Wednesday, January 31, 2024

People often ask us, “how is it that you can take so much vacation time?” and the answer is an easy one — we don’t. We aren’t vacationing while we’re traveling; we’re simply living our lives in another location. We still work and do school away from home, though the fact that I homeschool our kids and Andi’s ability to do his job remotely does give some flexibility to our schedule. We also aren’t laying by the pool everyday with a fruity drink in our hands; we’re abiding by a budget, exploring our surroundings, and turning our visits to new places into educational opportunities.

When possible, Andi tries to fit all of his meetings into one or two days a week, and those days are designated “work & school days“ for our family. While Andi works, Tory, Aden, and I complete Math, Language Arts, reading, and writing lessons. I personally like having one low-key day a week to rest and recharge. I know, mentally and physically, I need that down time to sustain consecutive months of traveling.

So, today was a “work & school day” for us and a welcomed break since we’ve been going non-stop since we left Wisconsin last Thursday. We started our day with breakfast in the first floor lobby of Riad Azoulay. This morning, the kitchen prepared eggs with toast, Moroccan beghrir (pancakes) made with semolina flour, chocolate raspberry cakes, yogurt, fruit, freshly-squeezed orange juice, coffee, and mint tea. Andi and Tory were big fans of having chocolate cake for breakfast!

After breakfast, we returned to our room and got ourselves ready for a family photo shoot. Andi thought it’d be fun to hire a local photographer to take pictures of us in Morocco since the colors and textures are so vibrant here. He found a photographer through Airbnb Experiences and arranged the photo session for today at 10:00am. The photographer wanted to meet us here at Riad Azoulay because the interior of this hotel is so beautiful.

We spent an hour with the photographer snapping photos on the rooftop patio, gathered around the courtyard plunge pool, and outside the riad in the streets of the Medina. I love this idea of taking family photos in the gorgeous places we travel.

After our photo shoot, the four of us returned to our hotel room to do school and work. Sometimes it takes us a little time to adjust to being on the road, but on this trip it seems our family has gotten into the groove of traveling rather quickly. The kids finished their school work and then it was time for lunch. Since Andi had conference calls this afternoon, we decided to have lunch at our riad for convenience. Also, the food is downright fabulous here! We haven’t been served a single dish we didn’t love.

Lunch today began with appetizers of beet hummus, goat cheese & tomato salad with croutons and olives, and tempura-cooked sage leaves. Wow! The flavors of every dish we ate tasted amazing.

Andi and I’s main entree was tagine kofta with eggs. Essentially, this is beef meatballs cooked in a tagine with eggs and tomato sauce. Hands down, this was my favorite meal so far in Morocco. Aden really liked this one, too. He and Tory were also served a bowl of spaghetti and they rave about the sauce each and every time they have it. For dessert, we had chocolate pudding with mint and strawberries — simple, light, and refreshing.

Andi finished his work calls at 6:30pm (which is 11:30am back home) and then we decided to venture out to Jemaa El Fnaa Square for the night market. Jemaa El Fnaa Square is the largest square in all of Morocco and an international symbol of Marrakech. In fact, the Jemaa El Fnaa Square has been registered as a world UNESCO site for its contributions to cultural heritage and humanity. It’s a place where locals and visitors of the city meet to eat, purchase goods & services, and be entertained. The square is located at the entrance of the Medina (old city) and is surrounded by restaurants and alleyways leading to the souks. Everyday, Jemaa El Fnaa comes alive with live entertainment from dancers, fortune-telling, henna tattooing, storytellers, snake charmers, and more. Food stands are more prominent in the evenings selling dates, figs, fruits, sweets, and Moroccan dishes such as meat skewers, sheep’s head, ghoulal (snail soup), harira (moroccan soup), and moroccan bread.

The four of us made a hot lap around the square to get a sense of the place. I felt true happiness in the air. Men in traditional Moroccan robes were dancing to drum beats as they clapped together two miniature cymbals tied to their fingers. Nearby, a baby wiggled to the beat of music as he sat between his mother’s feet. His mother was a henna tattoo artist and had a few plastic stools set up around here displaying flip books of henna designs customers could choose from. There was a fishing game set up with pop bottles displayed in a circle and people trying to “catch” a ring around the pop bottle’s neck to win. Andi and Aden threw in on a quarters game (although it wasn’t quarters; whatever the coin equivalent is in Moroccan Dirhams). A big blanket with numbers in circles laid on the ground and players took turns throwing coins on the numbers. If the coin landed inside a circle without touching the sides, you won.

We’ve been loving the fresh dates available in Morocco, so Andi decided to buy a bag of them. The worker eagerly hopped behind his food stand as we approached him & scooped up the dates into a bag. Then, he lowered them to Andi standing at the front of the stand using a long pole with a scoop on the end. The worker gave me a fig to try when I expressed interest, and scooped a handful of sesame-coated peanuts into Aden’s hand to eat. One kilo (2.2 lbs) of dates cost $60 Dirhams or $6 USD.

Aden wanted to try a glass of fresh juice many of the stands were selling, so we made our way over to the fruit vendors. There were all kinds of citrus fruits available for purchase, and a long list of freshly squeezed fruit juices. After trying a sample, Aden and Tory both picked glasses of pomegranate juice.

I was still full from lunch, but Andi wanted to try some of the meat skewers available at the food stands. As we walked closer to those food tents, several of the stand hosts began to call us into their booths, “Over here! Welcome! Sir, here, we have very good foods for you!” One of them even said, “Every booth offers the same. Eat here and I will throw in a free mint tea on the house.” The host that ended up winning us over was a young guy in his 20’s who spoke perfect English. He asked where we were from and said he spent some time studying abroad in Chicago. The host took time to explain what foods were available at all the different stands and then invited us to come and sit under his tent. We agreed, squeezing in to find a seat under a cramped tent filled with picnic tables. The air was thick with smoke from meats cooking on the grill.

Andi ordered two Sprites for the kids and waters for he and I. The waiter brought Moroccan bread and appetizers of roasted eggplant and peppers, maakouda (fried potato), and pastilla (phyllo dough pie crust stuffed with seasoned chicken). I was honestly still stuffed from our big lunch at Riad Azoulay and didn’t want to eat anything, but Andi said we had to eat something at the market because we were here. He asked the waiter for skewers of shrimp and chicken, and a plate of fries for the kids.

A few minutes later, four plates of fries, two plates of shrimp, and four plates of meat skewers filled our section of the table. Wow! We did not want all this food. “I wanted one plate of skewers, not four!” Andi said. “My fault for not being more specific.” That’s the second time we’ve been burned by vendors in the Medina for not asking ahead of time the price and quantity. Both times now (at the spice shop and now at the food stall), we’ve been given way too much and then been expected to pay for it. “No more food,” Andi told the waiter when he came back to check on us.

I almost felt panicked because I did not want this food. I wasn’t even hungry to begin with! “I just wanted to try one skewer,” Andi said, “but now we have to eat this.” Aden and Andi ate some of the meat and shrimp and I had few bites as well. We ended up leaving a lot of the food on the table. Our bill was 700 Dirhams ($70 USD). Yikes.

After dinner, we continued to walk around the square some more, taking in all the entertainment. It was sensory overload with so many lights, sounds of music, smells from food vendors, incense burning, and thousands of people everywhere. Tory was over-stimulated and about ready to cry. “I want to go back to the hotel,” she demanded. Even that wasn’t that as simple as it sounded though. It was a 15-minute walk back to our riad through the crowded, narrow alleyways of the souks to get there.

“How about some ice cream?” Andi said. He picked a restaurant called Argana with a big patio overlooking the square. A security guard firmly stood in the doorway of the restaurant, only allowing patrons of the business inside its doors. The four of us were seated on the outdoor patio with a great view in front of us. Tory and Aden each ordered sundaes and Andi ordered a traditional Moroccan mint tea for he and I to share. As we sat in the restaurant and enjoyed our treats, Tory calmed her nerves. She kept complaining about being itchy and I honestly think it was from all the smells and smog lingering in the air. A shower tonight back at our riad would do her some good.

One notable thing about Morocco is that alcohol doesn’t play a major role in their culture. There is alcohol available if you want it, but there aren’t advertisements plastered everywhere for it and it’s not printed on most menus. Andi and I have found this to be a refreshing change and have really enjoyed the option for drinking traditional Moroccan mint tea in the evenings.

After ice cream and tea in the restaurant, the four of us walked back to Riad Azoulay in the Mellah quarter of the Medina. Surprisingly, most of the shops were closed and the narrow alleyways of the souks were almost empty. This made the 15 minute walk back to our hotel a breeze. I can’t imagine setting out all those displays of spices, leather goods, light fixtures, textiles, etc. every morning and then putting it all away every night. The only people left in the alleyways were men sweeping up the piles of trash left behind.

Back at our riad, we showered off and got ready for bed. We’ve been staying up until 11:00pm or Midnight here in Morocco (which is 5:00pm or 6:00pm back home). Still not totally adjusted to the time change.

We’re excited for tomorrow because Andi signed us up for a cooking class in the Medina. Should be fun!