After 24 straight hours of traveling and one luggage bag floating somewhere in Europe, we finally made it through Marrakech customs. Outside the doors was a man in a green shirt and glasses holding up a sign that read "Riad Dar Tayib", the name of our home stay. Once he saw us and recognized us through our pointing and smiling and gesturing, he welcomed us warmly with handshakes and a genuine smile. He explained that he was still in college and learned English for the first time only 8 months ago, but we were still beyond impressed with how well he spoke it. He took our bags and we all piled into a little minivan and began to navigate narrow, uneven roads bathed in yellow light. All around us were women in headscarves, holding a boyfriend's hand, riding a motorcycle with LED rainbow lights on the tire, or having a girls night out. In the car he laughed with us and pointed out landmarks that we passed, spouted off his favorite quirks about the city and country and got to know us. About 20 minutes in, he stopped the car in the middle of the street being watched over by a yoga blanket-clad donkey and opened the door, gesturing to a boy who couldn't have been older than me. "This is Adib," he said. "He will show you around your riad." Our chauffeur bid us warm and heartfelt farewells and handed us over to Adib, who gladly took our bags as well. He led us down winding twisting roads of clay and cobblestone, where we passed young girls in bare feet and shrouded shoulders looking on in awe at our new faces. We meandered around stray kittens and beeping motorcycles, rickshaws and mules, dancing among colorful handmade rugs strewn about for sale before reaching a tiny black door in a terra cotta alleyway. Smiling, Adib pulled a tiny key from his pocket and let us in. "This is your riad," he beamed.
He stepped aside for us to walk into what seemed like a bohemian type greenhouse, a clay floor with orange trees and palm trees growing from a live garden in the tile from a square patted down with soil. The area stretched upwards three stories. (In my next post I'll have a picture.)
When we walked in we met Viti, Vincent and Latifah (who are currently on vacation) 's little shi-Tzu dog. Adil showed us our rooms (also included in the next post) and then we were brought down for a 3 course homemade Moroccan meal of couscous and chicken, eggplant, boiled carrots, and finally, melt-in-your-mouth crepes drenched in warm bittersweet chocolate. We learned that Adil is Latifah's nephew and resides here normally.
After dinner we all went upstairs to our rooms and after warm traditional showers, fell right to sleep.