L'Amour fou

Took a walk down to the Casbah (a medina in Morocco, where a Casbah is a castle) today, which was an interesting experience. The structure of the casbah is not unlike the old medinas in Morocco; with the hills and stairs and constant up and down it seemed like Chefchaouan to me. The difference that I can tell is this: in Morocco it seems like you are just a walking dollar (or euro) sign. In the Algiers Casbah you are a walking symbol of ongoing injustice, however perceived.



There is no touristic structure that allows one to comfortably exploit people’s ways of life for entertainment; in the A.Cas. you really do not belong, and people let you know: at least twice I was called a fascist (in French) and any number of other angrily spoken names in Arabic. I have never felt more out of bounds. I think it really speaks to a couple hundred odd years of exploitation and direct, violent colonialism, followed by an international economic and cultural situation that marginalizes whole populations to a degree it is difficult for me to understand.



All of that and yet a very nice man, Sidi Mahmoud Azziz, invited us up to see the Casbah and the city from the top of his building, which we did. He was very friendly and said when he was on vacation in Marseille some people invited him to their homes and so he likes to do the same. The view was spectacular (see photos):





Needless to say that was a great kindness that was quite opportune, and served as a reminder to stop for a second when you find your mind categorizing people without knowing them or anything about them. Like the woman who gave us directions said, in a different context: “on doit faire attention.”



There was also a massive thunderstorm, abating about now, that fell just after we arrived back at the Glycines. Thunder, lightening, strike! Ok Go! Alright, perhaps that reference didn’t work out so well, but it was (and continues to be) pretty awesome, with tons of lightening and it actually hailed for about 20 minutes. I got two pictures after the rain: