When in the medina:
Hectic but not as hectic as in Fes. All of the streets are narrow, and even residential areas (i.e. not the market) have various food stands around where you can buy some fruit or something. A lot of the main streets in the medina are market streets, though, where they sell various stuff. Typically things are sold in sections, i.e. there's a food section, a clothing section, some touristy-items sections, etc. It's not neatly categorized though, there will be food items sold in the clothing sections and there are many sections of the same thing, e.g. there are a ton of food centers. The food sections smell amazing because there are spices out in the open and people are cooking street food which smells and tastes very, very good.
You can tell you're in the tourist section of the medina when people start following you and asking you what languages you speak. In general that's the only interaction I have with random people on the street unless I am specifically asking someone for directions or buying something. But basically they'll see that you're white and will then follow you and say "you speak french? english? russian? dutch? spanish?" etc. I generally just ignore them and they give up after a while. I feel really rude, but to be fair, they're really annoying. If you engage, they'll just talk to you for a while, not saying what they're getting at, and then offer to sell you drugs or give you a tour of the city. Also, they actually do know all of those languages (I think) because people in the group have said that they've said "yes" when someone asks them one of the less common languages; i.e., someone will say "yes, I do speak German" (in German) figuring that the person doesn't actually speak it, but then the person does. And it's sort of awkward at that point because now you have to talk to him. I'm only using a sample size of like 3 here though.
When I engage someone in conversation by asking for directions or trying to buy something, if the conversation is going to entail not just a few words (e.g. "how much is this, ok i want it") but something more substantial ("how do i get to this place") then they very often ask me if I speak french because clearly they think communication in french will be easier. But often enough we have the whole conversation in arabic and it generally works more or less.
Also, there are a lot of beggars. There is a beggar whom I always see right across from our house. There is another one or two on our street, which is about 100m long. There is rhetoric among middle/upper-class Moroccans (or just Rabatans?) that beggars aren't actually starving but are doing fine and just saving up money for a house. Or something, I'm not entirely clear on what the story is or where the idea comes from.
When you exit the medina it's more like Chicago. The biggest difference is honestly crossing the street, which is fun because there are no rules. Red lights do exist but they're really more what you'd call "guidelines" than actual rules so it always makes crossing the street an adventure. Also, there are some streets, like Muhammad V (the main avenue) which continues to have things for sale on the ground. For example, half of the sidewalk is taken up by people selling books. Another street has tons of paintings taking up half the sidewalk.
Hectic but not as hectic as in Fes. All of the streets are narrow, and even residential areas (i.e. not the market) have various food stands around where you can buy some fruit or something. A lot of the main streets in the medina are market streets, though, where they sell various stuff. Typically things are sold in sections, i.e. there's a food section, a clothing section, some touristy-items sections, etc. It's not neatly categorized though, there will be food items sold in the clothing sections and there are many sections of the same thing, e.g. there are a ton of food centers. The food sections smell amazing because there are spices out in the open and people are cooking street food which smells and tastes very, very good.
You can tell you're in the tourist section of the medina when people start following you and asking you what languages you speak. In general that's the only interaction I have with random people on the street unless I am specifically asking someone for directions or buying something. But basically they'll see that you're white and will then follow you and say "you speak french? english? russian? dutch? spanish?" etc. I generally just ignore them and they give up after a while. I feel really rude, but to be fair, they're really annoying. If you engage, they'll just talk to you for a while, not saying what they're getting at, and then offer to sell you drugs or give you a tour of the city. Also, they actually do know all of those languages (I think) because people in the group have said that they've said "yes" when someone asks them one of the less common languages; i.e., someone will say "yes, I do speak German" (in German) figuring that the person doesn't actually speak it, but then the person does. And it's sort of awkward at that point because now you have to talk to him. I'm only using a sample size of like 3 here though.
When I engage someone in conversation by asking for directions or trying to buy something, if the conversation is going to entail not just a few words (e.g. "how much is this, ok i want it") but something more substantial ("how do i get to this place") then they very often ask me if I speak french because clearly they think communication in french will be easier. But often enough we have the whole conversation in arabic and it generally works more or less.
Also, there are a lot of beggars. There is a beggar whom I always see right across from our house. There is another one or two on our street, which is about 100m long. There is rhetoric among middle/upper-class Moroccans (or just Rabatans?) that beggars aren't actually starving but are doing fine and just saving up money for a house. Or something, I'm not entirely clear on what the story is or where the idea comes from.
When you exit the medina it's more like Chicago. The biggest difference is honestly crossing the street, which is fun because there are no rules. Red lights do exist but they're really more what you'd call "guidelines" than actual rules so it always makes crossing the street an adventure. Also, there are some streets, like Muhammad V (the main avenue) which continues to have things for sale on the ground. For example, half of the sidewalk is taken up by people selling books. Another street has tons of paintings taking up half the sidewalk.
Loved that link to "the Code is more what you'd call .. guidelines" in Pirates of the Caribbean.
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