Chefchaouen, Morocco w/ Zane Jarecke | You Be Trippin with Ari Shaffir

Martha listens to her favorite band all the time.

In the car,

gym,

even sleeping.

So when they finally went on tour, Martha bundled her flight and hotel on Expedia to see them live.

She saved so much, she got a seat close enough to actually see and hear them.

Sort of.

You were made to scream from the front row.

We were made to quietly save you more.

Expedia, made to travel.

Savings vary and subject to availability, flight inclusive packages are at all protected.

Hi, everybody.

Welcome to You'll Be Trippin'.

That's the name of the podcast.

Pretty good name, right?

Yeah, you'll be tripping.

You'll be tripping.

Hey, that's actually pretty clever.

Thanks.

Yeah, I might do that.

It took me a second.

I'll say, I was like, yeah, that makes sense.

We're tripping.

Yeah, like, yeah.

I'm here with Zane Jareski, somebody I met in my writing class

in Paris, France.

We're at a hostel.

They don't call them youth hostels anymore, do they?

Couldn't tell you.

Just hostel, I think.

And especially this one.

Yeah.

It's not youth.

Not a youth hostel.

Bring it closer to your mouth.

I mean, there is some youth in here.

Yeah.

Nobody calls them youth hostels anymore, do they?

No.

I haven't heard that term in a while.

I hear like guys like you talking about it.

I'm like, youth hostel.

Is that the same as a hostel?

I think it's the same as a hostel.

I had that same question when I started.

It was like,

I I don't want a youth hostel.

I just want a hostel.

And they're like,

yeah, man, I don't know.

I think it was because

anyone over 26 did not go to a hostel.

Yeah.

And I'm like, youth host.

Is that like boys?

Is that like young, young?

That could get interesting.

Yeah.

Yeah.

No, just hostel.

Yeah, it is.

Come on.

So, where are we going today, Zane?

Where are you taking us?

We're going to Morocco.

Hell yes.

North Africa.

Going to Morocco.

North Africa.

What brought you there?

I was there a couple years ago.

Oh.

I didn't tell you this.

I was there with my dad a couple years ago.

And previously, I was just going through all of Europe.

And then my dad's like, let's bounce down to Morocco.

And we bounced down, and it was a splash, a cold splash in the face of like, okay, this is completely different than everything I've just been experiencing in Europe for a while.

And it's right there.

I mean, from Spain, you can take a ferry over.

It's right across.

It's closer there.

It's like right there.

You can see over the Strait of Gibraltar.

You can see Morocco from Spain.

Wow, interesting.

And there's a cool cafe on the side of Morocco.

So Tangier is the closest town.

It's like the port town of Morocco.

And there's a really famous cafe where like, you know, the poets, the beat guys, Burroughs, the Rolling Stones were there.

And it's a cafe built into the side of this cliff overlooking the Strait of Gibraltar.

And on a clear day, you see Spain.

And they bring you, you know, they bring your mint tea there because they drink mint tea instead of coffee mostly.

Does that have caffeine?

Yes.

They throw some black tea in there.

They throw a lot of sugar in there.

But they also, in certain towns, not really in the south, but in the north, because that's where it grows and it's a little more liberal in the north, they will bring you your mint tea and then like some joints.

And you're like, I want to do that.

No fucking way.

Yeah, man.

Oh, yeah.

It's awesome because they don't drink alcohol.

So, but you got to be a little fucked up.

So you got to do something.

You got to have a vice.

And so it's like, okay, we're going to the cafe and we're smoking hash.

As easy as getting wine here.

Easier.

I mean, it's the same vibe.

Like, well, easier.

Easier.

Easier.

There was that,

see,

the Bourdain episode.

He did an episode in Tangier.

And he went to another cafe that's also famous.

It wasn't like overlooking the strait, but it's same neighborhood called Cafe Baba.

Same deal, like all the artists rolled through.

Decades ago when like Tangier was a big artist hub.

And

he never shows it, like shows himself smoking, but he shows like he has a scene of like they're making the hash.

They have masks on.

He does a whole like.

And also, you know, former, like, real cocaine.

There's no way you don't smoke a little hash.

Yeah, yeah.

He's just like, this isn't for CM.

Yeah, he does light stuff for him.

So I went to that cafe too.

That's in Tangier.

And they had his pictures up on the wall.

That was a cool place.

But they screwed me on price.

That's one of the things at the cafes.

It's like you never know what in Morocco, in all of Morocco, you never have a set set price on anything.

That's all bargaining?

All bargaining.

Whoa.

Like water in a shop could be, could be five bucks, could be 20 cents like it should be, like what everybody else is paying.

Did you get used to talking them down?

I'm assured at first you'd be like, what the fuck?

And then just like, okay.

Yeah, like, that's kind of expensive.

But then eventually you'd be like, when I've been in places, eventually it's like, no, no, it's this.

And they go, okay.

Yeah.

Because like, we had to try.

Right.

No, you definitely get your face ripped off.

And that's like, that was the start to this trip, was Marrakesh, which is South Morocco, famous for its souk.

That's it.

You walk through.

Okay.

That's like the

Morocco.

And I told you before, like, well, you want that monkey paw to like, I wish I could get out of here.

And it goes like that.

And then you're suddenly in Paris.

They have monkey paws?

They've got monkey paws all over, man.

Wow.

What?

As easy as finding wine here in Paris.

Monkey paws.

How much is a monkey paw?

Couldn't tell you.

You're traveling.

I got the room for monkey paws.

If this is my last stop on the back of the thing, maybe.

Do they let you through customs with a monkey paw?

I don't know.

Good question.

Fairy.

You could do the fairy thing.

Probably take a monkey paw.

What's the fairy?

Fairy, like back into Spain.

Then you're like, okay, now I'm in Europe and I got the ball.

That's a monkey paw.

Yeah.

That'd be a good, like, hostile trick.

Here's my monkey paw.

No, but like in the souk, they have a big square there.

So you can't take a soux.

Make a wish, bro.

Make a wish.

Make a wish and let me take it.

They have, so they also have live monkeys right next to the snake charmers.

Just like in the movies, they have like guys in like a semicircle around, call it a half a dozen cobras playing their flutes.

Wow.

But the cobras aren't doing, like, they're not, they're not moving.

They're like, these things are

coming out of like

wiggling down.

Yeah, do they have the flute then?

Yeah, the flute.

They had the flute, but the cobras were more like just kind of like sitting there.

Like at first, you think you're fake, and then you walk up.

You don't want to walk too close because then, you know, some guy will throw a snake around your neck and like, okay, we want some money now.

Like take your picture.

Oh, really?

Yeah, yeah, yeah.

That happens all the time.

Same with monkeys.

It's like if you walk close enough to the monkeys,

you're going to get a monkey on the shoulder.

Like some guy is going to throw a monkey on your shoulder.

You're going to be like, oh, no, I don't want it.

And then like, you're like, oh, I kind of want to, like, quick, take a picture.

And then it's like, money.

They're good.

Yeah.

They're good.

In Egypt, they'll do that where they'll be like, you're in a place and there's no picture signs everywhere.

And then one of the guards is like, you want a picture?

I'm like, Okay, he's like, I'll take a picture.

I'll seek it.

Give me money.

And you're like, Oh, I actually didn't really want a picture.

At some point, you're like, No, I've been to better ones than this.

I'm like, Yeah, come on, take a picture.

And then, like, give me some cash.

But it's only 20 cents.

Right.

At the end of the day, like, it's probably is worth it.

Probably is worth it.

It looks exotic.

I'm with a snake.

I'm with the Cobra.

So, everybody goes to Egypt.

We'll stay.

Okay, go ahead.

So, the souk.

Yeah, yeah, you have the snakes, you have uh, there's hawks, you know, like desert hawks.

They'll even like do this whole picture with it on the arm.

And do they have food there and shit like that?

Yeah,

of course.

So they got a lot of,

like any place, they got the places on the tour square where it's like, you're going to go in and you're going to pay $3 for an espresso, like anywhere else.

Okay.

And then they have the alley right off of that that nobody goes down besides people that are working there.

And it opens up into like a little courtyard that's a little more dimly lit with a little more trash.

And you're like 20 cents for an espresso

so it's more real because like tourists don't go there yeah they just never

it's almost subconscious they're all following each other

you just just split off at some point and you're like okay like this is calm but the rest of the souk's a madhouse do you usually do that where you're like hey there's too much there's too much going on let me find my own little area like here right there's just cafes where it's like packed and everywhere and i'm like ah nah and then you like the small alleys or small streets you're like oh this is more my vibe totally

It's almost, is it an ego thing?

You're just like, I want to be the only

white guy.

Yeah.

Just whites.

I want to be the only white here.

I don't know if that's what it is.

Also, you got to admit the financial part.

Like,

if I had eaten that, like, there was this girl in the hostel.

And she kept talking about how she was so upset that everything in Morocco

was more expensive than where she was living in the small town in Spain.

Okay.

And in my head, as she's telling the story, I'm like, really?

Like, how cheap is this place?

Because I ate a whole omelette spread with tea, a loaf of bread.

Everything comes with a loaf of bread with your meals because they don't eat with that flat bread or that?

This one here, about this size, risen or that flat?

No, it's kind of risen.

Okay, so the flat one was only in the mountain.

That picture I showed you.

Look at that.

The bread's killer there.

There's a whole thing about the bread.

Let's go into that.

Anyways, yeah, the server you eat your food and you get the bread.

And because you take the bread with your right hand, and that's how you eat the food.

That's also a differentiator, but you got a little scoop, like you're, you know, pull the thumb down, four finger, scoop.

Do you do the thing where you put

the thumb pushes it into your mouth?

Yeah, yeah.

Well, that's high-level stuff.

Okay.

You know, I don't know if I got there, but I did have,

yeah, yeah, yeah.

There's ways like around the bread.

There's different techniques.

You can pull out the squishy stuff in the middle, only use the crust, like depending on what you like.

But this girl, she was saying, you know, she was really upset with the prices in Morocco.

And I just couldn't wrap my head around it because I'm like, I ate that whole omelet spread.

You're like, what?

Bread with the tea.

Yeah.

And I paid 12 dirhams, which is, so it's 10 dirhams to a dollar.

So I paid $1.20 for bread.

Yes, you're like, where do you live in Spain that it's less than a dollar?

I'm going to go next.

And

you're like, sweet lady.

Your town sounds awesome.

Okay.

I'm out of Morocco.

Like, yeah, let me go save some shekels.

And

then I'm like, well, how much did you, like, what'd you pay for dinner?

And she said something like 30 or 40 euros.

So that's like 300 or 400 dirhams.

And I spent 12 for a meal.

For a great meal.

For a great meal.

Totally full.

Totally full.

And

I'm like, well, where did you eat?

And she ate right in the square.

But the funny thing is, my breakfast place was maybe 60 to 70 steps away from the front door of her place.

But it just went down one alley.

Wow.

Like if this, like if this was the main square, it would be like where that house is.

Yeah.

Like, you know, that black gate down there.

Yeah.

Like you just kind of walk and turn it, take a right where nobody's taking a right.

Wow, yeah.

That's the cool thing about souks

because you kind of have the beaten, like tourists are all flowing this way, and you take a left, take another left, and you're like, okay, this is where the locals eat and this food's great.

And you don't really know what you're ordering, but you just like, I'll have like whatever you guys serve.

Yeah.

You sit down.

It's kind of a surprise.

Does any part of you go like, oh, I shouldn't be eating this?

Or does it take a few minutes?

Like, not a few minutes, a few like days to be like, hey, I just trust.

Because you didn't go straight to Morocco from Montana, did you?

No, I did a couple months with the Shepherds in Sardinia.

So you've already gotten to the point of just trusting whatever.

Totally.

If you have it for food, then it's good.

You don't have to.

What do you mean B?

Like, hey, I'm gluten-free.

Yeah.

I'm dairy-free.

And you're like trying to communicate this as they're serving the only thing they serve.

Yeah.

But also, if you go to a restaurant at home, then you're like, what do you want?

And you're like, hmm, what do I feel like today?

But on the road, especially in like, not like,

not like going to New York.

you know, I mean the road.

I mean like off whatever.

What you really want is some brand new thing.

Right?

Or no?

That's a huge appeal.

Yeah.

So you're like, yeah, I don't know what to order.

Please give me something that you would have.

Otherwise, you'd be like, I don't want a hamburger.

You know what I mean?

So it's like, I might feel like that, but I really, is that right or wrong?

Well,

it's also kind of the

fun aspect.

It's like, it's like a gambling.

Yeah.

Even like, you know, the slot machines suck, but there's something that makes you want to pull it next.

And it's like, I got this combo and this one sucks.

But then like, maybe the next one.

Right.

So it's to go to the next vendor.

especially for that much money.

If you were like, I hate it, you're like, dump it, move, get another one.

Yeah, yeah, yeah.

Yeah, yeah, I did that.

It's like, okay, this, like, the lentils, like, they were good, they didn't fill me up.

One stand over.

And it's like, okay, here's a really good chicken.

What the fuck?

I'm gonna be here tomorrow.

Wow.

Okay.

Yeah.

That's fun.

That's Marrakesh.

That's Marrakesh.

So you got the souk there, and it drives people mad.

So I was there for 10 days.

Hey, everybody.

I shouldn't be doing this right now.

Let me break into this episode and tell you a little bit about my guest.

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Let's get back to the episode.

And typically people stay like two nights and they're like, this is crazy.

I got to get out of here.

Yeah.

I'm not saying that's a contrast myself, but like I was just there for 10 days because I found a good hostel.

It was cheap.

And I was trying to cool down my pace and just hang out for a bit.

And so I got to the point where I had my breakfast spots.

You know, I was able to kind of watch.

It's fun when you're in a place long enough.

And you're seeing people make the same mistakes you did.

And it's only like a week ago, but you're like, no, I'm the veteran now.

It's so quick to become a veteran.

Yeah, it's so quick.

I think they're baking on the fact that, like, you'll be in and out.

Yeah.

You don't know what to do.

You know,

that's what Rolf said about Namibia when he's like, they polish rocks and like sell them.

And then he's like, tourists are coming.

And then after there, if you're there and don't buy anything for like two hours, you're already there twice as long as anyone's ever been there.

Right.

So then they go like, what's your name, man?

Like, who are you?

Then you're gonna actually, you're not fish to them anymore.

Yep.

You're now like, oh, you're a human.

Right.

Because they can get away with that.

It's like, I can rip this guy's face off because I'm not going to see him tomorrow.

Sure, I get it.

They're going to be upset, and then it's like, you're in and out.

They're like,

controls.

Yeah.

Yeah.

Yeah.

What's going on on the street out there?

What is going on on the street?

I don't know.

Little street sweep.

It's like street sweeper.

Yep, street sweeper.

Just hosing it down.

Two drivers in there.

You wouldn't think two drivers.

It doesn't seem like you need two people for that.

I think it's a company thing.

It's like, hey, like, this is a slow and boring.

He's driving on the right, and the other guy's just a passenger.

He's on his phone.

He's on his phone.

You think they switch off, or it's like, now you're driving a day?

I mean, they're going less than a mile an hour.

They're going lower than the speed of walking.

Definitely.

You think they're playing music in there?

Probably not.

It's too loud.

Maybe.

Yeah, yeah.

They got to make a thing out of it, though, if it's going to take that long.

Yeah.

Yeah.

That was something in Morocco.

The infrastructure.

Okay.

I guess the king

said, yeah, let's get some semi-history in here.

The king wanted to, he wants to improve tourism right now.

Yeah.

Let's which way you want to be here.

So, like, this is a natural tendency.

Okay.

We're talking, right?

We're talking.

And then, if someone's over there and you start, you go like this, but now you're off mic.

So it's hard.

Almost feel like it's a swivel, so it's like it's constantly in front of you.

It's connected.

Yeah.

Yeah.

Okay.

Yeah.

Got it.

Yeah.

No harm, no foul.

Those steps.

Right, right, right.

So

the king wanted, the king wanted

the streets to be cleaned up for tourism.

Okay.

And so last, it was, it's the first day I was in Marrakesh, the roads were still dirt roads.

But the last day I was in Marrakesh, full like cobblestone.

Which,

10 days.

So you'd go out late at night and you'd see these guys, like dozens of them, just laying pavement.

But within a short trip, it was like there's new lights up, new doors, and new pavement.

Wow.

Yeah, they get stuff done over there.

Like, that can't happen in New York.

So anybody?

No.

So anybody who came the day after you left was like, oh, I guess it's something that comes over here.

Yeah.

But a week ago, it was like dirt paths.

Wow.

Yeah.

And I kind of like the dirt paths, by the way.

Yeah, that seems more real.

But it's like the people there are probably like, I actually like this new pavement.

Like, shoes aren't getting as dusty.

Yeah, there is that vibe of like, I want you guys to still be from the 1500s.

I prefer you never get

sort of like.

Well, there's those guys in the squares too that make money off that.

They're wearing like,

so there's the Berbers, which are the original people of morocco

and they have that there you see in pictures they they have the blue it's like the blue turbans is what they wear but but nobody like in the mountains the berbers don't really wear that anymore but in the square like there's guys pictures of any of that

i can probably find some okay yeah oh yeah for sure you gotta send me some pictures yeah yeah i'll send you some pictures and just like they're just dressed up in costumes sweating their ass off for someone who's like

yeah it's like instagram picture like with the natives with the natives.

Dude, me and Garrett, where I went, we're looking for,

what gets me moving is a...

Garrett, the Canadians.

Okay, yeah, yeah, yeah.

I like fridge magnets.

It's dumb.

It gets me out of the apartment.

It gets me out of whatever I'm going to get into the streets and get whatever, you know?

Fridge magnet.

So one souvenir.

Plus, when I'm backpacking,

I can hold it in a small amount of space.

That's important.

So we're going to the Seine and we're like get looking at maybe I want that one.

But what's my experience?

I want an Eiffel Terry.

I haven't been there yet.

So I ended up getting like the wines of France.

because I've been drinking a lot of wine.

Yeah, yeah, you've that's validated.

Yeah, right.

But, um,

but um, anyway, then I bought a record, uh, like a French import of Dexi's Midnight Runners.

Okay, that song.

Come on, Eileen.

I'm gonna be honest.

Like, I could act like, yeah, yeah, yeah, but no, I have no idea.

Come on, Eileen.

You know it.

Okay, okay.

You know it.

Kind of.

Yes.

I've heard it.

Okay, you've heard it.

Yeah.

Yes.

References.

Generational difference.

And the guy guy who we bought it, and he was like, he was like, you know, I saw them here in 1982.

I'm like, no way.

Interesting fucking extra detail on this purchase.

I was like, what were they like?

They're like, nah, not so good.

I'm like, really?

He goes, French audiences aren't awesome.

They don't really give much to the fucking performer.

So we kind of stand there.

So they're just kind of standing there.

And I was like, hey, he's not a lot of people up there, but, you know, whatever.

He's wearing a fucking beret

with a scar.

He looks so fucking French.

He was like, yeah, I've been to New York.

I've been to fucking Ontario.

We just talked for a while, and I wanted to take a picture with him.

Because I'm like, I know you're not doing this for the picture, but I really want to get a picture and print it up and put it in my, in the, in the record.

I didn't do it.

Didn't do it.

No.

What stops you?

You were just, it would make it uncomfortable.

Self-consciousness.

Okay.

Yeah, I was going to hold up the record and be like, hey, can I certainly want to.

Yeah.

But I got his name, so I have a little story, Luke.

Yeah, right on the back of the magnet, I guess, or something.

No, no, yeah.

I didn't buy the magnet from him.

I just bought a record.

Oh, the record.

But that's where I was.

Anyway, so go ahead.

So they're wearing these Berber things.

Sorry.

Yeah, I know the Berber things.

Same deal, though.

You know, you run into that where it's like, okay, you get away from the square,

and there's the cool-looking guys.

And they're not doing that.

Yeah, they're not doing that.

Are they wearing modern clothes?

Like TV?

Yeah, it's pretty modern.

You know, it's like flip-flops, jeans, shirt.

Right.

Once you get out to the desert, yes, they do wear the turbans because they have functionality.

It's like they're sand-blowing, there's sun.

Those guys cover up.

Yeah, it keeps them cool.

And they cover up like every inch of their body.

Because of sunburn.

Yeah.

It's like it's necessary, yeah.

Oh, that must be so.

How much long sleeves out in the fucking desert?

I don't know how they do it.

Because then you have the Muslim woman who, you know, they only have a little slit at the top.

They do the burqa there?

Yeah, they do the burqa.

How is that to say?

I'm not going to lie.

You lie.

You're like a woman who knows her plausible.

It's a rare thing in the Western culture.

There's two things.

Well, we have a story about that too later.

But two things about that.

I got there, and I've been to Morocco before, and I spent some time in the Middle East.

But you get off the plane after being in the West or Europe for a while, I guess.

Yeah, what, but, and you see that slit, and you immediately, I mean, and they're kind of a little shorter, and it was night, and I thought it was kind of the scene from Star Wars, the tattooing-y.

The bar.

The little, like, well, the bar, but like, you know, those little guys that were like sand, they go, like, oh, yeah.

And they were in, you know, they only had the little slit with the goggles.

What were those guys called?

Sand somethings?

Yeah, yeah, yeah.

God, what were those called?

And someone could just speak their language too, like Han Solo, or like somebody could just slang their language for no reason.

Yeah.

Yeah.

Characters wrong, but yeah.

The point is, that's how I felt, even though I've been there, but it's just like such a shock because some of the slits, I mean, are like paper thin.

I'm like, can you see me?

Like, hello.

Like that cool 80s sunglasses.

That's like, that's like both.

Like, you can't see out of that.

But they do it.

Yeah.

I mean, they must just do that.

Doesn't that come feeling-wise on the inside?

When you step off or whatever, you start seeing that, which is like a vastly different outfit than you'll ever see.

Not like different kind of t-shirts or different kinds.

Vastly different.

feeling.

Wise,

are you just like, oh, I'm gone?

I'm like, I'm in a different, like, I feel, you got to feel exotic, right?

You do feel exotic, but in a place like Marrakesh, it's like, okay, then, like, a group of like a tour, a tour group's coming by.

Yeah.

And you're like, okay, I'm like, I'm not off the path yet.

Yeah.

And then, and then you, then eventually you do get off the path if you're long enough.

But another thing on the note of that, I have a theory because

so the women of in Morocco, Moroccan women,

I don't think they're like outlandishly attractive, but their eyes,

they can like,

you know, shape you like Play Doh with just their eyes.

And I think it's because for so long they've only, you know, they've only learned how to express themselves with eyes.

They can't, they can't, like.

Well, they just learn how to use their eyes.

Remember during COVID, during the mask, and everyone's like, I don't know how to express myself because I'm used to using because you don't even think twice about it.

Is he pissed?

Yeah, right.

And you got to learn to emote with just your eyes.

Doing the eyebrows.

It's like, okay.

But that was the thing because there's a couple places and I'm like, whoa, like I just felt something and she just walked by.

And you make eye contact with people as they walk by.

I think they're sluts in that with the

Burka sluts.

You gotta, you can't put it past them.

You can't put it past them.

You would think, on one hand, no way, because they're relationship.

But on the other hand, like, suppressed for so long, there's some women who are sluts and some who are not.

So why would that community community be immune to?

But the point is,

their eyes can melt you.

Wow.

Just shape.

Yeah, it's incredible.

Spicy food or no?

No.

Strange.

You know, we were talking about this.

They have, you know, the pyramids.

Like in the movies, I don't know, James Bond and Ann Jones, when they're running through the throwing spice around.

the bad guy behind them like here's some paprika but they have those towers there like the pyramids of spice yeah yeah you see it just like the olives and then you go and order your food and you think like it's gonna be a bunch of flavors and you get like typical dishes tangine which cooks over a fire in a little clay pot for a couple hours typically vegetables

not a stew it's like there's a little piece of chicken in the middle because meat's expensive so it's like mostly potatoes tomatoes some other vegetable And then like a little piece of chicken in the middle.

It kind of fun to work to.

It's like an Easter egg and then the inside's cream, but it's like the inside's chicken.

So so you kind of work to it yeah you're like kind of getting to it and there's a little sauce in the bottom but um a lot of the times i was like hey can like do you have any other spice i can throw on this thing really bland morocco's bland bland i'm gonna

we're not talking about hot spice we're just talking about like zest in general in general i'm gonna say seems like spices come from there they do because people the spice trade is that not there

Well, there's the saffron trade that people go down from Spain.

There was this guy, he takes his van buys a bunch of saffron goes up somewhere in Spain sells it off I heard about this guy he's like a saffron smuggler

because it's so cheap down there oh

but they're not using it they're not throwing it in there you know it's like

on the table there'd be cumin there's always cumin and there's a little pepperica

but that can only get you so far like where's the where's like a let me get a little pepper in there yeah Let me kick this up a few notches.

Like, I want to sweat.

Like that Korean dinner the other night.

Yeah, yeah.

Kick this up in a notch.

Yeah.

Korean dinner was nice.

That was good.

Oh, no, but that spice wasn't that good.

Wasn't that spicy?

I don't know.

I had that little red dish.

Yeah, the red.

I was sweating my ass off.

Okay.

Yeah.

Different tolerance.

Oh, no, no, no, no.

I'm sorry.

I'm thinking of that Lebanese place where we met that director guy.

Oh, no, he underhanded it.

He underhanded it.

Yeah, right, you're right.

No, no, no.

The Korean place was fucking

spicy.

Yes.

Yeah.

Michelin-reviewed.

Not starred.

Not starred.

Michelin reviewed Korean

food place in Paris, France.

Cool district.

Okay.

Were you telling me?

Was it you?

Tell me about the fucking.

Once you got like, you knew the vibe of everything, you could just sit back and kind of watch the chicks get kind of rubbed.

Yeah, well, there's that thing, too.

So the ladies in the burqa, there's the henna.

Henna is like a big thing in their culture.

And I'm sure it has some special spiritual meaning, which I never really checked into.

It's kind of a, yeah, I just didn't get over to it.

Okay, who cares?

Nobody cares.

There's this called Brutalist Art, Brutalist Architecture.

Okay.

And these people,

the Berlins, no, the

Bertlin, something like that.

This husband and wife, they take pictures of warehouses

in like, I think either rural Germany or whatever.

And they started going all over the world.

And they were like, these warehouses are art.

They're sculptures.

They're beautiful sculptures.

And they take a black and white.

You ever see those pictures of farmers?

It's not George O'Keefe.

It's like farmers, but black and white.

They're like this without smiling.

You see the wrinkles in their faces.

You're like, they're beautiful.

Totally.

You know?

So like, same, we apply that same shit to these warehouses.

Some are in use, some are not.

Grain storage, shit's coming out of them like a pipe, you know, whatever.

And they're massive.

So they need only ones that can go far enough away where they can get the whole thing.

Some of them they do at every angle.

And it's called Brutalist.

And it was like,

and this whole level of architecture came out of that of like just brutalist, like just not pretty at all.

I mean, Paris is very pretty.

It's the opposite of brutalist.

Okay.

So it's coming back into style now.

People are like, that was cool.

Yeah.

But they were like, what are these grain storage facilities or what do they do?

What's the history of that?

They go, oh, we don't give a shit.

Yeah.

We're only looking at it as a sculpture.

We don't care about the history.

We don't care about the uses.

It's refreshing, isn't it?

Yeah, it is.

Hey, I just like this.

Yeah, exactly.

You don't have to learn the history of a fucking place.

I just, this is appealing.

I had fun hanging out in Berlin doing drugs.

Well, when did I eventually?

I don't know, man.

Give me some fucking academy.

Like, shut up.

Like, pass it back over.

Like, pass out the shit.

Yeah.

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Yeah, yeah.

So, you know, I don't know the backstory, but they had these.

So the woman in the Burkas.

Yeah.

And they would, you'd see them.

So eventually, like, after a few days, I'd

sit back and I would just watch people.

It was kind of like my form of entertainment.

Like, just watch people get their faces ripped off.

Could be by like an outrageous price on something or them losing like a bargaining battle.

Like they think, and especially it's fun when they walk away and they're like, high-five and their friend.

They're like,

Yeah, like got him good.

And the guy's just like, Yeah, yeah.

And I know the real, you know, or it's just like you, you look, then look at the guy and he's like, These suckers, like, I just smoked them.

Like, my family, we're eating big tonight.

And they, and you know, probably, or maybe I'm wrong, but they're probably like, you really got me, man.

Yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah.

Like, oh, okay, like,

get you this free thing, too.

Yeah, they're good.

Yeah.

And they can do it in multiple, they can do it in like four or five languages.

Those guys are top-notch salesmen.

Anyways, the woman there, they'll.

My dad's from the Middle East.

Yeah.

And was was raised there.

And he was buying a forerunner.

He decided the forerunner is what I want.

And he went, I mean, they're just good at bargaining there.

They're just good at bargaining that whole region.

I was raised in America.

I'm not that good at it.

And he went from dealer to dealer to dealer.

Dealer A, hey, what's the price?

$30,000.

Okay, thank you.

Let me think about it.

Whoa, you're going to leave?

$29.50.

Like, okay, cool.

Let me think about it.

Go to dealer B, $30,000.

That gave me $29.5.

He's like, fuck.

How about $29?

I'm like, okay, let me think about it.

How about $28.5 then if you're going to leave?

Sure.

Go to DOC.

I got 28.5 as an offer for 27.

He just kept doing circles, going back to A.

Dude, I got an offer of 27.

What are you going to beat that?

I was like, yeah, how about 26?

Because, you know, they have the margins.

He kept going back until he finally got a guy.

He's like, dude, all right, it's 19.5.

I literally can't do anything different.

If you leave, don't come back.

This is as good as I can do.

And he got a no, got a no.

And he's like, fine, 19, 19.5.

And he's like, fine.

And he's like, pissed.

Like, oh, I'm making 50 bucks off this fucking deal.

Yeah.

And he's like, sign the fucking paperwork.

My dad's about to sign.

He goes, I want a Toyota hut.

And the guy's like, off the wall.

I was like, take the fucking hat.

Take it.

They're good.

They're at least good, man.

My mom, Syrian, she's just, she gets what she wants.

So what are you watching?

You're watching these chicks?

Yeah, I was watching these chicks.

And it was fun to watch them.

So the woman and the Burkers are walking around, and they're scouting.

They're like, okay, no, like,

not this one.

This one doesn't have enough money.

This one's too, like, raggedy backpacker.

Yes.

Like, this German that's never been here before.

They're probably good enough to know if you have all your goods on you on your backpacker,

they have two extra dollars.

They don't have right.

Right.

And they would walk up to them.

Anyone with pants that you can unzip in the middle to make shorts?

You're like, that's our guy.

Yeah, that's dead giveaway.

Fisher button.

Dead giveaway.

Yeah.

And so the lady in the Burke would walk up and she would just grab the arm of the girl.

Like, like

it would kind of be like

a little, little, like one of these, and then the other arm, like this,

tighten, tight here.

And then she does a whole henna,

just like this, within like 30 seconds.

And the girl's like, No, I don't want it.

But then it's like, it's already half done.

And she's like, Don't worry, don't worry.

You're free for free.

She's pulling out.

Some of them pull.

Some of them are just like, just do it.

Right.

You know, and then it's like, sometimes they even throw sparkles on there.

And by the end,

30 seconds.

30 seconds.

Max.

I mean, maybe like 15.

And then the girl will be like, oh, like, okay, like, I'll give you some.

And the woman will be like,

their price, you'd always hear, or I always heard, 40 euros.

You're sitting back there sipping on tea and just like watching.

And it was 40 euros.

40 euros is the price I kept hearing was like their first starter point.

Because you get those big fish that are like, okay, like, here's 40 euros, I guess.

Right, right, why not?

And they're like, yeah, like, just leave me alone.

I was shocked.

Some people pay the 40 euros, which would make like, make a month.

I mean, you may as well, you got to take a chance.

You got to take a chance.

You have to.

If you're them.

I'm saying if you're the one.

Yeah.

I was in the Dominican Republic.

I had my friend who was like Dominican, and he was like, acted as my at-home like guide.

But what should I do?

Where should I go?

What about this?

And when he was like, I was like on the beach, I had this fresh fruit salad.

I was like, it was like 10 bucks.

So he goes, you paid asking price?

You fucking rookie tourist.

I'm like, damn it.

He already made it.

It was terrible.

He already made it.

It feels terrible.

Yeah.

It feels fun to watch.

Yeah.

Terrible in the moment.

Like, how much should it be?

It was like three to five.

It's the worst when you're like, you go back to the hostel and one guy's like, oh, I got it for three.

How much did you get it for?

And you're like,

yeah, that's not too much.

I don't know how much.

I think also three.

Yeah, I think $2.95.

Yeah, I think even like a little lower.

So I was there for 10 days.

And eventually,

I felt like I had my routine.

And then I went to a new chicken place.

And I thought I had the look in my eye where I'm not getting ripped off.

I sat down.

I ordered the chicken.

It was really good.

Lentils, a whole nine, the loaf of bread.

And I went to pay, and it was like $60 Durham.

And I took it personally because it was like, I couldn't walk.

How do you walk out of there?

It's hard to bargain for something already after you ate.

You know, I just felt like so shitty after that meal that I bought a bus ticket that day and just got out of there.

I headed for the mountains.

These street sweepers,

they're doing a good job.

I mean, that's like

one down, up.

They're coming this way now.

Nice.

They're hitting water pressure from both ways.

Okay, he's actually doing something.

Oh, he's walking with the rope.

That'd actually be kind of a fun job.

You know, like when your dad's like, hey, power wash the,

you know, power wash something, whatever, like the car, the front porch, whatever, the lawn.

You're like, no, I don't really want to.

And then you start doing it.

You're like, okay, this is actually fun.

Yeah.

Like, you're getting it, like, okay, getting that cracked a little bit.

Interesting.

Well, let's see.

We're back on.

Yeah, we're back on.

And then I went to the other mountain town, Chef Shawin.

Yeah.

has had you known anyone who's been there before?

Yeah, that's a popular, that's on the track.

Okay.

So back on the backpacker.

What's the track?

Tell them what the track is.

So backpacker, you either start in Tangier or you start in Marrakesh.

But like

what a backpacker track means in general.

Okay.

It's just

you go to a new place and you think you're going to be in one city and then it's like you hear about the backpacker loop and it's like there's five or six places nearby that everybody goes to.

And they all kind of have their own spunk.

So Marrakesh is like you go there for the souk, you stay for two days because otherwise it'll beat you down.

And then you go maybe to the Atlas Mountains for a half day or a day.

I had time, so I was there for a week.

I was supposed to be there for two, but like I said, kind of got weird.

Then there's Esauera, which they filmed like some Game of Thrones in.

So it's kind of a destination.

It's on the coast.

Oh, interesting.

Yeah, so it's great oysters.

You can just walk to the dock in the morning and they have like fresh seafood.

And you just, it's like an oyster's maybe like, I don't know, 30 or 50 cents maybe.

Prices fluctuate every morning, but the longer you go there, cheaper it gets.

He's like, okay, lower price, lower price.

Oh, right.

But they're so fresh.

You know, he's like squeezing the lemon on there.

You're just like, okay, another one, man.

This is too good.

And the backpacker truck is like, this is just like after you're in this town, a lot of people, there's another town that's kind of got some hostels and like some shit to do.

There's some towns where there's really nothing to do.

I've done this too, where you're like, let me check out this.

I see a map.

I see another town.

I'm just going to go.

Yeah.

And you go there.

You might even find a hostel, not a shitty one or whatever.

And then it hits you pretty fast.

Like, there's a reason there's no hostel here.

There's nothing to do.

There's not a souk.

There's not a good market.

There's like a grocery store.

And it's like, this is far lamer.

There's not any hikes.

There's not any like hot springs.

There's nothing.

It's a, it's just a, it's just a fucking port town.

But have you ever had a great experience in one of those places?

You're like, I'm going to stick this out.

Yeah.

And then it's like, wow.

For sure.

For sure.

Something to be said about that.

Yeah, true.

Absolutely.

Because the thing with the backpack route is

it's always what's next.

So you you get to Esauera and then it's like, okay, we're going to Casablanca.

Right.

Or Fez.

Fez is on the route.

That's like another marketplace.

Chef Shawin's on the route because like two crowds go there.

Instagram, addicted people, because it's painted blue.

So it's like they need that picture.

Wow.

The whole city is well, not the whole city.

I'd say like 60% is all blue.

Chef Shawan.

Chef Shawin.

Shaoin for short, if you want to be like, yeah, I went to Shawan.

Shaoin.

I'll never say that in my life.

I definitely will and have.

So there's Shaoin.

And then the other market that goes there is.

Did we check your mic, by the way?

Are we good?

Yeah, we're good.

Cool.

Is just stoners because they have some of the best quality hash in the world.

It's all the stuff that gets shipped up to Amsterdam.

And they have fields of it.

Like you're driving into town from the mountains and you're just like, oh, that's fields of marijuana.

Cool.

And you get to town and like that's

totally

blurred lines, like technically illegal, but everybody does it.

Yeah.

You know, so it's like one of those deals.

So that's the crowd you get at Chef Shawin.

But yeah, the back record loop is all like, what's next?

Okay.

That's why it's hard to go to a hostel when you're on like a long-term, like, let's call it the vagabonding thing.

And you're like, I'm on the road for two, three years.

And then you get that group that's in there who's trying to fit all of Morocco in in

one week or two weeks.

And they're kind of like, man, yeah, it's like this little disconnect.

But yeah, so Chef Shawin's on the route.

And then people go from Chef Shawan to Tangier, Tangier.

Smoke hash, by the way.

Did you buy it here?

Got it here.

Didn't buy it.

Smoked it with it.

That guy at the picnic last night, he was Moroccan.

He was slanging hash.

Wow.

I thought I sent him your way.

He never came over.

I just wasn't buying, but I also had a little bit where I got some at a bar.

Someone's like, you smoke weed?

I'm like, Yeah, I mean if you're I'm looking for it right now, but if you have I'll smoke with you.

And he went and got some hash from the bouncer.

And he was like, broke some up and put it in a fucking, with, with, with Spliff, you know?

Yep.

And then he's like, here, take this.

I was like, okay.

Yep.

Save that for later.

Yeah, ran it through the wash by accident, but looked in my pocket.

He's like, still there!

We already used this.

Yeah.

I'll find it later.

We'll figure it out.

Yeah.

So that probably, good chance, maybe that came from Morocco.

Chef Shao.

That's the Riff Mountains.

Okay.

It's a small town again like a maybe a two-day town people are like okay I smoked hash and chef shao and i'm done right i checked something off a list something off a list all right whatever that's fine if they want to be like that that's fine right it's like whatever that was there that was that was the place i maybe stayed the longest i was there for a little over two weeks

and yeah that was

where they also had that holiday i was there for the holiday of eid the muslim holiday eid eid

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I see it's longer.

It's like the age.

Owl.

Oh, really?

Yeah.

I'll see it in my iPhone sometimes.

Yeah.

Yeah, yeah.

It's a big holiday.

It's like

the Battle of Boyne.

Battle of Boyne.

It's a new UK holiday.

We should check out that.

That could be interesting.

Yeah.

For some reason, I'm getting like images of LARPing.

Like everybody goes and puts on their armor.

That's right.

That'd be fun.

Yeah.

Some guy's got a bow and arrow that's like totally ineffective, like nerf gun.

Yeah.

Oh, you pointed to me.

Oh, you got me armed down.

It's like, no, that would have killed you.

You know, go back to the family.

Every day, though, right?

You ever LARPed?

Fuck you.

No.

I have to even ask you a fucking

You did?

I considered it.

That, you know, you'd be on, you know, at school.

If there's a walk by the park, and it's like, there's like some guy having a lightsaber fight, and then there'd be like the LARPers.

Do you call them LARP?

LARPers?

The LARPers, yeah.

And I'm LARPers.

I was going to say if a hot chick asked me, I would, but honestly, now that I'm thinking about it, if a cute, if a six asked me, like, we should do it, it's fun.

I'd be like, yep, I want to.

Really?

Yeah.

A six.

A six.

That's all it would take.

I don't know, man.

6.2?

For me, it's like maybe two or three.

I'd go.

if a two just for yeah a disgusting fat chick no no not not six out of ten go i'm saying if a six no no no i got it yeah yeah two or three oh you're saying if a fucking blue i have a i kind of want to do it oh all right you're ready to go you know i'd kind of i'd be like the uh the net and trident guy like gladiator sneaky you throw a net tangle him up you got trident

okay

anyways larping in morocco But no, I was there for the holiday.

Okay, Eid.

Eid.

And what are they celebrating there?

It's the commemorance of Abraham his willingness to sacrifice his son.

Cool story.

Yeah.

And so.

His willingness to sacrifice his son.

So you're there, and it's kind of like a week leading up to Christmas in a big city.

Like, everybody's, there's a little energy in the air.

Call days of Christmas, right?

But instead of like chestnuts roasting, you know, some vendor, it's like all these vendors popped up and and all their whole job is just sharpening knives.

So it's like, okay, like that's a new sound and smell, and there's a lot of them.

Like, so you, you know, there's like one in every little neighborhood, and they're just sharpening knives all day.

So that's like the kind of the first thing you see.

And then you start paying attention.

It's like, okay, there's a goat.

Like, some guy's walking a goat.

Oh, there's a sheep, two sheep going up into that apartment building.

So you start looking at that, and you're like, okay, like, I can connect these dots pretty easily.

And then you see the holiday.

And it's like every family has a goat or sheep, if they can afford it, goat or sheep's in some bigger towns, cows.

And the butcher comes by with the sharpened knives and sacrifices the sheep, goat, cow, whatever, in commemorance to Abraham's willingness.

I love how you like.

But

it doesn't seem that natural.

But it's

as natural as whatever, Christmas, Thanksgiving, whatever holiday you celebrate.

Yeah, it's normal.

Like the kids are, the night before, the kids are singing in the street.

Oh, exactly.

Looking forward to it.

But the day of, it is not an exaggeration to say the alleyways were actually running with blood.

Swear.

Really?

Yeah.

Like they're stepping over puddles of blood.

Wow.

And then

there would be piles of the skin.

It's like, okay, like we use everything but the skin.

And so there's like, there's a pile of skin for this neighborhood.

Goats.

Like goat skin, you know, whatever, sheep skin.

Wow.

And then there's also something really interesting, which is

so they chop the head off.

And and in each neighborhood everything's like kind of split by neighborhoods like there's one neighborhood butcher that goes to every house and he does the butchering and there's one neighborhood group typically that does the roasting of the heads so you chop the heads i have a picture of this i can send you like i pose with like a big head yeah

i want to see that picture yeah but so you drop them off it's just the shit the whole shit just the head you know

and you give it to, like, the the neighborhood I went to and, like, sat there with the guys doing it.

They were, like, teenagers who were, like, just trying to make an ex you know extra buck.

And they had, like, a bed mattress, like, kind of like these ones, but, you know, wooden or not wooden, like steel.

And they put coals under it.

And they would just drop the heads on there and roast them.

And the hooves, too.

The hooves, too.

And then they'd kind of like skin it after it's totally blackened and then they deliver it back to the family.

Because then the family can eat the brain.

And that's like a big delicacy.

It cooks in the head.

yeah, it's like a huge delicacy.

So then you're just like walking around town, and then they make it for you, yes,

and then deliver.

And you're watching, so you're walking around town, you're like, okay, stepping over this like puddle of blood, puddle of blood.

What are they roasting?

Is that something I can eat?

Is that street food?

And I was like, oh, that's a head and a hoof.

Wow.

And, you know, because they're chopped, I mean, they've got machetes.

And, you know, they're so.

That was an interesting day.

Where are you staying?

I was in a hospital at that point.

And it was it.

But, but also, no shop,

everybody's closed.

And it's not not like negoti, it's like you're closed on Eid and the day after.

Right.

So no taxis are going.

So if you're in the city when it happens.

Eid and the day after.

And the day, I think it's even a few more days, but those are two days it's like non-negotiable, closed.

So it becomes a thing of wherever you are on Eid, you're there.

And so the hostel is pretty empty.

And so when nobody came out, is there anybody in the streets?

Is it cars driving?

No, I mean, it's like everybody's with their family.

Right.

I mean, there's the guy that's like dropping off the head.

Yeah.

But that's it.

Nobody's working.

They're They're with their families.

So the hostel's pretty empty because nobody was getting to it.

Nobody was leaving.

So it was like a core group of like six of us.

Yeah.

There's like the vegan girl that's like, I can't stand this.

Like, get me out of here.

You also got that character.

I think she actually did find a taxi, paid him an obscene amount of money just to drive her like around the mountains.

Because you also, she's like, I don't want to hear it.

I don't want to hear what.

Like the goat's back because it's like a small town.

Yeah.

Dying.

The sound of multiple animals dying.

Well, it's a lot.

Yeah.

Multiple is a small small word for because it's like every family.

And then the apartment is stacked.

Oh, so you kind of get her point of view.

But it's also like

they don't see it that way.

They're like, this is a huge holiday for us.

Like, we are eating meat and we don't like eat a lot of meat.

And this is a big deal.

Wow.

So in that town, there was like a street food that I'd always go to.

It was snails.

And then there's another pot, boiled snails.

Snails like here?

Like Escargot?

Yeah, like you just take a toothpick and you're going at them.

You take a toothpick.

I've got to be honest.

I never had Escargot here.

Like, I don't know what that is.

That just boiled snails.

Yeah, but what it is, is it's like one of those things, you know, the Fibonacci sequence.

Okay.

And so they just come with like a bunch of green, the bond, bong yong, these ones.

My birth get ordered.

Yeah,

and uh, I ordered it once around.

I was like, bonyong.

Like, and he said something back, like, way different than I said.

And I was like, yeah, you know what's I meant.

Come on, man.

Yeah.

Be cool about it.

They give you a clamp.

Oh, like tongs to clamp onto the shell shell.

And these two, like a fork with just two long things, and you get into the shell.

You clamp, hold, because it's hot, get the fork in there, pull out the meat.

You can't see any of the meat.

No, there's a technique to it.

And you pull it out, and then go for it.

And the juice after it, you're like,

today I got it, and there was no bread.

The rest, the first time I got it, dumped that.

The bread is delicious.

Yeah, it's delicious.

That sounds great.

Because it's probably buttery sauce.

Were these like that where you can't even see the fucking thing?

Yeah.

Okay.

Oh, well, yeah, yeah.

Sometimes.

But I didn't have like a special so first I was using my hands, so my hands are burning, yeah, it's hot, really hot, man.

Yeah, I'm like, I didn't know they'd already put it on the table the first time, the fork and the thing, and I was like, How do you do that?

I had to like go online and look up how you do it.

As you're sitting at the table, I hold the fork and the clamp, and he goes, Yeah, yeah, they're right there.

I'm like, uh-huh.

That's funny when you're in a country, you're like, How do I eat this?

Yeah, like I ate archoke.

How do I eat this?

Not is it good?

Yeah, how do I even accomplish a task of eating

sardinia?

What?

Yeah, yeah, it was embarrassing.

I never ate artichoke before,

and it's just like, it hits the table, and it's like, is this a Pokemon?

Like, what am I supposed to do with this thing?

Yeah, you don't know what you're supposed to do.

And so I'm like, okay, like, and it didn't come with any sauces, so I just tear them off.

I'm like, okay, I guess you just pop this in.

And so I started just popping them in.

Like, I took a two to be like good measure.

And I'm just chewing, man.

All right.

I'm just.

Okay, like, it's just like, it's kind of a weird appetizer.

Like, I'm losing my appetite.

This is like 10 minutes later.

Yeah.

And then they had the little black spikes on the top of the leaves.

So at one point, like, it gets in my gum and I pull, it's like bleeding a little bit.

I'm like, this is just like why you guys do this the guy came over and he like showed me anyways but

so yeah snails yeah this is like you grab it with your hands their hands I guess they're just immune to the heat and they have a toothpick and they're just going they're professionals so you I was eating one of these things it's like 20 cents for a good bowl

and I was asking just the guys at the other at the stand like hey like what are you guys doing for Eid you know and then there was like one who spoke English and he's like oh I'm doing this but

and then he kind of got that I wanted to invite, but he's like, Let me talk to a friend to see if he can get you there.

That friend couldn't take me, but he had a friend, and he goes, Hey, this family, they don't speak any English.

They're my friends, they're good people.

They said you could, you're welcome at their house.

Do you want to go?

Do you think there's any sort of like

in Judaism?

There's a commandment from Abraham.

Is that out?

No, no, no.

Fuck.

Of Abraham to take in travelers.

Abraham predates, Abraham's kids were the ones that split up Islam and Judaism.

Okay.

So Abraham is both our religion's father.

Yes.

Right.

So we both have the sacrifice of Isaac.

Isaac, Ishmael.

I think after Isaac was where it split off, maybe.

Okay.

I got to think it out.

We don't eat it going.

It doesn't really matter yet.

But Abraham would take in travelers.

He was a Bedouin.

And if you were walking by the desert, it was like, hey, man, come on in for a meal.

And like, that's Abrahamic.

You should be taking people in.

Do you get the sense there was that thing of like, hey, man, there's a fucking out-of-towner out-of-towner here.

Someone should take him in.

Definitely.

There was.

Because there's also on Eid, it's like

one-third of the meat is supposed to go to the people who can't afford meat.

So it's like worst-case scenario, like the homeless people, essentially.

Worst-case scenario, I kind of qualify.

I'm like, I can get someone.

A traveler who can't get food anywhere.

Yeah, I'll at least get the third that's like promised to these people.

Yeah.

But

yeah, that's the thing.

And they look at the

in Islam, I think it's like a guest is like sent from Allah, from God.

So it's like you want to take them in.

It's like a good thing, good omen.

Chef Shawan.

Chef Shawan.

Okay.

Yeah, it's sent from God to give you a chance to do a right deed.

So this family, I guess, was like, yeah, I'm cool with that.

Like, oh, sick.

Yes.

Traveler?

Yeah.

I've been waiting to do this.

Yeah.

So

in Christmas,

I think on Passover,

I forget now.

There's a custom to take people in, but who's out?

Everyone's got their family thing.

So some of the local, like, older high school kids, 17, 18,

they'll just walk down the streets so that people get the chance to do like, hey, come on in.

They'll come in.

They'll have a couple of bites.

Be like, you did it.

Okay, next.

Did you do that?

No.

No?

No.

It's like Halloween.

It's like knock, knock.

But imagine you have a good deed, get closer to God if somebody, if you can give out candy, but no one's out there getting candy.

So you're helping me get closer to God by going door to door.

It's a win-win.

It's a win-win.

That's a good win-win, too.

Yeah, oh, yeah.

Interesting.

okay so they're taking you in yeah this one family's like i gotcha i got them sweet yeah so score i'm like i'm happy i'm like okay i'm gonna go experience this thing i didn't know anything about the family how long have you been here in this town at this point i was here for

at this point maybe like 10 11 12 days wow yeah it took me a while i'm not gonna it took me a while i took a lot of no's

I got shut down a couple times because it was just like logistics too.

It's like, hey, I'm going to be out in my family's place in like the mountains and nobody's driving back and forth.

So there's a lot of little little side quests like this.

Okay.

But a family lived in town.

They're like, yes, we can take you.

And we arranged it through the friend of a friend at the snail stand.

They're like, okay, he'll come to your hostel.

He'll pick you up and he'll walk you.

Just be outside at 10 a.m.

or 9 a.m.

Whatever it was.

So I got up,

put on my polo, and I was like, okay, let's do this thing.

And he was waiting outside.

That was your nicest shirt?

Yeah, yeah.

I'm not wearing it now, but I carry one polo with me.

Just in case.

It's never clean.

You're like, I'll be be not upscale enough, but it's better than I got.

It's like all I got.

You know, it's like, I'm giving you the best I got.

Yeah.

And,

you know, not much, but it's honest.

Yeah.

I think I said that once after I had sex with a girl.

It's not much.

It's not much, but at least it's honest.

Your cock, your dick.

Just like the performance overall.

It's like, all right.

It just came to mind.

Yeah.

I love that phrase.

Like, it's not much, but it's honest.

I will give you three and a half minutes.

You can count on that.

You can take it or leave it.

Yeah.

Anyways,

that wasn't happening here.

I was outside at 10 a.m.

And he came.

And he came, and he came with his little sister.

10 a.m.

10 a.m.

Okay.

Yeah, that's when the day is getting started.

They're like in Paris, it's like similar.

It's like nobody's really up at 7, 8, 9.

Yeah, but

I figure

they would get you for the feast that would be a nighttime feast.

Well, they kind kind of start at lunch.

It's like a Thanksgiving thing.

You kind of have like the pre-meal.

Yeah.

Yeah.

Yeah.

Dude, Thanksgiving is over by like 4 p.m.

Thanksgiving.

Well, you got some weird families that do it.

My family's not like that, man.

We go into the night.

Yeah, right.

Yeah.

And even if you start at 4, it's like go until 9.

It's just so weird to start at 4.

Like, we're eating at 4.

We never eat at 4.

Have a lunch.

Yeah.

Start at 7.

Like, we're just getting done with our football game.

Like, give me some time to shower.

Yeah.

Clean myself up.

Yeah.

Okay.

But yeah, 10 a.m.

10 a.m.

I was outside the hostel.

He came

with his little sister and they walked me.

And we, you know, it's just like the classic exchange, like, hey, hi, good, good.

Good, good.

You know, this little,

you know, dance.

And we walked to his place.

Everything was normal.

Everything was like, okay, cool.

Like, I'm excited.

The door opened.

Little apartment.

They kind of parted ways.

Who?

The little girl,

his sister.

So there's a the guy about my age who's like my kind of invite.

Like, he's the one that said, like, yes, you can come with my family.

Yeah.

So there's him.

He's like 21.

Have you heard the new Rachmajin Dart Journey album?

He's like, okay, yeah, sure.

Yeah, sure.

There's this little sister.

They walk in and they kind of just split.

They go to different sides of the room.

Okay, the mom comes and greets me.

Okay.

I don't see a dad.

Mom greets me.

She moves out of the way to the side.

And out of the, there's like a doorway inside the, I'm like walking in this home out of a doorway comes a girl

who's in a white silk I mean it is a silk dress like this thing's shining how old what are we talking

at first I thought

at first I thought high teens turns out she's like low 20s okay

and the dress is like embroidered embroidered yeah and gold

I noticed immediately she had a white silk dress embroidered in gold she had flowers very clean she had fresh flowers in her hair.

Not like Somar?

Not like,

you know, when you see those fake flowers, like, those are plaque, you know, it's like kind of cheesy.

No, these were like, someone plucked these things.

Like,

these are fresh flowers, yellow.

Yeah.

I remember because she had black hair.

No, no, no.

Like,

like they made her.

A crown.

A crown.

I remember it because there's a contrast.

She had long black hair.

Kind of went down like her hips type thing.

And

immediately, you just can't, you know, you can tell when someone spent time on their appearance and a lot of time.

Like, not just like I'm throwing on my wrinkly polo, like, no, like hour, two hours, something.

I'm looking good.

I'm looking good.

Why do you know who she is?

Well, she's like, presumably part of this family.

Okay.

And then it kind of clicked.

They're like, wait a second.

Like, there's this, there's some symbolic presentation going on here.

Like, the family separates.

Wait, the little sister's not dressed like that.

No.

Is the mom?

No.

The mom's like in cooking gear.

She's got like an apron on.

She's like working.

They're in their jalabas, which is like the like the men wear the jalaba.

It's like a the Muslim dress.

Like the guy was in it.

The little girl was in one, but it was just like a little cotton one with like, you know, might have had some stains on it.

This one was like distinctly like you could walk down the aisle in this thing.

And that's kind of what it was.

That's how I knew.

I was like, you don't wear a flower, a flower crown for sport.

Like, I get it's a holiday.

And I really knew once like she greeted me and I'm like, oh, this is, this is a warm greeting.

What do do you mean?

What do you mean?

Warm.

What do you mean?

Like

typically

in the country.

Like I walk in and I'm she like hugs me and kisses me.

Yeah, like we embrace.

And then I they she leads me into a room.

I take off my shoes.

Everybody takes off their shoes.

They go into the side room

and there's just like a full spread of cakes and

dips and little nuts and this and tea.

And she sits me down and she just starts serving me.

The girl.

The white-dressed girl.

Yeah.

What's your name?

Do you know?

I actually don't know.

Okay.

And yeah,

it didn't take too long to be like, wait a second.

Like, this is not just.

What's going on?

Well,

they're essentially offering.

This is crazy.

Yeah.

They're offering her to you?

They're offering their daughter.

And I came over for the feast.

I'm just here for dinner.

Yeah.

Like, I would have found a better polo.

I might have bought something.

I might have bought something.

I would have brushed my teeth at least.

So I sit down and I'm like eating this cake and I'm like trying to navigate.

I'm like, okay, wait a second.

How do we do this?

Like she's sitting beside me.

Like I drink a little bit of my tea and it just like it fills up really quick.

Like the thing just keeps filling.

I'm like alcoholic, non-alcoholic.

No, no, no, non-alcoholic.

Never alcohol.

But like just...

Like I'm getting great service.

Like, you know, when you see a cake and you're like, I want that slice, I'd get that slice every time.

She would put it right in front of me as soon as I finished.

Like, if my plate was bare, there'd be something there seconds later.

And she was bringing stuff from the kitchen as we finished things.

It was like a hot cake out of the oven.

So she was prepping for this.

Not only was she, like, getting dressed, like, she was cooking things this morning.

How long in advance of this meal had you got the invite?

I got it Friday night, and this was Sunday morning.

So they had a day, kind of a full day, like, okay.

A night to sleep on it, and a full day to prepare.

I mean, what was she going to do if you hadn't been there?

Probably just normal stuff.

Wait, you think they were just like,

oh shit, our good luck.

Fucking

Zane from Montana.

Norma Jean is like, it's her time.

We've been waiting for it, but now it's our time.

Take it.

I don't know what they're doing.

Yeah, Zane from Montana.

Zane from a place called Mountains.

A mace called Mountains.

Just like us.

Yeah.

This is perfect.

He's 23.

She was around that age.

He seems normal enough.

What great prospects.

Yeah.

Seems normal enough.

Normal enough.

He's got a blue passport.

It's one of the good things.

Well, that's what it came.

So that's where the story goes.

So I'm trying to navigate.

It's hard to get comfortable in that scenario.

When you're being served and you're like, I'm just a normal dude.

Like,

you know, I'm a backpacker.

Like, I'm used to scrounging by.

And next thing you know, you're like, you're a little, you're a little

chic.

Like, you're getting served like a king.

It's a little uncomfortable.

Yeah, it's uncomfortable.

I can, like, cut my own slice.

Like, I don't need to, like, peel, you know, I can peel my own orange.

You know, like, hand that thing over and give me a knife.

Like, I can get my hands dirty.

Yeah.

And by the way,

this is all happening in the butcher, the neighborhood butcher came in.

with his sharp knives.

And by the way, it's scary because he's doing like...

Wait, wait, they hadn't already.

It It happened mid-show.

It was like halftime show during dinner.

They're gonna kill the thing.

This is like lunchtime.

So like it's like we're snacking.

We're doing they haven't so that's why we're not eating any meat yet.

It's like the equivalent of like hey, we're snacking.

Let's put the lobsters in the fucking right because we're gonna eat in about four hours.

Yes.

Like let's start this.

But instead of like just putting lobsters in like boiling water or something, it's like a butcher walks in.

For some reason, he was wearing white clothes.

I didn't get it.

Maybe it's symbolic, but like, hey, man, like, your clothes are stained now.

You can't wear those.

Stained with what?

Blood.

With blood.

Oh, yeah.

His shoes, everything, man.

And then he just drags the goat out, and you can just tell, like, it's like not his first rodeo.

Like, he's, he's dragging that thing.

He doesn't really care.

He's got the next one to do.

And

I want to say they're supposed to do a prayer.

It was all kind of rushed.

I was like, what's going on?

And then there goes the head.

And then quick skinning.

You just fucking.

First slit the throat.

You know, and they kind of give it a second to like,

yeah, it does like this little thing.

And you're like, oh, you kind of like wince, but everybody else is like, sweet, meat for the week.

That's how you gotta like, you gotta reframe this thing.

It's like, yeah, they're killing a cute animal,

but also like...

No one else is weirded out by it.

Nobody else.

I mean, there's like I said, there's that little girl.

And she was like right up there front front line ticket.

Like she was like not flinching at all.

And it's making sounds and stuff.

So I did this in Sardinia too, but it's just like totally like, hey, like, this is how else do you get meat?

Like, and

thinking of it like that, like, that's probably better than going to Costco or Walmart and buying something that's been in a plant.

Like, at least they're connected to know, like, this is how you get meat.

So, but I didn't really understand why they did it in the kitchen.

That was kind of funny.

It's like, hey, there's a little bit better.

Yeah, it's like, now we have to clean this dude.

Because it's also like shits while you're like cutting it.

It's like, shit, yeah, it's shit all over.

Like, all over the store.

I wouldn't have expected it, but it makes sense.

On the sandals, I'm like, and he didn't even like flinch.

He's just like, there's just a little more on the sandals now.

But it made a mess.

And it's like, shouldn't we have taken this maybe outside?

But then you want it close, like the kitchen, and I guess, I don't know.

And they chop the hooves, the head.

I guess that got delivered at some point to the barbecue guys.

Go grill that shit up.

Go grill that up so we can have it.

Because the meat, it needs, so they hang the meat, and they're like, okay, now it needs some time to...

Detensify.

Like, you can't eat the meat right away because it's too the hormones.

There's too much hormones in the meat.

So it doesn't taste good.

It's too tense.

So you let it sit for a while.

Yeah.

So that's going on.

Like,

that was like a halftime show.

Like, we all left the couch, watched it in the kitchen, and then came back.

And

then it became a thing of,

well, they said they want to go to the mosque.

I'm like, okay, that's like what we do midday.

Is this like a prayer?

It's part of that.

Yeah, that's what I thought.

Because I heard, like, you go at certain points of the day on Eid, it's important to go to the mosque.

So I was down.

Christmas prayer.

Yeah.

Yeah.

And I was in, by this way, by the point,

by the way, I'm in like a jalaba at this point.

Yeah.

Like they gave me, you know, some garments to wear.

So I'm fully in.

And I'm like, yeah, I'll go to the mosque, especially when I'm looking like this.

Like, I got my little, you know, I got a dress on.

Yeah.

I'm looking pretty fly.

Like, it's better than my polo.

And

something fell off, though.

And I don't know what gave it away, but I'd be like, let me just call my friend real quick.

So you think they're giving her Juyu?

It's, it's.

But do they say, like, do they say that?

It's like, they did everything but say that.

So it's like, she's sitting by me, she's serving me.

They're sitting on the other side.

They're all giggling.

You know, they're speaking in the

Moroccan, I forget the name, but so it's like there's a Moroccan dialect of Arabic.

Okay.

And you don't understand what they're saying.

But in those scenarios, like, I understand what you're saying.

Like, you guys aren't just giggling, looking at us like that for

just giggling to look at.

Look at these love birds.

Yeah.

You know how they are.

Young love.

It's It's like young love.

Love at first sight.

And so I called my buddy just to kind of clarify the situation

who speaks the language.

And I handed the phone to the guy in the room.

They talked, took my phone back, and the guy's like, hey,

you're going to the mosque right now to convert to Islam?

And

I go, no.

I'm going to go say a few prayers.

He goes, no.

The guy is saying that you're going to convert to Islam so that, I mean, because you need to convert to Islam before you marry his sister is what he's saying.

He's like, oh, yeah.

And you're like, what's going on there?

I'm like, wait a second.

Like, A, I'm not converting to Islam right now.

Like, let me do some research.

B, I'm definitely not marrying his sister.

She's cute and the cakes were incredible.

But like,

it's like, you know.

No, this has nothing to do with the love of cakes.

Honestly, the cakes would have got me there.

It's not, it's nothing.

I'm not going to lie.

They got me close, man.

Like, just, you know.

Like, wait, so she would make these like forever?

Are these like a weekly thing?

How much did the moment?

I want to know how much the mom helped.

This is her or what?

That's a good.

That's a good note.

Like, was the moment

you cook this?

Or were they just giving it to you to give to me?

Good note.

You'd have to check into that.

Yeah, yeah, yeah.

Also, you know, before you can do research, before you, you got to see who's making the cake, do research.

Yeah.

Let me turn the light up.

Yeah, yeah and um

so i i go like that that's not the situation you know i'm telling my friend he's like no he's like you're in trouble like that is the situation

and i go okay explain to them as nicely as you can as respectful as possible that i appreciate like being here meeting everybody but i just came to kind of experience this fest this this feast i'm not looking to convert i'm like i'm not going to convert i'm not going to marry a girl no sense to islam no the marriage

in general i don't know if you know i'm a marriage type i'm kind of like you know,

my persona of being a guy that bounces town to town is like probably the opposite of what.

This is what you want, bro.

Yeah.

I'm here to knock people up and not,

you know, and not get found.

Yeah.

So

it became that scenario.

And then my excuse was.

Yeah.

My father was an Irish or Canadian or something.

Yeah.

That's the story of you.

It's like, yeah, I don't really know.

Bill, Jim.

I don't know.

He was supposed to be cool.

Yeah.

Yeah.

It's traveling, man.

And I just told them, I said, hey, like.

I can't.

No.

But they didn't buy that.

That's the thing.

Just like when I said,

I told them I cannot convert to Islam today.

I need to do some research.

Their response was, by the way, at this point, my friend, he's like, you got to deal with this.

I got to go to my party.

Hung up.

And so we're pulling this in translators.

We're going back and forth.

I said, I need to do research before I convert to Islam.

Like Google Translate?

Google Translate.

Pass it back.

A couple minutes.

Pass it back.

I can't do this.

I need to do research.

I need to do research.

I think it.

Yeah.

Yeah, you've just spun this.

That's a good excuse.

Like, let me do some research.

That is a good excuse.

That is a good excuse.

I thought that should work.

And then the phone

passed back, and I look, and it's do research after.

It's better that way.

And I'm like, that's also a good response.

It's good.

That's a good response.

That's a good counter.

You'll learn as you go.

Yeah, like, figure it out.

It all flows, man.

You'll have a situation.

I saw a Quora, you know, Quora?

Oh, no, like on the internet, yes, question.

And it was like about here, because I was coming here.

And they go, How do I find a cafe in

Paris?

You, you googled, you googled that?

I was, no, no, no, no.

I was looking for things to do in Paris.

That was one of the things I saw.

And the answer was like, oh, dude, it's not like that.

Just go outside.

He goes, no, no, but I want to see where.

Dude, it's really not like that.

Literally go outside.

Like, just walk 40 seconds and you'll see a cafe.

And so it was like, wait, why am I saying that about you?

Marriage,

goats getting slaughtered.

Oh, no.

They're like, oh, no, dude, that's not the way to.

Don't worry about getting a cafe at the end of Google Maps.

Just like, don't worry about the.

No, no.

Yeah, yeah.

You should learn that.

It's a lifelong of learning.

There's no reason to do that.

It's a good thing.

Don't let that slow you down.

Yeah, it's like,

okay.

But also, I don't want to convert to Islam.

Because it was also in 30 minutes.

Like, that's the service.

Like, we're going to go at the service.

And, like, you're already dressed for it, like, good.

And it's like, no, like, now I'm a little uncomfortable.

Like, I don't.

Yeah.

I'm just like, no, I can't.

So then I plug in my phone, like, hey, your sister's really nice.

Her cakes are great.

Yeah.

Cakes, okay.

Cakes are great.

I want to be on the record here.

Those cakes are fucking bite.

I actually did put that in the translator at one point.

I made a note like her cakes because they were good, man.

I don't know if it was because of the warm, the texture, it was just great.

I remember putting that

in translator.

I'm like, is this weird to say, but no, her cakes were awesome.

Yeah.

And I just told them, because

my mom is from Syria.

I said, hey, listen, my mom has a woman I'm promised to in Syria, which is, you know, bullshit.

But they were like, oh, okay.

Like, yeah, I guess that makes sense.

They took that.

Yeah.

And they're like, is she Muslim?

Smart, bro.

Is she Muslim?

I'm like, yeah, of course.

Like, yeah, duh.

This girl doesn't exist, right?

So, and they were like, okay.

And the girl, I looked at the girl at that point, obviously.

And

she looked disappointed, but not like crushed.

She was like a disappointed, like, wait,

how many times has she done this?

So then it was like kind of a little bit heavy.

Like, fuck.

Because like her family was, I mean, her mom was excited.

Because

it wasn't, I mean, this family was like not

a wealthy family.

Like to put on this thing, it was a big deal.

And if they get one person in the family, just get a visa and get out of there, it changes the game.

They could call for the rest.

They could call.

You can wire money.

You can wire dollars over.

It's like you can't.

You can leave this mountain town.

Yeah.

And

that's where it took like a weird turn.

Not a weird turn.

It was just like a real turn.

It's like, okay, like, this is the situation.

Like, we have to do this because

we...

Like, the guy was then plugging things in the translator.

Like, okay, is there any other way you can help us?

Like, do you have a business?

Can you hire me in the U.S.?

Do you have any sisters?

Do you have any girls that can marry me?

Who's saying this?

The guy.

He's like, can I marry?

He's like, do you have anybody in the States that I can marry?

He's like, he's like,

there's like 100 million women.

And it was kind of weird.

I was like,

even if there was one,

I don't know legit.

Like, she would have to come over here and meet you.

Yeah, she has to meet you.

In my country, we got to meet ahead of time.

Yeah, like, you got to kind of.

They're not all just looking for husbands.

Yeah.

They are, some of them, but like, it ain't just like anyone willing.

Yeah.

They're like more discerning than that in my country.

And I guess I have to explain to you this whole

mentality of discernment.

But it just doesn't

dance anymore.

Yeah.

So you're sitting there and you're enjoying this cake.

And then it's like, convert to Islam?

No.

Get married?

No.

And then it's like, okay, now you're in this weird position.

Like, okay, there's a goat hanging over there.

Sheep.

I don't even remember.

goat sheep it was a sheep it's like hanging in the corner it's dripping blood and you're sitting there in a jalaba and you're like

how

like what is the next step here yeah

like do you stay for dinner like all right are you staying like you're at this point are you gonna prolong it and just be like okay I'll kick it here for the day you ever get into it you ever go when you were like 10, 12, 13 years old and you go over to a friend's house and he goes into a vicious argument with his brother and then run leaves the table and you're just stuck there going like,

uh,

am I still eating?

Dad says some weird comment.

Like,

he's like, fuck you.

I hate this family.

And you walk out and you're like, hey, dude, that puts me in a real weird spot.

Thanks a lot, man.

Yeah, like, I'm a guest.

Can't you hold this?

Yeah.

Yeah.

It seems like that.

Yeah, it's exactly like that.

Jesus Christ.

It's just an awkward situation.

Yeah.

With higher stakes than like, you know, the teenage boy run into the other room to play some music and get over over his emotions.

It's like, it's like, they want to marry blasting POD.

Yeah.

Same concept.

Yeah.

But she just looked at me and she just like,

you know, I could tell that maybe this hasn't happened 20 times, but from what I saw, I was like, okay, this isn't her first yodeo.

Okay.

And she's maybe taken two or three no's before.

But the family was like on, like the mom, especially, I remember, because the mom had cancer too.

And it was like a whole deal of like, there's no hospital here and we don't have money the younger sister I'm talking about so there was another sister in between the girl I was going quote unquote well the the girl I was gonna marry okay the younger sister there was another one in between she came in the room later and the brother was plugging in text about like explaining like who this third sister was and at one point she hated the situation in this home so much the poverty and just being and this isn't like the proper chef shao this isn't like inside the medina walls this is like because if a backpacker listens to this and they're like, oh, I was in Chef Shao, like it's not like you're picturing it like disparity.

Like, well, just get outside the city walls.

Okay.

That's where I was.

And this middle, she was

14 or 15.

At 13, she got, she smuggled herself onto a truck and held onto the bottom of a truck that drove onto a ferry and went to like some island in Spain just because she hated her life.

And eventually they got her, shipped her back.

But it was like at 13, she did that with the neighbor in the apartment, like another young kid.

And and they're like, Let's just get out of here.

So, they're, you know, it's like they're telling me these stories, and they're also asking for help.

And you're also like, What?

Like,

I could give you some money, I guess.

I, you know, it's a weird situation.

Yeah, it's a weird situation.

Yeah, it's not an it's not, you've never been in that situation.

No, not a weird, yeah, just like this is unique, unique.

This is new waters to navigate.

Yeah,

I gave some money, I did.

How much you give them?

150 Durham.

No, like $15, and they were really happy.

Yeah.

He's like, I pulled it out and he's like, give it to my mom.

And she was like, thank you so much.

So the brother asked?

He didn't ask for money, no.

But I'm like, I pulled it out.

I'm like, here, man.

Like, I think you should have, like, for the meal and everything.

Like,

I know some work went into this and I'm not kind of holding up my end of the bargain.

Right.

He's like, give it to my mom.

And she was like, thank you.

So it was, it was

the right hand.

I had you here for free because you were going to do this thing.

You're not doing this thing.

You didn't hold up your end of the deal.

Can you release?

Yeah.

Yeah.

So

that was that day.

I didn't stay for dinner.

No.

I left.

Yeah, I left.

Too uncomfortable.

What did the brother want?

The brother wanted.

The brother wanted a wife.

He wanted...

He just wanted to get out of there.

At one point when I'm leaving.

I get out of here.

That makes sense.

He goes, he plugs.

This is all translator.

So it's not like we're just having a conversation, like things are just spewing.

There's a few drinks.

No, it's like, he's like thinking.

He's like, what do I type in here?

This is like a chance for me.

Like,

this is like my one shot.

Not one shot, but like one of my few shots.

Pass the phone over.

This is what that MM song was all about.

This is now.

I get it.

I get it now.

I was in Morocco, and that's now I understand.

That's like Jeff Shaw.

And one of his messages was,

I hate it here.

My life, you know, like my life is miserable.

Please, can you help me?

And I'm just looking at my phone.

Yeah, it was just kind of heavy.

So I'm like, yeah, I want to get you out of here for sure.

Because then it's like a thing of like, they haven't, I was backpacking through their country for five, six weeks, and I've been to more cities than they have.

And that was really uncomfortable when we figured that out.

He's like, where have you been?

I'm like, oh, I've been here.

They're like, oh, I've only been to here.

God damn, their world is small.

Yeah.

And we don't even think about it.

Well, most people don't think about it.

Because

we can go for a weekend.

We can bounce out.

We're in a new world.

And they're like, wait, like, they were talking about their big trip coming up.

It was 100 kilometers away.

Like, an hour away.

I don't know what that is.

hour away on the coast and they're like we're so excited like we do this each year like this is the city we go to like that's their vacation spot

and they're like but but I've never been to Esauerda.

Like, that's way down there.

And that's trains and buses you have to take.

And that's expensive.

And with this family, and where do we stay?

And

that was uncomfortable.

That was really uncomfortable.

Then they asked for my Instagram at one point.

And so now they're seeing pictures of me in different countries.

Being rich.

Yeah.

To them, you know?

Yeah, she's like, oh, wait, he's been to X, Y, and Z.

Are you holding a bottle of Coca-Cola?

Like, what?

Yeah, like, I have some pictures.

My family does big feasts.

Right.

I have a big family.

My mama has, like, seven siblings, Middle Eastern.

So, like, when we eat, we eat.

And they, you know, they all worked, you know, they worked hard and they were in the States and they had the opportunities.

Oh, yeah.

I mean, and they're showing, like, so, like, they were clicking, they had my phone.

I wanted to, like, pull it away because they were clicking through stuff and they're looking at these feasts.

And at the same time, I'm saying, like,

I can't help you.

Like, I don't have a job for you.

But they're like, they're like, wait a second.

You can obviously do it.

You can

Yeah.

That's

the feeling.

That's the feeling.

It's like you could change their lives.

Just marry them, dude.

But even with a certain amount of money, Art, you could just be like,

here's something like, just like $500.

Wait, can you just

pack our trip short and change our fucking lives forever?

That is...

And that's like, that's the reality.

Like, okay.

It's not that much for you.

Just go back.

So you're going back to America anyway.

Like, skip a month somewhere and like help my family.

Don't take a writing class in Paris.

Right.

Right.

Like, the amount we paid for this class would have been less than.

That's it.

Retirement.

Oh, this week in Paris could have done six.

I could have done six months in Morocco.

Wow.

And one week in Paris.

So, you know, it's just like, and there's a lot of parts of the world that are like that.

And you go to those parts and you're like, oh, wow.

And we have these conversations.

And you kind of leave and you kind of forget about it.

That's the weirdest thing about it.

It's like, you kind of have to be reminded.

So, how'd you get out of there?

What'd you do?

Yeah, you're right, right.

You have to be reminded.

You kind of have to be reminded.

Like, I've, you know, I've been to some places like that before.

And I was like, oh, I'm going to remember this.

And then it's like, I was in that situation again, and I'm like, well, I forgot how lucky I am to have like a blue passport.

I did not remember.

I did not remember.

Yeah, exactly.

That's that privilege thing.

I know we're going long, but fuck.

It's good to go long.

Yeah, yeah, yeah.

Damn.

Yeah, so, I mean, I got.

So, how'd you get out of there?

What was the end of it?

I think I said that,

well, I did tell them about the writing class.

I'm like, hey, I have some writing to do.

I think that's what it was.

Did you walk back to your hostel?

Yeah, I just walked back.

And they were just kind of all in it.

They were like, okay, after that point where I'm like, I'm not converting to Islam.

I'm not marrying your daughter.

It was like, okay, like, this guy's like.

Great.

Like, let's feed him.

Like, let's take care of him.

him, but like, he's not the mood changed.

Yes, he's not our savior.

The mood changed.

Like, the girl didn't take as good as care of me.

Like, she was like,

you know, didn't refill my tea or something.

Yeah.

That's the extra.

And you're like, I thought.

He's like, hey, like, magic.

Two-thirds of a glass in here.

Yeah, yeah.

Like, I'm almost down to my last sip.

It's kind of weird.

Yeah, so

that was like the story of Eid.

And Chef Shawan.

And Chef Shawan.

Can I ask you a question?

Yeah.

so that night

that night yeah jerk off

hmm no you went to bed without a jerk yeah that's probably smarter yeah also like sharing a bunk

a lot of people in the room can't jerk off in hostels it's shower only yeah

although i've been in hostel rooms where guys are definitely yanking one out and just like dude like Go to the shower.

Not the place, not the time.

Nothing about this is.

He's sexual.

Like, how are you even activated right now?

Like, there's 12 other guys in this room.

It's not even subtle.

It's like

I can see your one sheet moving.

Like, I'm too bunked out.

You're just randomly sleeping with your feet up in a V, so you can create a space.

It's like I can hear it through your headphones, man.

Turn that shit down.

Listening to pornography.

It's like, turn it down.

Turn it down.

Play it on.

I'm like trying to sleep.

It's like, I get it, but

I was trying to not jerk off while I was traveling.

I was like, let me just not so I'll be more social and try to get out there.

And after like a month or two of that and not getting laid, it was like pent up.

And then some German dudes fucking in a bunk, not above me, but next to me and up.

And they're just fucking, but lightly, like, just like.

Yeah, like snoozing,

heavy breathing.

And they keep saying that.

And I'm just like, God damn it, you guys.

I know you're doing it.

I can't sleep already.

I was telling you, I was similar.

There was a place in Mexico City, it was like three bunks high.

And the people on the bottom, I was on the top, people on the bottom were going at it.

And I'm like, whoa, like, I'm going to have to grab onto something like this.

There's like some,

it's not a lot of movement, but each one of them is.

Feels like a fucking boat to Antarctica.

It's like it gets like, it's like swaying more.

Let me climb down.

Damn.

Well, that was fucking great.

That makes me, I really want to go to Morocco with all of you having been there.

I wish I didn't have a dog to to take care of, but I really want to go.

And that's maybe my next trip.

Have a good excuse ready, just in case you get invited to a party and this girl's flowers in her hair.

Because you need a good excuse.

She's homosexual.

And they're like, oh, we'll kill you.

I'm like, fuck.

See, you got it.

Yeah, okay.

Think this through.

Don't get caught on the spot.

Like, oh, sweet.

That gives us a chance to fulfill another good deed.

It's like, score.

Two birds, one stone.

Actual stone.

All right, Zane.

Zane, where can people find you on, like, if they want to tell you, like, good job, that was fucking great?

Instagram.

Just like first name last.

Zane Jiresky.

Juriski.

Don't I say just first name last when your last name is Jireski?

Zane, I think almost every one of my listeners can spell.

Yeah.

Well, let me just spell it.

Let me try it.

J-U-R-E-S-K-Y.

Ouch.

What is my first name?

Zane.

Yeah, but how do you spell that?

Z-A-N-E.

Okay, well, some people throw an I in there.

Some people throw a Y.

It's Z-A-N-E.

Just keep it like straight up.

Zane.

Jireski, J-A-R.

J-A-R.

E-C-K-E.

Jurisky.

It's that Polish stuff, man.

Juraski.

It could have been a D-J, to be honest.

Jurisky.

It could have been D-J-E-A-R.

It could have been.

It would have been really funky.

Yeah.

J-A-R-E-S-E-C-K-E.

E-C-K-Y.

E-S.

Wait, wait, what is it?

Wait, what?

Zane is Z-A-N-E.

What is Jireski?

J-A-R-E-S.

K-Y.

Let me see what's thinking of ESS.

What is that?

E-Sti.

E-A.

Sports.

It's in the game.

J-A-R-E-S-K-Y.

Wait, E?

Okay.

Jireski.

That's the name.

C-A-N-E.

J.

J-E.

J-A-R.

E-C-K-E.

Jarecki?

Jireski, man.

You left out the S.

There's no S.

It's a C-K

Polish style.

Jereski.

Yeah.

That's the dad's side.

Jurecki.

Yeah.

Zane Jarecki.

Zane Jarecki.

Butcher it all you want.

But yeah, my Instagram.

All right.

It's coming.

Hi.

Maybe we'll still be traveling, hopefully.

Oh, I haven't planned on it, man.

Making a lap around the world.

What do you think, time-wise?

What do you think you got?

I think like two years, three years is good.

Oh, you're gone.

Yeah, man.

Wow.

Yeah, a handful of dollars.

Oh, I thought you'd like two, three, four months.

No, I'm gone.

This is month four right now.

Hell yeah.

That's because too long, you're like, okay, that guy's like off the deep end,

kind of.

Like, what's the longest you've gone?

Six months, maybe.

Ooh.

Six months in Ecuador, one country.

Wow.

Okay, that's interesting.

Yeah.

Yeah, staying in one place for half a year.

Country, though, not staying in one town or getting a job.

Okay, okay.

But that would be cool, too.

All right.

Well, anyways, yeah, we could keep going, but we won't.

Zanjirecki.

Well, good luck in your travels.

Thanks.

Same to you.

This has been You Be Tripping.

You'll be tripping.

We're tripping.

All right, guys.

Well, that's the episode.

I hope you enjoyed it.

Man, what a fucking interesting trip.

So, as you know, I'm going to do more of these remotes

from wild places in the world.

This is from a youth hostel in Paris, France.

I got some coming from a town square in Clush-Napoca, Romania,

in front of a mural in Sydney, Australia.

I'm trying to think where else I do it.

But I want to do these from all over.

I don't want to just do them from a studio, either in Austin or in New York.

I want to do it from wild places.

And I hope you guys are getting for it.

Subscribe right now, wherever you're watching.

You can see me on the road at nowhere because I'm done until 2025.

Please follow Zane Jarecki.

Subscribe to him right now on YouTube.

Z-A-N-E-J-A-R-E-S-K-E.

He's a fucking interesting man that I met in

that I met in

Zane Jarecki.

Yeah.

That I met in Paris, France, in a writing seminar by Rolf Potz.

We did a writing class there together.

It was fucking fun as shit.

We hit it off.

This one time we spent fucking, I don't know, 30 minutes watching these crazy dancers in front of a fucking the opera house.

Different than this opera house in Sydney, Australia.

We were watching the opera house in Paris, France.

We just watched all these dancers and we were with somebody else and she was like, I gotta go.

I was like, good luck to you.

We just sat there watching for a while.

It's fun.

It's fun the fucking friends you meet when you're traveling, huh?

It really is.

This was wild.

That Eid Eid ceremony and fucking having to come up with an excuse to not get married off into a local family.

It's fucking wild.

And that's what this podcast is all about.

Please subscribe.

I should be at 100,000 subscribers now.

I'm at 50.

Make it 60.

Right now, wherever you're listening or watching, just right now,

hit the subscribe button.

It'll make me happy.

I don't want much from you, but I want that.

It'll make me happy.

Go to my merch page, AriShafir.com, get

some grinders,

the vinyls of a special Ari Shafir Jew.

Only 1,000 made.

Go ahead and get those.

And I think that's it.

Oh, shroomfest shirts are available.

They'll be shipping out in July.

Shroom Fest this year is July 20th, 21st, and 22nd.

Liam Gwynn at Apercadaver on Instagram has made some amazing new shirts that you can celebrate and commemorate the issue.

Shroom Fest.

If you don't know what it is, you don't know what it is.

Just an excuse to do mushrooms.

He made some fucking cool shirts I'm not taking any of the profits he is and he's given I think 10 or 20 or 30 or 40 percent of it 10 maybe 20 I don't know to maps multidisciplinary association of psychedelic studies yeah it's just a fun time

ari shafir.com right now slash merch for everything and that's it guys I hope you enjoyed yourself hope you enjoyed listening to this fucking wild story of fucking Morocco.

God, I want to go to Morocco.

When I was in Paris, there were so many flights there.

You could see like flights to three different cities in Morocco.

And I'm like, God, I want to go so fucking bad.

But I had a desire to get back to it, so I couldn't go.

Not proud of it.

Should have gone.

Should have gone.

I got to do some long-term traveling right now.

Guys like Zane

and some other people I met in that class by Rolf Botz, they were doing it, man.

They were really doing it.

It was

jealous.

Sydney Opera House.

Why is this a fucking...

Why is this a fucking iconic spot when literally no one I know who goes goes to opera?

So why is this the spot?

Right over there, you can't see it, is a bridge

and right there,

right up there, I shit myself.

I had diarrhea and I shit myself.

Anyway, that's the kind of shit I get into.

Guys, until next week,

Assalamu alaikum.

I'm guessing on that one.

Bye, everybody.

Fuck!