These last weeks have been full, bringing me on travels by almost every form of transportation. I traveled by taxi, bus, train, ferry, and my faithful feetsies. I went all over Rabat with my mom and then to Marrakech with her. She left and I headed to the south of Spain for the weekend.
I will break up these next two posts to make it less overwhelming.
First adventure of the week came last Thursday, the 8th I think, when my mom came to spend a week with me in morocco. She arrived safely in order to find a very small airport in Rabat and multiple different cultural shocks. This may be a good opportunity to list a few… (although I am sure she will be glad to tell you if you ask her yourself) This list may also simply be a way for me to organize a lot of activities without writing a full-out novel.
1. She disliked the traffic situation. When I say dislike, I mean refused to cross when I wanted to cross, (there is no “right of way” for pedestrians here – it’s to each his own) She got used to it quickly and we devised a system of holding each others arms and getting around morocco that way. There were a couple frantic street crossings where she pulled me who knows where in an attempt to save me from upcoming cars, but we laugh about it now. It takes time to adjust to the chaos.
2. She noticed the call to prayer more than I do anymore. She compared it to an eery siren sound. I can see her point, but tune it out now.
3. She disliked the cat calls. It is a shock to experience the blatant disrespect that surrounds us everywhere here. I think this is probably the thing she liked least about Morocco. It’s hard to not hear what they say, but I have learned to not react and pretend they don’t exist. However, we have had enough good experiences with people that I think it overweighed the rude comments. A security guard at Chellah remembered me from one of my wandering adventures and showed us around the mosque ruins.
4. We bargained for things. I think mom found it sort of exhilarating. The man would state a price for, say a pair of yellow leather slippers for my brother, and she would either laugh, since she knows its way overpriced, or else ask me what it should cost, where I would respond that it is overpriced. I think laughing might not be the best way to win them over, but we eventually brought down the prices and made some friends along the way. It helped speaking to them in Arabic and explaining how I am a student here and not just another tourist willing to pay the outrageous prices. Mom got in the habit of saying la, shukran, meaning no thank you. 5. We had Moroccan mint tea and couscous and tajine. All great things that mom also loved. At couscous at my host house, the family couldn’t stop saying how beautiful my mom was. They said she was zweena, meaning pretty. They also made sure that dad tells her that, which I assured them that my dad thinks that mom is very pretty and tells her so, don’t worry. : ) She ate her food wonderfully from the communal plate and later enjoyed tea and coffee with the family, along with Moroccan crepes. All fried and doused in oil, yet delicious. She ate to the chorus of “kulee” which means, eat!
6. We had wonderful weather. I still appreciate the beautiful sunshine and warmth here. The day my mom was leaving we experienced a bit of rain, unfortunately, leaving us drenched. My feet may or may not be completely black on the bottom as a result of the leather dye coming off on my feet. Haha. It is quite the site and a bit surprising for the unexpected person who chances to see my feet. They are completely coated black on the bottom.
7. We visited a spa in Marrakech where my mom and I had a traditional hamon scrub-down, complete with henna soap and Moroccan black soap. Talk to her about it I suppose. It was not the same experience I have had in the local hamons, since this was a hotel spa, but it was the same general idea. A bit up close and personal but oh so clean afterward. We finished with a message with apricot oil, splendid, ending with some quality time in the sauna. It was a wonderful and relaxing retreat for me.
8. Mom experienced a bit of the problems with Moroccan communication. After receiving faulty information, she ended up at the airport expecting to spend the night there to awake to an early plane. However, upon arriving, she was told that the airport closes and it would be quite unsafe for her to stay there. Proceed to my mom’s solo Moroccan adventure where she stayed at a worker’s house with his family. She called me as I was on my way in a bus to Tanger, completely unable to do anything. Thankfully our Lord is faithful and places kind people in our pathways, providing safety and comfort for my mom. They brought her to the airport in the morning and called me to let me know she was safe and assured me multiple times that “everything is ok”. I was also called later the weekend to make sure that mom got home safely since she didn’t call them when she got back to the states. I will call and assure them that she got home.
9. To recap, we walked all over Rabat for a couple days, visiting the ocean, ancient ruins of chellah, the old medina, the Kasbah, the protestant church, and the boardwalk. Then we headed out to Marrakesh for a mini-vacation within a vacation. It was a trip that was too short but we decided that Dad needs to come here too. And of course I would love to see my wonderful Danny and Gracie as well! Spending time with mom made me miss the whole family and home quite a bit! I have a month and a half left. Soon I will be home.
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