A beating for a photo

12.02.23 Sidi Ifni Weekly market - the last opportunity for a big shopping before heading towards the desert for the next 14 days. We have already been to several weekly markets, but I have to say that none of them are alike. The traders in Sidi Ifni are quite far apart, which is of course also possible on this large square. There is lively activity at almost all booths.

I am standing at one of the vegetable vendors at the checkout, because I want to try a vegetable omelette. I wait with my plastic bowl full of onions, carrots, tomatoes, peppers, and lots of parsley. Like a robot, the seller weighs and collects. He smiles, but mainly because the money is rolling in. It is obvious that he is stressed. Suddenly, he looks at me, puts a 50 Dirham note and some coins in my hand, and takes the plastic bowl full of potatoes from the next customer's hand. I stand there with big eyes and don't know what to do. I look around, but no one from our crew is there. Suddenly, I hear loud laughter and turn around. The trader takes the money from my open hand and gives it to the man next to me. I laugh too.

I see a dark-skinned woman around my age, adorned with colorful scarves. That would be a great photo, it shoots through my mind. I ask the woman in English if I can take her picture. She looks at me and suddenly turns around. Her husband is already there and walks towards me with a proud chest and clenched fists. Birgit comes to my aid and talks to the man who scolds me in a language unknown to me while gesticulating wildly. He threatens to beat me, but fortunately he also understands a few words in English, because when I explain to him that I didn't take a photo of his wife, he calms down. I want to show him that there is no photo of his wife on my phone, but he waves it off, grabs his wife by the arm, and leaves. I got away with it ...

I need a snack. Fortunately, I am invited to have lunch with Maria and Wilhelm today. They serve rouladen. With spätzle. In Morocco. I can hardly believe it. Rouladen is my favorite dish and while eating it, I know that it will remain so for the rest of my life. It simply tastes amazing!

Food is also a central topic in Hanne and Bernd's lives. The two of them run a catering service and a mobile chicken roasting business near Traunstein, together with their son, Florian. Bernd, who founded the company, has become attached to the work over the years. He gets to organize, tinker, and work on new ideas. On the one hand, he would like to travel more and longer, but on the other hand, he does not want to leave his son alone with the business that he loves.

Hanne also likes to travel, "but not for too long," she says. It's not because of the business, it's because of the family that she finds it hard to leave behind. The offers from Reisemobilfreunde Europa make it easier for the two of them to occasionally step out of their comfort zone and let go. Since 2019, they have been going on tours with RMF, have already been to Sardinia, Spain, the Lausitz region, or the Ammerland on the North Sea, and now to Morocco. "We were beginners and felt well taken care of in the community," says Bernd. "I can only recommend the Reisemobilfreunde to everyone." Also in preparation for getting older. "I keep telling Ricci that his travels provide a good preview of assisted living," he says with a wink. Ricci can take it as a compliment.