Marrakesh - full circle

We returned to Marrakesh after a wonderful and full experience in Morocco. We found the same city we first arrived to, but were able to view it through fresh eyes! Amazing how a month in Morocco had transformed our views and conceptions of the city. The first time we were here we found the shop owners to be quite aggressive and this originally made us uncomfortable. This time, we knew full well how the Moroccan system of sales went and found the market shop owners to be quite warm and friendly!

We returned to Marrakesh a day earlier than planned due to an unexpected invitation from Hala (the daughter of the lovely lady we met on the Fez train) for dinner with her family! We couldn't believe our luck in being invited into TWO Moroccan homes! As we got out of cab I was surprised to be greeted by lots of kisses and hugs! She was so excited to see us and led me by the hand to her apartment. She introduced us to her youngest daughter (about 13), Hala (19 and the one who we spoke to on the train who is fluent in English) and her husband Abdul (I have never met so many Abdul's in my life!!). Again we were not only warmly greeted by the family but by a full table of pastries! The amount of food was unreal. They filled my heaping plate and I knew better than to refuse anything. The champions league finals (football) were on between Barcelona and Manchester United. Barcelona is highly revered as morocco's favorite football team and this definitely held true for Abdul! Most conversation was halted for the game and Abdul jubilantly jumping up and cheering with each goal that led to Barcelona's victory! Neat to be a part of it and really the only difference between a Canadian hockey fan and Abdul was that at half time instead of grabbing a beer, Abdul headed to his prayer mat for evening prayers.

The mother was busy in the kitchen for most of the evening but Hala engaged us in interesting conversations and even a Skype conversation with the oldest daughter taking university in Belgium. When dinner arrived at ten it was ridiculous the amount of food!! 15 people could have easily been fed! Every inch of the table was covered and due to the large amount of pastries fed to me earlier I was full before I started! The food was unlike any I had tried and after soup and two main courses I literally felt ill from being so full! Hala was such and doll, never missing an opportunity to fill our glasses when half empty or even fan Aaron with a huge piece of cardboard when he started profusely sweating due to the heat and being so full! Man did we laugh! Again after supper we were presented with a gift and told they were honored to have us in their home! It was so over the top, words cannot describe how we felt leaving there! Their kindness is profound. To take in two backpackers you met on a train ride and invite them into your home and treat them like kings and queens for no apparent reason (the didn't know of our royal last name - Tutt :) ) was a humbling experience and a perfect vibe to leave morocco with. I know that this family may never make it to Canada but I hope somehow to repay the kindness of the Moroccan people (like Yassine, Fattia and this family) in future by inviting a traveller or someone new to the country into my home. We need more of this in Canada. More kindness, less fear.

This was an unbelievable trip. Highlights of Morocco include hiking in the high atlas mountains, the food (tagines!), the cooking class and meeting the local people. Aaron was an amazing travel partner, friend and brother. He brought humor, good temperament, insight and fun to Morocco. We shared a lot of laughs and it was an experience I'll never forget.