Ramadan ended this week with a two-day celebration of Eid
and Throne Day. The end of Ramadan is all about spending time with family and
being grateful for each other, kind of like Thanksgiving in the States but with
more religious context. One of my host sisters, Basma, had breakfast
with us on Eid and then left to go visit family in the countryside. It was hard
to have to begin the goodbye-process so early even though we still had five
days left in Morocco. Our cool aunts and younger cousin came over to the house
and we must have laughed for three hours straight. Charlotte brought down her
computer into the sitting room and we all played with Photobooth for at least
and hour and a half. The delighted looks on their faces to take pictures with
us, especially when our faces were contorted and we were making funny
expressions made me feel like we were truly part of the family. Later in the
day, a bunch of kids from the program came over for tea since they were heading
to the medina, which is right next to our house. When Charlotte and I told Mama
that they were going to the medina, she insisted that they spend time at our
house for Eid and wouldn’t take no for an answer. We ended up with Charlotte,
Sam, Will, Devyn, Ryan, and me all at the table drinking mint tea and eating
yummy Eid treats (some that I made!) along with two host aunts, a host cousin,
and some neighbors. The hospitality in this country never ceases to amaze me,
my host mother must have used every tea glass she owned to make sure we all had
tea. The next day was Throne Day, a day to celebrate the King. It is a national
holiday as well so we got to stay home from school for the third day in a row
that week. Sophia and Isa came over and we all worked on our final projects
that were to be presented on Friday (eek). Sophia, Charlotte, and I were doing
our project on tradition Moroccan spices, so to do some research we prepare a
tagine with Mama for dinner that night. It was a chicken tagine with onions,
tomatoes, carrots, potatoes, cumin, turmeric, salt, pepper, and saffron. As
soon as I get home I am going to try to find a suitable substitute for a tagine
dish to cook in so I can prepare my favorite Moroccan food at home. Later, we
went out to Mohammed V Avenue, the downtown of Rabat, to watch the festivities
for the King. There was a concert going on with traditional Moroccan music plus
military exhibitions on beautiful white horses. Overall the three days at home
before our last two days were huge blessings. Charlotte and I got to spend the
maximum amount of time with our host family, although at this point I think
that it is more appropriate to call them our actual family.