And often the real adventure is getting there

Usually when I am trying to go somewhere new, I would look it up on google maps, figure out exactly how to get there, find bus schedules, etc, but here, things don’t roll like that. There are no city maps, any inquiry for directions turns into a group debate, and taxi destinations seem to be relative, or maybe just often misunderstood.

My friends heard about a film festival happening in the next town over, so we decided to try to check it out. The festival had a web site, but didn’t contain any mention of admittance or tickets. It did, however, have a phone number, so after running down most of the money on my phone, and probably convincing the man on the other end that I was a complete idiot, I determined that there were two venues where films would be shown outside for free.

Next step: figuring out where we were going. I asked one of the teachers where to go, and after involving just about every other person in the building, he told me that we could take a cab to Sidi Moussa.

The taxi driver seemed confused when we asked for Kariat Oulad Moussa, so we told him Sidi Moussa, and after winding through the narrow medina streets until my head was spinning, he told us to get out. We realized, that as there was no screen in plain view, that we had no idea where we were going, and we didn’t even know what to ask for. We decided to start by finding Kariat Oulad Moussa, and were told to take a bus.

We thought it was close, and considered walking, but as it turns out, Kariat Oulad Moussa is not, in fact, Sidi Moussa. (I learned a bit later that it means village of the children of Moussa) As we rode the bus for half an hour though city, slums and suburbs, we decided the people were right in telling us we couldn’t walk there.

Finally, the bus driver told us to get off. We saw a group of apartment buildings, some cafes, and low and behold, a big dirt field with a big screen. A small group of people (all boys and men) were gathered around the screen. We sat behind a group of little boys, who’s singing, dancing, giggling and chatter was way more entertaining than the film. (I think they thought the same thing about us.)