Jalbert Family Adventure

Morocco Part 3

(This is a sequel to Morocco Part 1 and 2)

We left Tamtatouche with sadness the next morning despite their urges that we stay for the next day of the wedding celebration. We paid them handsomely for the accommodations which consisted of two mattresses and a squat toilet. Their kind spirit was priceless. The boys were sad to leave Abdou who had taught them African board games and played Uno with them neither of which required language. Laura treasured the scarf given to her at the wedding as a gift which still had the aroma of the previous night’s fires. A sort of melancholy set in as we tried to silently make sense of how we live our life compared to how they live theirs.

We spent the next few days enjoying what remained of Morocco as we made our way towards Marrakesh. We are ashamed to say that we went running back to our creature comforts and stayed in a fancy suite at the next stop and enjoyed some Moroccan craft shopping and R&R with wireless internet access galore. We still hope that our inner axis permanently shifted a bit from our earlier experience and hope our worldview is changed for the better. The landscape to Marrakesh was beautiful as we passed kasbahs the size of palaces and serpentine roads that made our stomachs ache but our eyes dance. After such a peaceful and tranquil journey around Morocco, chaotic Marrakesh was jarring and difficult for us to navigate and we decided one evening on the town was sufficient. We left as quick as we came and settled for a few days in an oasis in the suburbs among the olive groves where we continued in our solitude. During the day we explored the valley and ventured into local huts to negotiate the price of carpets and went out at night to fabulous restaurants complete with traditional music, belly dancers and horse shows. We all fell in love with Morocco and felt very welcome there and hope to return someday. We are also learning that travelling without many plans and some of the stress, faith and hope that goes along with that often leads to sweeter surprises and unexpected delights.