"Thank you but no, we're lost right now", responded my friend.
"Lost?"
"Yes, we were supposed to meet with our group and we thought we were going to meet here but they weren't here so we went to another place where they might have been and they weren't there either".
"Who is your tour guide? How does he look? I saw a group go into medina, let me take you."
"No, I don't think that was them, we weren't in the medina as a group, we were there separately, we were supposed to meet somewhere else".
"What was your tour guide wearing"?
"He had on western clothes, we didn't really have a tour guide though, he's a director. I don't think it's the same group. We need to call our director though, my friend has a phone but it's dead and he needs to charge it, do you know where we can charge his phone"?
"Charge phone"?
"Yes, he needs to, do the battery..."
"Ohhh, yes, here, here, here!"
He led us to a shop across the street which also sold telephones, batteries and also had pay phones to use. The old man explained the situation to the shopkeeper, a middle aged guy wearing glasses with a dark thin beard, black with beginnings of salt starting to show. When he heard he asked to look at my phone which I showed him. He proceeded to open it and took the battery out, attaching it to a plug in battery charger. The old gentleman who brought us there told us we should have a seat in the shop next door to the telephone shop while we waited. I and my friend went there and as I waited for my cola which I ordered we discussed what could have happened. Did we get around the area too late? Was there a miscommunication? Maybe the bus parked somewhere and we didn't notice? While we were talking a thought came to my mind. Something the director said.."Did he say something about a port"?
"I think he mentioned a port but I don't know what about".
By this time around 15 minutes passed and we thought the phone would've been charged long enough to at least have made a call and get an idea of what's going on. We went to the telephone shop and the phone was good enough to call from. Finally! I called one assistant director...no answer. I called a second assistant director...no answer. Hmmm...not a good sign. I didn't have the main director's phone number and so couldn't get in touch with him. What to do? I called my roomate's phone number, he was on the bus and could probably get the message sent about our predicament. The phone rang and it wasn't my roomate but the main director who picked up. When we spoke I was told they waited for 30 minutes then they had to leave because they didn't see us. Hmmm, not good. I asked "Where did you guys wait for us at" because I was trying to figure out where we should've met at. He continued talking though, I don't think he heard me. I asked again, he continued talking. Asked a third time and was told it was at the port where they waited for us. So, there, the port was where we were supposed to have waited at. Both of us had the wrong idea of where to be for the group meet. He continued to talk,
"You two need to catch the train back to get to Meknes. The next train leaves Tangier station at 5:00pm so you have to hurry up because the one after that is going to be at 8:00pm. It should cost about $200 for both tickets on 1st class if you want to be comfortable and have a seat instead of standing. How are you two doing"?
"We're surviving".
"Okay. Just try to hurry up and get that train before it leaves".
We had to catch a train by 5:00pm and the time was 4:45. Too close for comfort. We had to leave immediately if we were to avoid waiting another 3 hours. I told my friend and her face had astonishment on it. "THEY LEFT WITHOUT US?!?!?!"
And then I told her about the train.
"5?!?!?!"
We told the old man about the situation and before we knew it he hailed one of the blue petit taxis for us and as was to be expected "Do you have a little change for your appreciation?" Hurriedly I dropped some money in his hand and got into the taxi with my friend. Our older gentleman told the driver where we wanted to go and we were off to the train station.
We arrived at 6 minutes before 5. Too close, too close. The fare was about 11 Moroccan Dirhams, I had a 200 dirham bill. Our driver said he had no change...
We had to get change with 6 minutes before the train left. We didn't know where we could go to get change and run out to meet him to pay for the fare and then get back to the station in time for the train. What to do? He drove closer to the station near a taxi depot and luckily we found a driver who had change and exchanged it for us. We payed our fare (and then some) and ran off to the station to buy our tickets. 1 minute to spare. We ran to the train and luckily it was a full, an over full load so it wasn't leaving immediately. We got on.
When we were on the train we had to keep moving through the walk way which was inside the train but outside the small cubby rooms with seats. There were no empty seats, this train was filled to the brim and more. It was hot but I think most of my heat came from my frustration. When the train was full we proceeded to move down the tracks. My friend was eager to find out if we were on the right train so she began to practice her arabic asking the passengers around us if this was the one going back to Meknes. Eventually she found out that we had to transfer at another station later down the line and catch the Meknes train and that our total trip would be about 4 hours in time. A nice long hot trip. Seething frustration in me.
I stood up in the walkway as did many of those near us but, my friend sat down as did some others around her. She happened to sit next to a girl who earlier told her about the train transfer. They began to talk and before you knew it they became friends (as did two other girls with my friend and two guys as well). Though I didn't speak for the majority of that ride, I did listen, it was interesting. They wanted to hear American jokes and American songs, she was really Ms. Popular. But, she has such an energy and vibe about her that I can't really say I'm surprised it happened. The girls really wanted to get to know her and they seemed to click with her. One guy though I had to hold my laughs inside. He began talking and asking questions which quickly turned into "so are you married? why aren't you married? you should be married. what's your number in the states? your email?" it was weird. Eventually he began talking to me and after a couple of minutes I was annoyed. There are some people who talk to really get engaged in a conversation but then there are others who talk and don't hear a thing you say. They'll repeat the same questions to you 3 times and every time you try to answer they interrupt then ask the questions yet again. This was the case with this guy.
Anyways, though I was frustrated I was happy to see that my friend made friends and was able to take her mind off the situation we were in. After a while, the first train ride was over and we waited on the platform along with one of the friends my friend made, a Moroccan gentleman in his mid to late 20's. They talked for a bit until the next train came which we boarded. On this one I was able to finally sit after my friend and her friend persuaded someone to allow me to have a seat. Too nice. During the rest of the ride while sitting next to my friend we discussed the whole situation at hand, what happened, how it happened...interesting times. We arrived in Meknes a little after 9pm, the trip was long and still I was frustrated but looking back on it, this was an experience I didn't quite mind and it didn't kill me. It was something I wouldn't have had if everything worked out "perfectly" and sometimes a person is placed in a situation they're not expecting that can actually be beneficial or insightful for them. I think this is one of those situations.
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