Christmas, NY and the Harvard Experience

Leaving Morocco was always going to be difficult. Luckily for me, what was bound to be a very difficult departure was softened by the fact that my host sister came with me. As we walked up Mohammed V to catch the bus it could have been any other day. Men said inappropriate things, we rolled our eyes. We dug around for last Dirhams and jumped on the bus to the airport all without it really sinking in that we were leaving. I didn’t snap out of it on arrival either. While Susan transitioned effortlessly into Spanish, I kept trying to say Thank You in Arabic for the next two days!

Christmas time in Europe is generally pretty special and Madrid was no exception. We were staying in a great area right near Plaza Mayor that was hosting Christmas markets and decked out in lights and decorations. The city was bustling with people but not in a way that made it difficult to get around.

I don’t have too much to report about the week we spent here as we took it pretty easy. We tried a huge variety of food at an amazing market called Mercado de San Miguel, wandered the shops and occasionally gave into a bit of ‘home sickeness’ by seeking out a Moroccan bar that served tea and shisha!

We spent a wonderful day in Sergovia about 45 minutes out of Madrid which houses the castle that inspired the one in Sleeping Beauty and made sure we dedicated one night to ‘really’ trying out the Spanish nightlife (they serve gummis as bar snacks!).

Then all too soon it was time for Susan to head home for Christmas with her family and I jumped on a plane to spend Christmas day with my ‘Brother from Another Mother’ in the UK before heading over to Canada.

The time spent in Canada was split between Vancouver City, Vancouver Island and Whistler and spent with a great group of old (Apple Family) and new friends. Vancouver Island was lovely in the winter and I can only imagine what it would be like in the summer.

Whistler on the other hand really is a magical Winter Wonderland (although I hear it’s amazing in summer as well). We stayed in wonderful big house with a fantastic gas fireplace (what I believe to be the most important part of a snowy stay anywhere!). I attempted to ski but realised I had lost that daredevil attitude I possessed when I was a little closer to the ground.

While the troops were out on the mountain I found plenty to keep myself amused including a trip to the famous Scandinavie Spa (thanks Reggie!) in which people braved the snow and minus 5 degree temperatures while they walked around barefoot sporting only their bathing suits while alternating between steam rooms and saunas and freezing plunge pools and showers!

Then before I knew it we had welcomed in 2016 (from the hot tub on our balcony!) and I was back at the airport on my way to the last ‘planned’ part of this trip - a course at Harvard in Boston. This almost didn’t happen. After 6 months of life away from thoughts of the corporate world and words like ‘strategy’ and ‘vision statement’ I must admit I almost talked myself out of going. However a few stern words from friends and family reminded me that this was an important part of my original list of goals for this trip so on day 4 of the year I found myself braving minus 12 degree weather (no really..) for my first day of ‘school’.

I’m very glad I did. The course was called ‘Becoming an Agent of Change’ and seemingly this concept attracts some pretty kick ar$e human beings. Our class was the most incredible mix of people from different cultures, countries and occupations including (but not limited to..), published authors, journalists, business owners, professors who in their free time taught yoga, bollywood danced, worked on community projects and became famous stand up comedians! This super interesting and fun group of people together with our ridiculously intelligent and inspiring professor made for a pretty amazing 3 weeks. Unfortunately January is not a busy time of year at Harvard as most of the classes don’t start until Feb so the campus was fairly quiet. However, that didn’t stop me from having many a nerd moment while exploring the campus. The grounds and the buildings are beautiful, often very Hogswart-esque. You definitely feel a tiny bit smarter, just by being there. My only real disappointment was caused by the Harvard Coop store. All I am going to say is that the Harvard Marketing team could benefit from a chat with the Apple marketing team. And if they have brand guidelines (because I do wonder..) they should not include placement of their prestigious logo on pink jelly thongs (that’s flip flops for my Americans!).

On the whole my time in Boston was pretty tame and spent mostly in Cambridge. I took advantage of a few weeks dominated by study to enjoy some routine and normality. In saying this my new friends helped show me a few of the sites as well as introduce me to some pretty wonderful cocktail spots and we did make it to one “Harvard Party” which essentially quite a nerdy little networking event. Oh and I learnt to brave the snow! I was terrified of snowy American weather but it wasn’t too bad! It’s actually very pretty provided you can avoid the icy wind that makes you cry buckets of tears as soon as your eyes come into contact with it. And it’s amazing how quickly anything above 0 degrees (32F) becomes ‘pleasant’!.

As always, my most valued take away from this time will be the brilliant new life long friends (you know who you are and yes.. you’re stuck with me), who I can’t wait to see again sometime soon!

Stay tuned for the next instalment that will include cocktails the size of fishbowls and a real Texan Rodeo… x