Karma

I realized that I left out an important moment from my last post. I suspect it is because it required a bit more time to process. It’s either that, or it just really needed its own post.

Before I left for Morocco, one of the coworkers who recommended the trip to me told me he had a contact for me. He explained that he had a good friend in Morocco who owned a spice shop near the Saadian tombs. He gave me that name and he asked me to record a message on my phone to give to the man. We recorded the message (in French) and he gave me the approximate location. He also told me that if I didn’t have time, he wasn’t going to be fussed, but he would appreciate it if I delivered the message.

Ever since reading The Crying of Lot 49 I have been curious about alternate mail deliveries. I think it is kind of interesting when you find other (non digital) ways to contact people. It worked for me when I got a student to deliver a message to a student who I had lost touch with in Kyoto. So, I sort of felt that this would continue the line of good karma.

On my second full day in Marrakech, along with two of the people from the cycling trip, I found myself outside the Saadian tombs. I explained my mission to my companions and they were game to help. Locating the shop was easy and I entered and was met by a young man professionally dressed and speaking quite good English. I asked to see the owner and explained my mission. He asked me to wait.

When the owner came out, I explained my purpose and who I was delivering a message for. In honesty, I don’t think he knew who I was talking about. Maybe time had erased that memory, so I prepared myself for disappointment. However, when I played him the video, you could see the recognition and the years peel back. It was like he was transported in a moment. His smile grew and his expression changed …softened …widened. He watched the video a couple of times. Reverie had completely taken over. We exchanged comments about how my coworker now looked and how time had clearly shown its effects.

One of my fellow travelers asked how long it had been since the man was there. I think she thought it had only been a couple of years, but had in fact been more than 20. As he talked about it, I could see that at that moment, those twenty years were floating around like they were yesterday. I took his contact information and recorded an emotional video for my coworker.

He offered us tea, but we had some sights to see before they closed. Then a Spanish tour group pulled up and I didn’t want him to lose any business. We went to the tombs and spent a quiet few minutes in the courtyard. It gave me a moment to reflect on the value of meeting people in our lives and creating memories.