10 things about Morocco you probably don't know...

A quick post while I am Marrakech. I actually wrote this up several days ago.

So thought y'all might be curious about some of the basic everyday things here in Morocco which seem mundane to the locals, but somewhat interesting to us Americans...

1. The currency is the dirham, which at the moment has an exchange rate of  ~ 8 dirhams to 1 US dollar. Basic pricing for a few items:

"local" beer: 30 - 35 dirhams = ~ $4

Budweiser: 80 dirham

small bottle of water: less than 10 dirham = abit more than ~ $1.5

leather sandals I had to buy our first day: 150 dirham

100% cotton embroidered shirt also bought the first day: 90 dirham = less than ~ $11

2. Morocco is an absolute monarchy, though is considered "democratic" in the sense that there is a Parliament. But with close to 35 different political parties, no one party ever has a majority... Smart thinking on the king's part, no?

3. The official language is Arabic, but most people also know French.  Arabic here is different from Arabic spoken other places, with the Moroccan Arabic called Darijii (sp?). The Amazight (Berber) people speak Tamazight. Some Spanish is also spoken (mostly in Tangiers), while English is usually only spoken by the upper-class and those involved with the tourist industry. Most people here speak Arabic and French, but than can be said for mono-linguistic Americans.

4. Air Maroc sucks.

5. The capital is Rabaat, but airlines fly into/out of Casablanca which is the largest city in Morocco.

6. The movie Casablanca was not filmed in Morocco, there is no Rick's Bar, so you can't ask Sam to play it again...

7. Not all the women cover themselves in hijab... you'll see women on the street in anything from a form fitting short-sleeve dress and heels to capris, a t-shirt and sandals, to the full length "robe",  all worn with or without head cover...

8. You must bargain/haggle for most anything you buy... Bargaining is expected. Can be lots of fun actually, as the vendors way over inflate their prices, so you give the shocked face and tell them how crazy that price is and then you low-ball them... then they laugh and say no it really is worth that much, so you laugh and walk away, then they shout out a better price... and on and on it goes until you both reach an agreed upon price, usually quite abit lower than the original one. But let's but honest, as a tourist/ traveler, you will never get the Moroccan price.

9. The people are incredibly diverse ethnically... I'll go more into later.

10. Moroccan mint tea is SWEET (gives Georgia sweet ice tea a run for it's money) and should never be refused if offered. 

Oh, and an extra one for you:

11. Did I mention that Air Maroc can suck it? :-)