my family visits Morocco!

October 24-November 2: My mommy and brother came to visit me in Morocco!

Itinerary in brief: Casablanca (1 night) à Marrakech (1) à Ouarzazate (2) à Essaouira (2) à Imi nTlit (1) à Marrakech (2) à Casablanca

Highlights (in no particular order, except for the last point):

• Walking to the arrival gate just as my family walked out the gate despite a one-hour train delay. Whew!
• Good weather (minus the evening they arrived)!
• Staying at an Ibis Hotel (finally!)
• Macarons and cured ham from Paris – thank you brother!
• Moleskin planner and Clinique product from America – thank you momma!
• Delicious food (that I wouldn’t normally eat because it’d be completely out of my PCV budget!)
• Private tour of Theatre in Kech
• Traveling on the Tisska pass with my family. None of us threw up – yay!
• My real family meeting my CBT host family. Everyone getting along. My host siblings being as adorable as possible.
• My real family meeting my final site host family. My mother and I being dressed up (a la headdresses) as tislits (Berber brides).
• Shopping (and bargaining) with my family and walking away with good deals.
• Hailing 10 consecutive petit taxis in Marrakech, none of which would work the meter. (Welcome to my life.)
• Speaking in Tashleheit and Arabic like my life depended on it.
• Speaking Chinese and English. I haven’t spoken that much Chinese in a long time. It felt good speaking Chinese to my momma.
• Staying at hotels, an urban PCV’s apartment, and my house in site.
• Tour of a public hammam.
• Private hammam + massage session with my mom.
• Riding camels on the beach in Essaouira.
• Showing my family the most significant places of my service.
• My family meeting Volunteers, great people who have shaped my service.
• Traveling in (rented) private vehicles!
• My brother catching on to “inshallah”.
• My brother’s inappropriate drinking joke when he was shopping for a leather bag.
• My mother telling me how much Morocco, particularly the rural places, remind her of her childhood in Danang, Vietnam.
• My mother being such a laid back traveler. Nothing really shocked her.
• My mom and brother’s willingness to try anything and everything. One of the least stressful parts of the trip was finding places to eat. They also drank tap water – props to them!
• “Host”ing my family…this really showed me how long I’ve been in Morocco and how accustomed to the culture I’ve become. Wow.
• 9 days of quality time with my momma and brother. Absolutely priceless.

I could go on but I’ll stop the list here because there are plenty of pictures to remind me of the trip.

As I bid adieu to my mom and brother at the airport, it felt good to know that I’ll be setting food in America in just six months’ time…inshallah.