TRAVELING IN MOROCCO
CAN BE INTRIGUING:
BEGGARS ARE ANOTHER THING
After nine days in Morocco, it's been interesting seeing a different
part of the world, especially after three weeks meeting with producers
in familiar spots in Europe. I adore Paris and spending time in
Germany, but I looked forward to my research trip in Casablanca and
Marrakech, and popping in on my French cousin Daniel in the coastal city
of Agadir.
Morocco is a helluva lot different from what I'm used to seeing, not
having been in a Muslim country since Istanbul in 1998. It was
intriguing to note the hawkers and their myriad selection of goods
spread on blankets all over the sidewalks. Plus, the parade of locals
in a variety of attire, from western jeans to women in burkas, which
covered everything but their eyes.
I visited as many places as I could, but what I couldn't appreciate
or ever get used to was the ubiquitous presence and acceptance of
beggars as a part of everyday life.
I understand begging isn't exclusive to Morocco, and please
understand I realize that misfortune makes people do the unthinkable.
Michael Russnow in the Casablanca Medina
I've witnessed the practice in India, Brazil, Egypt, Thailand and even
Los Angeles. When I'm in Paris, considering the number of subway lines
in their Metro system, it seems that there's just about always someone
in the car I'm riding in, though most purport to be entertaining us as a
captive audience before accosting us with pleas for financial support.
None of this makes it right, nor should we have to stand for it, or
in some way consider it a fascinating part of travel, as in the comment
of one person, who said "That's Morocco."
I don't care if it's Morocco or India or someone with their hand out
in Beverly Hills. If I'm walking around or sitting in a café or lying
on the beach I don't want to tense up as I see someone approach in my
peripheral vision. I don't think it's someone's right to continually
try to get my attention, whether with a pseudo hello and, when you don't
respond, ten or twenty follow-ups to force me to deal with them.
I had a man following me in Casablanca, and I zigzagged around cars
trying to get rid of him, only to be saved by a cab driver who stepped
in and told the guy to stop bothering me. There were many decent and
kind people I met in Morocco, giving me directions or chatting at
various tourist stops. While I'm not thrilled at aggressive
salesmanship, I understand it's part of the game, especially if I step
into a commercial venue such as a souk.
But when I'm eating I draw the line. Why should any of us have to
worry while eating al fresco? Isn't it our right? What gives a person,
no matter their state of poverty, the right to bug us to the extent
that they exploit their young children?
This happened to me a number of times, after which I had to retreat
to indoor dining to escape what had become more than annoying. In the
Marrakech Medina, where many makeshift restaurants open up at night and
where diners sit at long tables, schmoozing with the staff and other
tourists over roasted lamb, beef and chicken dinners, a procession of
beggars continued their offensive. Some thrust packages of Kleenex at
you; others cookies; still others offer nothing and just want your
money.
It wouldn't be so bad if they took no for an answer, as was my
experience in Bangkok, but the same people keep coming back, making
them, and I'm sorry to have to say this, more akin to flies and other
nuisances. And where are the child welfare organizations to prevent
parents from sending them out to make a living? In Marrakech, there was
almost a fist fight between a man, presumably one of the stall owners,
and an elderly lady, who was somewhat of a Fagin character with young
charges under her wing. He was ordering her out of the area and she was
defending her right to be there.
There is a middle ground between such an intrusion in our lives and
our desires to be compassionate. However, to put up with this sort of
behavior simply encourages its perpetuation . If more people boycotted
such countries and strongly affected the billions of dollars that
tourism brings in, perhaps the governments would do something to
eradicate the misery that has caused so many of its citizens to behave
no better than animals.
It's not as if Morocco is such a poor country; many of its people are
at the very least lower middle class and there are a lot of
professionals who live well. But what bothered me almost as much as the
annoyances I've described was the eagerness of the tour guide at the
Hassan II mosque in Casablanca, who told us that it cost 800 million
dollars. It was her belief that it really cost four times that amount,
and she said the money came from the king and the rest of the
population.
To this I'd ask, why are they spending so much money on huge,
gorgeous mosques and mausoleums to dead kings such as Mohammed V in
Rabat when that money could be going to social programs which might
elevate young people from the blight that surrounds their lives and
gives them a ticket to nowhere while turning them into horrible human
beings?
It's too simple to say, hey, if you don't like that sort of thing
stay in the relative comfort of the USA or just visit countries in the
First World. Why should any of us have to? Why shouldn't we be able to
visit different cultures without this sort of abuse? Why don't CNN's
Anderson Cooper and journalists at MSNBC, Fox News, NBC, CBS and ABC do
reports about this to bring another dimension to what has become for
many travelers not only an ordeal but in some instances a nightmare?
After a woman tried to get my attention without success, she actually
waved her hand several times in front of me, eventually getting a
couple of inches from my face, at which time her little boy started
eating ice cream in my bowl. You think that's cute? Well, I don't, and
my reaction was to angrily stand up and shout, at which time the
waiters finally shooed her away.
Begging is not necessary and it's an abomination. But it will never
go away until we become the aggressors instead of passive accomplices,
as well as providing some constructive end to this human stain.
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