Morocco: "Enchanting, fantastical and stupendous!"- 11 year old's review

Morocco is a GREAT place to travel with kids. We were a bit apprehensive to take this leg of the trip but we are having a blast.  We needn't have worried. The kids haven't stopped smiling or learning since we arrived. From trying out a smattering of Arabic and French to learning how to tie a turban or calculate big percentages for bargaining, they are on fire.

The kids have been more bemused than bewildered, stimulated than paralyzed, and overall riveted by the entire spectacle of it all and spectacle it is--- but how does it seem to an 11 year old?
"Enchanting, fantastical and stupendous". Ok, at first she said 'nice, fun and interesting' which were adjectives sent back by Mom! J has had a non-stop grin and a constant stream of 'I love it'.

Even when it's shocking. And it is. Around practically every corner.

Sometimes what we see is hard. It's one of the reasons we thought about not coming. Would it be TOO shocking? TOO 'hard'? TOO raw? Morocco is unedited. It is so real your hair stands on end but in the realness of it all we have all found ourselves absolutely engaged, without stipulations. The kids have not blinked once so to speak rather, they seem to open their eyes wider taking it all in. 

The gruesome with the gorgeous. The rough with the tender.

Some things we expected to see but they are even more beautiful than we could have imagined.

It is impossible to capture the kindness and openness of the Moroccan people. We had heard about it. Read about it. Studied it. To experience it is a wonder. They have a gesture where they take their right fist and gently pound it over their heart as they smile these grand smiles and look directly into your eyes. Try it. It feels a tiny bit like how it is to be in Morocco.

Other things we'd hoped to learn about. Here are plates of natural dyes.

It is more interesting than we had expected.  We learned that maroon comes from pomegranate, green from mint, blue from indigo, saffron for yellow, henna for red. We will later see men embroidering with a string and spindle that stretch down an entire alley (ours) and is connected to a man's head as he holds it steady for his mate.

What are the kids studying so intently here?

A man carving wood with his toe! We see these spindle mechanisms all over. Look carefully and find the blade.

Passageway after passageway in the souks yield the most incredible sights.

Incongruous sights like a man stopping to drink his tea with a rooster stomping around next to him as his hammer and anvil lie stationary. Can you see the rooster?

A sea of lanterns. Can you find J's head? These lanterns are BIG.

Here's a Moroccan young man that helped us the night before pounding a design into a lantern. We saw him today and we all lit up like old friends. I asked if I could take his picture and he immediately began pounding furiously!

It is impossible to avoid getting swept into the fun of it all.

Baby-O loved her scarf (yes we bought )

One thing that is contributing to this fun-fest is that we hit the jackpock with our riad (thank you Evan for providing a great definition- a riad is a traditional Moroccan house that has been transformed into a guesthouse). 

Riad Misria is an oasis just steps away from the souks and one minute from the oldest Islamic College in Morocco; it's a school that was founded in the 14th Century. In short, we are in the thick of it but we feel as pampered as we ever have in our lives. Nothing is too much trouble for Michel's menagerie of staff who are great about teaching us French and Arabic, fetching milk, pounding out miniature ice chips for the baby, or finding the Barcelona game on TV and even going out to the street to find J to tell him it was beginning! They scatter rose petals on the table when we they serve meals. We feel incredibly fortunate to be experiencing what feels like epic hospitality.

When I sat back at home daydreaming about what I hoped might happen during the trip. One of the things I pictured was J playing soccer with 'local children'. Tonight we arrived back down our alley where our Riad home is located and stumbled upon two boys kicking a tennis ball in a soccer 'game'. J joined in spontaneously and went on to spend an hour playing with a small posse that formed.  To hear him describe the kids' faces when he brought out the real soccer ball he'd lugged along from Spain was priceless. They even ended up smashing a fellow's scooter light out- oops!

 

The mother across the way opened the door at the same time I did to check on the boys. We proceeded to have a 'conversation' in Arabic/French/Spanish that was essentially confirming we were both 'Barca' fans and not 'Real Madrid'! It's hard to believe that beyond this alley on the other side of a wooden door lies our piece of paradise.

It's a great feeling to not fathom what tomorrow will bring.

Or what puzzles will be unlocked.