There’s a café a few blocks from the school that a few of the students have deemed “Poor Man’s Corner.” I am not sure of the actual name of the café- to be honest, I’ve never asked. It is a beautiful outdoor café made with concrete and cracked dirty tiles and situated next to a sketchy gas station. The workers at the gas station congregate at one of the tables and continually smoke cigarettes and scratch their grime-covered faces. The lentils are 6 Dirhams (about $.70) and you get free bread, water, and tea with your purchase. All the food here is delicious and comes in bowls with brown paper for napkins and the water comes in small gasoline jugs. The waiters know my friend and me and have become protective of us when men walk by and make comments. We love sitting there during our 4 hour lunch break and watching the Moroccans walk by and do double takes of us white girls sitting in the café surrounded by men. I love this café and have taken to coming here a few times a week because it is so cheap and I love sitting in the dirty chairs and eating the deliciously cheap food. هذا المغرب وأحبه
I can just imagine the stares you guys must get lol. In morocco, cafes are primarily for men (sexist I know). A lot of moroccan men spend their days sitting in cafes, drinking coffee, eating and socializing only going home to eat and/or pray. This of course is not a reflection of islam but of their culture. Its quite sad actually that they waste so much time sitting in cafes and make it near impossible for women to go and socialize in them.
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