The best Christmas gift I got this year was from my friend Hannah, and I doubt she even realized it was a gift in the first place.
Since her parents were headed into Essaouira for vacation, and I was going up there to celebrate Christmas at Adams, she graciously invited me to travel up there with her. Since her parents were not arriving from Casablanca until later in the evening, Hannah and I checked in early to the hotel.
This hotel was unbelievable.
Maybe it was a combination of being a poor volunteer and not really experiencing "luxury" too often, but words cannot describe how clean and sophisticated I felt in this hotel. Immediately upon arrival we were shown to some nice couches to lounge in while the check-in process happened. While we were lounging, out came plates full of food and glasses full of fresh squeezed orange juice. The cookies were divine, and the dates were pre-pitted (a big deal in my opinion) and without the inevitable worms that inhabit most of the dates I have eaten in country. After taking the rest of the snacks in a little goodie-bag, we headed up to the room.
The room was amazing. The bed was soft, the floors were clean and the bathroom was inspiring.
After some time just relaxing in the room, we headed out to meet a friend of mine who is a PCV in the Ukraine, and her friends who were also on vacation in Morocco. We drank coffee, talked about Morocco and took a little tour of the sites. It was great to see them, compare stories and catch-up. It seems that life in the developing world is eerily similarly and starkly different. Each volunteer has an interesting story to tell.
Tired from our long day of travel, we left my friends, and Hannah and I headed back to the nice hotel. This is when life turned amazing.
I got to take a bath, a real bubble bath, in the warmest tub I can ever remember being in.
One of the problems with not having central heating is that even when it's not too cold outside, it feels cold, and when you feel warm, it's never your entire body. Parts of your body (i.e. your bones) are always cold, no matter how many blankets you wear.
That tub made my entire body warm for the first time in months. I spent the better part of an hour just relaxing, thinking and floating, allowing the deep-imbedded dirt to seep out of my pores. It was amazing, life-changing really.
A few hours later, Hannah's parents arrived and after some snacks in the welcome area, we headed to an amazing Italian dinner at this great restaurant in Essaouira.
The next few days were spent with a few of my friends and fellow volunteers: Bjai, Anna, Diana, and Adam, enjoying cookies, frosting and delicious made-from-scratch meals. We went shopping, walked around, played games and mostly just enjoyed each other's company.
I got to Skype my family on Christmas day, which was a highlight. They invited me to the "breakfast" table, virtually that is, and I felt like I was a part of the family, not a lost and forgotten relative in a far-away land.
These photos are the best documentation of the joy that was the holiday season, although I didn't get any photos of the tub, a huge mistake on my part. My apologies. Enjoy.
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| Bjai, myself, Diana and Anna eating soup and frosting in Adam's house. |
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| I pretty much took all the money in our first round of Monopoly Deal. |
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| This great 10dh ($1.25) inflatable Santa I found at Souk in Essaouira with our white elephant presents. |
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| Bjai with Santa. |
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| Anna with Santa, cooking away in the kitchen. |
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| Hannah and the formerly big pile of pitted dates at the fancy hotel. |
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| The cookies were divine. I think they were imported. |
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| PCV Ukraine and me in Essaouira! |
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| My friend Stephanie and I, on the ramparts overlooking the Atlantic. |
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| Beautiful Essaouira, inside the Medina walls. |
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| Christmas Eve morning, on my way to get breakfast! |
I hope your holidays were filled with joy as well. Thanks for all the Christmas cards!
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