Visitors from Virginia.  September 12-16, 2019

I feel incredibly grateful, last month, my sister and brother-in-law came, and now two wonderful friends from Virginia, Greg and Kelly.  They were on a work trip in Spain, and elected to extend a few days to visit me here in Morocco.  They flew into nearby Fes, and I fetched them home on the local small bus.  While we did visit some of my favorite sites near my home, they wanted to see how Linda lives, so we were here in my town most of the time.

 

They came to the Youth Center, and the kids were very excited to have new Americans to talk with.  They were able to see the youth forming their Soccer Club, holding a meeting, electing officers and more.  This is certainly the first time any of these kids have done anything like this and I was very proud of them.  They met all the important government officials, as we reported in.  The President of the Municipality joined us, and bought us coffees, at the coffee shop near my home.

 

My host sister brought over some authentic homemade Cous Cous, and the 3 kids, as we did not have time to come to lunch, due to the important soccer meeting.  We managed to fit in most of the favorite local foods as well.

 

We were treated to a Fantasia, a Moroccan spectacle, in nearby Immouzier, that I had been wanting to see.  It is a competition, where teams of horsemen, aloft beautiful stallions, with colorful clothing and saddles, charge forward the length of a long run-way, firing their guns and pulling up sharply at the end.  They are judged on their synchronization.  These competitions move around, and until now, I had not caught one.

 

I was so sad to see my friends go after only 3 days, but a short visit is certainly better than none to be sure.  (I was also conciliated by the pound of Starbucks de-caf they left behind).