Where am I again?

Some of you might have wondered what happened to dear old Jonny boy. Don’t worry, I’m still among the living and for the most part settled in my humble abode here in Tangier. To say it’s been a bit of an adventure would be understating the fun of figuring out where to shop, eat, and truly where to live. 
When I visited in April, I was only here for 36 hours in an attempt to get a feel for the area and to decide whether it could be a suitable place to call home. Even then my impression was mixed. Compared to my native Northern New England, many areas are going to feel different. I tried to equate Tangier to my time in Brinidisi, Italy, but it’s not quite the same. 

This part of the world is unique to where I have ventured, explored, or lived.

There is no siesta time, the cars and motorcycles are in love and obsessed with their horns even when no one is in their direct path. Should there be traffic and no possible way forward, drivers will simply honk for good measure to see if other drivers want to join their queue of the disgruntled. I don’t think people actually sleep here. I have seen an equal amount of cars at 5 in the morning while running, enough that I need to actually look both ways and sometimes weave in and around the lanes to cross the road.  And yet by 6:30 am, it’s simply me, the cats, and the hungry dogs.

The many shops I pass on a daily basis are fun to observe. There are so many high end dress shops where the owners show off the latest fabrics and designs that are popular in this part of the world. If I was a fashionista or fashion forward in the least, let alone a woman, I’m sure I would be in and out of these spots. What surprised me were the number of fabric shops where people simply buy the pattern and the fabric to sew at home. My closed off mind thought this was only for those practicing Amish and Mormans.

More practical in mind -  I’ve been on the lookout for vitamins more than a suitable dress. I’m used to driving over to Wally World and buying a container of 1000 mg Vitamin C. Forced to find a viable alternative as they are not stocked in the local grocery stories has proven interesting. I can’t just order them online like I did in Poland and have them arrive the next day. Instead, I had to figure out which place was selling “actual” vitamins and not fake ones. 

Not wanting that hassle, after an hour or two of research, I caved and decided to just visit one of the many pharmacies. I had to talk to a physical pharmacist as nothing was stocked on shelves for people to grab from. I’m happy to report I was able to get Vitamin C drops, 500 mg, for ⅓ more of the price I would pay in the States and with half of the quantity. That’s the fun of moving and learning what they do have in country versus what you want.

Apartment living is as joyous as I remember, save the incessant weekend hammering. For whatever reason during the week there is no noise, but come Saturday morning or my favorite, Sunday night, it’s time to get out that hammer or saw and do those remodeling tasks. This isn’t just for a few minutes, but a few hours for good measure. 

I thought living over a jazz club and at a busy intersection with direct sun exposure and no air conditioning was the worst experience yet, but if that guy above me doesn’t stop hammering, I might have to reconsider. We can combine that with the weekend warriors and seasonal residents who were complaining about the sound of my air conditioner unit when their daughter’s bedroom window is actually in proximity to three different units, including their own. This was a giant waste of my time earlier in the week.  

I especially enjoyed explaining that once the temperature is met the unit turns off, which means the constant noise is from ALL of the units, not just mine. To make them feel better though and after the security guy interrupted my evening to mention this complaint about the incessant noise (even though I had only been home twenty minutes and likewise the accused air conditioner unit had only just been turned on) I told them I would reach out to my landlord about seeing if a technician could come by and make it less noisy. 

They had their suitcases in tow a few nights later, clearly moving onto their second residence or next spacious retreat. I’ll let you know when the technician finally arrives to solve the mysterious problem of air conditioner noise when it is operating. 

Life in Morocco is just like anywhere else. People complain, people buy groceries, go to restaurants, they work (sometimes) and even have McDonald's for tourists to have a familiar sense of home. My personal favorite is the Junior Tasty and that sauce of theirs. I thought I was going to be crying over the loss of my Mocha Frappe, but this new snack and those Gouda bites leave this good old American boy smiling to the end. 

I’ll try to be more frequent in these updates. My next task is getting fiber setup so I can actually start vlogging again and not have even a ten second long video take five minutes to upload. The only hiccup is you need your residency card for the fastest internet. Otherwise, you get the Wifi internet that frankly is hit or miss, especially during the time of day. Alas, a story for another time. 

I’ll be in touch.

​JFK
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