Thirty odd years ago (granted, some
years have been odder than others!) my husband & I flew to Italy to visit
our daughter & our niece, who were roommates there. We thought
it would be fun to go to the Costa Del Sol in Spain, where we had never
been, for week or so of rest & sun before coming home. It was so beautiful & relaxing there we
decided to fly the girls over to join us.
We had a rental car & were on our way to the airport to pick them up
when we stopped for a traffic signal.
THEN ALL HELL BROKE LOOSE! What
seemed to be hundreds of college students ran into the intersection, blocking
it & carrying signs & chanting slogans.
My Spanish is passable, not great, but it was impossible to understand
what they were trying to say. (It’s pretty hard to understand what a riot mob
is yelling even if it’s in your native language.) I even thought it might be “Death to the
Americans!” They started rocking cars
& since we were 3 cars back from the signal with cars behind us & in
the left lane with a foot high concrete traffic divider next to us, we were
stuck. Then the riot police came with
their shields & masks. It looked
like the students were going to win this battle. It scared the “mierda” (Spanish
for s**t—see, I DO speak some Spanish!) out of us. The driver in front of us had apparently had
enough, flipped a U turn over the divider & left. Not being entirely stupid, we followed. I can’t remember whether we eventually made
it to the airport or went back to the hotel & had them send a car for the
girls. We later found out the reason for
the riot. It seems that some student
refused to pay his electric bill, so the nasty old company shut his power
off. That just didn’t seem right to “los
otros estudiantes”
One day (before the riot) we took a
side trip to the Casbah. Charles Boyer
(Ask your parents who he was. It’s
pronounced boy-eh.) is said to have used the sexy come-on, “Come with me to the
Casbah” in a movie. So did the amorous
cartoon skunk, Pepe Lepew.
Can you tell which is which?
The Casbah is in an old section of Algiers &
is a marketplace. We boarded a ferry in
Spain, passed the Rock of Gibraltar & disembarked in Algeria. Our tour driver stopped en route so that
those of us who wanted to ride a camel could do so. How could I pass up such an opportunity? Camels are TALL! When you are in the saddle, you’re about 6 or
7 feet off the ground. For you to get in
the saddle, the driver has the camel “sit”.
The camel puts his rump on the ground with his forelegs straight &
his back at about a 45 degree angle. I
got on & the driver led the camel by the reins. We were walking, with Bud beside us, when he
turned to Bud, held his hand out & said, “You geeve me teep!” Bud is a very generous tipper, but he doesn’t
like to be ordered to do it. He said,
“No.” The driver started walking
faster--& so did my camel-- & I.
Again, “You geeve me teep!”
Again, “No.” Again, faster. A couple more times of this & I leaned
toward Bud & said, “You geeve heem teep!!!”
He did.

This is not me—I just wanted to give
you an idea of how tall camels are.
The Casbah itself was a filthy place with sand
& dust everywhere. Meat was for sale
& the hanging pieces were swarming with flies. There were jewelry & clothes offered &
a fez vendor followed us, trying to sell Bud a hat, which he DID NOT WANT. The man offered Bud a fez for $10.00. Then he offered him 2 fezzes for $10.00. Then 1 for $5.00. Then 2 for $5.00. Ad infinitum.
We DID get to see people weaving Arabian carpets, but they didn’t have
any that flew. We were so impressed (NOT!)
by the place that we felt that if there was a contest where first prize was a night at the Casbah, the second prize would have been 2
nights!
Not Bud, either!
Even if Charles Boyer asks you, don’t
go----fishducky
PS--If you didn't get enough laughs today, read
Melynda's books--JUST NONSENSE & MORE NONSENSE. Funny stuff!!
Being computer illiterate, I don't know how to put the stuff that goes with this button into my post but I DO want to support her!! You can enter through Elisa's post (THE CRAZY LIFE OF A WRITING MOM) or Janie Junebug's post (WOMEN: WE SHALL OVERCOME).