Making the Most of Morocco
Morocco was the first country in Africa I've visited (hopefully not the last!). It's a beautiful country but also so different from American suburbs and Western European cities. Here's my pro tips on how to get by!
Pro Tip #1: BARGAIN. Vendors in Morocco will set prices initially to 4 or 5 times its worth. It might seem like lowballing but start your negotiations with a price about 1/5 to 1/4 of the price they first tell you. Don't show too much interest at first; if you're interested in an item, walk around the rest of the shop for a little and then come back to ask about a particular item. If you show immense interest right when you walk in, the vendor will price the item higher than they would otherwise. Depending on the item and the vendor, you can usually get it down to a reasonable price. Some vendors won't be down to negotiate at all, and in that case, be prepared to walk away. If they are down to negotiate, you can often say that Muhammed or Ahmed down the street offered you a lower price as those names are extremely common in Morocco! (I tried it, it works!). And be aggressive!
Pro Tip #2: Speaking of being aggressive, people on the streets of Morocco tend to offer hash and other drugs to visitors -- if you say no to them (which is the smarter move in my opinion), be aggressive! It isn't worth it to try some in a different country; you might not know what you're getting or where you'll end up. They can also sell you hemp seeds as hash, just like how some people in America will try to pass off oregano as hash. Luckily, I didn't get offered any but my guy friends got offered drugs several times, even multiple times by the same guy.
Pro Tip #3: Water costs money in Morocco! Restaurants will place big bottles of water on the table, but will charge you if you open them. They won't say anything when they bring the bottles to the table so you might think they are free, and then they will ask you to pay for the water once you've drank from it. Tap water isn't drinkable in Morocco so if you are thirsty or don't have water bottles on you, it's best to team up and split a huge bottle (can up be to 1L). At lunch in Chefchaouen, Jill, Emily, and I sat at a table with girls we didn't know, and not knowing we had to pay for the water, between our two groups we had opened all 3 bottles of water -- 'twas a shame.
Pro Tip #4: If you get a henna tattoo, it's best to do it at the end of your day where you can sit down and let it dry! You don't want to be dealing with a jacket, sleeping on a bus (our tour guides told us stories of people who slept on the bus and then ended up with their tattoo on their face), or in my case, walking around with your hand hanging down and the henna dripping a bit because of gravity. Sit down, enjoy the scenery, and let it dry a bit before you make your way!
Pro Tip #5: Women in Morocco don't like to be photographed, so be mindful of anyone in your pictures, even if they aren't the subject. At the exit of the blue city, you could see a huge mountain in the background. I was trying to take a picture of it, with the city walls on the side to frame the shot, when all of a sudden I was getting yelled at! The women sitting on the wall, which was on the left side of my picture, started yelling and pointing at me. I figured they thought I was taking a picture of them, and not knowing Arabic, tried to point to the mountain behind them and motion that I was taking a picture of the mountain, not them. They kept yelling even after I put my camera down, and not knowing what else I could say to them, rushed to catch up with the rest of the group. To play it safe, it's generally a good idea to ask anyone out of respect that you might want to photograph if it's alright with them, and if you don't/can't, just keep in mind that different cultures have different ways of operating and don't be alarmed!