The Hanoot Rules

First off folks, sorry for the delay in updating my blog but the Internet connection has been giving me trouble for the better part of two weeks and once I had had it and suffered a semi-nervous breakdown I suppose the gods decided to smile down upon me and restore my connection.

So now that I'm back up and running I'm trying to condence all that I've had in my head during that time and put it down into words. Since I've decided I can't do that I'll just start with a story of the local hanoots, or the little stores that dot the streets and neighborhoods of Marrakesh.

First let me explain how the city is set up and then you can understand how the hanoot fits in. Marrakech is a lot like New York City with its block-length buildings that are then divided into residences and stores. So a hanoot is just a little slip of a space in which is packed a multitude of items-usually snacks, toiletries and household items. However, there are specialty hanoots and it is these that I'm going to talk about.

Since Marrakesh is a walking city most things, if not all, that one might need on a daily basis are within walking distance. For instance, in my neighborhood and not more than a two-minute walk away are hanoots for cell phones and their accessories, laptop computers and their accessories, locks and keys, bike repair, beauty products, medicines and probably some other stuff I can't think of right now or haven't noticed yet. Essentially it's like living amongst a divided Wal-Mart that sectioned off each one of its departments into small shops along the street.

Even better along the streets are what I call the "convenience kitchens." Just steps from my door you can find men cooking soups and donuts or women making bread, right there at the cusp of the sidewalk. Each day as I bring my children to and from school I am greeted by the smells of baked or fried bread, the sizzle of hot soups being served at a makeshift sidewalk cafe and, of course, the endless drone of car horns. A Marrakesh street wouldn't be complete without the near-constant "beep beed" of oncoming cars.