Big souk

One of the great things about Taounate is that we have small souks (markets) every day. Sometimes they're close to our house, sometimes they're by the Dar Chebab, but they're always accessible. And! We have a huge marché that has everything we need, pretty much whenever we need it. (Please keep in mind that this does not fulfill all of our American needs. You should me a souk with cheddar cheese and I'll never make a request again)

However, not all of the towns in our area have the same luxury. Once a week, on Sunday mornings, there is a huuuuge souk for everyone in the area in a small town called Ain Aicha. There are taxis that take you from Taounate right there for a reasonable price (7 dirham each way). 

We have been meaning to go for a few weeks, but either kept forgetting or the weather was terrible, but this week we really wanted to go. We mentioned to Anass and our friend Nasar yesterday that we planned on going, and Nasar offered to drive us there. (This is a huge relief because we also had no idea what we wanted to buy and were afraid of being shoved in a car with something too big or someone else's goat or something.)

It was an awesome morning! We got a bunch of fruits and veggies for like half the price that they are at the marché, a new pair of sandals for Toby, and a new (used) fan to help protect us from the Mosquitos and coming heat. 

Does anyone need large amounts of plastic? We know a guy. 

Souks generally look like huge Farmer's Markets, to be real. But the prices are better. 

We didn't have a chance to hit up the Street Meat this time, but next time, insha'Allah (if God wills it). 

So much produce. 

Toby buying 3 pounds of bananas and 3 pounds of peaches for 27 dirham = 540 ryal = less than $3 total. 

Donkey/mule parking lot. 

Need some blacksmithing done? We also know a guy for that. 

Men's sandal shopping. Here, we got Toby a pair of legit leather sandals for 80 dirham. Yep. $8. Thanks, Anass, for the bargaining help!

This is the owner of the fan we bought walking me it over to a cafe so we could test it before we took it home. It was very nice of him, but a rather entertaining part of the experience. Fun fact: when we got back to Taounate we saw the same fan at a store and asked about it. We paid 140 less than we would have in town!

There is also a nice little pedestrian bridge across a river in Ain Aicha. We all took a moment for a few pictures and confused everyone around us. 

On Sundays, bros wear plaid. 

Also, as of today, we have been in Morocco for five months!