23:01
Weather: Damp, but warm
Location: Hotel Beau Rivage, Essaouira, Morocco

The young man next to me on the bus to Essaouira was a Moroccan named Rashid. He was on his way from the desert, where he lives most of the time, to Essaouira, where his brother has a carpet shop that he can work at. On this trip, though, he had other hopes: a Belgian girl he'd met a year before had kept in tourch, and now she was back in Morocco. Rashid was hoping to see her again.

He showed me photos from the desert, the carpet shop, and a couple taken during the filming of a British war movie set in the colonial era -- Rashid had worked as an extra. I gave him one of my postcards of Toronto. He was a bit embarrassed by the hard sell tactics his countrymen used in Marrakesh, and said he only passes through the Imperial cities, never stopping there.

We chatted about the World Trade Center attacks, and he asked if I believed bin Laden was responsible. He'd heard that none of the Jews who worked in the World Trade Center had been at work that day. Since I had already heard that that rubbish misinformation had been spread in Arab newspapers, I was ready for it, and stated firmly that it wasn't true, that I thought the evidence of bin Laden's guilt was pretty clear, but that I didn't associate that action with the whole of Islam. We talked about extremists, about the Israeli-Palestinian mess, and about the hope for peace. It was a good discussion, though I'm not sure his views changed as a result.

When we got to Essaouira, Rashid offered to take us to the medina where we could rent an apartment inexpensively. As we picked up our packs, local women swarmed around, offering apartments as well. We brushed them off, jumped in taxis (with Rashid) and headed downtown.

Essaouira is positioned at the northern end of a long, wide, flat beach--10km long, in fact. The shoreline makes a curve, and at the north end is Essaouira's harbour, with a couple of picturesque islands just offshore. On the other side, the rocks get dramatic, and the surf sprays high. Young boys were stretching fishing nets in tidal pools, though it was not clear what they were trying to catch.

Just inland of the harbour, the medina opens into a square, with a short open avenue of cafés and hotels heading off parallel to the shore. Our taxis came up from the south, along the avenue which runs by the beach, and dropped us at the square, from where we could walk into the medina.

Robin, Bob and Alison had been looking in their guidebooks and had picked out a likely-looking hotel. We apologized to Rashid and went in to check it out. The rooms were large, with full bathrooms, though with bare shower heads over a drain in the floor rather than a tub. Each room also had a rather musty smell from the nearby sea and the damp mists. Still, they were relatively cheap--Dr. 120 for me and Dr. 160 for each of the others' shared doubles--and they seemed very pleasant. We signed in, and went down to the café for lunch with Rashid.

After lunch, Rashid went off to his brother's store and we went for a walk along the beach. A high-energy soccer game was taking place with some very skillful play. Further down the beach, horses and camels were standing waiting for tourists. After some distance, Robin, Bob & I decided to have a swim. We stripped down to shorts or boxers and plunged in. The water gradually went deeper at a very consistant pitch, with sand the whole way out, and the waves coming ashore crashed dramatically around us as we attempted to bodysurf. The water was cold, but with the warmth of the air and the sun it was very pleasant.

Afterwards, we got dressed again and I left the rest to go to the bus station. I was able to book a 4pm coach back to Marrakesh for tomorrow, with a connection on to the night train to Tangier. I will need to buy a couchette in Marrakesh, but I have at least a first class ticket. So I'm set for a nice morning tomorrow before my multi-day trek back to Spain begins.

I then wandered around the medina. The shops were oriented much more towards visitors and tourists than those in the medinas of Chefchaouen, Fès and Marrakesh. There were a large number of carpet shops, and wood craft shops, with prominently displayed carved tables and chessboards. I tracked down an Internet shop and did some email, as well as updating the Blog, and met the others back at the hotel shortly after 6:30.

We watched the sun go down from the rooftop of the hotel. Seagulls and other birds wheeled in the sky overhead. A mist was coming in, and the dying light was very dramatic over the offshore islands. It was very clear where the many painters who have made Essaouira their home found their inspiration.

Dinner was a delicious, but fiddly, meal of grilled prawns, french fries and beer on a patio. With the mist in, the air got very damp and much cooler. After dinner we ended up in the café outside playing cards and sipping cafés au lait, the end of a very pleasant day.

RULES OF SHITHEAD (3+ players)

Dealer deals 3 cards face down to each player, and places one card face up on top of each. These are the player's reserve hand. Dealer then deals a hand of 3 cards to each player. Remaining cards form the deck. At this point, before play, players may trade cards from their hands with those face up in their reserve, to (generally) improve the reserve.

Play begins in a clockwise manner. Each player may play 1-4 cards of the same value. The value must be equal to or greater than the previous player's card(s). If a player is unable to play, they must pick up the pile of played cards. A player may choose to pick up the pile rather than play. After each play, if a player has less than 3 cards remaining in their hand they draw from the deck sufficient cards to restore the minimum of 3. Once the deck is exhausted and a player's hand has been used up, players play from the face up cards in their reserve, and then, from face down cards picked up (randomly) one at a time into the hand. The objective is to run out of cards first.

Special cards:
2 - can be played any time (except after 8). Subsequent play picks up from 2, i.e., the 2 resets the escalating count.
3 - can be played any time (except after 8). An invisible card, it does not change the count, the next player must continue playing from the previous player's count. (e.g. Q, 3, next player must play Q, K or A.)
4 - shown and discarded, rather than played. Cannot be used after an 8. Next player must pick up the pile of played cards and lose their turn, unless they are able to play a 4 in turn, in which case the obligation to pick up the pile continues around to the following player.
7 - next card played must be less than or equal to 7.
8 - next card played must be greater than or equal to 8 (i.e. prevents play of 2, 3 or 4).
10 - the played pile is cleared and discarded. The player then plays again.
J - the next player misses their turn. (Variant: the play reverses direction, counter-clockwise instead of clockwise, etc.)
Q - player may then immediately play any other numbered card of the same suit.

If all four cards of a certain value are played next to each other, by one or more players in sequence, the last card acts as a 10, clearing the pile and allowing the player who played it to play again.

RULES OF ARSEHOLE (4+ players)

Dealer deals out the deck to all players. Player to the left of the dealer begins play, or the President in subsequent rounds. Play proceeds clockwise. Players may pass, or play 1-4 cards of a value greater than or equal to the previous player's play, but must play the same number of cards as the previous player. If all players pass, the last player to play may start afresh with 1-4 cards of whatever number they prefer.

The objective is to exhaust one's cards. The first player to do so becomes President. Play continues with the next player to the left, who may start play afresh with any value. Next player to exhaust their cards becomes Vice President. Final two players are Vice Arsehole and Arsehole.

Only the Arsehole may touch cards on the table (and must do so if asked to flip a card that has fallen upside down, etc.) If another player touches the cards, the Arsehole may choose to trade hands with that player, who then becomes the Arsehole.

After then end of play, the Arsehole deals the next hand. Arsehole gives his two highest-value cards to the President, and Vice Arsehole gives his single highest-value card to the Vice President. The President can then choose any two of his cards to give to the Arsehold, and the Vice President any one of his cards to give to the Vice Arsehole. President then begins play for the next round.
posted by Tom at 11:10 PM | link |