On the train - Both sides now

Recently I rode the train from Casablanca to Marrakesh. Facing me was a couple of young, hip, and mod Moroccans, evidenced by their blonde streaked hair and mp3 cell phones. The guy wore rectangular black eyeglasses and gelled hair with little streaks. The girl next to him was dark with Black African features, hair extensions, and blonde braids. Their music was westernized Rai hip-hop. The rhythm was unmistakable, but the language was French. I still feel funny listening to French rap and hip-hop.

On the other side of the aisle sat two fundamentalist men, evidenced by their big untrimmed beards, flowing brown robes and round skull caps. I found it fascinating to contrast them with the hip-hoppers. I turned my head back and forth.

Then, a curious thing happened. One of the fundies began to prosyletize a mod Moroccan in the facing seat. I couldn't hear everything clearly, but the jist of the conversation was "You should follow the true religion correctly. You want to be following God properly. Do you fear God?" The fundy tried for 5 minutes but the hip-hopper wasn't interested. The fundamentalist stopped and mumbled some other subject. And eventually he fell asleep.

We had 3 more hours to go on the train and it was getting warm. I decided to nap, too.