Predeparture

The final days leading up to my departure carry a certain weight with them. It’s present with every person I talk to. It’s a feeling of unstuckness, a sort of detachment, like I’m just a passerby. My time here has grown finite. Two days from now I will be removed from all that I know. I find myself forgetting, at times, that the world, and the people here in it, are still just as invested in their current lives as ever, and it is only me whose life will soon flow into the wholly unknown.
I met Sami today. He’s a native Moroccan from Azemmour City, a small city in the Eljadida province. My Aunt Cara introduced us. He currently works at Ruby Tuesday’s where Cara manages the kitchen. Sami moved to the states in 2007 and worked at Disneyland, where he met his wife, a Poplar Bluff girl interning there at the time. Instead of pursuing school in Canada, Sammy married this girl and moved to Cape, and so now I am talking to him. He tells me the country will hardly seem foreign at all because they are so welcoming. I believe him; he is one of the nicest people I have ever met. I have nothing to worry about; I’m going to have a great time. Everyone loves the King, and he recently passed some very popular democratizing reforms. The weather is extremely temperate, he tells me, a cooling breeze rolls off the Atlantic. Long sleeves and sweatshirts are all I will need, though many Moroccans will sport heavy jackets. Mohammad V University is one of the most prestigious universities in Morocco. Even though the country is predominately Muslim, Sami tells me Moroccans consume about as much alcohol as us here in the states and alcohol sales provide an important source of revenue for many restaurants. He tells me to watch ‘Expedition Morocco’ on ABC and the first episode of ‘Bizarre Foods,’ which takes place in Marrakech.