Moroccats

   Cat in Essaouira

I had begun to write a thesis about the personality of some individuals that I had encountered in Morocco but after longer experience I realize that my impression was incorrect so I'm steering this in a different direction..

Morocco has thousands, nay millions of cats that wander around their streets and I guess it would be fair to say that those cats seem to be attending to their own nourishment, shelter and grooming because they are in any kind of physical or health condition you can imagine - but they are very abundant. I assume that they serve a practical purpose here. I've seen no evidence of vermin. In this harbor town there are abundant fish and there are many meat stalls as well so, nutrition. Incidentally there seem to be a disproportionate number of calico cats, and if memory serves calico cats are very, very infrequently males - or are they sterile? I can't recall. I suspect that most of the Toms have been deleted from Moroccan feline society. That is probably their way of managing the cat population. I can imagine a human society structured similarly and all I've got to say to that is: Thank God that is not our society. I certainly would have been tossed in the runt basket seconds after birth.

Suffice to say that I had encountered a few vendors who suddenly switched from being genial (and seemingly interested in having conversation) to being incredibly hostile within a nanosecond. I now recognize that this is most likely a sign of the frustration they experience as thousands of people traipse by their stalls and they can't afford to be distracted by conversations that yield no profit.

   Paws off bro!

I had drawn an erroneous comparison between the relentless numbers of cats that we saw on the street and that sudden switch from happily compliant to a  delivering a nasty bite or a scratch across the hand that any cat-encountering individual would be familiar with. To set the record straight, almost all the people we have encountered here are gregarious and kind, helpful and generous of spirit. The younger generation is very conversant in both English and French and very forgiving of my inability to communicate correctly in the latter. They are both interested and interesting. While it's true that 98% of the people that we have talked to are male I assume that the females share the same qualities - it is just that in this society they are reluctant to engage in conversation.

   I'm pretty sure that's a smile

We have had such pleasant, if brief, conversations with individuals on our travels that it can't fail to impress one. Moroccans appear to be very proud of their country. I do believe that it is progressing rapidly regarding infrastructure, quality of education and technology. I'm not that familiar with the regime but it doesn't seem to be oppressive though the society is perhaps more ideologically driven than ours. We are reminded every day that we are in a Muslim country because we hear muzzeins summoning the faithful to prayer.

.  Rabat cat

Which brings me to my revised observation which is that the real pleasures and experiences when traveling are the people one meets. Whether they are natives to the country or nomads like oneself there is, so often, a generosity of spirit and imagination that makes the trip so enjoyable and memorable.

   So. Many. Cats!

When one is traveling, real, lasting pleasure doesn't come from visiting churches, palaces or synagogues or cobbled streets or eating fine meals. The sensory pleasure one might get from those moments is very transitory and that state of pleasure, like physical pain, is hard to re-summon except I in the abstract ('I remember that it really hurt' for instance) whereas the heartfelt pleasure in pleasant conversation/dialogue, can stay with us for the rest of our lives and we can relive the heart-swelling pleasure of such a moment. Connecting with a stranger, whether from the Netherlands or the Atlas mountains, Rochelle, Santiago, Marrakesh or Bradford, reinforces the sense that our lives are meaningful or at least not non-valuable and that we share sympathetic values and beliefs regarding the basic goodness of humans... in such communion our hearts expand.

Regardless of the  occasional setbacks I will continue to make an effort to connect with strangers. That's where the juicy stuff lies.

   Ibrahim. An excellent man.

Another observation about cats and dogs. In Canada where dogs are generally kept on leash in public there appears to be great antipathy between dogs and cats except in homes that host both species. In other countries - like here and in Central and South America where they roam free - dogs and cats generally ignore each other. Why?

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