“Medina” is the arabic word for city and often refers to the old walled part of the city. It is usually a maze of streets that run in all directions and the streets can be large enough for a car or so small that only one person can walk through at a time. They vary from city to city, but most are very easy to get lost in if you don’t know you’re way around.
I remember one day, we had been in the center of the city and decided to take a shortcut through the medina instead of taking the main roads home. We thought that it would be easy, even though none of us knew the way. We began walking, guessing at every turn which way we should go.
We found shops filled with colorful thread stacked to the ceiling, a pharmacy selling traditional herbs and oils, groups of boys playing soccer in the narrow streets, and rows of unique and colorful doors with large iron knockers.
Eventually, we came across many dead ends and there were less and less people and lights. We had to admit that we were lost. We tried to retrace our steps, but became even more confused as every street seemed to look the same. After a few more tries, we ran into someone we knew and they pointed us in the right direction.
Suddenly it seemed obvious, the main street through the medina was much more crowded with people and shops than the streets we had taken. And yet, instead of the shortcut we had planned, we found things hidden deep inside the maze of streets that I never could have imagined. Since then, I have learned the way through the medina and often use it as a shortcut and occasionally I still get lost, but it has never been the adventure that it was that first day.
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