Blog-Tember Day 15 | My Crazy Adventure

Hello friends! We are half-way through our Blog-tember Challenge! It has been so good for me to make a practice of writing every day. I have so appreciated all your sweet comments and getting to know y'all.

Today's Prompt: What is the craziest adventure you've ever been on?

There are a number of adventures I have been on. I haven't been on too many "crazy" ones though. (I'm not sure how you define crazy but my mind  goes to getting a drunk tattoo or quitting your job and running off to Mexico and living in hut by the beach) Don't get me wrong I have certainly done some crazy things but they are fairly embarrassing and we can wait to tell those for "most embarrassing moment" prompts. :)

One of my craziest adventures was traveling to Morocco when I was 23 years old. I had never traveled that far before. I was fresh off a painful break-up and really needed some space between me and that relationship. I went with two pastors from my church to visit some of the under-ground churches. I didn't have anyone close to my age on my team and wasn't even able to sit with the people I did know on the long plan ride over!

My first night in my own hotel room by myself in Casablanca was pretty un-nerving. I didn't know the language, was not used to the food and barely understood what was happening. #jetlag Every night I was startled awake by the call to prayer.

But over the course of the next 10 days I came to love the Moroccan Tajine Chicken, the potatoes and carrots and the thick stew. I savored the sweet tea I had every morning. I relished staying in the riads every night which is like a traditional Moroccan house or palace. I admired the believers dedicated faith despite so much opposition.

I got to ride my first camel in Morocco. I had my first experience with using a toilet that was actually just a hole in the ground. I saw my the first mosque, Hassan Mosque. It the largest mosque in Casablanca and the 13th largest in the world. I saw the Mediterranean sea for the first time as well.

I met a girl close to my age on the trip who was from France and we did stuck to each other like glue. We stayed up too late talking, loved shopping around the medinas and borrowed each other's clothes.  The medinas were at the center of the city (imagine like a large outdoor farmers market or craft fair). It  has many narrow streets that were maze-like and super easy to get lost in.

We even scheduled an appointment at the hotel for a traditional Hammam complete with a massage and scrub. I certainly didn't know what to expect as we timidly entered the steam room together. There stood a large and robust woman with a scrub in one hand and black soap in the other. She coached us to come in and had one of us lay on this bench against the wall. I #clearly had my friend go first so I could observe. The robust woman began grabbing at my friends' clothes and we immediately knew she was instructing her to take them off. All of them.  I was wide eyed at this point as the woman spoke in Arabic and dumped a massive bucket of hot water on my friend's head and began scrubbing her down with such intense vigor I felt she was trying to shave her skin off. It was all quite the shock and I probably could have just told this story for my crazy adventure. I'm sure the robust elderly woman had a good laugh when she was done with us. Here I was imagining a spa-like experience complete with candles, a massage bed and soothing music. Instead I encountered nudity, boiling hot water all over my body and a sponge that felt like a steel wool scrub you use to get tough stains off of pots. But it was certainly an adventure and I'm so grateful all the experiences I had in Morocco.

Alright! Off to read about all of your adventures!