Kisses

Here's a sweet story for you.

The other day as I was dropping Drea and Eli off at school I noticed a little boy from Eli's class had stopped at my feet and was staring up at me expectantly. I admit I was confused as I had never spoken to the little boy, and I didn't have any noticable candy stash in my pocket so I couldn't imagine what he needed. After all he wasn't speaking, just staring up at my looking adorable.

Then...ding, ding, ding! Lightbulb!

He was waiting for a kiss.

Kiss? you ask. Yes, a kiss. A tiny peck which, upon my realizing what he was waiting for so patiently, was sweetly given on the cheek.

People in Morocco like to kiss. They are brought up this way and, after this incident, I've observed children actually stopping their outdoor play to kiss a familiar grown-up who is walking by. No joke! They will even seek out all the adults in the home to give them kisses upon entering the house. It's super sweet and cute!

So let me tell you about the kisses, as their is a system, as there are with many things in Morocco. I will address this in a future blog. Women greet each other with kisses on both cheeks, but please understand, it's not always the same in each case. I've noticed that if a visitor comes to the house, of if I'm the visitor in question, then there is one kiss on the cheeck and then there are several kisses in a row on the second cheek. In between each of these kisses you are asking how the person you're kissing is doing.

It goes something like this.

Kiss on first cheek. "How are you?"

Kiss on other cheek. "I'm fine. Praise God"

Kiss on same cheeck. "How is your family"

Kiss on same cheek. "They're fine, and yours?

Kiss on same cheek. "How are your parents?"

Kiss on same cheek. "Praise God they're fine. And yours."

And on, and on, and on until you know how everyone is, and I do mean everyone. I've witnessed this kissing and I seriously don't know how many times they can ask "How are you" between kisses but they do it.

They're serious about kissing in Morocco.

Now, if I happen to walk into a family member's home, or a family member comes to me, then it's just one kiss on each cheek in greeting. This is all between females, of course. We can call this "kissing lite."

In the morning I greet Ali's grandparents by kissing the top of their hand as I give a slight bow. This type of kiss is reserved for older people as a sign of respect. Even if you meet them in the street this is what you do. And believe me, when it comes to the grandkids, grandparents want to be kissed often. I hear a lot of "Come kiss."

The final kiss I've observed is the kiss on the head. I'm not sure exactly who this is reserved for, but I can tell you that Ali does this to his older female relatives.

If you remember I began my blog with the story of Eli's school mate wanting a kiss. This leads me to another thing I've observed when it comes to kissing children. It's somewhat of a free-for-all. People in Morocco generally love children and always have kind words (and of course kisses) for them. My cThey'll stop in the street to kiss a child they don't know if that child for some reason catches their attention. Luckily the Moroccan society is not yet so jaded that this behavior warrents a 911 call or is even considered creepy. To me it really is endearing and charming.

So there you have it. Kisses all around, kisses for everyone!