Houses.
When I was in Morocco, I didn’t care about owning a house. Why would I? Why spend twenty years of my life paying for a perfectly shaped box with no innovative exterior or interior design in dull neighborhoods? Appartements are boring, not to mention the risk of defective water or electricity installation, noisy surrounding, and having the feeling of being trapped behind the small windows’ fences. Houses are pretty much the same; cement walls and cold floors. For the most fortunate, they go with “economical villa”, with tall walls tightly framing small back and front yards, which only emphasizes the feeling of suffocation and imprisonment.
I am a little child and my eyes dazzled with how
beautiful the houses are in Canada. Not only I love the open garden space with
wide lawn area spread on the surrounding, with attractive flowers and various
plants, but also the interior is designed in a way that makes you enjoy the comfort
and convenience of every inch of the house. I appreciate the large fenceless
windows that welcome the warm sun rays, the decorations and lights for everyone
to enjoys without worrying that they’ll be gone the following day, the rocking
chairs and patio sofa on their porch, their tools and toys just in the side of
the house, the peace and security that reflects That real joy and life of
owning a house urges me to crave one myself.
 |
| Beautifully decorated house |
Public Transit
I came expecting civilization, the buses however in
particular, and public transit in general didn’t really reflect that. Riding a
bus is terrible here! The drivers bumping the gas at full length at one second,
and abruptly pulling the break the next one.
The roads are not making it any better. Because of
cold, the water sneaks into the small cracks of asphalt, get stuck there, freeze
and expands; law of physics - don’t ask me for details - and then the small
fissures open up, and the whole road becomes like cracked lips thirsty for urgent
maintenance each year. You only get to appreciate how deep these gaps are when
you ride a bus going in full speed. Your whole body jolting up and down, left
and right, your stomach turns, the sharp sound of window glass shuddering
against the frame adds the final ingredient to a horrible nausea.
The in-city train itinerary is unbelievably short, and taking a train to travel from city to another is not something commonly talked about. Obviously, everyone has a car, the road are actually really wide and car owners must be happy, except for the cracks. The city is widely stretched for kilometers from all directions, lots of places are remote and public transit won’t take you there. So having a car seems to be a must, which is a bummer.
Paper work
Yes, they still use cheques, and lot of forms to fill out on hard paper and even sent via mail, but mostly it is a breeze to get things done here. Administrative papers, Bank, Rent, Bills, all are easily accessible via interne. Couldn’t hold my amazement when I have secured a rent, paid insurance, set up water, and was ready to move in, just from my Airbnb desk. The availability of reliable information is just at your fingertip, contrary to Morocco when one information is online, a different one in reception, and a whole different one from the person taking your papers. No one seems to agree on something, but everyone agrees that you must come and go for at least a week to get whatever paper you want done.
Medical health
Another bummer, a real headache to be honest. Seeing a
doctor here is a struggle, or at least not a straight forward thing. Because
it’s public; meaning that you don’t pay to get medical examination, blood
tests, x-rays and all that staff, most of the time the hospitals are crowded,
and the waiting time can stretch to hours. Getting an appointment is less
likely to happen. But sure, if you wait and get to see a doctor, you’ll be
luxuriously taken care of. But the whole situation for us right now is a bit
fuzzy. One comfort though is that in case of an emergency, an ambulance would
come right away to offer first aid and take you to the hospital if needed. But still,
we are very disappointed to see that it is not an obvious thing to go see a
doctor without worrying to wait for hours.
Trash
My naïve self thought that I will say goodbye forever to trash carelessly thrown in the street. I was now in a developed world, civilization and progression. Everyone one is respectful and responsible.
Reality is calling
though; welcome to the planet populated by humans, and wherever there are humans,
there are anomalies!
So yeah, there is trash and I hate to admit it. Waste,
plastic cups, straws, bottles, and wraps could be found in playground areas,
bus stations, and along side some roads. Yep, so disappointing! But a true fact
is, not every place is invaded by trash. For example, some neighborhoods are
clean, also some
playgrounds are clear and tidy, and kids don’t seem to have the habit of throwing garbage here and there.
Why this difference?
I was curious myself, until I saw it with my eyes, not once, and not twice.
People throwing trash are usually, not always, either
immigrants, or seem to be addicted or homeless. Now I can sound racist, but the
ugly truth is, you can’t expect to change the mindset of someone just because
they changed countries. If some are accustomed to throw stuff in the street and
don’t see it as a problem, it is only natural that they will do the same
anywhere they go. Still, I was curious to know their motivation; why they would
do such thing? Why would they see a trash can over there and persistently throw
the plastic bottle in the beautifully trimmed lawn?
I once approached one guy with his veiled woman, from Kenea, as later I would know, who was tossing plastic cups, and used bottle juice on the left and right of the road. I asked him, why is he doing that? His wife pursed her lips and threw her husband a “see I told you to stop” look. He shrugged his shoulders and answered with a grin: “What is the problem with that? I pay my taxes, the government will clean after me” He diverted my accusing stare and added sarcastically “Are you an environmentalist or something?”. I argued with him for a while, but concluded it was in vain.
I walked away, my heart aching.
I've always disproved this careless habit of leaving your waist behind for someone else to clean. The most arrogant and ignorant act, messing
up your environment and blaming someone else for not cleaning up after you. That
is so familiar from where I came from. Some deep foundations are messed up
here, and it is irritating that I have to face that even abroad.
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