i did not lose my mobile phone and camera's bag with a 16GB hard drive in it today...

i had managed to do it yesterday, my first day in casablanca. it turns out the more you lose in one day, the less you have to lose the next day. i left these on a table of a beachside resturant. suggested to my host family perhaps we should call that restaurant's lost and found department. they all had a good laugh at my suggestion.

looking at the the city while passing through it in a cab, i had this strange feeling that i had seen this city before, even though this was the first time i had been here. and then i had an "aha!" moment. it occured to me i was confusing casablanca with rawalpindi. the resemblance between the two cities is striking. same kind of chaotic traffic, same hustle and bustle of people, same kind of roadside vendors, same type of buildings and commercial plazas. even many moroccans appear pakis in looks, demeanor and noor.

corniche, where the the city touches the north atlantic is the most popular place to hang out. breez is cool and pleasent. young boys and girls roam around, with many girls in tight fitting jeans and scarf and boys in open buttoned shirts showing off their muscled chests. beggars abound. flower sellers are very persistent. children's rides are everywhere.

although poverty in casablanca is not as extreme as in cairo, nevertheless visiting a place like morocco is a good refresher in your disdain for these despotic kings and dictators who have kept their countries backwards, their people poor and miserable, all the while enriching their life styles and their dynasties, and doing so while claiming divine blessing for their kingship, even though it is their colonial masters who pull the strings. last night i happened to watch the nightly news at the local TV. the first 15 minutes of the 30 minute bulletin were spent describing king's (jalala-tul-mulk)activities. how he shook hands with admiring people, how one guard of honor soldier bent on his one knee and kissed his hand, how his rubber stamped middle aged deputies signed some document one by one (yea, the camera showed EACH of the half dozen deputies signing whatever the fuk that document was about) as he sat watching on his throne in all is magnanimity. i really believe that paki news and entertainment media and politics is far more progressive and refined than that of any country in north africa.

lunch was at TGIF, which is quite a sin in a country with one of the richest cuisines in the world. but it turns out that IF locals eat out, they prefer western food, since local dishes like couscous and harira are eaten at home all the time.