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We ended 2013 with more diversity...
After celebrating a true “American Thanksgiving,” in grand style, in Ksar el Kebir, we added a little bit more to our giant bucket of diversity before the end of 2013. First, since it was now really cold outside, Clay decided to try some grilling INSIDE. He set up a hibachi in the kitchen and Ann was mortified. All said and done, we had a completely smoke-filled house and our little Peace Corps issued smoke detector went off. On the bright side, the food was, in fact, delicious. We could also say that we had done something we had never done before (and probably won’t again). What’s life without a little excitement?
Before we left Morocco for our Christmas-time vacation, we started hanging out on our now-covered roof in the mornings. It was cold and we had to bundle up, but it was a real change from the hellish heat of summer. To help him stay warm, Clay added another new facet of diversity to his life by drinking coffee. OK, not coffee, but espresso. To help us stay warm at night, we purchased a space heater. As most heaters here are, it is
attached to a propane tank - - another new adventure for us. We learned that it is not fun at all to run out of gas in the middle of the night. After that lesson, we got a new blanket of appropriate thickness and re-learned the value of snuggling as closely as possible in wintertime. (And, we now have extra tanks of gas in the house at all times!)
We continued on with our youth activities in various locations. In two parts, we showed the movie Mrs. Doubtfire (with Arabic sub-titles) which generated a lot of interesting discussion. The scene with Robin Williams’ gay brother and his boyfriend, the fact that the parents get divorced, and the pool scene, where women are in bikinis, all brought with them some very interesting and controversial conversations.
After that stunt, we were off to add Barcelona to our list of visited cities and a return to Madrid. It was nice to see the aura of Christmas in Spain (decorations, celebrations, children skating to Christmas music). When we got on the plane headed for Miami, we were greeted with the best airline food ever!!! (No, seriously!!!) Iberia Airlines has a gift in
that department. It didn’t hurt that we were in business class seats, which was our only Christmas present to ourselves but it did make the jump across the pond much more pleasant.
The fun and leisurely trip came to a screeching halt when we landed in Miami and the feds decided to detain us (they were interested in Clay, really). We were about to miss our connecting flight to Jacksonville and it was Christmas Eve (last flight). We were tired and irritated. They asked Clay questions, like “Hmmmmm….. how did you first hear about the Peace Corps?” It is important to note that we have Peace Corps issued passports and work for the U.S. government!!! Really?!?!?!
After much questioning and waiting, they escorted us to our luggage where they proceeded to inspect it. They confiscated the ham we purchased in Madrid for gifts and threw it in a garbage can. We were finally sent on our way and thankfully we made our flight with no time to spare but only because it departed late. Thank goodness for airline inefficiency! Unfortunately, by the time we had landed in Jacksonville we both had full-fledged colds. They lasted the duration of
our Christmas celebrations and family time in Florida and all the way through our arrival back in Morocco.
It was wonderful to have hugs from our kids, family and friends and kisses from our dogs. Being back in the States, we experienced a bit of a re-culture shock. There were high-pressure, hot showers, a clothes dryer, heavy traffic on good roads, and a grocery store with any kind of food we wanted! There were stores stocked with familiar clothes and non-Chinese electronics. Some afternoon partying with some lawyer friends, a baby shower for our daughter and dinner with Ann’s Dad were some of the highlights. The familiar traditions of the Wilson’s house and watching the girls open their presents made us feel like we were indeed home. We rang in the New Year with family and old friends in the American style, in America, which was very different from our Thanksgiving celebration a month before in Morocco. We are blessed to have people who love us on two sides of the world now. “DIVERSITY R US!,” “WE BE DIVERSIFIED!,” and “IF YOU AIN’T DIVERSIFIED, YOU AIN’T…” well, we are still working on that one! J Until next time folks…
B-slama! (Goodbye!)
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