Home Again

After almost two months in California (which included a delightful Christmas with Joel, Chelsey, Erik, Camille, Lily, and Rosaleen), Rob and I are back home in Morocco. And it really does feel like home! I'm learning that home is wherever there are people that you love, and I feel very blessed that I already have great friends in Marrakech.

After returning to Morocco, we enjoyed a lovely potluck with Rob's colleagues, their spouses and children. Everyone brought delicious dishes from their native countries. So much fun!

Rob and I also had an AMAZING adventure last week when we visited some very remote villages high in the Atlas Mountains. We accompanied a group of philanthropists who have sponsored projects to improve education and medical care to villages that previously had very little access to these types of services. To get to the villages we inched up the mountain in this 1970's vintage Land Rover. The roads are very rugged and even a typical four-wheel drive vehicle cannot make it. It was okay on the way up but some of the narrow switchbacks on the way down were a little scary. Okay, a lot scary!

Walking through the village was like stepping back into another century. It was magical and humbling at the same time. These beautiful people have so little, but they are so happy and kind!

The elementary school we visited was built by villagers with materials donated by multiple philanthropic organizations. I'm so impressed with this model of charitable support! And aren't the children beautiful?

Yesterday we started a tour of some cities in northern Morocco. We're traveling with Rob's sister Marcia and her husband Steve. Our accomodations in Rabat last night were heavenly!

Today we toured Rabat and then drove up to Tangier. Both the city and the drive were lovely!

(Entire walls are covered in these tiles. The craftmanship is unbelievable!)

Tomorrow we spend the day in Tangier. Stay tuned....