Mohammedia has several miles of beaches, but it also has an oil refinery. When we were here 8 years ago we walked to the beach closest to home, and pollution from the refinery was evident. When we were here in 2012 we went to the beach that is further north and requires a taxi ride.
Today we walked to the beach near the refinery, and we were pleasantly surprised at how it had changed. The sand and water seemed clean. The wastewater pipe that used to flow from the city to the ocean was gone, and there were fish, and fishermen. New hotels and condos lined the beach and there were plenty of families enjoying the water. There were even public bathrooms!
Ben and the kids found a pick-up soccer game…
On the way home we stopped at the store…
…and had a surreal 6 Degrees conversation:
Khalid (blue hat), shopping at the same store and practicing his English: “Don’t worry, be happy.”
Me: “Don’t worry…I’m happy.”
Ahmed (white shirt): “Where are you from?”
Me: “Boston, Massachusetts.”
Ahmed: “What?? I’M from Boston, Massachusetts!”
Me: “That’s unbelievable! We live in Framingham!”
Ahmed: “I LIVE IN FRAMINGHAM!”
Me (getting suspicious): “I don’t believe you. What street?”
Ahmed: “School Street. Near Walgreens.”
Is that crazy, or WHAT?? His kids go to Dunning Elementary and the School for the Deaf. He is in Morocco for 6 weeks visiting family. It may not seem that unusual to run into someone from home…that happens every time you go to Disneyworld, right? But on our walk I saw a total of MAYBE 5 people who were from somewhere else, including a Parisian man in a Speedo who was so excited to see a fellow tourist that he tried really hard to have a conversation even though my French is mostly limited to “baguette” and “crepe”. In the 5 times I’ve been to Morocco I have only seen a few Americans. Whenever any of the locals (usually young men) try to talk to me, they assume that I’m European – they NEVER guess American. So meeting someone from the street where Norah goes to Taekwondo was a little freaky.