Again With the Hustle

We met Omar on the train from Meknes to Fes. He struck up a conversation with the usual, "Where are you from," and then told us about his family in Fes, and his job at the Roman ruins of Volubilis, near Meknes. We told him about our lives and families. His English was great, and he had us break out our Lonely Planet so he could show us his favorite places in Fes. And somewhere in the back of my mind, a little voice kept asking, "Are we being hustled?"

The Hustle is everywhere in Morocco. Walk into the medina of any city, and suddenly you are the center of attention. Where are you from? Welcome to my country. Would you like some tea? Do you need a guide? A carpet? Hashish? Would you like to give me 5 dirham? The answers to these questions is almost invariably no, but still they are asked by men or boys (they are always male) from the ages of 6 to 60, with the median somewhere in the late teens/early twenties.

It is, I would imagine, something like being a hot girl at a club. The fact that I make eye contact, or smile, does not mean I necessarily want what you are offering. I'm just trying to be polite, but maybe I can't do that.

But Omar didn't ask us for anything. He seemed to genuinely want us to have a good time in Morocco. He talked about how important tourism is for his country's economy, which is why he wants tourists like us to have a good experience - so we can recommend it to our friends. He warned us against using the "faux guides" - kids who hang out in the medina, and give tourists a quick, often inaccurate tour. If we wanted a guide, he had a friend who was an official, government-licensed tour guide, and an former Art History professor. But there was no pressure - he gave us a phone number, and said, "Call if you like." Then he said goodbye, shook our hands, and went on his way in Fez.

This is how I want interactions to go, but I'm not sure that's fair of me. I am from a rich country, and I am traveling around a poor country just for fun. Do I also have the right to expect that these interactions be free from any economic dimension? Does the fact that money is involved necessarily polute the relationship, rendering it somehow "inauthentic?" I don't know...

We called Omar's friend that day (yesterday). Today, he showed up at our hotel in his spiffy new Fiat and took us on a brief tour of the old Jewish quarter of Fes, a couple of mosques, and a view point outside the medina. His English was also great, and he knew plenty of interesting details and stories.

Then he took us on a rather extensive tour of handicraft workshops and showrooms - ceramics, brassware, leather, and, of course, carpets. The pressure to buy was generally light and quite decorous, but the tour of shops continued until we said we were through.

Was that a hustle? Wafa Lo (Omar's friend) almost certainly got a kickback for the sizeable collection of leather goods Lee ended up purchasing. Did some of that find its way back to Omar too? Who knows? And I'm not even sure that's the right question to ask. All I know is that Fes has been great, and I'm hereby recommending it to all my friends.