Stan and I are off to Morocco today. We will take a quick flight to New York, then off to Casablanca. We’ll probably be in the air 4 hours to NY and 6 ½ to Morocco. Morocco is that country in North Africa about the size of California right across the Straits of Gibraltar from Spain along the south western part of the Mediterranean Sea.
In 2000 we traveled to China with Friendship Force with a Cinda Clark, a tour coordinator from Fort Collins, Colorado. Cinda called us in the summer and asked if we wanted to join her and some others from all over the US for a couple of weeks to Morocco. Seemed like an interesting idea and certainly a place we had never been before so we signed up.
Our bags are packed, overloaded really, with enough to keep us cleaned up for a while. It is really hard to pack light when you don’t know the weather conditions or plans during our 2 day home stay with a host family. We learned just yesterday we are staying with a women(?), Hafida Lotfi, with 4 children ages 18 to 40. That’s about all we know so far. Her email is from France. Part of the exchange is giving a few gifts to the host family. Other Friendship Force trips we have dropped off quilts in Australia, New Zealand and India. This summer I made a quilt just for this occasion. One fabric has a background of beige paisley. The pattern is called Garden Path from designs from the 30’s. It reminded me of colors and patterns I’ve seen of Morocco in photos.
Most people in Morocco are Muslims, so we’ll have an opportunity to visit some mosques. They speak French and Arabic. I didn’t really take the time to learn either, but practiced a few basic phases in French. We’ll be in hotel mostly and stop off in a Berber village one night then cross the Atlas Mountains to our home stay.
It’s an adventure and I’ll keep you posted as I find internet cafes or business centers in the hotels.
Thanks for joining.
Joyce Kropewnicki
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