JAILED!
Okay, before you all freak out…it wasn’t me that got stuck in jail! It was my friend Zakaria…but it was kind of my ‘fault’.
So the story goes…
Morocco has a few problems…among them high unemployment and the overwhelming number of faux guides. (One day acting as a guide earns you more then almost any other job.)
So…the country is trying to crack down on unauthorized guides. You must have a license to be a guide. This requires proficency in at least 2 laguages (certificates required) as well as 2 years of history courses.
Unfortunately this crack down on faux guides is a bit arbitrary.
The other night in Djemma el-Fna plaza, Joe and I were getting icecream, while Zakaria stood nearby. By the time I’d gotten mine (there was of course a delay as the ice cream seller flirted with me), I turn around to see Zakaria disappearing into the crowd with a rather big man. I didn’t know what was going on. Seconds later a man approached Joe and I and told us Zakaria was being taken in as a faux guide. I protested that he wasn’t our guide…but I was talking to the wrong guy. Apparently, being seen with 2 Westerners is proof enough of a criminal act.
We were told he’d be out in a few minutes…but seeing as how Zak didn’t have the appropriate amount to buy off the police, they decided to jail him.
For his non-crime Zakaria spent 2 days in jail!!! A jail where you are not fed (family can bring food…and pay to have it delivered to the prisioner)…a jail where they never turn off the lights…a jail that is no more then a dirt floor to sleep on.
As you can imagine…I felt TERRIBLY about the whole situation! Being friends with me sent a man to jail for 2 days. I know I can be a toruble-maker at times…but this was just ridiculous!
Okay, so Zakaria is free again. ‘All better’ now.
In order for us to hang out and have no further problems we returned to the police station to fill out a form documenting that he is accompanying me while I am in Morocco, and is NOT acting as a guide. Passport numbers, national identifcation card info, dates of travel, 10dirham…It was signed and stamped and Zak has to carry it with him whenever he’s with me.
Still, I guess it beats going to jail!
Tags: Morocco
LizG
That is so insane. I bet you feel terrible, darlin’. The craziest thing is that you actually have to go to the police and document you friendship. Blows my mind.