Oops, riot police

Ha, so I had one of those days that makes me remember I’m in Morocco. Thinking back at the sequence of events it’s pretty comical the lack of perception exhibited on my part.

So Kristen and I get back from our Arabic classes and are waiting to meet Tim on the stairs of a patio of a local hotel. The hotel happens to be directly across from parliament, with two streets and a nice center walkway between the two that we were not allowed to walk on b/c there were policemen blocking it off. This is a pretty regular occurrence because when parliament is in session no one is allowed to walk through the park that divides the street (maybe the logic there is that we’d be in close enough proximity to be able to throw a bomb? Obvious flaw in logic is that anyone in a passing car on the not-blocked-off street in front of parliament could throw a bomb much easier… but we don’t ask these questions, we just cross the street when the men with whistles demand it).
So Kristen and I are sitting down facing parliament and noticing that there are more policemen then usual and also some gendarmes so we decide that the King is probably there and that is the reason for the increased security. So we sit there and chat and don’t even really notice that there are a lot more people than usual on the hotel patio. We start to laugh when the soldiers put on helmets and take out their night sticks because we thought it was a kinda ridiculous showing seeing as how people could easily bypass the soldiers to get to parliament b/c of their positioning.
So then all of a sudden, out of nowhere there are hundreds of people around us clapping and chanting… yup, we were unwittingly in the middle of a protest. It was cool for about 9 seconds as we tried to make out what they were saying and enjoyed the energy and passion of the event. Then the riot police rushed at us with clubs… ceased to be cool then.
Basically we just ran with the crowd and I ran into a café and sat there thinking ‘what just happened?’ Tim showed up and lead us away from the men with clubs and asked a guy what the protest was about. Apparently now there are almost daily protests in front of parliament by college graduates who are unemployed. Unemployment is a massive problem here and there are even PhDs floating around who can’t find jobs… apparently they all tend to float around parliament at noon for heated protests… good to know. Yeah, so I’m in Morocco. Really not huge on ‘freedom of speech’ here. Note to self- next time you see riot police and a strange confluence of people, leave.

In other news:

Best thing seen in Medina of the week: Man riding a motorcycle side-saddle.

Best combination of foods: Pomegranate and Peanut butter. Happened across it by accident but it is divine. You must try. Take a slice of baguette, thin layer of chunky peanut butter, and put pomegranate seeds on top of the pb… mmm delicious.

Food that US needs to appreciate more: Figs. They’re not just for Newtons. Figs make amazing jelly, ice cream, and fresh figs cannot be beaten as a snack. Mmm.

K- that’s all for now.