Back in Seatown

We are back in Seattle, home sweet home. I have to say one of the things Imad and I were both struck by is how much we love our home. We'd forgotten what a nice place our house is and we did so much work with remodeling and cleaning/organizing before we left, it was nice to come back to such a comfy, pleasant home. We also lucked out with a great renter that left the place in perfect condition. Lucky for us, the weather here is beautiful so it is making our transition much easier, especially for Imad who got in the habit of obsessively checking Seattle weather the past few weeks.

The trip home and the jet lag thereafter were and continue to be a bit on the painful side. The day before we left, airports in northern Spain including Barcelona, our first destination were closed due to the volcanic ash. We kept our fingers crossed and luckily the airports did open by that night, however, because of the closure the day before, we had a delay of about 4 hours that we didn't know about until we got to the airport. The funniest part to me though is the company, Jet4U a low-cost Moroccan airline sent us an email notifying us of the recent daylight savings time in Morocco and that our flight would be running on the updated time. However, in the email they sent us the original flight time so needless to say we were confused. When we get to the airport, the flight is scheduled to leave an hour later. Now why wouldn't they have put the actual departure time in the email? A quintessential Moroccan moment when it comes to time. Anyway, we were in line for 2 hours when we finally got word that the flight is delayed but scheduled to depart which for us was a relief. We just needed to get to Barcelona so we could catch our next flight the following day to Seattle via London.

After a LONG day (including no naps for Younis), we made it to Barcelona and got some rest at the hotel. The next morning was hard for all of us to get up so we were running late. We made it to the airport, checked in, had an awful experience with the check-in counterperson, I won't go into details, but it meant us rushing through the security and running to catch the plane. We made it to London where we had a 4 hour layover and finally boarded our plane for a 10 hour flight back to Seattle. Again because of the volcanic ash, the plane had to take a little detour adding some time onto the flight, oh joy! In the moment, it felt like time couldn't move any slower, but we made it through. Younis did not sleep much, but I have to say he was really good during the whole trip which made it a million times easier. Now we're in jetlag limbo, up during the night, trying not to sleep too much during the day. Again, just trying to remember that this too will pass. Here are Younis and Imad enjoying a nice deep sleep.

Some of the things I've been struck by since our return to Seattle:

Everything is so calm and orderly

You don't hear honking all the time

Store clerks are super friendly (this one may just be me getting into all these conversations with people because I miss random conversations)

Target is its own insane little world that has everything one could need

It's easy to spend a lot of money

Seattle is beautiful! The mountains on a clear day are spectacular and it feels like there are endless things to do with kids

I'm sure they'll be more things as we get more settled and get over our jetlag.

Younis is loving rediscovering his toys and seeing Mamou, Papou, Auntie Shawn and will get to see all his Seattle friends in the coming days. It's good to be home, but I do miss Morocco and see how we'll always be a little here and a little there, especially for Imad and probably more for Younis as he gets older.

I hope to continue my blog in some form or another so stay tuned and thank you for joining along in our adventures and journey over these past 6 months in Morocco.

Heading Home in 3 Days

We will arrive in Seattle in 3 days via Barcelona and London. We leave from Morocco on Sunday and will spend a night in Barcelona. We found this great cheap ticket to Barcelona back last fall and bought it thinking oh, on the way back maybe we'll spend some time there etc. It's turned out to be a bit of a pain because of course, we want as much time as possible here in Morocco and now will have just a night in the hotel before leaving bright and early Monday for our trip back to Seattle. I guess one more little adventure before we get to home sweet home.

Imad celebrated his birthday here which he hasn't done in years. He was very happy to be surrounded by his family. Here are some fun shots from his birthday celebration. Birthdays definitely are not as big of a deal here as in the states, but I know he was happy to have a little party, and as is tradition here, we relit the candles MANY times so all the kids had a turn to blow them out.

Younis will miss all his cousins who he's gotten to know really well. I'm sure just like his Seattle buddies, they'll become the main characters in his books and we'll have lots of nice conversations about their daily activities everyday.

Tangier

Last week, we were planning to spend a few days in Marrakech, but unfortunately our housing situation fell through so we headed instead north to Tangier where Imad's cousin lives. One of the things that I both love and that drives me crazy is the plan making process here. I feel like we spend so much time making various plans and most often those plans are altered several times before something finally happens. Insha'allah, god willing, is how everything happens here. While at times it drives me crazy, because I just want to know what the he** we're doing, at the same time, I like the spontaneity and not knowing exactly where, when, how, why etc.

We made it to what are called Hercules caves where through this African shaped viewing point you can see where the Mediterannean Sea and Atlantic Ocean meet. At age 2, Younis has seen the most northwestern point of Africa, that's pretty cool. Tangier is a border city. You feel the hustle and reliance on a tourist economy in an intense way. It's a beautiful area, the city is built on hills and has a nice big beach area and like all of Morocco I'm realizing, rapid development of housing, hotels, resorts, etc.

Here's Younis with his Mamie and doing a little happy dance, he LOVES the ocean.

We ate lunch in the old medina one day and saw several huge groups of tourists come through with vendors following them, pushing them to buy and sticking merchandise in their faces. May not leave the best memories for these tourist groups, especially if Tangier is just one stop on a cruise or the only experience in Morocco. But as Imad's cousin said, people have to make a living somehow and for a lot of residents in Tangier, the tourist economy is a way to do it.

A lot of Moroccans and Africans from sub-saharan Africa cross over illegally to Spain via boat as it's only about 8 miles away. Just like dangerous crossings from Cuba to the states and other "south to north" borders, many people don't make it across or are met by immediately by police and sent back.

Here's a shot of the ferries (for those with visas or the right passports) that cross over the straight of Gibraltar. The boat ride takes about 30 minutes. You can see Spain in the distance.

Younis made his first solo purchase on the boardwalk. Imad gave him a couple dirhams and off he went to the snack vendor to buy some peanuts. Yum. He was a very proud kid walking back with his purchase. Imad had to nudge him to hand over the money, but aside from that, a very smooth purchase.

We are now in our last week in Morocco. It's so hard to believe! In exactly one week, we'll be back in Seattle. Culture shock here we come. I never think it'll hit that hard, but it always does. Bittersweet days as we near the end of an amazing 6 month adventure!