Happy New Year from Morocco!

How does that olde lange syne long go? "Should old acquaintance be forgot, and never brought to mind ?" Well, that sums up life pretty well. The last time I posted I was anxiously awaiting my trip home to America. Looking forward to meeting up with those old acquaintances, enjoying all things American, and basically living the good life. And live the good life, I did. Here’s a quick list of things I accomplished while home:

· Spending loads of time with my family

· Eating/drinking the following: Snacks. Mexican food: enchiladas, burritos, Spanish rice, refried beans, chips and salsa. Mom’s cooking: anything. Sandwiches: meat, cheese and veggies on bread, Subway sandwiches. Drinks: lattes, margaritas, pop, cider, wine, beer. Cereal. Ice cream. String cheese. Chocolate chip cookies. Christmas goodies. Buffalo wings. Ham. Salad. (Note: salad almost added as an afterthought)

· Meeting with friends.

· Seeing movies: The Golden Compass and Charlie Wilson’s War.

· Playing games

· Enjoying central heating

· Enjoying cable television with American programs

· Sleeping in my old bed

· Reading newspapers in English

· Driving cars

· Visiting Jane Addams School

· Wearing any clothes I felt like wearing

· Looking at the snow (while enjoying the central heating, of course)

· Christmas with all the family

· Seeing Brayden, Owen, and Otto

· Going to a Christmas play

· Speaking at a women’s group and elementary school about Morocco

· Strolling the aisles of Target and Walmart

· Cooking a Moroccan meal for my family

· Scheming travel plans with friends and family

· Visiting Sara at Gustavus

· Visiting Megan in St. Paul

· Going out at night

I probably forgot a lot of other important things, but you get the point. Now, moving on to things I missed most right away:

· My family

· Central heating

· My luggage (still waiting…..)

· Convenience

Not bad. Excluding a few friends I didn’t get to see, I pretty much accomplished everything on my list of to-dos while home. Coming back “home” to Morocco was easier than I thought. The hardest part has been adjusting to the time difference. The first day I came home, I napped for four hours in the afternoon, woke up, walked outside my house, and was whisked away to a birthday party for some girl in the town garden. We sat outdoors under a tent and waited a long time. There were many cakes and bottles of pop and somebody was working on getting music playing. Then, a wire caught on fire and everybody was screaming and jumping around. Luckily, somebody had the idea to wrap the wire in scotch tape (good idea? Not sure) and soon the dangerous wire was quickly forgotten. I sat for a good three hours and then returned home.

Sleeping and not sleeping for the past two days is all a blur. I slept about twelve hours the first night and the second night I didn’t fall asleep until 4 am (11 pm in Minnesota) and woke up today around 1 pm. Tonight, I plan to take some Benadryl before going to bed.

Waking up this morning still without my luggage and now with my cell phone battery dead, I was determined to find somebody to bring me to the airport to pick up my luggage. Of course, this plan failed. Without any phone numbers, I had to walk around a lot ask around for phone numbers. I had two leads this afternoon but neither panned out. I think tomorrow I will maybe have a chance at going in the morning. For some reason, the weather is a major factor in all this. Today it rained and people were more reluctant to travel. I really could use my luggage about now. I have no warm clothes at my house. Not many toiletries. Not much money. One pair of shoes. And none of my American goodies. And no internet. I need to renew my internet but have been too busy with this luggage debacle to get the recharge card.

It’s cooled off considerably here. Very chilly. I have one blanket in my house that travels with me wherever I go in my house. I make a lot of tea.

In between my sleeping and not-sleeping during the day, I’ve been busy going around town and talking with people. As usual, the whole town knew I had been in America, and was happy to receive me back into the community.

Here is a usual exchange:

Person in my town: May peace be upon you

Me: And peace upon you, too

Person in my town: With God you arrived

Me: God arrived me

Person in my town: How did America find you?

Me: It found me beautiful.

Person in my town: Really?

Me: Yes, really. It was very beautiful.

Person in my town: How is your family? Is everything good to them?

Me: Everything is good to them. Thank God.

Person in my town: Thank God. You didn’t bring them with you?

Me: No, but God willing they will come.

Person in my town: God willing.

Me: May God help you.

Person in my town: May God help you, too.

Me: Goodbye

Person in my town: Goodbye now (just kidding, they don’t have the equivelant of “goodbye now” here, but I may try and introduce it)

And as expected, everyone in town, including the taxi man and strangers, want to know if I brought them back a gift. I laugh, and say to them “God willing.”