It's Raining!

I'm very excited about the rain! The "winter" in my town this year was warm and with only one day of rain. Last year it was raining all the time and by this time I could look out my window where the once dusty landscape was covered with greenery. Now it's been raining for over a week, it's cold, my roof is leaking, and I can see my breath indoors and it makes me happy. It gives me an extra excuse to put off my laundry, stay snuggled under my covers and read, and bake in order to warm up my kitchen. It also means the "river" will return to my town if only for a few days.

Some Moroccan Humor:
A man wants to commit suicide but rethinks it, decides that he wants to attempt suicide and not die so that people in town will think of him as strong and unable to die. From the roof he wants to jump from is 10 meters high so he goes to the hanut and asks for 9 meters of rope. The shopkeeper gives him the rope and the man goes to the top of the building ties the rope around his waist and jumps. Seconds later he is dead on the ground, as the police are investigating they go to the shopkeeper and ask him about the rope. The shopkeeper says, the man asked for 9 meters of rope but I gave him 12 because I know his father. (told to me in Darija by a Moroccan man and then translated into English)

The reason I share this joke, despite its grave outcome is to highlight Moroccan shopkeepers. While you bargain for almost everything, things like meat, vegetables, and most food items are a set price. When you bargain the starting price and even the final price depend on who you are and how the shopkeeper knows you. For example a foreigner will almost always pay more than a local, and a local will always pay more than a friend. However for things with set prices, if the shopkeeper knows you he will throw in the extra meat he cut that puts the scale over the edge by a few grams, the veggie guy will throw in an extra veggie to make the scale balance instead of shorting you a few grams. It's all in who you know.