We had gouté which is French for ‘fattening afternoon snacktime’. I made English tea. Halima liked it, but Aziz wasn’t as keen. And they both prefer it without milk. Ah well, some people will always be awkward like that I suppose. Mounia couldn’t try it because she’s gone home ill poor pet.

So, back to the promised post. Ways I have been propositioned.

1) The obvious – Chatting Up
This is one which I get really frequently when I am in a relationship, and almost never when I am single. Interesting stuff. In recent times chatting up has included spilling alcohol down my back at at bar, numerous comments about the size of my breasts, including some fairly tacky online attempts, and shameless use of a variety of pet names (and to the person who does this, I’m not faulting you, just honouring you in writing). The thing with chatting up however, is that you have to give the person a fighting chance. I have a cruel sarcastic edge when it comes to putting people off this particular style of proposal.

2) Touching Up
This is thankfully a rare occurrence. I have yet to be molested over here in Morocco, unlike some of my course mates (but then if you will go out to clubs where the only girls are hookers, prepare to be groped). The last time anyone tried this on me was in a club, and I made it quite clear that my large male friends would beat them senseless if they tried it again (if I didn’t get there first).

3) Techno-dating
I’ve kept this a bit separate from ‘Chatting Up’ because I think it’s an entirely different ball-game. I have had a lot of guys who I consider friends who would text me, IM me or e-mail me constantly. It always takes them actually saying it before I realise that this is their form of ‘Chatting Up’. They’re always the same kind of guy, really kind and nice but a bit shy – your typical ‘Nice guy comes last’ character. I have to say, I’ve always quite liked this type of guy, but I normally blindly mistake their attention for friendship, and by the time they tell me, they’re already firmly in the ‘you’re like my brother’ box. So maybe not the most successful method.

4) Drive-by
This can be several different things. Curb crawling, cat calling, and whistling are all included in this category. I’d be interested to know if any of these guys have managed to pick up a girl (that they didn’t need to pay) like this. I personally find it plain irritating, and I get the impression that most other girls do as well. Interesting that it doesn’t stop guys doing it.

5) Street talkers
These are particularly frequent in Fes. They are the guys who see you from about ten metres away, and then talk to you until you’ve passed them by ten metres. In that twenty metres they can be whistling, shouting, or just trying a variety of different languages to get a response. Some are quite nice, and just come out with the standard ‘Beautiful English Girls!’ but some are just crude – ‘Hey Bitch. You lookin SWEET’ – and some are just creepy. A friend of mine was calmly told right in the middle of the street that she had ‘really good breasts’. The guy just kept on walking, as if he’d just said ‘Hi there’.

6) Dating
I have never experienced this really. I think it is adorable, but not very frequent any more, which is sad. I’d love it if a guy I’d only recently met asked me to dinner, or to go and catch a film together. Of course, everyone knows that sometimes this is followed up by questionable intentions, but mostly, I think guys who still want to wine and dine ladies are the truest gentlemen of this world. As sung by the wonderful Victoria Hart I think they’ve done something funny to love.

PS I also have decided to plug some of the blogs which I read, which I think you should read also. First up, Stuff no-one told me (but I learnt anyway). It’s just nice to read.