Night Out in Marrakesh

I met Jamal at the main square, and before we went for a night out in town, he showed me around the 2 hotels he is managing, one of which is recently completed renovating and meant to be rented out as an entire house, while the other had rooms themed in different colours and furniture completed in the same.  It was all very nice! 

We stopped for an ice-cream while walking in the twists and turns of the medina.  I was surprised that while halfway through our ice-cream, a guy walked up to him and asked if he could have his half eaten ice-cream and Jamal just gave it to him.  Jamal must have caught my surprised look and he explained that it’s typical for Moroccan to share food or similar with the less fortunate – this perhaps explained why one old lady looked at me in disgust when she approached and spoke to me in Moroccan while I was in midst of finishing my orange juice earlier in the day!

 

We headed towards the main square where Jamal had his motorbike parked in a parking area and hopped on to our 1st stop.  Jamal explained that it’s still a little early for the clubs and so we headed into one of the posh restaurants which had performances such as belly dancing and singers every evening. 

Drinks are more expensive at that restaurant since its also catered to the upmarket Moroccans and tourists.  Being mindful of the income of typical Moroccans, and not wanting to take advantage of Jamal’s kindness, plus Jamal doesn’t take liquour, I paid for the drinks.  The performance was good fun, as the performers tried to engage the diners to participate.

After drinks, Jamal brought me to a club with live band playing.  We ordered a drink and proceeded to the dance floor a little before heading back to our table.  Sitting next to our table was a lady who was dressed quite sexily and with a bald shorter guy.  Both Jamal and I suspected that the lady was from an escort service and our suspicions were right as shortly after, a commotion broke out with the guy and another couple at another table.  The couple subsequently left and about half hour later, the guy left too leaving the lady alone. 

The truth unravelled when Jamal conversed with the female escort in Arabic and found out that the bald guy was having an argument with the other couple because the lady was his ex-wife whom he still had some affections for.  Because he was too upset to be enjoying the night further, he left while the escort lady stayed behind to finish the bottle of vodka which was already ordered. 

For some reasons, the escort lady was quite interested in wanting to talk to me, not sure if it was because of curiosity towards a foreigner or maybe a fellow female.  Due to language challenges, Jamal became our interpreter where she asked where I was from and what made me come to Morocco and about my travels.  After talking for some time, she asked Jamal to ask if I could accompany her to another club in the next half hour.  Her reason given was that she felt I was really nice and she like our company, and added on that she has a bottle of liqour kept at the other bar and we could all have a drink there. 

It was already past 1am and having to catch a flight the next day, I told her I was really exhausted and had to decline her invitation.  Jamal and I said goodbye to her and Jamal gave me a ride back to my hostel. 

The staff at the hostel was shocked that I was still out at that hour considering that the medina was completely dead quiet at that hour!