Morocco Revisited

This post is 2 months in the making.....well no, not really...but I just received some great photos from my friend Pamelas who I met in Marrakech. These are photos of the traditional Moroccan custom of buying rugs. Buying rugs can be an all day event as you'll see in these photos....The amazing thing, is that this dude Mohammed, remembered me from shopping there a year before. He gave me such a big hug that I thought he was trying to give me a wraparound.
I don't think this store has a website, but if it did, this photo would be on the opening page. Everyone looks so overbearingly uncomfortable.
And it would be one of those old cerca 1996 webpages with lots of blinking action and extra-crappy dual-color graphic presentations. The headline of the page would say 'Many Happy Touristical Memaries! Shopping Carpets Marrakech for Your Big Vacations Funs! Also Touring Guides for All Touristaical Highlights of Deserts and Adventours! Best Pricing! As recomendid by Lonely Planit and the Rough Guys' It would make no sense, but that's what the actual signs in English, would say in Morocco.
There is no acting done in this photo....we were seriously exhausted after about 3 hours in the rug store of doing 'many happy touristical shopping mamories with big funs'
this is a poster on one of the juice stands in Marrakech that we drank from. I'm pretty sure I'm banned from entering Morocco again....or possibly any Muslim country.....I might also be banned from returning to San Francisco by the Politically Incorrect Brigade...and definitely banned in Berkeley, but it be pretty neat to have a protest march dedicated to me. (btw, I mean no offense by this photo. It was just to hard to resist, and the juice guy thought it was funny)
speaking of happy touristicial menmorys, Dónde está Che Pelotas?

Photo Heavy Last Couple Weeks in Morocco Without Much Text Except in Title of Entry

here's photos from the last 2 weeks in morocco. i think last year's photos were better (go here to judge for yourself). i'm back in spain now and will be here till mid-july. blah blah blah blah blee blah blah, can't think of anything to write. here be them photos i promised:
sunset photo in assilah while a skinny guy who looked like he was tripping was eying my shit
the most splendid gate in all of morocco, bab el-mansour in meknes
moroccan models in front of bab el-mansour. they follow direction well. here, sit.
and here, stand.
in this game in the plaza, you try to get the ring on the bottle. it´s like spin the bottle, only no kissing since it´s an islamic country. big fun.
acrobat
acrobat again
some countries are dog countries, like india or most of south america. morocco is definitely cat country.
some people are just born with good style
a big ass mausoleum in the distance at this cemetary in meknes
i walked into this mosque, took a photo, then they kicked me out for not being muslim. what happened to the fourth of the five pillars of islam, charity?
zellig and stonework detail
a really rad door and accoutremants more detail
and even more detail
minaret kissing the sun
i want this courtyard in my house. so peaceful looking
in marrakech, there are these gigantic storks making nests on top of all these ruins and even in some of the minarets.
ceiling is pretty
ceiling is beautiful
renato is running out of ideas to describe this ceiling
stonework detailing in marrakech
it was really really really hot when i took this shot. i found it pointless to try to sell knit hats in 100 degree weather.
my homeboys trying to get their gang sign shit together
ouzzazade falls just outside marrakech. a full on brodeo with an occasional female swimming, albeit fully clothed.
inside the souqs of marrakech
Where there's a will, there's a Che, Dónde está Che Pelotas?

My Homeboys at 114

Anyone that's been to Marrakech knows abuot the great plaza and spectacle that is Djeema el-Fna.
The plaza at night
At dusk about 100 food stalls are set up, each serving the same food, each having the same exact menu and each having about 4 or 5 touts trying to get you to eat at their establishment. Last year I ate at abuot 4 different food truoghs, but stand #114 stood out the most beacause the touts there had the most charm, charisma, and dished out as much verbals shit as I dished out to them.
So now I've returned to Marrakech after one year has passed and looked for my favorite stall. When I walked by, my favorite 114 homeboy was doing a hard sell on a French tourist when I saw him. When his eyes saw mine, his eyes lit up (I guess it's true, you can always read a person by their eyes), and he yelled out a big 'HEEYYYYYYY!!'. He then grabbed me by the arm and gave me a gigantic bear hug. I couldn't believe after one year of serving a hundred or so customers a night, hundreds of thousands of people a year, that he remembered little old me. He replied 'I never forget nobody!'. I wanted to tell him that while a double negative is acceptable in Spanish, it is considered a grammatical faux pax in English. But I was too caught up in amazement and emotion to get into a discussion about semantics. A couple of the other guys came over and yelled out 'California!!' and gave me hugs. One of them showed me the west coast gang sign, but I had to correct his thumb placement since it looked more like a 4 fingered Simpsons character than Tupac's 'W'.
More 'Backstreet' looking than 'street'. A couple of English tourists asked if I came here often. I told them I was here one year ago. I should have thought of something more profound to say like 'it's not the places you see, but the people you meet'...or maybe, 'absence makes the heart grow fonder'...but instead I just ordered some couscous, some grilled eggplant and peppers, and a bowl of harira (Moroccan soup). I then watched my homeboys pounce on tourists like vultures, flipping between 4 different languages with ease. As I ate, In noticed their sales pitch was stronger when attractive women walked by. It's good to see that my homeboys on this side of the world are the same as my homeboys back home.....stay tuned for more pics with these guys next week....
He's everyones homeboy, Dónde está Che Pelotas?