Before I've moved to the South of Spain, which is in Schengen Area, same as Poland (so technically ID is enough to travel), I've decided to take my passport with me. Why?
Well, I had my reasons, actually two of them. At that time I had two top destinations. My absolute number one was Central or South America (wider thinking lets you be happy with wherever you go), so I was hoping to find a cheap flight from there and archive my goal (yes, you're right. Haven't been there yet). My second top destination was Morocco. In this case, I've succeed. Why Morocco?
The answer is pretty short but I'm not expecting you to fully understand it. When I travel it's not usually going somewhere just because I want to, it's rather going to experience something about I was dreaming for a long time. So what was the thing with Morocco?
My friend once gave me as a gift, pack of a Marrakesh Mint Tea and when I first tried it, I already knew that one day I'm going to visit that city to drink mint tea there. And so I did. Legend says that the fist cup of mint tea in Morocco is a prophecy for your stay there. The sweeter it is, the better your time will be.
The process of preparation the tea is long and complicated and as for me, magical. So here's a little story from my trip about my first genuine glass of mint tea in Morocco.
I'm entering the locals house, there's a kitchen, living room, one common bedroom and guest room. We're being invited to enter the living room. At this area can stay only men and guests. So there we are, six guys and me. Women are staying in the kitchen, preparing water and glasses. Before the ritual, major woman comes and instructs us how to wash hands properly, all with her assistance. When the water is ready, they pass it in a metal kettle to the major man and leave in silence. He puts mint leaves into the water and closes it. If you were lucky enough to be a French speaker (French is one of most commons languages in Morocco - I'm not expecting you to speak Arabic, which is pretty easy according to the opinion of locals. I've managed to learn some phrases), you would probably get the situation from the top. But as my French ends with just few most useful phrases (like: J'aime le fromage et le vin), I just wait patiently for the development of the situation. Suddenly he takes the metal kettle and pours mint tea into glasses. With all my hopes, I'm trying to reach the glass and try the tea (smell of it is filling the whole area since more or less 10 minutes, come on!), but oops, a trap. "It's not ready yet" he says (thanks to my friend Mo for being a translator sometimes!). He pours the tea back into the kettle and smiles. By the time he gets the kettle again I manage to imagine like thousand of possible ends of this situation. But there we are, waiting for a magical moment and it's not coming. Finally, kettle is again in his hands, and I can almost feel the flavor of the tea in my mouth. Do you feel that excitement? No? That's ok. You know why? It's not ready yet! "You have to do it at least three times in order to reach the proper infusion" he says. Ok, I can wait. I've waited couple of years, this minutes won't kill me. When I'm finally holding a glass of mint Moroccan tea in my hands (and believe me, the moment when he pours the tea from like 10-15cm height? Amazing! I'm sure I wouldn't be able to do this, ever) I'm super happy. I've reached it, here I am, drinking my dreamt drink in the country of its origin. Those of you, who have tried it, probably know, that words can't express the feeling and what's more, can't express the tea. And for those, who haven't tried it I wish all of you the try it one day.
If you like the story and want more, you know what to do :)
If you wanna ask something, feel free & See you soon!
Love, Lonia.