Hi there!

Najib and I went to Casablanca Monday this week to collect my possessions from the docks. Had what we thought were the necessary documents in hand - the bill of lading, my passport, and money to pay the port processing fees. We weren't anticipating any customs duties since I am permanently relocating here, my husband is Moroccan, and the things I brought into the country are well used personnal effects. Got to the docks, identified my stuff and then was given paperwork that had to be taken to the customs control department in the city centre. This had to be signed-off and stamped to indicate no customs duties were payable before my stuff could be released.

So we trundled into the city. Decided to leave the van near the docks as driving in Casablanca is only for the very brave, or foolhardy. The traffic is chaotic and drivers will not hesitate to move into the smallest possible gap or opening to get where they want to go. Pedestrians cross whenever the traffic slows enough to allow them to squeeze through without getting run over!

As for getting a taxi in Casablanca - this requires alot of patience since everyone uses them to get around. There are hundreds of taxis, but the moment someone gets out of one there are at least two other people trying to get into it. Suffice to say the taxi drivers tend to be picky about where they will go. Often we would flag down a taxi only to discover the driver didn't want to go in that particular direction. However, the good thing is that if a taxi only has one passenger, the driver will still stop to see if he is heading in your direction. We often found ourselves sharing a taxi in this manner.

Once we got to the customs control dept, and eventually had our turn at seeing the person in charge, we were asked for proof that we were married and proof that I was now resident in Morocco. Reasonable requests really when you stop to think about it, but annoying because when Najib asked beforehand what paperwork we needed to bring with us, these two were not mentioned! So, we had to go back to Rabat to get those papers and then return to Casablanca the next day to finish processing the customs form! Fortunately a certified copy of the marriage certificate was already available since I had to produce this for my Moroccan ID card. Also fortunately, the police had finished processing my application for my Moroccan ID and had prepared a temporary residence permit while my ID card was being prepared.

So, back to Casablanca on Tuesday. We decided to take the train instead of driving as we would need a larger truck to cart everything back to Rabat and Najib wanted to be on that truck with the gear to make sure it actually arrived in Rabat and didn't end up in some other part of the country! We had to go to the port first to show them the paper work that the customs control dept said we had to produce. They then stamped the form acknowledging they had sighted those documents. Then back into the city to the customs control dept to receive sign-off that we didn't have to pay any customs duty. Then back to the docks to give them the stamped sign-off from the customs control dept! Then organising the truck. Najib and I spent at least two hours at the docks waiting for that to arrive. Was fascinating watching the way all the containers were moved around by this huge crane, but when everyone knocked off for lunch things got abit boring.

As the truck only had room for one passenger, I headed back to Rabat on the train. Got to the train station just in time to catch the 2.00pm train. I was running down the platform just as it started to pull out of the station and only just managed to grab the end rail before the train had gathered too much steam. Was pulled on board by other passengers who had just done the same thing! If the train had been one of the modern versions I would have had no hope and would have had to wait half an hour for the next train!

Anyway, with those two trips I didn't really get to see anything of Casablanca so headed back there on Wednesday with my sister-in-law, Karima, who wanted to buy some fabric for caftans that she sells in her shop. Casablanca has an area where the shops only sell fabric - whether it be fabric for furniture, curtains, suits, caftans etc. The shops that sell fabrics for caftans have a greater range to offer than can be found in Rabat, and for a cheaper price. I thought this would be the perfect opportunity to take some more inspiring photos of Casablanca, so we went into its old Medina area first. It was lunch time, so there weren't many shoppers around which meant I could actually get photos of the streets and the shops - otherwise it would have just been photos of bodies! Unfortunately, my camera battery decided to run out after only a few photos, but I did manage to get enough to give you an idea of what Casablanca has to offer in the way of Moroccan antiquities etc. The rest of the city is like any typical large city - but with really chaotic traffic, as I mentioned earlier.

Casablanca Photos - Sept 2007

For those who like the hustle and bustle of large cities, Casablanca is great. It has everything one could possibly want as all the large companies are located there. The people who live there tend to be less conservative compared to those who live in Rabat - as could be seen by the patronage of the cafés and restaurants, where families with their children were sitting down to have lunch, and the dress sense is very European. I tend to think the difference is because, like any large city, people are too busy with their own life to worry about what other people are doing or thinking, whereas Rabat is much smaller and everyone seems to know everyone else, so people tend to be concerned about what others will think if they dress a particular way or do a particular thing.

Well, that is about it for the moment. The sacred month of Ramadan is just around the corner - Thursday, next week to be more exact, so there is a charge in the air as families go about the business of preparing for the festivities. The smell of honey and cinnamon is in the air as the traditional halawa are being made by the hundreds in every household. I will be keeping a keen eye on how Karima makes her halawa and even try to get some decent photos as well. More on that in my next post.

Until then, stay healthy, happy and safe.

Love and kisses
Zohra