The kids are off from school today. We opened up the shop much to their excitement as they were ready to sell more of their drawings to the nurses and other workers from Alina. They have a rare capitalist gene I do not possess.

Just after opening, Mostafa – who runs a shop on the other side of the market – came in to make some copies. I was playing Nass el Ghiwane, much to his delight. “This is music from Morocco. Revolutionary music!” I could tell this was a rare time he’d heard his home country’s music in Minneapolis, let along music like Nass el Ghiwane. I told him how I liked them, but only knew a little bit about their history. I mentioned how I knew they were a very political group. “Yes,” he said, “they are people’s music. They risked very much, and even went to jail.”

We spoke of Morocco, and his family’s city, Fes, a place I have always wanted to visit. Louis gave him a Pokeman drawing.

All yet another reason why I love spending my days at the shop, and how much that love is energized, in good part, by everyone here at the Global Market.