Well, I spent a month in Casablanca and now have moved to a much
smaller city 5 hours south.
In Casa, the Airbnb
I had gotten for a month while I decided where to live was located in
a good area (near the apartment I lived in before) and very nice,
much bigger than I really needed. However, it was located on the 4th
floor (5th American) with no elevator and right next to a
building being constructed. This meant jackhammering, sawing, etc.
all day long. While most of my classes were in the evening, after a
couple of days, it started to drive me crazy. A couple of good things
about the location: I knew where all of the shops were and I could
meet a couple of people I knew for coffee. A 20 minute walk away was
the Hassan II mosque on the ocean.
What made me decide
to move? Was it all of the people wearing their face masks like
necklaces? Was it the packed city buses? Or was it after the 3rd
time I saw someone (who actually was wearing a mask) pull it down to
sneeze or cough? The last Monday that I was there, the schools
opened back up and thousands of children went to spend hours
together, spreading germs. I had not been able to find an apartment
–a long story with many strange happenings-- and was getting a
little desperate. I had also been working like crazy with the other
coordinator of the online program of workshops and was really
stressed. To top it off, I was scheduled to start another teaching
job in 2 weeks at a British University with in person classes 3x a
week.
I had thought about
visiting Essaouira, a town 5 hours from Casa on the coast which I had
visited in November. It felt very comfortable: smaller, more open
with wider streets, much quieter, etc. Airbnbs there were much
cheaper and I would be able to ride my bike, something I couldn’t
do in Casa without fearing for my life. Initially I decided to go
down for a week, but I have all of my belongings and traveling out of
Casa requires a travel authorization from the police. At 5 one
morning (when all of my ideas come to me), I woke up and decided to
move down there and not take the job at the university. I easily found an
Airbnb, got a travel authorization (after visiting 4 police stations
since my neighborhood one was closed due to “contamination”) and
found a driver to get me there. The day my Casa Airbnb ended, my
driver picked me up and we took the long trip down.
Here is the Bab El-Marsa, or El-Marsa Gate, to the Essaouira medina.
https://www.thecrazytourist.com/15-best-things-to-do-in-essaouira-morocco/#:~:text=Bab%20el%2DMarsa,-Source%3A%20Olena%20Tur&text=The%20inscription%20in%20the%20pediment,date%2C%201184%20(1770).
Random Thoughts from Casa
When a man in front
of you on an empty part of a busy street reaches down to his waist
and starts to move toward the wall… avert your eyes from the
public, VERY PUBLIC, bathroom.
Public
transportation is wonderful… except in a pandemic.
Constant
jackhammering next door is awful, no matter how nice the apartment
is.
