Les Oranges

Les Oranges is, supposedly, the area I live in now.  But we'll get back to that.

Today was a rough one.  Only had one class but they're a doozy!  We have the "3 Strikes you're out" policy here and I had to give out five (5) Strike 1's today.  Exhausting.

So after this very frustrating 3 hour class I went with Lynne to have a coffee.  Coffee led to fruit and veggie shopping in the Marche Municipal (local market).  While Lynne tried to avoid the really pushy lettuce salesman and picked out some nice tomatoes, I was over at the egg, nut, rice and pasta guy trying to count to 4 in French.  "Un, due, trois, quatra….quatra ouves." (I apologize for the horrific spelling)  As the guy is packing up my eggs, an elderly man walks up to me and takes me hands.  He holds out my first finger and says "waha".  He continues to the next finger, "juj".  On to the third, "tlata" and so on until we have gone through 1-10.  "Shukran" I tell him. (Thank you). He just nods and starts again.  "Waha, juj, tlata, rba, himsa, sta, sabaa, taminya, tsud, hasara".  And again….

So this went on for a couple minutes until I was able to recite 1-10 in arabic.  It was only when he started the alphabet, of which there are 27 letters, that the shopkeeper stopped him.  A really wonderful experience I won't forget.

So, on to "Les Oranges".  I've been reluctant to take a taxi because they always think I speak Arabic or French and are usually a little frustrated when they realize I know neither.  I just kind of point and nod and say "ce bon" when I want to get out.  And then a lot of thank you's as well.

This time I had a bag of groceries and the 30 minute walk back seemed really long so I made the decision to taxi it.  "Grabbing a taxi" here is a lot different than in the U.S.  First of all, there are not phone numbers to "call" a taxi say if you're moving or something (as I have done 3 times). You have to just wait on the side of the road and hope one passes that is willing to pick up a non French/Arabic-speaking girl holding a half dozen bags. You get the picture :)

The other, and most difficult part, of getting a taxi here and that you have to be in the right place at the right time.  No taxi will take you north if he is driving south. It just doesn't happen.  You have to stand on the side of the street in the direction you need to go in.  Then you have to wave your arms up and down to get one to pull over, which, they don't have to do. Many a taxi has seen me, been completely empty and the driver just waves his finger as if to say, "no thank you, I don't want any."  YOU'RE A TAXI DRIVER….YOU PICK PEOPLE UP!  They seem to have a lot of choices of passengers and if they don't feel like getting you, they don't.  Simple as that.

So, now you have a taxi pulled over but you don't just get in. He has to roll down the window and you tell him where you want to go.  Then HE decides if he wants to take you or not….bizarre.

So now you have successfully named a random place in Rabat where the driver is willing to take you and you're golden, right? WRONG!  If you are the only passenger, he will most likely pick up other people along the way if they are going in "his" direction.  At this point, you start trying to calculate how much you are going to have to pay vs. the person who just got in and all of a sudden you realize you forgot where you're going and have to start pointing and pleading for him to go "agosh" (left).

So now you've arrived and you pay your part of the fare and you get out….phew! Not looking forward to doing that again.  Except, you know you're going to have to :(

So tonight was a similar situation. I flagged a few down before getting one who was willing to take me to "Rue Oqbar".  I know this is the main street by my new place and figured I could point him the rest of the way.  My first taxi trip there ended with me having to call the landlord and have her explain the directions to the driver even though she gave me the name of the street and the "area"…Les Oranges.

I wasn't taking any chances but when the driver turned left when I needed him to turn right, I sat quietly in the back and cursed myself for not walking with my grocery bag.  When the other passenger got out and he pointed straight, I informed him in my very advanced Arabic, "La (No)" and pointed behind me.  He gave this big sigh and made a ridiculously illegal U-turn.  Once in the correct direction I just kept pointing straight and assuring him that I knew what I was talking about.

Once we got to Rue Nasr, the big intersection that divides Rabat, he looked at me as if to say, "You want to cross here? Are you serious?" I again, assured him this was right and for a moment considered just getting out and walking the rest of they way. I went to open the door but the light turned green.  We started driving and I told him, again in my fabulous French, "premier agosh" (first left).  We arrived at the front door and I shouted "Ce bon" It's good, which I have been using to mean, STOP!

When he stopped the car, he looked around, looked at me and said "Les Oranges!" The last taxi driver had told me that this was NOT Les Oranges.  I almost lost it and the following is what came out of my mouth. See if you can translate it for yourself.

"Desole, shukran.  Avec petit francais y shweeya arabiyya es dificil"*

He just started laaaaaaaaaaughing.  So hard! Then I started laughing and we sat there like two idiots laughing at the rediculousness that just came out of my mouth.  Well, it made sense in my mind.

He assured me this was Les Oranges and had me repeat it a few times to get the pronunciation down.  Then he said something about oranges and lemons…not really sure.  I told him thank you and got out of the taxi.

After teaching a really difficult class, I was relieved to have met these two people who showed me such kindness and humor.


*What I meant to say was:  "Sorry, thank you. With my little french and little arabic, it is difficult".

I'm sure he understood :)