Last Day in Morocco!

SO - right now it is 11 November 2018 at 7:20pm and I am catching up after crazy days here but no problems!
This was from 5 November 2018 and we were spending our last day in Morocco
It's about 4pm and we have our "farewell reception"dinner in a couple hours.  It has been an awesome and adventurous trip and I have learned so much about other cultures. The people here are wonderful and can set an example for all!
So pictures from yesterday and then today.  Yesterday was the "desert adventure" with about 10 SUVs and 31 from the tour plus guides and drivers - wow - it was definitely a trip of a lifetime through the desert on rough rocky roads and narrow bridges!
I'm posting pictures now and will be filling in details on the many photos I have posted as soon as I can.
Sunday 4 November 2018  Marrakech, Morocco - dinner in the desert and camel rides!!!

I wear these "baubles" every day; first one Grammy est 2005 was from daughter-in-law Amy and I became a grandma to Alex in 2005 - first grandchild.  The others are from daughter Jenny and the silvers have A, L, R on them for Alex, Lucy and Rooke - birdsnest is the pearls with the color of their birth months:  March, April and August!

Morocco medina aka market -  very interesting day.  It was a tour day and they broke us up into small groups depending on our shopping interests.  We had no special interests as did another couple Tim and Kristi so we took off on our own after a while.  Very busy place and I got a couple t-shirts!

These might look like vegetables but they are really sugary treats - the Moroccans appear to love sugar!  Note a few bees hanging out here:

More sweets and lots more bees!  It was not very appealing to buy these sweets with all the bees hanging out here.

So the "girl" in the white is Kristi and right after this guy hauling parsley on this bike we saw a guy in a shop pick up a beautiful Moroccan platter and break it into many pieces on top of a guy's head.  Not sure why he was so made but it turned into a "brawl" with a few other people trying to stop the fight.  Of course Ross had to get up close as he loves crime scenes and the other 3 of us backed off as quickly as we could so as not to get involved.

A little bit of street art which we saw all over the place and I do admire it.

So tonight on 4 November our 2nd to last night in Marrakech we had a "desert dinner" - not dessert!  We had to take 4 wheel drive vehicles and we had 10 of them to get us to the site.  This is the road and the snow covered Atlas Mountains are in the background.  And not a cloud in the sky!

First stop - at a family home and this is the older daughter and 2 of the 3 younger ones.  We observed the Dad in a tea ceremony and we were served tea and the young teen daughter served the tea.  The little ones were a bit more shy but according to Todd our travel director they are getting braver with strangers.

This is the satellite tower and yes it is definitely in the sub-Saharan desert:

This is our tour group of 31 total and the father making the tea and the smiley teen daughter waiting to deliver it.

This is the real kitchen in their real home!  A two burner "stove", refrigerator and all the utensils.  I am certainly spoiled in my kitchen at home.

Ummmm - it's the toilet and it's a "squatter" and you put your feet on the white foot shaped things and squat.  Not sure how they get rid of the "droppings"!

This is the "shower" - a bucket and a straw scrubber on a stick.  Whoa....this would be an adventure for sure.

This is the mom cooking the bread on the wood oven....yes, not a statue but a real mom!

This is the end of one of the bedrooms and it does have bedding for kids and a small TV.

A double bed and a cot and I'm sure it is all elegantly prepared for our visit as we were invited to tour the whole house.

Me and the teen daughter and she was so sweet but did not understand English.

The younger 3 who were quite shy but not afraid of us.

And leaving this little village there were a few other kids very interested in our cars, our drivers and all of us as they waved bye bye.

Our caravan and someone said it's looked like either a political parade or a funeral procession - fortunately neither for us!

And we arrive at our desert dinner with the tents set up.  It's really hard to understand how all this can be done and served in the middle of the desert.

Our greets were in costume and performing local music and dance and were very happy to see us.  I'm sure it provides well needed income for these families.

Kristi, Ross and a few others and again on this tour we met people right away that were so fun to hang out with.  And we have learned to watch out the first couple nights to avoid the "nasties" as we call them and there are always very few but they are there.

The two tents on the left are the "dining rooms" and the one on the right is the "bar" where wine was served.  Apparently even thought it is a majority Muslim country the avoidance of alcohol is pretty much just a "suggestion" as many guides told us.

And off we go on our third camel ride in our lives - one in Egypt and one in Petra, Jordan and now this is the Moroccan desert.

I felt like I was the most comfortable person as I knew how to sit when I got on the camel and to "hang loose" and bounce and I could hold on with one hand and wave with the other.

This is the unisex restroom at the desert dinner and it had the smallest faucets I have ever seen and a trickle of water came out.  Plywood toilet doors and they did not have locks that worked - oh well - no problems were encountered.

So they grow wheat here as there is lots of flour used for the 4 breads that most people eat each dry.  Seeding season was now and harvest season for the wheat is in April and this is a Massey Ferguson tractor and we saw a few of them and I guess they are manufactured in a few different countries.

Sunset before dinner and it was pretty darn awesome.

They gave us "shawls" so we could keep warm as it was cooler in the desert after sunset.  We got to keep them as part of the tour and of course they go in my "Grammy's dress-up drawer" that the grandkids and grandnieces know about and love.

The dinner table and the wine was unlimited but fortunately we have matured to know our limits.

 Monday - 5 November 2018 - Dee to cooking class and Ross to Essaouira beach town and tour....3 hour bus ride each way so I opted for cooking class and the group was split about 50:50 so it worked good.

This was Mohammed who was the main guy for the cooking class.  He is a professor of English and twin kids and a busy schedule as he does tours for other companies also.  So he did the introductions and then the instructors took over including the "Dada" the main woman who taught the class - little English by her and the two young assistants.

The bread oven - and yes we did get good bread....every meal every day.

This is the herb garden of the La Maison Arabe and they have daily cooking classes and also a quiet retreat type hotel that is owned by an Italian and has beautiful grounds.

Pretty fancy as we each had our own "station" with a double gas burner, sink, screen to wat the Dada and we each made our own meal.

Since Ross went on a day trip to Essouaria beach town my cooking mate was "Bob" and his wife Grace took the bus trip.  Fun couple!

Mohammed the leader and Dada the chef:

We peeled a tomato and they showed me how to make a flower out of the peelings.  Hopefully I can do it again for one of our dinners!

The salad with the ornamental but real tomato skin flower:

And my chicken tangine and we were gifted the tangine cooker made out of clay but unfortunately the top arrived home fine but the bottom was in about 25 pieces in my suitcase after being thoroughly wrapped and taped in bubble wrap and newspaper.