika Butt Poker. Literally, I had my butt poked with what felt like a pencil, multiple times, on two separate occasions. I recognize how weird that sounds, but I swear to God, it’s the truth. The worst thing about the Souika Butt Poker is that it takes you awhile to realize that someone is poking your butt. And the man is fast, so I never was able to see who it was. Not gonna miss that crazy weirdo, but I am a little upset I never solved the mystery. - Souika
Related to number 2, I’m really not going to miss Souika, the street I lived on. In general, I loved the Rabat medina. There was always something going on, there were so many cool things to buy, and the people were friendly, and always stopped to talk with their friends. But like everything in life, these are all best enjoyed in moderation. Souika had too many things going on, from beggars, to water sellers, to the call to prayer, to blind men singing, to street harassment. There were too many things to buy, and too many people yelling very loudly about how you should buy their pajamas. And while I love the friendliness of Moroccans, on Souika, this manifested itself in what I have dubbed Souika Pace, which meant that so many people were calling to friends that literally everyone on the street walked like a tourist in Times Square. The combination of these things could really raise the blood pressure. - Medina Juice
This is liquid mixture of rain or water people use to clean the road in front of their shops, combined with any number of other liquids, like spilled juice, fish guts, vegetable water, and probably urine. The point is, you never know what is in Medina Juice, and stepping in it after the hammam, or really any time, is enough to totally ruin your day. - Moroccan Dudes on Facebook
Facebook is very much used as a dating site here, as it is a space for young people to get to know each other outside of the prying eyes of their parents. This is great. The Internet is amazing, and has given us so many more opportunities to connect. I just wish all the guys whose friend requests I accepted would stop connecting with me every single day. I had one man who friended me, who proceeded to like every single picture I had posted in the last 2 months. We’ve all received copious messages from guys we had met for an afternoon and who found us on Facebook. It was interesting to see that the norms around Facebook are not the same in every country, and can be especially frustrating here.
I know this sounded like a really negative post, but don’t worry! My Things I Will Miss About Morocco is coming soon!
Women Laughing Alone 