A Colorful Stroll

22.01.23 Asilah: Moroccans are very helpful people - since yesterday I know how helpful they are. Yesterday, the wifi at the campsite was too weak to upload the blog with pictures. It was 10:30 pm when I got tired of seeing the spinning wheel on my computer. With my laptop in hand, I headed towards the reception hoping for a better connection. But I searched in vain. However, I found the campsite office still occupied. The young man was typing on his phone. I had an idea! Maybe he could provide me with a hotspot connection, which would definitely be faster than the wifi here.

He didn't speak German or English, and I didn't speak Arabic or French. He had a translation app on his phone - from English to Arabic and vice versa. We tried for half an hour and eventually gave up. But the young man didn't want to give up and ran to the small convenience store next door, which was still open. An older man appeared and waved me inside. I entered the store through the back door. There was another man who - as expected - was busy with his phone. He offered me a Moroccan data card for my iPad. 20 gigabytes for 20 euros and 10 euros for the SIM card. Since we planned to buy SIM cards the next day anyway and the price was okay, I accepted the offer. It took half an hour for him to get the SIM card and my iPad up and running - it was just before 11:30 pm. He was beaming with joy when it was done. My smile must have been visible even in Gibraltar ...

In the morning, I was missing bread for breakfast. I quickly found a store, but my problem was that I only had euros, no dirhams. I asked the young cashier if he could change 10 euros. He waved it off, packed the bread into a small blue cloth bag, and handed it to me. I didn't know what to do now. He gestured to me that the bread would only cost 2 dirhams, which is less than 20 cents. Maybe I would come back someday and then I could pay him, if not, it would be okay too. I thought it was amazing! Of course, I came back in the afternoon to pay my debts. I gave him 10 dirhams and said the rest was a tip. But the man waved it off, gave me back 8 dirhams, and made it clear that he wouldn't engage in any further discussion.

It's true, Moroccans are very open and helpful people. Their smiles match this country with its radiant dark blue sky and eternal sunshine. We had wonderful weather during our trip to Asilah with its colorful merchants and shops. Wilhelm and Udo dared to go to the hairdresser and didn't regret their decision, maybe also because they don't have to cut their hair for two years now. We strolled around, had coffee, lunch, and finally went to Angelika's for birthday cake. The motorhome friends reciprocated with a birthday serenade that Irmi rescued from the fire with her guitar and voice. There's still room for improvement, but the next birthday is sure to come.