fuad the madman

i felt sad leaving london because it was fun, my friends were great, and also because i hadn't slept the entire night and i am always sad when i miss my sleep, but my first day in morocco made me feel even sadder.

i stupidly decided that it would be a good idea to take public transport from the airport to the nearest large town and then cab from there, and it would have been too, except my camera and 12CDN were stolen from my pocket, which is why there have been no pictures of england. i really miss those pictures.

later that day i went to use the internet and, on my walk back to my hotel, was approached by a moroccan man named Fuad (or something like that). he was very nice but kind of weird and smelly, which didn't bother me because morocco itself is kind of weird and smelly. his english was ok and he bought me mint tea and we sat in a cafe and drank it and he talked about morocco. to repay him i gave him 4CDN for cigarettes. he then volunteered to show me around town. i didn't think this was weird because everything i'd read about morocco talked about the great hospitality and friendliness of the people. he took me to a couple of stores but i didn't buy anything because what the hell am i going to do with a kilo of spices or a pair of pointy sandals? third world people have no idea what kind of shit north americans like.

Fuad and i were getting a long well, but then he started asking me to buy him booze. i told him i didn't have any money and then he reached into his waistband at the back and we had a very strange conversation "i am poor man. you will give me money"
"i'm really sorry but i can't afford it, my budget is very strict"
"i have knife. give me money"
at this point i was like what the fuck? i doubted that he actually had a knife but i tried to guilt him into going away because i had been told muslims love guests or something, but that didn't work. i was way bigger and stronger than him and could have given him a pretty good beating, knife or not, but he had said hello to quite a few people on the way down and i had no friends in the entire city. so, i told him ok and tossed him my large water bottle with the cap off, he jumped back and i took off down the street. he didn't follow, i suspect he was satisfied with the water. bastard. i was thirsty all day.

he only wanted 50dirham. or 6cdn, but fuck that, nobody robs craig when he is paying attention.

i spent the rest of the night reading in my room and trying to nap. it was difficult because my hotel is right next to a mosque (thanks for leaving that out, lonely planet) and the call to prayer is incredibly loud and annoying. when i am on a better computer i will try to find a youtube video of how awful it is. they do it at 530am too. sorry about spelling, this computer has a french/arabic keyboard so nothing is where it should be