yes. all of the above.
in my feeble quest to find the perfect one-word description of the country, its people, and my time there, my mind continues to roll around many words. yet if i must choose one, it would be none other than... rich.
did i just label a second-world African country rich?
before i go any further, let me throw out a little disclaimer: i spent seven days in Morocco. seven. days. my perspective is thus very limited. also, my words will be few, as they probably should be. great things and experiences always make my words seem really…small. Morocco all the more.
Morocco is not a Western country. it does not have a lot of money. it is not considered economically rich. yet i found Morocco, and really Moroccans, to be culturally, spiritually, generously, joyously, look-you-in-the-eye-and-just-smile rich.
just a few stories…
the first night in Midelt, we had dinner with Hayat’s family.
[Hayat is one of the artisans Cory works with.] after tea and cookies and talking and laughing, i found myself clothed with Hayat’s mother’s djellbaba [robe], dancing like the white person i am with Hayat and her sister SouSou in their living room. dancing was followed by a savory tajine dinner, and through the entire night i repeatedly felt as if i had been in Midelt for months, when i had in fact been there for hours. i was treated not as visitor or Cory’s friend but as their friend, as family. it was an incredible, simple, blissful night.the second day in Midelt, we hiked out to Tattiwin, a small rural village at the base of the High Atlas Mountains. the trip out was more
than beautiful...the pictures just don’t [and can’t] do it justice. we arrived in Tattiwin and found the people Cory wanted to meet with weren’t around. plan B: meet village woman [whom Cory had never met before], who instantly feeds us fresh bread and honey [and tea, of course], take 2-hour nap in her home [she insisted], get up, eat tajine dinner with a table full of locals and passers-by. the kicker is…everyone waited for us to wake from our naps to indulge in dinner. [maybe not long, but i’m not sure…and does it matter?] i was [again] completely overwhelmed by the generosity and hospitality of these incredible people. we hung out in Tattiwin a bit longer, chilling with the nuns who were providing free health care, and then headed back to Midelt. later that night Hayat and i took a walk around town…just talking and walking arm-in-arm. blissful. Hayat’s English is remarkable, thanks to Cory’s stellar teaching and Hayat’s wicked smartness. :) Hayat asked if i would return to Midelt, to which i replied i would love to, but the better option would be if i never left. she liked that idea, as did i, and hinted more than once that i could come back and teach in Midelt. really, the girl wouldn’t have to twist my arm much at all.second to the people, the skies and landscapes of Morocco are breathtakingly beautiful. images that were not captured by my camera, and instead reside permanently in my memory, are the stars. sleeping on the roof at night with the brightest, thickest blanket of stars overhead…i was sure i had never seen more stars in my life. but then came the overnight bus ride to Marrakech.
there, in the back seat of a very full [yet surprisingly somewhat comfortable] bus, i sat with my face pressed against the window, eyes fixed on a sky that was only stars. to be honest, the wonder and amazement of it all made me kind of tear-up a bit. i guess i shouldn’t have been so overwhelmed by its beauty [i mean, this was Africa after all], but i was. i fought sleep, as i did each night on the roof, as long as possible in order to take in each precious minute. and then, when eyes became too heavy, i drifted into sweet, peaceful sleep. how wonderful. how beautiful. how...rich.
