atop the roof terrace of the equity point hostel in marrakesh, morocco, the ladies of the kitchen staff bicker amongst each other and hurriedly shuffle across to get breakfast started. it was supposed to have been ready 40 minutes ago but apparently someone took the terrace keys last night and forgot to drop them off at the downstairs lobby.
it hasn't been a full 24 hours since i made landfall but marrakesh's charm has already begun to take a strong hold.
i'm not quite sure when it started
maybe it happened during our drop off, when our taxi left us on the outskirts of the medina and a gentle giant appeared pushing a crate on wheels. he asked us where we were going and offered to carry our roller bags and lead the way.
it probably happened during our walk around the market square as a man approached me and had a snake wrapped around my neck while somehow making me feel safe next to a pair of lethal moroccon cobras.
also, the man with the toothless smile and shriveled hand might've played a big part if only he didn't tell me that he had leprosy in the hand i that i just shook.
nah, it must've been when we rolled up to one of the many food shacks outside souks market and literally came head to head with goats and lambs, and shortly after their tongues and brains.
to tell you the truth, my head is still spinning by marrakesh's hustle and flow. there is no denying that the people of this city are hustling, and they're doing it hard. but underneath all of that, the human element is very much so alive in the sense that the smile and kind eyes that first approached you never fade; they remain. even when they try and insist that you really need, YOU NEED to buy a black rock that can only found in the atlas mountains.
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