People:
Hasna
The first recipient of our People Page honor (or curse) is Hasna,
the woman who showed us around Fes for four entire days. When we took her to the
cybercafe, we showed her our website and explained to her we hoped to put all the photos
we had taken up there. Again, we think she understood, but who knows. Hers will
be hard shoes to fill.
Three things describe Hasna: her smile, her constant laughter,
and her sociability. And did we mention her mobile phone ringing every few minutes?
Everytime we hear a mobile phone ring now we think of her. Kind of like Clarence and the
bell. Although she didn't speak more than a few words of English, she picked up our
gestures and nuances much quicker than others who did. And oftentimes she seemed to
understand what we were saying to each other.
Her laughter was contagious, her smile was constant and genuine,
and she knew people--or met people-- everwhere we went. And people knew her. Every man we
talked to mentioned to us that they were very interested in her. Good luck! She currently
works making hats, but unlike many Moroccan women of her age, she is not looking forward
to getting married and having children right away.
She would like to travel and dreams of meeting a European or
American man she wouldn't have to share with other wives. In fact, after
learning Dave had a single brother in Denver (Ken), she would jokingly bring his name up
when referring to a husband. I hope Ken doesn't mind us marrying him off!
She was a "type A" personality, always moving, always
going, always socializing. She even hummed during the quiet moments of our card game of
rummy. But she was not obnoxious and would oftentimes surprise us by her insightful
comments after a social event. She seemed much wiser than her nearly 21 years. She
remembered everything about us, from our cat's name to our family (especially Ken) to even
the most minute details we shared with her. For all you single men out there, she is
quite a catch!
