Morocco: Avacado juice?

That night I made it back for my Moroccan family dinner with not fifteen minutes to spare.

Thanksgiving, birthdays, Christmas Eve, Mother’s Day, whatever holiday it is- to me the meals that surround it are of pivotal importance to its success. Our traditional Moroccan meal was nothing short of a deluxe holiday meal.

Our host family’s house compared to the mosques I had toured in Spain. The obvious Moorish detailed engravings and the lavishness of detail was a visual comparison to the tastes to follow.

Once the sunset and the nearest mosque broadcasted the call to prayer we gathered around the table, pausing for only a moment to admire the feast set before us. Fine china was encompassed by a variety of food.

The food set before us included chick pea soup, small pizzas, pastry sweets dipped in honey, and warm thin bread. Everyone in the family ate the bread simultaneously with the soup- so we followed suit. We filled up on that and then drank mint tea. The mint tea (Morocco’s national drink) was served in the traditional manner, allowing a sufficient amount of oxygen in during the mixing process.

We taught the family how to play American card games like Spoons and Egyptian Ratscrew. It was hilarious!

I loved how every room in their house was set up for relaxing and enjoying company. Couches lined the room that the dining table was in. Our family told us that we should take time for conversation whenever possible. There was plenty of time between courses for conversation and activity. Cousins of the family visited. Dad would have loved how the family flowed through the house, relaxed, enjoying each other, and taking time to socialize.

A third course was served: chicken and beef kabobs in many spices. Along with this course, avocado juice was offered. Blending avocadoes, milk, and sugar made the avocado juice. The juice was surprisingly tasty and reminded me of a milk shake.

The dinner was the best cultural experience I have had yet. They had two sons and a daughter about our age. Ali, our cute translator, is heading to Barcelona for college soon. His family thinks Semester at Sea is in his future. He knows four languages fluently- I am beginning to think that our American education can take a few steps out of the lime light.