on the streets

Harassment. Apparently there’s a lot of it here. Though, if you ask me it’s kind of refreshing in a twisted only Rohini would think this kind of way. The guys who check you out on the street, and believe me there are a LOT of them (not being cocky…these guys would hit on anything that moved) are different from the guys you’ll hear in the states. It all starts with eye contact. I’m not talking about a glance. I mean locked eyes, they don’t back down. Once eye contact is made we take things to the comment level. A few things we’ve heard…fantastique!…I love you...konichiwa (for my Korean friend)…welcome to Morocco…hello, how are you baby…sexy, sexy, sexy. And those are just the ones that we could understand. We’ve also heard our fair share of Arabic phrases that just go in one ear and out the other. During our harassment seminar today, my academic director told us a Moroccan man’s best compliment is to compare your beauty to that of a gazelle. Gazelle eyes are supposedly the most beautiful and for you to reach gazelle status is kind of a big thing. But really despite the things they may say to you at least these men genuinely look you in the face. Not that there’s much else to look at since no one wears anything remotely revealing. I’m just saying it’s nice to be harassed for your face instead of your…other assets.