Goodbye Indiana, Hello Morocco

Part 1: Indiana
Getting to spend the last 1.5 months in Indy already felt, in a way, like the beginning of this new adventure for me. It was filled with so many beautiful moments:

• * Many meals shared with mom and dad, celebrating mom’s birthday, along with Rumikub/Yahtzee games, and movies

• *Evenings spent with Mimi watching our shows, attempting our difficult puzzle, trying a new coffee shop, and meals shared together

• *2.5 days in Columbus with Grandma - concert + dinner, pedicures, happy hour, shopping, and our big puzzle

• *3 days in Illinois with the Monteiro’s - bowling, meals shared together, movie, and sequence games

• *Visits with Caylie + Alexandra and getting to meet baby Josephine

• *Completing my last day of work with Whirlpool after 3.5 years

• *Jovan visiting Indy twice, once during the big snowstorm! Hot tub and hot coco, lots of travel planning, and dinner with Mr.McKee

• *Dinner in Chicago with Mark and Jordan

I’m very grateful that the start to this new year included so much quality time spent with loved ones. It’s exactly what I wanted, and exactly why I chose to quit a little bit early. I’m thankful to have started my time off in this way, and it comes full circle as my last day ends off with a final brunch at Trader’s Point Creamery with Mom, Dad, and Jovan ❤️

Arriving at the airport, I was feeling a lot of conflicting emotions - excitement, fear, hope, and a bit melancholic as I felt the weight of this dream that I’ve been anticipating for years finally becoming realized.

Part 2: Morocco Day 1

The travel to Morocco was smooth sailing. I watched Goodfellas on the flight and got some sleep. Marrakesh airport was efficient and I easily got a car to my accommodation.

I was greeted by Ayoub, the owner of my Riad (in Morocco a large traditional house built around a central courtyard). He served me some tea and cookies. We talked about my plans in Morocco and he gave me some suggestions on what to do while here. He also gave me a little history lesson on their tea culture! Some fun facts:

1) They always serve the tea with one more glass than there are guests (eg. I’m one person, so there are two cups on the serving platter). The tea is poured in the first glass, and this first pour is then returned back in the tea kettle. Left behind on the cup are some tea leaves, and the cup is left very hot. Then the second pour goes to the clean cup, and this is given to guests as a sign of respect as the tea comes out more pure, and the cup is less hot to the touch.

2) I asked for tea with no sugar and he said this is very uncommon, Moroccans love sugar and put a lot of sugar in their tea. He guessed that ~98% of Moroccans take sugar in their tea, and joked that the only time they don’t take sugar is when they are forced to drink unsweetened because they’re sick (probably from all the sugar they drink)

3) Since it’s haram to drink alcohol, they make something called amazigh “whiskey” which is tea that has been mixed serveral times in order to taste very strong. It is often served in a very small portion like a shot

4) A sign of respect is to pour the tea high above the cup, as this results in bubbles at the top of the tea. As Ayoub says, a tea without bubbles is just water.

Following my introductory tea, I took a nap while waiting for dinner. I was served a 3 course Moroccan dinner on the rooftop! To begin, Harira is a tomato based soup that is enjoyed during Ramadan when breaking fast. Next, I was served a lemon chicken dish that was super delicious. Lastly, a dessert consisting of some orange juice with chopped up apples, pear, banana, and kiwi topped with chocolate sauce. The soup and chicken were super good, but the dessert I wouldn’t go out of my way for.

Phrases: choukran= thank you; choukran bezaf = thank you very much

I write this as I’m awaiting Helena’s flight to land tonight, and then we will have 16 days in Morocco together :) we’re not sure yet what we want to do, but we’ll talk more with the Riad owner tomorrow over breakfast and get some ideas.