My First Iftar in Morocco Broke Me (In the Best Way)

Okay, I am here in Morocco. It's Ramadan and I am going to my first ifar. Hey, Mr. Fantastic. How are you doing? How are you? I'm doing well. Well, where you go? Oh, I'm going to go to uh ifar. Ah, so did you just have breakfast with us? Uh-huh. I am. Tomorrow we take breakfast. Oh, okay. I like that, Mr. Fantastic. Thank you. The guy who runs the uh he helps to run the Airbnb I'm staying in. People are so warm here. Hello. Hey, brother. Hey, how you doing? Fine, thank you. Good to see you. I'm doing really well today. I'm here. Thank you. Brother Salam. Oh, okay. Hey, let me see you. Let me see what you cooking. So, if Okay. Oh, that looks good. Thank you. Okay. Come, brother. Thank you. See you soon. Okay. Tell me. Friendliest place on earth. Alibaba. Hello. Good. I am fine. I'm here. I'm doing well. Good. Yes. You have a good time? I am. Ah, nice. I'm going to put this here. I come back. I'm going to go capture the prayers on the sound of the prayers and then I come right back. All right. So, don't start. I I want to get all the food. So, so don't start. Okay. I'll be right back. I promise. Just walking over to the main square so I can hear the call to prayer. Even though I'm a Christian, um there's just something that's just so peaceful and amazing about this call to pray. It's uh just wonderful to be reminded several times throughout the day to talk to God. You saw I just moved the camera away. There was a lady there. Um try not to at all film the women here. In fact, I'm going to turn this camera around. That way it's on me. So you have to just see the background and see what it looks like. There we go. Oh, spices in here. I need to come back. Salam. And here is the mosque. And then we're going to go, which is the breakfast basically. Breaking the fast. Everyone Good, good for his finish. It's finish. Good. So Mustafa is the one who makes the he's the cook B for cooking B and Alibaba just likes to eat and makes rugs. I am just eating. I will take what is this called? Harida. And this is my favorite salad. My favorite fruit salad. So just wanted to tell you that Mustafa is hard of hearing and so um he does a lot of sign language and um so that's if you're hearing that that's why he's upset right now so I don't want to put the camera on him about something over there. So and Ali actually sells rugs too. So look at this beautiful store. There you go. Is that basically he made this and now I'm about to have it. This is harid and but it's okay.

This one is normal for every for for he making for form you know form for but he making that is new for this mic coming here. So person customer just came and they were trying to get okay. Mhm. Okay, I need to eat faster cuz he's home. I'll just No, he told you what he making for working. Okay, hold on. So Oh, he makes the bowl. So he's saying that he makes these bowls. Yeah. So this girl she knows I me I make for here sheep sheep sheep sheep price not a sheep sheep price never she find this price I told him three there for three ball for three Yeah. After she like she looking where is uh some diff. She saw a thing. So let me tell you what happened. She wants to buy this bowl set. He says it's 115. I mean 150. Three. Three like. Yes. Three. Yeah. It's a set of these. Yes. three bowls. And right here it was kind of chip. Now if you can see he was just Mustafa was just telling me how he makes them. So I was trying to explain to her cuz she speaks English. I said, "Oh, well, the reason why it's like that is it's actually imperfect on purpose. Like, you don't want it to be. " Cuz she's like, "Oh, no. It's cracked. It was just chipped on the very bottom. Like, you It's literally It wasn't even like an inch. It wasn't even a centimeter. " So, I was trying to make it I was like, "No, no, no. I think it's um it's not on purpose, but it's okay that it's imperfect. That way, you can, you know, say that, oh, this is made by hand. " And she was trying to tell me. And I said, "Well, that's fine. You don't have to get it. I was just letting you know. " And I said, "Well, can't you just walk into any mall and get that? Where you from? " If it was perfect, like a machine and yesterday too. How many? One. One today. Good. No, yesterday. What? How many today? Today. Okay. For is not for life is a little bit calm. No. This is hot. You know, chick Russia gin. It's my favorite. I made it today. You made? I'm going to like like you make today like Tim. Yeah. I made it just the same way. Um with that yogurt. That yogurt got sugar in it. Me is nice this. Yeah, that yogurt got sugar. You say you don't eat sugar? I don't eat sugar. Yeah, but you eat the yogurt. You go. I eat naturally. This one is That is not natural sugar. That's we making this um carrot and everything is actually seasoned even though it looks like this. Um rice, corn, and then tuna. Oh, he made a shake as What is that? What does that mean? He told you what? You know, you know that. Oh, I already know. I already said that. You know that he already? Yeah, I already know. Yeah, I know. He told you what he make. And this is uh Oh, this is new. We haven't had this one before. He's so happy. Tea first. Yeah. Usually we don't he, you know, he doesn't bring the smoothies first. And that's um avocado and apple and I think maybe a banana kind of like the same. And eat the fruit with the dates and stuff like that because it's a quick source of energy. Remember, you've been fasting all day. I told I told him is she coming when girl she like she told you hello and goodbye for she like she good oh and he sleeping for that and mint tea and he doesn't like to put sugar so we haven't just plain mint tea. He said sugar is bad good for Yeah. bad for heart. He doesn't like

he doesn't do any white sugar. Mhm. You either you don't I am boss for cooking. He's the chef. Oh my god, I'm so embarrassed right now. I'm actually getting emotional. Um, you ever been able to taste a meal that actually tastes like it's been made with love, you know, and just them inviting me and just and he would not let me pay for anything or bring anything. It's just it's beautiful. I am Alibaba. I sold carpet hair for the cheap price and good price and online and online. Oh, of course I don't every time I speak. So he speaks because not so much people nice some people not but not so much so much nice and a little bit not nice is like for every word not yeah correct saying some people are nice some people just me kind of mid so Morocco every time nice with people but in Morocco everyone's nice you live it together uh Nice love. They're a couple uh y'all. So, you just didn't know. Three men here not having and she had two. She already said, you got three single men here. I have no girls. And she already and she got two. Yeah. Yogurt. No. Something else is in here. Yeah. Milk. You said banana. No. So something's in here. Y. That's You can you can for is you spec for cooking, you know. Yeah. I should know the red color like this red. Red like go red. Yeah. Red. He says it's in here. But this not red. That's why. Strawberry. No. I just said strawberry. He said no. Do you know? I know for that I told you you make so much things for kitchen. You can find that tomato, right? Not tomato. Tomatoes are fruit. I'm so mad I don't I can't get this. Told you. I heard it. I told you I was right. It's strawberry. I heard it. But it is tomato. Yeah. Like I was right. See what I'm talking about, y'all? I know what I'm doing. He doesn't know. He doesn't know me like that. Do this. Do this in my sleep. See you soon. And it's like that finished. Hey, Salam. How are you? I'm doing well. Good. Really good. Yes. Thank you so much. Hey, brother. Hello. Hello. Hey. Hello. How are you? All right. Everything is good. Thank you. The meal was modest. Seasoned rice, seasoned carrots, seasoned potatoes, tuna, and a boiled egg for each of us. But it was one of the most satisfying meals I've had in a long time. You could tell that it was made with love. And maybe that's what this is really all about. Maybe my first iftar had to be with someone who couldn't hear and with someone I could barely understand because somehow we understood everything. And that's the lesson that no matter the culture, no matter their religion, one thing will still stand to bring us together and that's food. The Quran says they give food out of love to the poor, to the orphan, to the traveler. Hospitality isn't a custom here. It's a commandment. And in Acts, the early believers broke bread together. They had glad and sincere hearts. They were grateful, present together. Different faiths, different languages, different sides of the world, same table. I'll be honest with you, part of the reason I keep coming back to Morocco is my therapist told me to go to places that make you happy. And Morocco makes me happy. But this trip has a little bit of bittersweet to it because I'm grieving my mother. And one

of the things that brought her the most joy was family coming together. No matter the occasion, just being together, eating, dining together, sitting there tonight with Mustafa and Elite, it's like I could feel her again. And she was saying like, "Kevin, I'm still here. " So food is much more than we realize. It's memory. It's love. It's the caring of people. It's the people that we carry with us even when they're gone. So, it's fitting that after all the prayer, after all the devotion, after all the fasting, the first thing you do is you sit down and you break bread with people that you love and you thank God for it. Alhamdulillah.