Rabat!

So, how's Rabat? It's nice. Other people had told me that they thought it felt like Europe. After two months in Fes, I still can tell it's not Europe. But I can see what they mean. The streets are wider, even the old city is less crowded and easier to get through, people bother you less, the buildings are cleaner, there's a bright new tram way (about a month new - so new that their ticket-validator doesn't work and instead they have a guy working on there to mark your ticket for you.)

I actually tried to change my ticket to come home earlier when I realized that most friends were headed home. For better or worse, all them planes was filled up by then. So instead I got to know Rabat a bit. It's a nice city. Quiet, not too big. Nice for just getting stuff done, like the people who work here, or for just relaxing, like I have been doing.

Even Ramadan here isn't too terrible. Yesterday I had lunch at a restaurant. It is inside the Institut Francais. I had heard that in some countries, you can eat during the day in restaurants that have their windows blocked off to the street. That's actually not so true. Or true at all. Several restaurants are plain just open for tourists (and kids) without any kind of shielding. It leads to an interesting question. These people are hungry and uncomfortable, for religious reasons, yet working. Is it better to go and eat there, in front of them when they're not supposed to have so much as a sip of water, and yet justify their being open and help pay their wages -OR- to not go their because you don't want to eat in front of hungry people? I don't know. And not too many are open. I went to La Veranda, but I'm not sure how many others I'll go to.

I have been warned that pickpocketing goes up, because it costs so much to get the special dinner and breakfast on the table, and that tempers are short (as I would expect!) but it seems like as long as you're a bit more careful than usual - or maybe just as careful as I was all summer in Fes - that it's doable.

Did I ever tell you what Fes is actually like? I don't feel like re-reading my posts, so if you would like more info on that, just tell me. Two guys from ALIF are coming into Rabat tomorrow evening, but until then I have plenty of time to help fulfill your curiosity. Unless I go out to the Chellah for a couple hours. We'll see.