Day 1 - continued...

First night in Tangiers:

Hotel secured, the seven of us went to dinner, hoping to find something nearby.

Since we were in an older part of town, the streets were all narrow, one-lane passages, and not terribly well-lit. It was about 9pm...

Kevin's Polish girlfriend Ania, about 7 months pregnant, was wearing a tight-fitting knit sundress. Suddenly, a man passing by yelled "SLUT!!" A few steps later, another male stranger approached her and shouted "WHORE!" He then carried on in French, ranting in a way we couldn't understand. We pushed on, but Ania had been reduced to tears. She was being publicly shamed for being pregnant and overexposed (in their minds) in public.

Within another block, we found a mid-range restaurant that looked authentic and cozy. Ania was still very upset, and Kevin was trying to comfort her. We hadn't seen many other women, and even though Morocco is not as conservative as many Muslim nations, the women we had seen were covered from the neck down. Ania's dress was normal summer fare by Western standards, with her legs and arms exposed, and a "V" neckline. She's not one to take insults, but became flustered when she realized that using her Polish or English wouldn't do much good.

Once inside the restaurant, we saw that we were the only patrons dining so late. Perhaps no coincidence, then, that we received exceptional service from 3 of their staff; all male. We all ended up with a variation of the traditional couscous, with roasted vegetables, flatbread, and meat. Dolmades (not sure what they're called in Morocco) made an excellent appetizer.

After dinner, we returned to the hotel - Michael, Will and I were sharing a very large room that was on the 3rd floor, overlooking the street. As we were winding down, we heard a commotion and looked outside to watch a fight being broken up. No one was hurt, but the large crowd and the shouts in Arabic made me feel very out-of-place. In the middle of the night, these feelings were reinforced by another call to prayer - at what felt like 3am?!? Can't sleep through that.