I wanna know about these strangers like me

  I'm in Morocco!!! :)
It has been a whirlwind & I'll try to encapsulate most of it into a blog post that may quickly become a short novel...

Ch 1 - The Flight(s)

• As I checked-in at the airport, I held my breath as I placed my luggage onto the scale, my eyes scanning the digital numbers, hoping it was under the weight limit. VERY fortunately, the airline representative didn't even care; she placed the stickers on and waited expectantly for the next bag! :) Phew!
• With my "special" arm, it definitely had its perks throughout the travel experience. As I was waiting in line to get on the flight, another airline attendant took one look at my carry-on and "special" arm and graciously offered to carry it for me. She motioned over to the "first-class red carpet" line, walked me immediately to my seat, and made sure I was comfortable :) VERY nice!
• Flying Lufthansa is definitely the way to go! I quite enjoyed selecting my own movies, music, and entertainment on my personal screen :) Sadly, I have this habit of falling asleep to movies... thus, I think I watched the first half of three different movies. But it was still thoroughly enjoyable! haha
• I spent a little over 8 hours in the airport of Frankfurt, Germany. In that time, it was luxurious to start and finish an entire novel, something I can't remember doing since I was a young girl :)

Ch 2a - The Arrival
First impressions: these people are incredibly friendly...
Of course, there were long lines through the immigration process. But I finally made it through the various corrals; At this point, I think I must have had this tired/crazed/big grin on my face as I walked with my passport (stamped!) towards the escalators to retrieve my luggage because at this other checkpoint, a security officer motions again for my passport and smiling right back at me, responds "Welcome to Morocco!" :D

Ch 2b - I am woman, hear me ROAR :)
Down in the baggage claim, I searched for the luggage carts but saw only ones being pushed by other people. Finally, I went up to a security officer and motioned with my arms "pushing a cart" - he understood and pointed to a spot. He beckons and says "Here. Wait." So I stood right at the seemingly random spot, waiting...
Coming through the curtains, an airport worker is pushing about 5 carts into the room. I start walking towards him but was overcome by a swarm of others, pushing and shoving. So I stand waiting again...
Staring at the curtains, another worker pushes about 5 more carts in. Again, a mass of people crowd around and I'm left cart-less. This is no good.
I feel the eyes of the security officer, whom I had originally asked about the carts, watching me carefully. I look back at him, warily smiling. He smiles but then puts on this fierce face, motioning for me to "grab quickly." I nod my head. I can do this. Be fierce, gail! ROAR!
So I stood again, closer to the magical curtains and waited...
This time, as soon as I see a quiver in the fabric, I edge forward, elbows out. I quickly grab a cart (yay! got one!!) and start merrily pushing it away... BUT THEN another man starts pulling on it from the side. We make direct eye contact. I look at him with my fiercest teacher-look... and... he lets go! Hooray!! Victory! THEN he even smiles at me, places his other arm out to tell others to back away, clearing a path out of the crowd for me! Incredible :) Yay for this step of assertiveness! I glance back at the security guard and he looks right at me, gives me a thumbs-up, smiling proudly :)

Ch 2c - Friendliness continued
After waiting in line to go through customs, I was motioned over to have my luggage searched. To be honest, I would have been suspicious of me too: one young woman with a loaded cart of luggage, probably looking a bit crazed? So I push the cart over to the airport security and the man takes my passport. As he scans it, he asks me kindly about my arm and what happened to it. Then he asks why I'm coming into the country. As I tell him I will be a teacher, he immediately warms up and starts profusely apologizing for making me go through all the waiting and other protocols. I assure him its been an understandable process. He leans over towards me and whispers, "I'll only look at two," and winks. I understand completely; he's probably not incredibly excited to look through all 4 (including my carryon) pieces of bulging luggage either :) As he searches through the two smallest, he makes more conversation about the country of Morocco. "Make sure you see this... and this... and do this..." As I'm walking away, he waves and says, "Enjoy Morocco!" :D

Ch 3 - Welcome to Morocco!
With my passport stamped, all my pieces of luggage in tow, I push through the glass doors to an anxious crowd... I walk all the way around and begin to wonder what I might do if my hostesses didn't quite make it yet when... "Welcome to Morocco!" I see two familiar (thanks to facebook) faces running towards me waving fun signs - my roommates!!! :) All is well...

YAY! I can't wait to begin this journey now that I've touched down on Moroccan soil. I can't wait to begin knowing about these incredibly warm, friendly, welcoming "strangers" :D

Haha - and still yet, there will actually be stories of my first week in Morocco - soon :)