Soaked and Hungry: Part Two

Early in the day when we were excited to walk the boardwalk.

The next morning, to my dislike, we got up early so we could have enough time to explore Morocco before our ferry left at two O’clock. While walking down the stairs to the lobby, Mom and I both agreed that our mattresses were some of the most uncomfortable mattresses ever. We were surprised to find that the convenience store that we could see from our room window was closed. When we saw that no other places were open, I figured that Morocco’s stores and restaurants just didn’t open until nine or ten on Sundays. 

Upon Dad’s request, we decided to walk along the coast of the Strait of Gibraltar and get food later. After jogging across the road to the boardwalk, I saw a dog with brown and white patches of fur standing a few yards ahead of us. As we got closer, he began to wag his tail and looked like he’d been waiting for us. He appeared to be a stray, since there was no one around and he had no collar. Interestingly, he had a yellow tag on his left ear. I wanted to run up to him, give him a big hug and tell him that everything was going to be okay. But I decided against it because I had no idea where he had been or if he even liked people. 

Our dog friend joins us on our walk.

We passed the dog and kept going, unsure of what he would do next. To my surprise and delight, he started trotting beside us, like it was his job. We were still walking, talking and laughing when I heard a loud splat from behind me. I turned around, and what I saw next made me freeze. I started running. Then, realizing that I couldn’t outrun what was after me, I bent over in front of mom trying to communicate what I wanted. But I was not quick enough. It began to rain. Finally, mom understood and speedily unzipped my camera backpack and grabbed our umbrellas. By the time we got our umbrellas over our heads, it had started raining harder. 

Mom, Regina, and I all shared one umbrella and Dad and Livi shared the other. The dog is smarter than us, I thought, as I watched him jog inside a nearby glass elevator room in the middle of the boardwalk that led to who knows where. I was starting to doubt Dad had any intention of finding somewhere dry as he kept walking aimlessly in one direction. By the time we crossed the street it was downright pouring. Luckily, my black backpack, which had my camera in it, was supposedly waterproof. I didn’t think there was any point in the umbrella anymore. My only pair of shoes were soaked. Water kept running down my back. The wind kept blowing our umbrella backwards, so it was inside out. And when I would try to hold it down with my arm, the water would run down the umbrella right into my sleeve. The point is, I would not recommend sharing a cheap umbrella between three people and a backpack in the middle of a rainstorm.

          We finally stopped at a little burger shop. But since everything was still closed we waited under the awning and compared each other to see who was the most soaked. Dad, being Dad, started a conversation with someone else who was seeking refuge from the storm. I noticed with joy that our dog friend had rejoined us and was lying down at Dad’s feet. It was still raining and for some reason, we decided to keep walking in the same direction we had been heading, instead of going back to our warm, dry hotel. This time Dad and I shared one umbrella, and Regina, Mom, and Livi sought refuge under the other. We trudged through the rain with the dog beside us. 

(Left) The girls at Morocco in Disney's Epcot in Orlando, Florida in May 2023. (Right) Emily and the girls in front of a similar-looking mosaic in the real Morocco almost 2 years later, March 2025.

(Left) Olivia at Morocco in Disney's Epcot, May 2023. (Right) Olivia in Morocco, March 2025

After walking for a while, we came to a stop at a tiny store of some sort. There was a beautiful mosaic underneath the awning. Seeing it resembled the one in Morocco in Epcot, we took a few pictures while our dog friend sat and waited patiently for us to finish. Once we were done, we decided to head back to the hotel. We kept our eyes open for a restaurant or market that was open, since we didn’t have anything for breakfast. One time, when we were crossing a street, I stepped in a huge puddle. I was squishing water from my shoes the whole way back. To our disappointment, everything was still closed. Our dog stayed with us until we reached our hotel. I felt bad leaving him. I wondered if I could sneak him into our room. Last time we were there, the guy in the lobby had his head on the counter. He probably won’t notice, I thought. But the whole time I knew the truth. No matter how much I wanted a dog, I wasn’t meant to have one now. It just wouldn’t work with our travels. I took one last look at the dog before I turned around and walked into the building. 

          The bottom half of my pants and my sweatshirt were soaked. Dad’s pants and Livi's right shoulder were soaked, too. Basically, we were all sopping wet. We used every source of heat we could find to dry our clothing, including a blow dryer, a heating towel rack, and the oven. I was disappointed to see that water did seep into my camera bag through the zipper. But thankfully, it hadn’t gotten my camera wet, just the bag itself and a tiny bit of my school work. We changed into non-soaked clothes while our wet ones dried. Livi and I played Egyptian rat slap a few times. If you are not familiar with this game, you play it with a regular deck of cards, and basically, each player takes a turn to place a card in the middle, and if the cards meet the right requirements you slap it. Whoever gets all the cards wins. Because we were in Morocco, we renamed the game Moroccan Rat Slap. 

Since it was lunchtime and we still hadn’t had breakfast or lunch, we finished our game and rummaged through all of our bags in search of some food. After feasting on a madeleine, half of a fruit strip, and a piece of gum, I got changed into my now dry clothes and we headed back outside to see what more adventure, or hopefully food, we could find.