All went as planned, up until the meeting Adil's family part... at which point none of our other plans mattered.
We met Adil and then after that decided to skip our appointments for the spa and dinner... yes, we stood them up, and it was so incredibly worth it.
I can't blog about it all tonight, honestly my heart can't even begin to find the words and my body and emotions are overwhelmed. All I can begin to say is that I have been more deeply touched today than I have been in a VERY long time, possibly ever.
Today we were greeted by our smiling Adil in the main square, he took us back to his home and introduced us to his mother who was squatting on the floor of the kitchen already preparing our dinner. We had tea and met his family and neighbors as they wandered in.
His mother showed us how to cook couscous, his sister-in-laws/neighbors/mother taught us how to eat with our hands, laughed with us as we failed miserably, took us to a traditional hammam (community bath house), washed us head to toe like little children, painted us in henna and kissed us goodbye again and again and again.
I was on the verge of tears for the entire day. As I sat there in their humble home and was the recipient of everything they could think of to give me I found myself so profoundly grateful for the experiance and the feelings of love that were shared. I can't speak a lick of arabic, they can't speak a word of english... yet we communicated, our hearts connected and I will forever feel that I have a family in Marrakesh, Morocco.
This is me and Hiba after our time in the hammam; they wrapped my hair for me so I wouldn't catch cold -- in the 90 degree heat :) Notice Hiba is in a coat, two hats, pants and full shoes. In the hammam we became fast friends when we helped eachother wash all of our soap off.
This is us... for the most part. Some of us are missing, Adil is taking the picture, the woman who did our henna had already left, one of his sister-in-laws is missing and a bunch of his brothers are elsewhere... but for the most part this is the group.
I wish I could tell you more, but like I said earlier. I'm exhausted and even if I had the energy to stay up and type for hours I don't think my heart and mind can connect to even find the words....
From the depths of my heart....
Salaam Alikoum (peace be unto you, in Arabic)
1 comment:
Do americans treat people like that? Have you found that everyone is that friendly, or is this fmaily in particular? What a great thing to make someones day like they have made yours. I'm glad you are having an awesome time.
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