Dear Saint Denny,

Our arranged taxi driver, Omid, did not show up to pick us up at the airport. As a result, we had to bargain (almost totally unsuccessfully) our way into town. Julia and I had two different addresses and our driver was not pleased with us. Fortunately, since neither of us speak Arabic, and my French ain't what it used to be, we didn't need to hear a word of it. When we arrived at the apartment building, a gaggle of young boys came to try to help us with our suitcases. We thought they were trying to steal them, but now that we are real expats, we know they were just trying to earn a few Durhams. Silly us. We then went for a midnight dinner at China Gardens, a happening Chinese restaurant/ bar/ nightclub across the street. There were not so many ladies in the place and from the staring eyes and turned chairs of every table in the creepy, totallllly smoke filled place, we were really not meant to be there. We had fried rice and chow mien.

Love,
Megan Marion

A Day in Costa Coffee

Dear Denis,
Alors, we have arrived in Marrakech without a scratch. While some might think that sitting in a cafe for hours on end, observing the comings and goings of people, ease dropping on their conversations while sipping on lattes is the material for their next novel, this was simply not the case at Cafe Costa in Terminal 2 of Heathrow. This cafe was my home from 6AM to 6PM on Thursday. Instead of sipping on delish coffee and eating croissants, I was hunched over my luggage with an excruciating stomach ache from my lack of food and then, once I gained the courage to eat, a different but equally painful tummy ache was born of the ham and cheese panini that I begrudgingly forced down. At the point of a total core meltdown, little Mimi thankfully arrived at Cafe Costa. 3 pepto bismals and a cat nap later, I awakened to find Megan was being fully accosted by the passenger on her right. I quickly feigned sleep as an anxiety ridden Megan handed over her email address to her garrulous new friend and did not open my eyes again till we landed in Marrakech.

Lots of love,
Julia