Darija

Yesterday I mentioned Darija, Moroccan arabic. Today, I am going to include a small introduction including to Darija and talk a tiny bit about taxis in Morocco.

Hello, peace be upon you               "Salam wa alikum"
or, you can ask: How are you?        "Le bes?"
Goodbye                                          "Bslama"
Nice to meet you                             "Mitsharfeen"

Thank you                                       "Shukran" (formal) or "Barak allahu feek"

Yes                                                   "Eeya"
No                                                     "La"
Okay                                                "Wakha"
Please                                               "Afek"

Let's go                                            "Yela"
A little; lower it a little                      "Shwiaa"
A lot                                                  "Bezaaf"

So, there's un petit introduction.
And now onto Red Petit Taxis.

We've had a lot experience with taxi drivers. In fact, in the taxi is where I hear the most and where we use the most Darija. Taxi drivers pull a lot of tricks: attempting to drive us without turning on meters (meaning they can name a price if you haven't established it in the beginning), who turn the night tarrif on during the day, or who say that they don't have any change for your 50. If you push them, the truth (or part of it) comes out. Moroccan really does seem to be a about limits and haggling. I'm too easy. I usually let it go, though I bet I will toughen up during this trip.