Wednesday, January 26

What a day. Garwick got in today and he speaks fluent French. I went to town with him and he had the Arabs & French going around in circles. Later we went down to the part where a bunch of the prostitutes from the Medina came to sell their wares. They would get a customer and spread their blankets in the bushes - there were dozens of the girls there. Garwick later cornered a French Major & Captain over at the officer's Club and he talked them into taking us into the Medina in their car & showing us around. We drove down to the red light district and after dodging M.P.s we finally found the street about 4 blocks long which was one continuous "row of houses." We elbowed our way down thru the droves of girls who would grab onto us and just hang on. Sometimes they would get about 3 of them and drag us into their parlor. There they would rub up against us, try to take our pants off, pull up their dresses, and everything imaginable to try to get us to patronize them. We spent 5 hours there and was in every house there - it was one of the damndest things I have ever seen. Boy, it would have been wonderful not to have to worry about disease - for as low as 50c we could have slept with very attractive women.

Tuesday, January 25

Slept till noon - then went to town in the PM. Back on Flying status now and ship is O.K. Walked around the French quarters and bartered with the Arabs for a cigarette case & billfold - made of camel's leather. They are handmade & really beautiful. Went to a show at the Red Cross in the evening - saw Olson & Johnson in "Crazy House." It was one of the best comedies I have seen for a long time.

Monday, January 24

Got bawled out royally for leaving hospital last nite but don't care much. Slept all day and went into town again tonite. Three of us climbed over the wall and went down into the Medina tonite - it is off limits. It was an experience I shall never forget. We rode for 30 minutes in a horse-drawn cab thru narrow alleys just filled with grime and these black cloaked & hooded Arabs - it gives one the impression of the Ku Klux Klan. Finally wound up at a couple of French prostitute's room - we wanted them to put on a burlesque show for us but they wanted $4 apiece which we wouldn't pay. Our cab took our money & promised to wait but when we left - he was gone and so was the guide. We wandered around for 2 hours before we found our way out of the maize of alleys - we finally found an M.P. who took us back. Stood Nelly up to go into the Medina.

Sunday, January 23

Slept in hospital all day - tooth still hurts like the devil. The rest of the squadron finally caught up so a bunch of us went to town again tonite. We found a bar in the basement of a hotel over in the French quarters that was open and there we picked up a French girl. She was one of the dirtiest talking women I have ever seen she wanted me to sleep with her. I guess she is a prostitute. The Four of us talked her into taking us down into the Medina or native quarters where she lived if we could slip by the M.P.'s as the Medina is off limits. However we couldn't get by so she agreed to meet us tonite with 3 girl friends. We did get her story though. She lived in Paris when the Germans came and they shot two of her sisters, her brother and father for refusing to work for them. They threw her into a concentration camp with her baby which soon died from lack of food. She escaped to unoccupied France & on a destroyer from there to Oran. The Gestapo was close behind her though and chased her clear to Casablanca when we landed there.

Saturday, January 22

Flew across 1000 miles of the Sahara desert - not even a shrub or a rock for 600 miles - just sand dunes. After crossing the desert we had to fly over the Moroccan Mountain range to get to Marrakech. Some of the peaks were 15,000 ft. high and all snow capped. Snow in Africa but it sure was pretty.

The Arabs live in adobe houses - a cluster of them in the most desolate places. They will find a dry river bottom where there are a few shrubs and build a town there - 300 miles from a road and desert all around. There were hundreds of these in the dry rock foothills - and no visible means of support. Marrakech has hundreds of all kinds of planes - even some French fighters and trainers.

Reported right to hospital & they treated my tooth and put me to bed. Tonite I got up, dressed, and went to town. It was all blacked out and
everything closed so just looked around and then went back to hospital and went to bed.

Friday, January 21

Took off from Liberia & flew up to Dakar - the westernmost tip of Africa. Dakar is next to the worst Malaria spot in the World. We had to wear
our pants tucked into our boots, repellent, and everything to keep away the mosquitoes. They have the weirdest looking trees there - they are about 8 ft. in diameter and only about 15 ft. tall with no leaves & very few branches.

Went over to the dispensary with wisdom tooth trouble and they were going to send me to a hospital for 3-4 days but the Major persuaded them to let me go on to Marrakech.

Played hearts in the evening.

Thursday, January 20

Rained all morning so I just lay around and slept. Started reading "Topper Takes a Trip " after lunch and didn't stop till I finished it at 9:30 P.M. It is one of the funniest books I have read.

Sent out my laundry & my boots to be repaired spent a couple of hours trying to get them back for we are finally leaving tomorrow. Thank God for that.

Wednesday, January 19

Wallace James Bodker 21
And this was all the Harvest that I reaped, I came like Water and like Wind I go.

Played golf today - one of the most beautiful courses I have ever seen carved out of the jungles up on the far side of the Firestone Plantation.

There are about 40 or 50 white employees including twelve wives who use it. We borrowed some clubs and played nine holes out in the hot African sun - I hit a 66 - about 40 better than my first game at WSC.

Tuesday, January 18

Went on a Safari back up into the hills - walked about 10 miles back and saw a bunch of native villages. Some of them were very crude and dirty but others were very clean and almost modern. The small children - 6 - 10 years old are painted white when they are ready for their jungle schooling. The "country devil" then comes and for a fee takes the kids back in the bush for their education. We saw a 12 year old girl as fully developed as our 20 year olds. We also ran into two girls taking a bath in a stream. They just giggled and didn't mind us at all till I started to take a picture then they screamed and threw mud at us. Played ping pong all evening.

Monday, January 17

We were finally allowed to go up to the Firestone Plantation - about 5 miles up in the hills from here. A naval Lt. who is stationed there picked us up in his car and showed us everything. They have several thousand acres with about 100 trees/acre. We saw the big tank trucks bringing the liquid latex into the plants and then we tapped a tree ourselves and watched the white liquid drip into the cups. It hardens into a good quality rubber immediately. We then went up to this Lt's. house - leased from Firestone - it is a beautiful brick house with beautiful lawns & flowers right on the edge of the most beautiful golf course I have seen.

Then we went over to a huge native village and saw the bunches of native huts - they are all round, made of mud with thatched roofs. They have a bed room & parlor - the whole thing about 15 feet in diameter. They were cooking up some "palm oil" - a horrible smell -and cassava - the native potato which they live on. We bought a half stem of bananas for 15c and saw the half naked men and women bartering for goods at the trading post. We saw the witch doctor with all his hocus pocus and he did a very mystifying dance with a small boy contortionist helping him. They were both painted up & had head dresses and bells and bracelets all over them. The children and women smear mud over their faces to make them beautiful.