Mass Chaos with Chase

Sunday afternoon I met up with Chase in Agadir for what we thought would be a totally chill weekend. What we experienced was more like mass chaos. Things started off quite normally. We met up with Dan at Souk l-Hdd in Agadir, did a little bit of shopping and afterward enjoyed ourselves at a nice little Danish pub. Up until this point, everything was mellow. Dan wanted to catch a soccer game on the tv, so we left him there to hit up the Marjan before leaving Agadir.

After Marjan, the cosmos began spinning out of control. We arrived at the taxi stand in Inezgane and waited forever to get a taxi to Chase's site. I was planning on spending the night at Chase’s site, so I was traveling with her. There was one man in our taxi was absolutely insane. He was practically sitting on my lap and was really irritating me because he kept trying to talk really close to my face and it was making me super uncomfortable. Later on, Chase opened a bag of chips while we were waiting and he helped himself to a big handful. We ignored him for most of the ride, although that did not stop him from trying to talk to us.

When we arrived at Chase's site, we got out of the cab and it was shortly after this point that I realized my cell phone was missing. I searched through my backpack and could not find it anywhere. Now, I am not blaming that man in the taxi, but I am pretty sure I had the phone when we got into the taxi, and he definitely had a few screws loose, so I would bet money that he is the person who stole my phone.

For the evening, I decided to forget my troubles and enjoy a nice time at the house of Mandy, Chase's sitemate. We tried calling my phone, but nobody answered and I feared the batteries would soon be dead. We decided to try to track down the lost cell phone the next morning.

The next day started off slowly, but by the end of the day, had spun out of control. After we awoke, Mandy and I walked to the taxi stand to ask about my phone. The multaxi had not seen or heard of a lost cell phone.

At this point, I gave up on finding my cell phone and decided I would need to buy a new one that day. So, Chase and I decided to head back to Agadir. First, we both needed to stop by the post office. I exchanged some American dollars to floos, Chase checked her mail hoping to find a check from Peace Corps. Leaving the post office, a European-looking elderly man in a very fancy car rolled down his window and asked in English if we needed a lift somewhere. He took him up on his offer and got a ride to the taxi stand. He was a 75 year old man from France who drove fast. Next, we flagged down a taxi and away we went to Inezgane. From Inezgane, we taxied to Agadir. In Agadir, we decided to find some pizza for lunch and thought Pizza Hut sounded like a good idea. We got in a petit taxi and told him to take us to the Pizza Hut on the beach. The man did not have a clue, drove us in a big circle and dropped us off one block away from where he picked us up because we saw the Pizza Hut. We decided we weren’t going to pay him the full amount and he was really nice and refused our money.

Lunch was heavenly. I think I might write a letter to Pizza Hut and thank them for bringing their chain to this country. We had pepperoni pizza! Pepperoni! That is major Hshuma (shame) here because it is a Muslim country and people are forbidden from eating pork products. After the Hut, we splurged on a gelato. Then, we did something really silly and paid to take a tour of Agadir on this incredibly cheesy looking train. While sitting on the train, waiting to depart, a man from across the street waved at me and said, “hello, teacher!” It was one of my new students from the Dar Chebab. Great, now he will probably tell my entire community that he saw me in Agadir riding that stupid tourist train. The tour was okay at best. We saw some gorgeous hotels that we will remember for when our families visit.

After the tour, we hailed a taxi to take us to the area near the taxi stand so I could buy a phone. Coincidentally, the taxi driver remembered us from the day before when he took us to Marjan. He was very helpful and drove us to a cell phone store owned by his friend and waited for me to buy a phone and then would take us to the taxi stand. I bought a very nice phone and while we were walking out of the store, Chase’s cell phone rang. It was somebody asking to speak to Jennifer. Chase said, "who is Jennifer?" And I said, "me, Jenny!" I got on her phone and it was my host mom! She said she had called my cell phone and a strange man had answered it. She said she was in Agadir and had my cell phone. Chase went to meet my host mom while I returned to the store to try and return the newly purchased phone. Luckily, the man was very forgiving and let me exchange the phone for the full amount. I doubt a store owner in America would do the same for a foreigner who could barely speak English.

When I met up with Chase and my mom, I found out she did not have the phone yet, but she said the man said he would get off work soon and then we could meet him. She was in Agadir with her parents and sister for a doctor’s appointment. Chase and I decided to tag along to the clinic and kill time until we could meet the man. When we arrived at the clinic, we decided to find some water and walked to the nearest hanut. We sat on the curb, drinking water and eating Skittles (yes, the hanut had Skittles, so of course we had to buy them!) then returned to the clinic. At the clinic, Chase realized she had misplaced her cell phone. This became quite hysterical to us (or maybe just me). I ran outside to look for the cell phone and asked the hanut owner if she had seen it. Nope. I even checked our garbage bag and then returned to the clinic and by that time Chase was really starting to freak out, so she went outside to look for the cell phone a second time. She found a man holding it close to where we had been sitting on the curb. Phew.

By this time, it was time to meet the man who had my cell phone. We called my phone about ten times before he answered it. I told him in my broken Darija, “I want my phone now. Where are you?” He laughed at me and told me he would not give it back to me. I was so mad! My host mom called him and he hung up on her. Then, my host mom’s dad called the guy, tried talking him into giving me my phone back, and he hung up on him too! I guess he said he would give me my chip from inside the phone, but not the phone. Here is what I do not understand. The phone I bought is ugly. It was the cheapest phone I could find. The only thing that I can think of is that last week I recharged the minutes on my phone (it was double recharge, so I bought 100 minutes and received 200) and he found out the phone was full of minutes and wanted to keep it.

So, today I will buy a new cell phone. I will email you with the new number as soon as I get it. Also, I am buying some kind of key chain so I can hook the phone to my backpack or purse. Nobody is ever getting their hands on this new phone. Inshaallah.

Lhumdullah for Chase. Thank you, Chase, for helping me and putting up with my mushkils!