"every step you take, I'll be watching you"

The city of Rabat can population-wise be compared to Warsaw, Poland. When you walk in Warsaw you can actually feel you are in a big city however, when you're in Rabat you can't feel the urban atmosphere... The city is very calm even tough the traffic might be perceived as a bit crazy (not because of traffic jam that is not the case in Rabat but because of the way people drive - still it's way less crazy than in Casablanca or Marrakesh). At least, you don't feel as if you were in a huge city. There is a small down town (centre-ville) and another "center" called Agdal. Despite the fact the Centre-Ville has its gorgeous avenue Mohammed V, the post-colonial architecture, my favorite hot spots (le Grand Comptoir and le Pietri) and the proximity of the medina I always like Agdal more. Maybe because you feel the city atmosphere more when you are in Agdal than in Centre-Ville.

Whenever I walk in Sopot, Gdansk or Gdynia (the cities where I lived and studied) or even in Warsaw I feel really anonymous. It's not easy to meet someone you know on the street (possible but not very common). But in Rabat, it was almost sure that you always meet someone you know - not only on the street but on the trains, in the cafes, bars or even when catching the taxi. Normally, it has its pros and cons but luckily in Rabat you would most of the times bump into your good friends or people you really like. I loved that about Rabat. You felt like at home surrounded by cool people everywhere (I mean friends not the random strangers:)

Once I was crossing the street near cafe Bert's and pizzeria Pinchos in Agdal when I saw my good friend Neal (the prof in the school where my office was situated; of Moroccan/Polish/Jewish origins and American nationality). I barely saw him walking with the mp3 player and headphones in my ears. We exchanged a few words and decided to go out to le Grand Comptoir later that day. I walked away thinking that Rabat is so cool to let me bump into my friends everywhere when I met Elsa (an English teacher of French origins). We also had a short conversation (would be longer but we were both in hurry) and planned something together too.

A few weeks before that I was waiting for a friend near gare de Rabat Ville in Centre-Ville. Firstly, I saw two AIESECers from Casablanca walking towards me. Not surprised to meet friends in the middle of the city we talked a while. Then they left and a few minutes later I saw my flat mate Rachid (a Moroccan/Russian guy studying in Rabat) waving to me from the distance. I went to talk to him and he said he was having a coffee across the huge roundabout in front of the train station and it was then that he saw me. He decided to invite me. I thanked saying I was waiting for a friend. Then I met my another friend (a Canadian) whom I met at the movie shooting. We actually said good bye because he was about to leave the next day. After he left I saw again the two AIESECers coming back from wherever they were and asking me: "are you still waiting for your friend?" I screamed back: "you know!! the Moroccan timing!!" They laughed and went away. My friend was late almost 1 hour. Then suddenly, a guy (a Moroccan) sitting next to me started the conversation.
him: "so what is exactly Moroccan timing?"
me: "you know, my friend was about to be here one hour ago and I'm still waiting!"
him: "oh! maybe something happend to him?"
me: "sure... yeah..."
him: "where are you from actually?"
me: "Poland"
him: "oh! Poland... nice... kurwa!"
me: ":)"
him: "Poland? so do you know Karim? He is from Poland!"
me: "no.... I don't know any Karim from Poland"
And then my impatiently waited by me friend came and the hilarious conversation was over.

Another time, I was walking thru the medina with my friends and wearing my favorite AIESEC t-shirt (the AIESEC UK t-shirt with huge word "AIESEC" and huge British flag) and one of the AIESECers, Amine Lax, told me the next day that his mom saw me in the medina the day before. I said that how come she could have recognized me - she had never seen me and we had never met. He replied: "You obviously look like a foreigner and you had an AIESEC t-shirt. When she told me that I told her that she must have seen our VP Finance:)"

Or thousands of stories of secret police watching foreigners or taxi drivers asking random tourists or mainly expats about forbidden topics...? (life was a spy movie there!) Everyone knew everyone in this city...

Oh Rabat! I miss your hilarious and surreal atmosphere... and my people!