My Asilah Journal: Beware of Children

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We're finally getting some sunny days after weeks of rain. Thank goodness--my anxiety level was rising like the "oueds" (rivers) as I watched for roof leaks or worse (in Fez, more than one building has collapsed due to the excessive rain). You can almost hear a communal "Yahoo!" as wet things are put out to dry and life returns to the streets.

Rugs put out to dry

Merchandise displayed

Soccer games resumed

Cats back on the streets

The palpable relief at the improvement in the weather put me off my guard. That's why I was so surprised to be accosted by kids on my way home from shopping. I had taken a detour to try to get a picture of a street soccer game when two girls and a boy, between 8 and 11 years old I'd guess, ran up behind me shouting "hola". I hola'd them back, then they started asking for "un dirham". I said "no" to the money and turned around to go back home when the boy made a half-hearted attempt to grab my shopping bag. I kept walking and they turned to follow me. Just as I reached my door one of the girls reached inside my bag and ran off with what she found, which happened to be some cookies from the bakery. I called out "ladrón" because Spanish is all that comes to me in moments of indignation, even though this was the perfect opportunity to use one of the phrases from my French Phrase Book: "On m'a agressé". (I've been mugged!)


Scene of the crime

Street value of the stolen goods: 5 dirham

This isn't the first unpleasant incident we've had with children. Last year some very young boys threw stones at me when I passed by them in the medina, and another time Mark and I had trouble getting past two little boys who aggressively blocked our path. The children were even more brazen in the beautiful medina of Chefchaouen. When we were leaving our hotel there, a group of 3 or 4 blocked our exit until some adults intervened on our behalf.

Chefchaouen medina

Chefchaouen: beautiful medina, aggressive children

In Marrakech last year, our hotel had a list of warnings, one of which was to avoid groups of young boys. I don't remember the age range in the warning--maybe it was 8 to 14--but I remember thinking, why so young? I'd tend to be more wary of teenagers or young adults.