Morocco Blogging

Well, I made it safe and sound here in Morocco, and I'm having a blast here in Casablanca. The greatest difficulties I've had here so far are finding this place to use the internet and using this French keyboard. Seriously. The people here are incredibly nice. I've experienced absolutely zero anti-American sentiment.

I'm also taking notes of some of the unusual things I see. Here's a few things I've noticed so far:

• Change into sandals as soon as possible here; otherwise, if you sit down outside at a cafe, someone will try to shine your shoes every few minutes - sometimes against your will. If you're wearing leather sandals, they'll try to shine those, too. Kids come by your table to sell cigarettes and tissues, too--an appropriate combination, I guess.
• Immense variation: women in veils everwhere, yes, but also many in very "Western" attire. Much like the mix of old and new when I was in Korea.
• First cafe I sat down in an American couple left their water untouched when they left (as did I just to be safe); a kid immediately swooped in and drank it in a single gulp.
• I saw an elderly man selling magazines on a spot on the ground in the shade. They were very old, and it appeared that he was cleaning them all, wiping the dust from each page (not just the cover, but page by page)with a rag.
• I actually seem to get noticed less here than in Korea - perhaps because there are many people with similar frames here (believe it or not), and/or they're more jaded towards foreigners.
• When the locals do notice me, though, it seems they invariably glance down at my feet - perhaps because in their sandal-shod condition, they're so blindingly white. Or maybe since I'm wearing glasses and a hat, it helps to confirm my caucasian identity. (Har-har. As if that needed proving!)
• A couple of decades after the whole Marrakech Express thing, there are still a lot of hippy dippy types here. Look like some of them never left.