A welcoming committee in Morocco is truly something quite special. The opening statement is not “Hi, welcome to my home. Nearly everyone welcomes you with a “you are welcome here to my country and home”. For some reason, this stuck with me more than it should. It felt extremely sincere and genuine that we were guests of honor. Their words were also backed by actions however as they would always accompany their welcomes with tea, fresh baked goods, fruits, or anything they had grown or produced. This attitude of hospitality automatically broke down any barriers we may have had and gave us a common ground. The ability for man to break bread together truly is a human bond. The best discussions and some of the most educational were over tea. These discussions at times were supposed to be short as we had to move along with the program but instead lasted hours. No one in the group was unengaged in these discussions and for a couple of days, we ran several hours behind because of this. These conversations however may have been some of my favorite moments of the trip however as I truly started to understand the customs, thoughts and ideals of the locals. As I mentioned earlier all of these housewarming treats brought to us were all extremely local. All of the produce and bread were locally grown and produced. Every single place we went to had its own variety of bread. I never once had the same type of bread twice. Each location had their own ingredients or methods to bake bread. Some commonalities however were the Moroccan tea. Traditionally Moroccan tea is actually slightly sweetened with sugar beets. I personally prefer my tea straight however it is customary to include sugar. The fruits however are the last thing I want to take note of. There are so many delicious local fruits that were sweeter, juicier, and more flavorful. The most notable were apricots and dates.
