Superpowers

I made it to Tangier in one piece!  Luck is on my side, because the hostel I'm staying at is in the middle of the medina (the old walled city) and is therefore rather hard to find.  I was scared that the taxi that took me from the train station part way into the medina was going to lose a rear view mirror or something, the streets were so narrow.  I was very happy to get out of the car and be able to walk myself because at least two people can pass each other in the opposite direction when on foot.  The hostel is really nice.  It is very tiny in terms of land usage, but it goes up 5 stories.  A lot of the buildings here are like that.  I went to a cafe today that had stairs at over a 45 degree angle to get to the door, and then there were 4 floors.  In the medina there aren't any skyscrapers, but there sure are a lot of tiny, tall buildings.

Anyway, today I was walking through the medina and I stopped by a flower shop.  Morocco grows and sells a lot of roses, so even the smallest shop is full of beautiful, wonderful smelling flowers.  I tried to tell the shopkeeper that I thought his flowers were beautiful, but I don't think he spoke much French (which is rather common here, what with Spain so close.  Not good for me....)  As I was about to leave he motioned for me to stop and made a bouquet for me free of charge.  This isn't the first time this has happened.  I've gotten free roses at nearly every flower shop I've stopped at here.  (I promise I don't loiter around flower shops hoping for gifts.)  I also get gifts when I go into normal shops sometimes.  It's always something little, like a key chain or a small piece of jewelry, but still.  It's very strange here.  I feel lie I have a neon arrow over my head.  

It's like a strange superpower, being able to make people stop talking, do a double take, follow you around. Honestly, I don't like it one bit.  I vastly prefer the anonymity of the US, but it is interesting to experience this.  It honestly makes me feel really lonely.  Being a celebrity must be so much worse, I feel sorry for them.  

Sorry this is a short post.  I'll hopefully be able to put up some pictures some time soon.