What it's all about

Ok, one more quick post for the moment. Today was one of those days where I sat back and thought to myself, "Now this is why I'm traveling." So I just have to fill you all in.

A little backstory: When Ava and I checked into our hotel in Marrakesh (the infamous Hotel Ali), we started chatting with Chakir, the Moroccan gentleman who showed us our room. He was an affable guy, and he seemed genuinely happy to be showing us around the place. We ran into him several times on subsequent occasions, and he always stopped to chat and see how we were doing. Despite his friendliness, we were pretty surprised when we ran into him yesterday evening and he asked us to come to his house for lunch on Friday (today).

I must admit, my initial reaction was to wonder to myself, "okay, what's the catch?" Sometimes it seems that if anyone in Morocco does anything nice for you, they want something (read: money) in return. So I was a tad bit wary, but it seemed like too unique an opportunity to pass up. In the end, we agreed to meet Chakir today at his home for a traditional Moroccan lunch.

So today, at around 11 AM, we met up with Kamel, another friend of Chakir's who was also staying at Hotel Ali, and caught a cab to the outskirts of Marrakesh. When we arrived at the Mohammed household (where Chakir, his mother, two sisters, two brothers, brother-in-law, and two neices live), we were greeted with the most amazing outpouring of hospitality. We were ushered into the living room where we were served delicious mint tea while Chakir showed us pictures of his friends and family. After a while, his six-year-old neice, Maria, ran in and gave us each a big hug and a kiss on the cheek. When lunch was ready, we were brought upstairs to another sitting room where an incredible lunch spread was laid out. We feasted on fresh salad, bread, potatoes, chicken shish kebabs, and what was quite literally a MOUNTAIN of couscous with a delicious sweet onion and raisin topping (Chakir called this "the couscous of the kings"). Even though we were ridiculously stuffed by the end, we were somehow able to top things off with another round of mint tea and a tasty selection of Moroccan cakes and pastries. Throughout the entire affair, I was just blown away by how nice everyone was, and how they were going out of their way to make us comfortable. Keep in mind that, by this point, we had known Chakir for only about 24 hours!

To me, this entire afternoon was basically a continuous string of magical moments where I felt like I was actually accomplishing what I set out to do: having meaningful exchanges with people of other cultures. Somehow Ava and I were able to connect with this person, whose life has always been so different from ours, and share a few hours of mutual learning and friendship. I know that this will be one of these days that I remember for the rest of my life.

So, what's the next step? Well, as much as I have LOVED Marrakesh, Ava and I have decided that it's time to move on. Tomorrow morning we're leaving on a guided expedition into the heart of Morocco, which will last 3 days and two nights. We're going with a couple of Danish guys that we met a few days ago, and they both seem really cool. Honestly, I have no idea what to expect, but the way things have been going, I can only assume that we'll all have a fantastic time. Hopefully I'll be able to post again when I return, so keep an eye out!