Morocco with Children

My wife, 18 month old toddler and I were on a trip buying rugs in Morocco for a couple months this winter. Since returning, we've had a lot of questions about traveling in Morocco in general, and specifically about traveling there with kids. There is a much better and more complete blog about these subjects here at the indispensable Maroc Mama, a blog we read all the time while we were in Morocco.

There is an a lot of stuff to see and do in Morocco and children love it.

Morocco is endlessly enthralling for children and adults alike. The nature, the culture, the color. We started off in Taghazout, where we surfed for a few weeks with a hippie German couple and their 3 year old. They had been bumming around Europe in a VW camper van for 7 months, chasing the endless summer down to Morocco before starting teaching jobs in Dresden, and they were very interesting and bohemian people. The kids would play on the beach for hours and hours, and we pretended not to notice when the town's sewers would dump into the water and you would see pieces of poop bobbing in the waves. I've been told that this is good for the developing immune system. 

After Taghazout, we drove through the Atlas mountains to Marrakesh. The colors and sounds of the medinas of Marrakesh are fabulous for children, but do beware the motorcycles, donkeys, and the rug touts snapping their fingers in your child's face. Jemaa El Fna square has to be seen to be believed, and will make even the most seasoned traveler feel like a kid again.

Moroccans in general love children

Like everyone else they know that children represent everything in the world that is pure and perfect and innocent. Unlike people from other, colder (both meteorologically and socially) countries that shall remain unnamed, Moroccans will approach your children and interact with them. Not just the old ladies either. Teenage boys, surly looking men, everyone. Prepare to have a lot of conversations with strangers.

Moroccans are not shy about giving unsolicited parenting advice - in fact they are total scolds.

Zelda was going through a phase where she did not want to wear a shirt. After a few minutes of us forcing her to put one on, she would tear it off, run away from us and start drumming on her tummy while yelling "bongo baby." She would do this wherever we happened to be, which could get awkward at times. Moroccan women would shake their heads at us and tell us "il fait trop froid" even if it was 25 degrees and sunny out (which was every day). We would try to explain to them that we were committed to an authoritative, not authoritarian parenting style, and we wanted to provide a loving, democratic environment with strong but flexible boundaries and fair, consistent, and understandable discipline. To that they would tell us to please put her shirt on.

Morocco was safe, interesting, and the people were fantastic. It has the perfect mix of cool cities and breathtaking nature, and our daughter Zelda loved it. She was really unhappy to return to the Canadian winter in Toronto, but eventually got over it.

Buying rugs in Morocco

Buying rugs in Morocco is a pretty wild experience. The sales guys have their process totally dialed in, and most of the time for them, it works. I had a fair amount of formal sales training when I was at Yelp, and seeing the way these rug hustlers operate really drove home the points my bosses at Yelp would reiterate ad nauseam. Here's a step by step breakdown of how these Moroccan carpet cowboys separate unwitting tourists from their money (in exchange for a beautiful, hand-knotted, one of a kind item which will enliven your boring house and life). 

1. Build Rapport

Classic sales step in any situation. People like to buy stuff from people they like. This is sales 101. Usually asking about the local sports franchise or a really good opening gambit about weather will set the tone. In Morocco, they serve you very sweet and delicious mint tea, ask about your family, your home country, whatever. Moroccan rug sales guys by and large tend to be chatty and charming individuals and speak an astonishing array of languages. It is not hard to have a good conversation, and they quickly make you feel at ease. At this point they are not rushing to show you the rugs at all. Just be patient and enjoy it.

2. Qualifying

This step will usually be blended with step one. As they ask you their seemingly innocuous and solicitous questions of where you're from, your job, how long you've been in Morocco, if it's your first time in Morocco, etc, they are really figuring out how many dirhams they can get from you. If you're North American, just got to Marrakesh yesterday and have never been to Morocco before, you will DEFINITELY be paying more than a French expat who has a riad in the Medina. If you are wearing a fanny pack or tevas or if you're a man wearing shorts and you have sunscreen residue on your face, just hand over your wallet, you are done here. You can try your weak-ass French to show you're more legit, but they'll switch to English and make you feel like a chump.

3. Presentation

This is the fun part. The heretofore charming and slick carpet salesman will yell a few words of guttural Arabic and two scared looking teenage boys will appear in matching mandarin collar jackets and fez style hats. These guys will do the back breaking labor of unfurling as many rugs as it takes to get you to buy one. The salesman will keep the tea a-flowing as he tells you about the different weaving tribes of Morocco, the artistry that goes in to the rugs, and the amount of time it takes to make them. The rugs snap as they roll them out in front of you to great dramatic effect, and the salesman carefully monitors your reaction to get a sense of what type of rugs they should be showing you. Next thing you know, there'll be like 40 rugs in front of you, and you have to start eliminating the ones you don't like. For some reason, they always have to yell at the teenagers to remove them, and they scramble quickly to get the rugs you're not interested in out of the way. This needle in the haystack process can take a long time, and the salesmen are very patient. The most important thing for them is to keep you there and interested, so if you need food or anything at all, it takes just a yelled command to the helpers and they will produce a tagine or a merguez sandwich. Once you get your selection whittled down to a manageable number, we move on to the next section, which is pricing/bargaining.

4. Pricing/Bargaining

This is the part everyone fears. In our culture, we're used to the price being the price, and don't negotiate in too many situations. Bargaining is awkward and outside of our cultural norms. We hate awkward situations and try to avoid them at all costs. Moroccan rug salesmen are aware of and prey upon this weakness. I bet there are people that just accept the first (often extortionate) price for something they love, buy it, and that's it. If you're happy with the rug and the price you paid, who cares, right? It's a win/win. If, however, you don't have a ton of money, or are buying over 80 rugs to ship back to Canada and start a Moroccan rug store on College St. that you and your family will depend on for food and the basic necessities of life, you are 100% going to want to bargain as hard as you can. Bargaining is best done with a smile, respect for the other person, and no emotional investment in the process. The seller will often start with a very inflated first number. There are no hard and fast rules, but don't be afraid to come back with a ridiculously low counter offer. There is no downside to doing this, and you're not going to personally insult anyone. ALWAYS negotiate with the price of shipping baked into the final cost, as this will incentivize the seller to get the best deal possible on shipping. Embrace the awkward, haggle back and forth until you get to a mutually agreeable number, and get to the last step, which is closing.

5. Closing

This is simple. You've bargained to a price that you're willing to pay. You feel like you've won (you haven't, objectively, but that's ok), now is the time to arrange payment and get your merchandise. Most of the bigger places take credit card, but they'll usually want you to pay some cash. Of course they'll be kind enough to show you the closest ATM so you can take out a couple thousand dirhams. The seller will also put his arm around your shoulders, look at you balefully, and ask you to tip the rug dudes. This would always piss me off, because I felt the sales guy should pay his staff, but it's whatever. Just do it or you'll look like a dick. The teenagers will then fold your rug into an impossibly small bundle on which you will sign your name. Deal is done.

So there you have it. You should now be a pro at buying rugs in Morocco. However, if you don't have a trip to Morocco planned, please come see us at Mellah at 1090 College St. in Toronto, Canada. We have a stylish selection of vintage Beni Ourains, Zaianes, Beni M'Guild, Azilal, Boucherouite and others. We'll be delighted to serve you a cup of tea and yell at your teenagers. 

A few words about Beni Ourains

Beni Ourains, paradoxically modern and ancient, are an interior design classic. Le Corbusier and Frank Lloyd Wright brought these fluffy, monochromatic rugs into the western consciousness a long time ago, and Beni Ourains have recently exploded with many big brands making their own versions of them.

Rugs that look like Beni Ourains are available at places such as West Elm and Pottery Barn, but in our esteemed opinion here at Mellah, it is definitely worth getting the real thing. We can add Beni Ourain rugs to the list of things you should always buy the authentic, name brand version of: Heinz Ketchup, Duracell Batteries, or Tide Laundry Detergent. Sure, the store brand, cheaper versions of all these products will do what they're supposed to, but it's just not the same.

A by-product of these shameless and opportunistic imitators trying to copy the humble Beni Ourain tribes' artistry and craftsmanship is a backlash against the original rugs themselves. The more ubiquitous Beni Ourains get, the more people want to knock them down a peg or two. As purveyors and fans of these shaggy, tribal masterpieces, we are very much opposed to this sort of sentiment. Just because Nirvana influenced a ton of shitty bands in the 90's/early 2000's doesn't make Nirvana a bad band, you know?

Here in Toronto, your options for getting authentic Beni Ourains are limited. First of all, the truly authentic ones are all vintage, meaning that they tend to be narrow. 8x10, 9x12 sizes in legitimate vintage pieces simply do not exist.  Traditional Berber houses were narrow, so long and skinny is the norm. Luckily in Toronto, the lots are narrow, so a 6x12' Beni Ourain could work well.  They also fit well in condos, many of which have concrete floors and a stark, industrial finish. A judiciously placed Beni Ourain warms up such a space. Contemporary Moroccan Beni Ourains are available in every size, but they lack the simple, naïve beauty of the older ones.

Come check out our selection of vintage Beni Ourains at 1090 College St. in Toronto, Ontario, Canada. These rugs are best seen in person. You can scoop one up for cheaper on the internet, but it is definitely worth  checking out the colour and pile before you buy.