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Realizing
Rick's :
I see palm trees, I see water...
It all started back in 1993. After 8 years in
Tokyo I was getting ready to start working for
the foreign service arm of the Department of Commerce.
I was surprised I wasn't assigned to the Embassy
in Tokyo, but excited about going to Prague, Czech
Republic after a year of language training in
Washington that was to start in August. An Australian
psychic, Manfred, came through town and I took
an appointment, anxious to see what the future
held with this drastic turn my life was taking.
He told me I would be leaving Japan, going back
to the U.S. where I would buy a house and live
for a short time before moving on in another direction
than Asia. I wouldn't return to live in the house
again, and would eventually sell it from overseas.
Nor would I live permanently in the first country,
but there would be a second place. The country
where I was to settle was in a warm climate and
I'll never forget his words, "I see palm trees,
I see water." So here's what unfolded over the
last eleven years. When I saw Manfred I had already
been back to Washington house hunting and had
found a house in Bethesda, Maryland I was in the
process of buying. I left Tokyo in August and
my son Kyle and I moved into the house that September.
Kyle was 4-1/2 when we moved to Tokyo in 1985
and was anxious to experience life in America
- coed public school, English language TV, books
and magazines. What a reintroduction to America
that year was...starting with the Lorena Bobbit
case, then Tanya Harding/Nancy Kerrigan and ending
up with OJ Simpson...steeped in American culture
Kyle and I arrived in Prague July, 1994. Three
years into my assignment the renter I had in my
Bethesda house said he was moving to Chicago,
and I decided I would sell the house.
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Manfred's
predictions had been pretty accurate thus far.
In bidding on my second assignment I had been
promised Bombay, but someone else got the assignment.
I was learning about our government system. After
some scrambling and jockying with schedules, Casablanca
suddenly became available and I was assigned.
Kyle and I went on holiday to Morocco and visited
Casablanca and Marrakech. I much preferred Marrakech
and thought of it as an ideal retirement spot.
I arrived in Casablanca in September 1998 and
travelled to Marrakech whenever I could. In spring
1999 I was in charge of Marrakech when Hillary
Clinton visited Morocco and the following month
was back in Marrakech frequently with visiting
friends. In my favorite shop one day the shopkeeper
said I came to Marrakech so often I should buy
a house. I told him I loved the idea of living
in a restored riad (courtyard) but didn't have
the patience to put up with 2 years of rennovation.
He surprised me by saying there was a small house
nearby that was nearly finished when the Singaporian
owner ran out of money. She was offering it at
an attractive price. Friends from Portland were
with me and we went to see it together. One look
and we all knew I had to buy it - it was ideally
located, the right size and had been done architecturally
and in colors I would have chosen myself. There
was only one thing missing. If you've been following
this narrative closely you'll be saying: But where
is the water? Up to now all of Manfred's predictions
had proved true, but while there were plenty of
palm trees the ocean was two hours away. I bought
the house and left Casablanca most Fridays to
spend the weekend in Marrakech.Years
passed and I received my third assignment - back
to Tokyo, to leave in the summer, 2002. Meanwhile
I began to appreciate Casablanca more. I moved
to a downtown apartment walking distance to the
Consulate, loved buying fresh food items at the
Marche Central and began to learn more about Casablanca's
architectural richness. In July, 2001 King Mohammed
VI made the bold decision to strengthen the authority
of the regional and local governors - the walis.
In increasing their powers he named accomplished
technocrats, men outside the Ministry of Interior.
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