Christmas Eve on Camelback

On Christmas Eve morning, Jaxon woke up first and so Daniel took him up to the terrasse above our apartment to watch the sunrise. We had a big Christmas Eve planned. Our first day in Essasouira we had met Mustafa on the beach. He does camel excursions and we arranged to do a half-day excursion with him for Christmas Eve. This was our first Christmas to be spent in a non-Christian country. It was actually a relief to leave the commercialism of Christmas behind and be somewhere that resembled more closely the place where Jesus was born. We talked to the boys about how on our camel trek we could pretend that we were the wise men, who may or may not have ridden camels in their search for the baby Jesus.

We hiked across the beach the meet Mustafa at the far end.

First things first: Mustafa dressed us up in traditional Berber head dress to protect us from the sun. Even baby Eva was done up!

Then off we went: Mom and Eva on one camel, Jonas and Dad on another and Jaxon on his own.

I don't think this grin disappeared one from Jaxon's face while on the camel.

After about an hour or so we reached a little shaded spot to have our lunch.

Evaëlle hung out on the Berber rug.

Evaëlle was suspicious of Daniel when he was all done up, so he ended up taking off the scarf.

Mustafa prepared the mint tea over the coals

Grilling the sardines

So delicious! and again with no silverware.

The boys were happy to play and dig in the sand while we were there. Daniel and I had a good time talking the Mustafa about his family and girlfriend, about Islam, about his dreams and ambitions. 

A few baby camels came by to visit

Jonas chatting with a camel

Jaxon climbed the tree

What do you think about camels, Eva?

Getting ready to go.

We sang Arabic songs on the way back

After saying our adieus we headed back across the beach. The boys insisted on driving their cars in the sand, so it took a very long time

They loved walking along these walls each day

We could hear the call to prayer coming from this tower 5 times each day.

We tried carpet shopping again and were successful this time after making the poor guy take out all of his carpets.

Jaxon found this nice little hiding spot. Yep, we thought that we had lost him in the medina, but he was just hiding here. Really funny, Jaxon.

Our Christmas Eve dinner

We were going to act out the Christmas story, but our baby Jesus had pooped out on us, so instead we read Luke 2 by the fire and talked about the Savior's birth.

The kids left out a plate of goodies for Père Noël. I think he this more than if we had left a plate of Moroccan gateaux. The olives were a special touch by Jonas.

After washing our dishes each evening we would sterilize them in boiling water. Just for good measure. Really though, it probably doesn't have any real benefit.