September 30, 2006
David had a surprise when he came to see me for the first time after my arrival in Morocco. He had bought his ticket for the first week I was allowed to take vacation after training and the 'probationary' period (though we found out later that almost no on in Peace Corps actually pays attention to the rules). We had a lovely time hanging out in my village and David, as my 'husband' (since Moroccans don't really recognize 'partner') got to see more of my host family's farm than I ever did. The surprise was the announcement of mystery vacation, planned for the next holiday season 11 months later, and my first clue. I got a clue about our destination every month till we left, a 'travel pack' upon arrival (mostly books about the destination), and wasn't supposed to find out where I was going till I arrived at the airport. Of course, since I was in Morocco at the time and David was in Italy, I had to go to Marrakesh a week early to pick up my ticket, but the premise was great and my friends got so into the guessing game that every month I ended up forwarding the clue to what seemed like half the volunteers in Morocco.
It turned out that Portugal was the destination, and we had a fabulous three weeks there, despite some slight trauma involving food. The Portuguese seem to eat nothing but fish or meat, the former I can't stand and the latter I'm not a fan of in large quantities. I have a long, involved story abut our anniversary dinner where I ended up with an enormous slab of pork wrapped in a thick slice of ham, but I'll spare you and save that for another entry. Suffice to say we ate a lot of Chinese food, being readily available, while having a great time at the the castles, museums and stately homes.
In addition to lots pictures, there were two outcomes from the first mystery vacation: 1) David thought having to come up with 12 clues was too much work, so it's been limited to one a month for the six months before departure, and 2) that we would take turns planning the vacations. The following year, when it was my turn to plan, we were going to go to Egypt, but something (I don't remember what) came up. Then we lived in Italy, so little extra mystery was needed. Last year David had a trip to Belize planned, but I had too many conferences to worry about and we didn't go, so finally, almost five years later, it's my turn again to come up with the destination.
As a fabulous procrastinator, I'm getting the clue in just under the wire. We'll be going over Spring Break, which, due to Pitt's very weird spring schedule, is the first full week in March. So today, as the last day in September, is the last day I can give David his first clue. You're welcome to post guesses in the comment section, but just to torture everyone (especially David) nothing gets confirmed till the day we leave. I can't wait!
First clue: Mystery vacation destination varies in altitude between 3,000 and 13,000 feet.
