Tangier was my toe-dip into Morocco, staying in the new area of the city and visiting the Medina; in Marrakech, the next stop on our visit, our rented quarters were a small house in the heart of the Medina, the old walled city, on a dead-end just off a small street that itself was a bend off the Souk Semmarine, one of Marrakech’s largest souks, or markets.
Among the first things I learned was that while it may have looked to me like we were in a shopping center thronged with pedestrians, we were actually standing in the middle of a busy street, lined with shops opening directly onto the street, and with carts and especially motorcycles and scooters in constant motion around us.
The fact that many of the streets in the medina have shades of one sort or another drawn across the width of the street at the first-floor level contributes to the illusion of being indoors, and provides a significant reduction in heat when the sun is up.
Above that level, many of the buildings and houses have rooftop living or eating spaces, as well as the ever-more-common dish antennas.
With all the bustle and color of daytime in the souks, when they close for the night—imagine the effort of moving all that merchandise and all those displays back inside every night—everything looks very different. It feels as if centuries have retreated.
Night lasts much later in Jemaa el-Fnaa, the huge central square that buzzes in the daytime with fruit stands at its heart, merchandise of all sorts around its edges, and also with buskers of many sorts including snake charmers. At night, many ad hoc restaurants appear with a wide variety of dishes.
The daytime scene in the square is also quite busy, as is true in many of the other small squares that can be found throughout the neighborhood.
One unexpected turn or another, and you’re out of the covered street you were following, out in a square full of life, and then another street attracts your attention, and you’re back under cover.
Not far from all the hectic activity, a moment to sit, to read, to contemplate.
