As will be no surprise to those who know me well, I was already packed a month ahead for our October 1st departure when, on September 8th, a devastating magnitude 6.8 earthquake killed over 2000 people in and around Marrakesh, left thousands more homeless, and destroyed the Marrakesh Medina, built in the 12th century and a designated UNESCO world heritage site.

We’re waiting to hear definitively whether our tour will be cancelled or just modified. Initial indications are the latter. A part of me had hoped it would be cancelled so that precious hotel rooms would be available to house those needing a roof over their head. On the other hand, Morocco is asking tourists NOT to change their plans, since the country needs tourist dollars even more now to fund aid and rebuilding efforts, and logically I suppose that hotel rooms in Casablanca or Tangier are not really useful to people displaced in Marrakesh. It’s akin to the devastation in Hawaii this summer, when much of Lahaina was destroyed by wildfire; one part of the country/state is in ruins, but the rest goes on.

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Morocco: sunshine, deserts, bazaars, spice markets, couscous, tagines, and a culture in which both men and women dress modestly.

We’ve visited Jordan, Egypt, and Saudi Arabia, so we’re no strangers to covering ourselves in lightweight fabrics under scorchingly hot skies. At least Morocco in the first half of October should not be quite so hot. We’re expecting temperatures of 22-29°C/75-85°F during the day, depending on which region we’re in, and pleasant 17°C/60°F overnights. The exception may be inland in Aït Boulemane, which could still be in the mid 30s C/mid 90s F.

Our tour is 15 days long, of which 2 are travel days, so we’re taking only carry-on luggage, as we did for our 2 weeks in Ireland in May. It’s amazing how much summer-weight clothing fits into a carry-on!

My trip wardrobe, including what I’ll wear on the plane, is 19 items: 4 lightweight pants, 1 pair of jeans, 3 camisoles, 1 tee shirt, 7 shirts/tunics, 2 dresses, and 1 abaya. Add to that 1 pair of runners, 2 pairs of flat sandals, 2 belts, 4 scarves, and some jewelry. Everything mixes and matches.

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Ted’s wardrobe will be a similar size: 2 pairs of lightweight pants, 1 pair of jeans, 7 long-sleeved shirts, 7 short-sleeved shirts, a hat, and 2 pairs of running shoes.

The other thing I’m “packing” is a list of the 10 arguably most useful words in Darija (Moroccan Arabic), the spoken language of daily life. It is a unique dialect of Arabic which incorporates French, Spanish, and Berber influences. The words below are the way each word is pronounced; it is not a written language, and certainly not in our alphabet.

• Shukran = thank you
• Laa = no
• Besseha = bon appetit, cheers
• Mezyan = good, great, cute (as in an item of clothing, or a child)
• Yallah = let’s go
• Atay = tea
• Qahwa = Turkish/Arabic coffee
• Noss Noss = coffee with milk
• Assalamu-Alaykam = peace be upon you, or “hello!”
• Wakha = okay
• Safi = enough

The one thing we won’t be packing is Dirham, the Moroccan currency, because it is a “closed” currency that can only be bought in Morocco. Hopefully most places will take credit cards, but we’ll definitely be looking for an ATM on arrival so that we can tip guides (neither CAD nor USD are useful to the local residents) and buy street food (okay, honestly, I’m just thinking about Turkish delight). One Dirham is approximately 0.14 CAD, similar to our Mexican peso exchange rate in the spring, so we’ll be double-checking that we get around 7 Dirham for each dollar we exchange.

So that’s it. Suitcases packed. Tickets, passports, and itineraries on their way. Just waiting for confirmation that we can officially change the sign on the door of our granny flat.