That isn't a small sink in our bathroom

     Busy day today.  Met with the Moroccan Investment office, the American Chamber of Commerce here, and Coca-Cola.  Walked around the outside of Hassan II mosque.  Hit the grocery store for some necessities.  These being beer, wine, snacks, and cash.  And made sure our trips on the bus today were memorable.  But the day started differently.

Not a mini-sink.  Don't put your head near this.

What should have been a smooth morning getting ready turned into a learning experience for me.  We had this awesome stand-alone, mini-sink in the bathroom.  Right next to the tub.  I was all set to put my head into it and get all shampooed up.  After doing a little research, turns out this is, in fact, not a mini-sink.  It is a bidet.  To be honest, this is way better than a mini-sink.  Especially since our housekeeper didn't bother to put a new role of toilet paper on for us, and we didn't have a spare.  Good news is, Kyle swiped his 1/2 roll from the Inn in Ifrane, so we are covered in all sorts of ways here.  Ultimately, I'm glad that my head was not down in that bidet.  Besides that, we got ready and headed to a great breakfast at our restaurant in the hotel before heading to the Moroccan Investment office.

The Investment office was pretty great.  A nice presentation coupled with tea and cookies (very normal everywhere we go).  It is a one-stop shopping office.  They can have a foreign business up and running in five days, which is right on track with us here in the US.  To be honest, it isn't easy keeping awake for some of these early morning lectures.  It isn't the material, just the time, circumstance, etc.  I find myself fidgeting.  Some of the others do that too.  Ashley doesn't even try to do that.  At one point I looked over at her, and she blinked (I thought).  Only, it wasn't a blink.  The eyes closed and they stayed closed.  And they stayed closed.  And they stayed closed some more.  Then, her head fell forward and she jumped awake.  That was the last time she blinked that long.

After our morning shift, we walked around the outside of Hassan II mosque.  It is huge.  I thought Sultanahmet (Blue Mosque--Istanbul) was big.  This had to be bigger.  It was so windy out there, at one point we were almost blown like tumbleweeds across the square.  We'll be back here Friday.

After lunch we had great meetings with the American Chamber of Commerce (AmCham) and Coca-Cola.  They gave us some ideas about our companies we are researching for and for the most part, we all stayed awake.  But it was close a few times.  Stephen sat in front for AmCham and had some serious head-nodding going on.  But no snoring, at least.

Stopping into Marjane's (like a Walmart Supercenter) right next door was the only stop on the way to our hotel.  We all wanted cheaper means to grab some drinks and snacks.  This worked out great, except for the fact that Hotel Idou Anfa doesn't let in outside food and drinks (technically).  So, we did what any of us would do.  I had brought my bag (empty) and we purchased a gym-style bag and loaded them up.  I think I smuggled two 50lb bags through the front door of the hotel.  It wasn't as dramatic as I had it ramped up in my head.  Probably because these bags weren't loaded with cash from a big bank heist or something like that.

To wrap up the evening, I headed a group of six of us over to KFC for some late-night chicken strips.  Ahmed put me in charge.  Mistake?  Hopefully not.  I got us back and we were all a little fuller and happier for it.

Now, wrapping up the night watching Hot Fuzz with Kyle before we crash.  Another long day tomorrow.  Proctor and Gamble and surveys at the Morocco Mall.  Should be great!

*****Please note that the entire bidet portion of the story is fictionalized.  My head went nowhere near that thing, as I have been in love with the concept of the bidet for more than 20 years, and am well aware of it's magnificent purpose.  For those of you who were not familiar with the bidet, I hope this keeps you from making any embarrassing mistakes or experiencing anything traumatizing.  You've been warned.