Belts and Bargains

Now, as my trip is nearing the end.... I don't want to leave, dammit!

Essaouira is fast becoming a comfort zone, and the guesthouse is a revellation - I would definitely recommend it to anyone - that, I believe I have already said.

Yesterday I did a bit of shopping. Bought a couple of gifts, and also a belt... that I didn't want, but got some satisfaction in haggling the guy down from 350dh to 70dh. 'Me, I give you nice price, because you are Eengleesh. Nice price.' 'No, you give me EXPENSIVE price because I'm English', 'No, me like the Eenglish. Give you Berber price, see?' etc. etc. etc. Good bit of banter, and I left the shop with the belt, after his friend kept singing 'Shakeera, Shakeera' 'Mate, it's going to take more than a belt for me to look like Shakira, so keep trying!'

But, yes, it obviously worked...

3 American guys arrived at Dar Afram yesterday - Taz met them in Barcelona last week, and started enthusing over Morocco to them... didn't think anything of it, and then got a call to say they were in Marrakech and to expect them a few hours later. Also a young American couple who are living in Copenhagen stayed. We had an entertaining evening meal - Malika's wonderful cooking, as usual and lots of banter and stories. The 3 girls I'd thought to be English, turned out to actually be Welsh (although one grew up in Staffordshire) and full of personality. We all drank wine and beer and joked til the early hours of the morning. Think I'm probably the youngest there. One of the American guys is studying in Salt Lake City so I asked him what there is to do there. Just outdoor sports, I found out. I told him about my trip there with Michael a few years back...

Well... I saw a skirt I want to try and haggle down, so I'm going to chip for now.

Catch you folks later - I may well leave another entry today, or tomorrow morning, but if not, then from Marrakech.

Man... I don't want to leave. I knew it would take me a few days to get into the trip, and I do love the atmosphere here.

Oh well...

Bye for now - I'm off to get some bargains

xxx