A Celebration In The Rifs

For Ember's first birthday we weren't able to have the traditional Korean dol celebration since we're now living in Morocco.  So naturally, the next best option would be to take the party to the Rif Mountains, "home to the largest acreage of cannabis cultivation in the world"!

Of course, this is not the reason we chose the location.  But it was pretty astonishing to be surrounded by endless fields of cannabis. We didn't even have to see them to know we were getting close to the village because we could smell it in the air.  The Moroccan government doesn't exactly encourage the farmers to grow cannabis, but they don't discourage it either.  And besides, the farmers can make much more money from cannabis than corn and wheat.  But enough about that.

We were so happy to celebrate Ember's first birthday away from the city and in a quiet mountain village instead.  Fatima and her family were so kind to us and made sure we were well taken care of. Robbie and I loved that the kids could just run around and explore the grounds on their own.  Put the kids where there are a stream, rocks, and sticks and they are as happy as can be.  Throw in some chickens and some kittens and you won't hear from them for hours.

The original plan was to hike to a village the first day, but since we arrived kind of late, we let the kids run and play around the gite.  The following day we hiked to the summit of Mount Lakraa which took about 9 hours round trip.  It took longer than we thought, but with water and snack breaks, the kids did just fine.  Ember made it to the summit in the backpack but then decided she hated it.  The backpack that is.  So I ended up carrying her in the Ergo on the hike down.  She has always liked being carried in the Ergo, but I was surprised at how content she was being in it for 7 hours!  Abdel, our guide and Fatima's brother, told us that Ember is the first baby to do that trek and he's been guiding hikes up to Mt. Lakraa for 9 years.  That's our girl!

The next day we hiked for a few hours around the villages which was perfect for the kids since we had such a long hiking day before.  We had lunch in a cork tree forest/cemetary as we took in the views of the villages below.  It was so peaceful.  No noise from cars, hammering or drilling from construction.  Just the farm animals, birds, and people greeting one another.

When we returned to the gite, Fatima's sister prepared another amazing Moroccan dinner for us. Afterwards, we all celebrated Ember's birthday.  And by all, I mean us, Fatima, Fatima's brother, sister, sister-in-law, nephew, the workers fixing up the gite.  It was fun to be able to celebrate Ember's birthday this way.  I know she won't remember it, but I think she'll love looking back at the pictures and hearing our stories from the trip.  Happy Birthday Sweet Pea!  Your Mom, Dad, brother, and sister love you so much!

Happy Birthday Baby Girl!