Men, Walking, and Such Things

Carson being our protector and Alaina taking advantage of her liberties.

I have decided that new friends in Morocco here on out will have to be men.  Without any offense to my special someone back at home, and without feeling particularly lonely, I need a man by my side.  This is in reference to the fact that a woman walking alone, especially one who is Western and young, is harassed relentlessly.  In order to walk in peace there is a need for a man to accompany me.  Luckily I am in the process of making interesting and useful new friends.

Sarah in Tanger displaying how to walk alone.

I tried to convince myself that walking alone was fine.  And in reality, it is fine.  I haven't been mugged, touched, or even yelled at.  Well, there was that one time in Tanger, but that is a different story.  And so today, with little else to do with my afternoon, I decided to walk home and maybe walk through the medina again for some amusement.  Halfway home I had to change my mind.  It is simply too overwhelming to walk down the street.  I was not dressed provocatively, and I am not particularly attractive by American standards.  I do, however, wear color.  This alone is enough for men to pay attention, as Rabati women wear exclusively shades of brown and black.  Wearing a white shirt in Rabat is just as bad as wearing a florescent pink shirt with "slut" printed across the front.  I won't make that mistake again.

Now, I have had the occasional "Ca va?", "Speaky English?", "Zweena", and even a "Sex" and "Hot ass" thrown my way.  However, until today I did not have an actual creep who followed me for half a block trying to get a reaction.  His approach was to stand directly in front of me, smiling, until I got close and then as I walked around him he leaned toward my face and started in.  "Ca va? Vous etes francaise? Parlez vous francais?  Est-ce que vous etes francaise?  D'ou est vous? Speaky English? You Americania?"  I kept my eyes on the ground and finally said "No" while walking very quickly.  He yelled some things I couldn't understand after me.  It was in all disappointing.  It seems as if I have to buy my freedom by paying for a taxi from place to place or pay instead by always traveling in a pack and not doing the things I want to do alone.

Alaina helped me pick this out.

I have been wearing a fake engagement ring since the second week because I feel that I should display in an outward fashion that I am not worth the trouble.  The director of our program is an attractive Moroccan and she wears a fake ring and advised me to as well.  For only 40 Dirhams (about $5), I bought a nice ring which I wear for this reason.  It doesn't work.  Obviously men on the street don't have the attention span to look for a ring, but also men in bars, cafes, and stores do not seem to notice.  If they do, they don't let it affect them.  Oh well, I tried.  From what I hear about Cairo the behavior here is subtle for the region.  It is a shame, but I won't let it keep me from exploring and learning.