the return..

I am a sucker for romance and happiness it’s true. Watching Geoff and Sally together was such a pleasure, and the sheer joy that Sally was deriving from her surprises was heart warming. The entire time I was there she was wearing an ear splitting grin that made her even more beautiful. Geoff meanwhile was basking in the light of a job well done! I fear I talked their ears off having been without any English verbal intercourse for a while… I’m a bit embarrassed about that. I know the next stage of Sally's surprise as Q is the one who found the place! Have fun. If it is as good as we think, I am planning on heading there in the Spring.

My train trip back to Rabat was another round of fun. My compartment was full, which is unusual – but I believe it is as Mama Zen pointed out, people visiting for Ramadan (It is Easter, Christmas, Chanukah, and Thanksgiving all wrapped in one).

Oh yes, three of the compartments were engaged by a chap for his two wives, each for their own of course, and I do believe that was him in the compartment at the end, alone! I leave the rest to your imaginations!

Sitting in the first two seats were a German couple who are taking their first vacation sans children. The children are now eighteen and twenty. This is their twenty-first anniversary, and they are in Morocco for two weeks. I’m surrounded by romance. She is a teacher, and he is a businessman who operates in South America. They live in Cologne (I think I got that right, I may be off on the location). They were returning from a guided tour to the south, out in the desert and on the way to Casablanca. I was distressed to learn they have not been having very good food! This in Morocco! The food here is SO good. I think they will remedy that in Casablanca. Rabat is on their tour list, and I’m sure like all the tour groups they will pass under my window so I am looking forward to seeing them again.

Entering the compartment next was a family who brought with them a package of super nova joy in the human form of a small child. The father is on staff at Doyen del la Faculte’ de Me’decine et de Pharmacie de Marrakech and was absorbed with his Dell laptop and his notes he was transferring, except for the time he was being charmed by his child. The couple upheld what I continue to tell you about the Moroccan people being strikingly handsome. We had no language in common but managed to communicate, and the nice German couple helped as well. Look at the face of this child! Does your heart not melt? She reminded me so much of Q at that age – curious, precocious, and verbose, and full of energy. She and I spent some time walking the corridor singing, “Pour quoi, Pour quoi” in order to stretch our legs as well as relieve the tedium of the long journey – and her Mum really needed a nap.

And then… halfway between Marrakech and Casablanca the largest, most clearly defined rainbow I have ever seen appeared in the east. It was spectacular. My little friend liked the rainbow but liked it better when she decided my red hair was like the rainbow – that I carried a rainbow on my head! My shots of it don’t do it justice as I was shooting through the window of the train, and I had to wait to get my camera after her mother woke from her nap. The land we were passing through was very flat and you could see the entire arc. It was with us for a good half-hour or more. I played with my little friend for part of the trip and was entranced by her for the rest. It was a three-hour trip, and she was so good! She entertained herself, and us quite well.

After the car emptied out in Casablanca, a young man entered. A Moroccan coming home from Germany where he works, to visit his family in Fez. “I speak German, French, and Arabic,” he said when assessing my linguistic abilities. He was most interested in where my husband was, “You have aman?”, and some distressed to find out I no longer have one. He assured me smiling, “I have my woman in Germany.” I’m thinking a wife by his manner. He was very helpful in locating the conductor to make sure I got off at the proper stop.

The train was running an hour late and I was done in, so I was quite relieved to get a call from Hassan saying he won’t be here until Saturday. The taxis were scarce on the ground at the train station and the evening was lovely so I walked to the Medina and caught a taxi there. It felt very nice to be back in my little house. So hold on all you romantics, the story continues…

Ciao!