Category: Travel Stories

“Ana Marrakshia. Now you try to say it.” “Ana Marrakshia.” My tongue stumbles over the unfamiliar phonemes and their combinations. My new friend chuckles at me good-naturedly. “Yes. ‘I am a Marrakechi,’ said by a woman. Now you can introduce yourself.” He wanders off to coo at a cat in my apartment complex. I did…

Ever since I was little, “in transit” was my favorite place to be. The sense of adventure, of possibility, enchanted and thrilled me. Whenever we took a family trip to Boston via the Red Line on the subway (locally known as the “T”), I’d stare out the train window at the dark tunnel, waiting for…

March 2019 – Paris – Montmartre I followed the tour manager and my sixteen students up the hill of the martyr (Montmartre) in Paris. We were avoiding the gilets jaunes (yellow vests) who were protesting economic inequality in France that spring. Word was they were going to flood the Eiffel Tower, Notre Dame, and other…

When the world closed inward,Those of us scattered abroad had a choice to make.Stay. Leave. Each option presented its disadvantages.Each option was wrong in some way or another.When the world closed inward,Those of us in a foreign country assessed our options.Some left.We hastily packed and said hard goodbyes.We soared off into the atmosphere with a…

I just finished a teacher training situated at Oxford University. Sitting here now in my London hostel, I find that I’m not missing the famed dreaming spires of the medieval city-turned-university. I’m missing the new friends and camaraderie of the past few days. What I just experienced was one of those rare times when a…

If you take a look at my social media feed from the last five months, you’ll see a lot of red tones. It makes sense; Marrakech is known as “the Red City”. And you could be forgiven for thinking that Morocco is mostly red in hue, especially if you saw it only through my social…

Last night I celebrated Thanksgiving with new friends. We had little in common except our homes: we all live in Marrakech. And we all live elsewhere too. Some of us live in Gueliz; some in Targa; and some in the medina. All neighborhoods of Marrakech, each with its own distinct identity.  Some of us also…

I wrote the following this evening while free writing with a tutoring student (hi, kiddo!). After I shared it with her, she said, “Miss. You have to post this.” So here you go…a Moroccan sunset! The colors are the first thing that grab you. A Moroccan sunset puts on a good show, what with the…

My parents are currently en route to Marrakesh to visit me for my November break, and I couldn’t be more excited! The city is putting out the Moroccan flags for them (or for someone in the royal family who’s visiting…but I like my version better), the sky is a perfect blue dome, and the temps…