Monday, February 4, 2008

Missing Morocco

So, we have been home for over a week now, but I just can't seem to put into words how our trip to Morocco was. I think it has something to do with the fact that I'm not really ready to be back home, yet. I keep wandering my house in a daze, waiting for someone to show up with dinner, or for some of our Moroccan family to knock on the door. The other day I saw a grandmother and her grandaughter in line at the grocery store. The grandmother was speaking to her little baby grandaughter in a foreign language, and something about the way the two of them interacted reminded me so much of the way Mohamed's mother played with Norah that I found myself crying in the grocery store. Not just tearing up, actually crying. Our last three weeks in Morocco were spent with 13 of our family members crammed into a 3 room house. I loved every chaiotic minute of it. See, I told you I couldn't write coherently about our trip. My thoughts come out in a crazy ramble. I'll just post some pictures and save you all the trouble of my rambles. At least for now.

I will post pictures in chronological order. I'm sure it will take me several posts, and therefore several weeks (I have two small kids, forgive me) to tell the whole story. Anyway, the people in this picture are some of Mohamed's closest family friends. When things got tough between Mohamed and his evil stepmother he would ride his bike and visit these people (in Casablanca). We stayed with them for a few days as we recovered from the LONG flights to Morocco. Please don't look at me in this picture. Really. Oh, and David devloped quite the crush on the girl sitting to my left.


After recovering from jet-lag for a few days and buying some warmer clothes for the girls (turns out it was a lot colder than we had anticipated) we got on the road to Mohamed's village. Mohamed thought we should drive all night, hoping the girls would sleep and therefore make the drive easier for everyone. Well,the girls didn't sleep and neither did we. By 3 in the morning we were all too tired to drive, so we pulled over and slept for a few hours in our cars. In the middle of the desert. Before we went to sleep we got out to look at the stars and I couldn't breathe, there were so many. Or maybe that's just because I was so tired.

After our little nap we finished the drive and finally arrived in Mohamed's village. Everyone was still asleep as we snuck into his family's house. Mohamed called out to wake everyone up, and suddenly his family was surrounding us in a flurry of hugs, tears and kisses. Mohamed and his father held onto each other through it all, crying tears of joy. Mohamed's village:


Mohamed's father:



Oh, and please be aware that Moroccans don't like to smile in pictures. It is strange because they are a very smiley lot, in general, just not in pictures. Just didn't want everyone to think all our relatives are unhappy. In fact, Dad is the smiley-est of all!

Well, that is it for Morocco post #1. The girls are waking-up from their naps. I promise more pictures and less rambling for the next one.

Oh, and GO OBAMA

6 comments:

Caroline Tung Richmond said...

I'm so glad to hear you had such a wonderful trip to Morocco! I can only hope that one day I can make it over to Africa. *Sigh* How I miss traveling! Please put up more pictures soon so we can see more of your trip!

Are you voting in the Hawaii primary? How many delegates does your state have? I was glued on my couch yesterday watching the Super Tuesday results come in. It was like the Super Bowl for me! Hopefully, hopefully Obama will do well in MD, VA, and DC. There are a lot of delegates to be won there!

I miss you, Jami! It was fun to see that your brother went with you guys to Morocco too. What did he think of it? Is he still at BYU?

Winnie said...

Glad you guys are back safely and that you had a blast. What did you brother think of Morocco?

Jami said...

Caroline- yes, I am voting in Hawaii's caucus. Can you tell me what the difference between a caucus and a primary is. I'm sure I could google it, but thought you might know. I am going to take Amira with me, she gets really excited when she sees "Maroc Obama" on TV. Not so excited when she sees Hillary- I have effectively indocrinated my 2 year-old. I, too, was glued on Super Tuesday.

Winnie and Caroline, David LOVED Morocco, even developed a crush on a beautiful Moroccan girl. They are now both trying to convince the other to change religions. Doesn't look like either will be successful, though.

Jana said...

I'm so glad you're home and I can't wait to hear every detail. I didn't realize David went with you! I wish that had been me, Jason and Addie instead. I'll call you soon!

Anonymous said...

Jami, How is it that I live right next door and this is the first time I've seen any pictures from your trip? This is unacceptable!!!!! LOL! Ok We need to plan another girls night with Patti and look at pictures!

K.E.N said...

Sometimes I can't believe that you married a man from Africa and that you actually have a reason to visit more than just once a lifetime. I am quite jealous and am looking forward to the rest of the pictures...and the story. I hope David's love affair with that beautiful girl doesn't break his heart :)