It's been almost 4 years since I first started talking to my husband online...in honor of V-day I will tell you all about our first date...at least what I remember of it. It did take place after a 7 hour flight from New York :)
I remember getting off the plane. I was so nervous. Actually nervous doesn't really explain what I was feeling. Just 10 hours earlier, as my best friend was driving me to the airport, I had a huge knot in my stomach and I remember saying something to the effect of "I'm not sure I can do this, I'm gonna puke". I was heading to a country I'd never been to to go on a 10 day date with a man I'd never met. Yeah, nervous is an understatement.
As I made my way into the baggage claim at the airport in Casablanca, I was scared. I didn't know how to get my passport stamped and no one spoke English. I didn't know where to go to find my "date". After finally figuring it out, I walked through the double doors where your friends/family wait for your arrival. A sea of women in hijabs all looked at me. Panic set in as I scanned the room and didn't see him. Just as I was trying to plan how to make my way around a country by myself for 10 days since I got stood up....he appeared. With a bouquet of lillies. My favorite flower. I'd mentioned it once in passing, and he'd remembered. They were the prettiest lillies I'd ever seen, and still have ever seen to this day. But more importantly, he was there. He was tall and cute and just as sweet as he'd acted on the phone and the internet. I couldn't believe it was real. I'd finally met this guy that I fell in love with seemingly overnight and over 5000 miles away.
This was our first meeting, so I count it as our first date.....
It was kind of awkward. I mean I knew him, but I didn't know him. He carried my bag and he held my hand. I had butterflies. We got in the car and he still held my hand. He drove me to the Mosque on the ocean to look around. It was beautiful, but tours were over, so we went and sat on a wall overlooking the ocean. We sat close to each other, took some pictures, and talked. He knew I was tired so we didn't stay terribly long. He asked me if I wanted to take the fastest way to the hotel or the scenic route. I chose the scenic route along the coast.
The drive was going to be about an hour or maybe a little more, I could barely think straight between the tiredness and the complete exhilaration I was feeling at the moment. We stopped at a cafe to grab some coffee and a snack. He ordered me a coffee and I'm sure something sweet...like a danish, I don't really remember. I do remember that the coffee was the strongest I'd ever tasted. It was thick and gross and I didn't care. I was just soaking in the moment. I cant tell you now what our conversation was about, but I do know whatever it was was completely amazing. I remember just looking into his eyes and thanking God that I didn't punk out and I actually boarded that plane.
We left the cafe and headed down the coast. We were listening to some french or Arabic music and looking out over the ocean. It was warm and sunny out, and the windows were down blowing through our hair. At some point he was driving and we just looked at each other and that was it, we leaned in and had our first kiss going down the road at probably 50 or 60 miles an hour....and it was the best kiss ever!
From there I don't remember everything that happened on that particular day. All of my Morocco memories kind of run together. But I remember that first "date", and more importantly our first kiss!
Valentines Day is not a huge holiday to me. I never really cared to truly celebrate it. But it is a time where I'm reminded to look back on that first day we met and be really happy that I do have a Valentine that means the world to me!
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