We got to the hotel in Marrakech late Friday, April 20 after our train ride from Casablanca. We settled in, figured out our room arrangements, this time without holding a team meeting. As we get closer, we figured it out on the fly, like a family.

April 21 is my birthday and while I’m not a huge birthday guy, for myself, but it was a bit different being so far away from my family back home. I’d already missed two of my kids birthdays and even though I can’t miss my own birthday, it was still odd as I wasn’t sure how it would play out.

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To my surprise, my colleague Ian booked us rooms at Palmeraie Village which is right next to Palmeraie Golf Club, a Robert Trent Jones course for those familiar.

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I decided to leave my Moroccan family and to play golf, but before that, Ana and I decided to continue our runs. We ran 8 km (4.5 miles) at 7:30 in the morning, https:www.relive.cc/view/1521469907.

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The rest of the team would go for a camel ride in the Agafay desert (photos below) and go to the medina in Marrakech, also a Unesco World Heritage Site I would play golf on my birthday.

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You can golf most anywhere I know, but I’ve enjoyed being lucky enough to be able to play in a few different countries so there was that option. Also, while I’m not big on necessarily celebrating my birthday I like to be with family and share time together.

The group experienced some mix-ups and ultimately missed the bus to the camels and instead went to the Medina and then the camels after lunch. I went and played a great course with a caddie, Hassan (something I think is super cool!) and played with some very nice folks, Robert and Hebert, French expatriates.

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The reason I chose to play golf was a matter of family. I associate golf with my dad, we learned to play together, we’ve played in father/son tournaments (a yearly tradition when I lived closer), and played regularly, it’s a part of me. Being so far away from home, I missed my family, my parents and extended family. In some way, this was a way for me to celebrate my birthday with my family back home and I’m very thankful for my family in Morocco from across the globe to accept it with no questions, which probably seemed a bit out of character for me since I'm a pretty social guy.

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After the round, I went back to the hotel and was able to call Nikki, my wife, and the kids and had a chance to speak to them at length which is difficult to do weekdays due to the time difference. It was a great way to complete that part of the celebration.

The rest of our group came back to the hotel after seeing the medina, the Majorelle Garden and the desert. I’d had a great time celebrating my birthday and was ready to hang with my IBM family.

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One of our host organizations recommended a Brazilian churrascaria called Latin Fuego near our hotel so we called and made a reservation for the entire group. They mentioned there would be a performance at 10:00 so we made our reservation for 9:00 so we could eat and then watch some of the band. We sat near the stage and settled in.  The food was good, waiters coming to your seat offering different cuts of steak and chicken.

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The band started and it was not what we expected – first song was Alicia Keys, then a pop Spanish song. The songs were either English or Spanish and the band was very talented. They took a break then flamenco dancers appeared. Through the evening, we had samba dancers, Moroccan dance, a tumbling/gymnastic routine, a karate exhibition with more songs and dances. It was a really great show!

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We’re a diverse crowd obviously, and one of the singers part of a popular Indian song that got Ajay excited – then he did a song in Mandarin that Janet knows, he did a song in Japanese that Jun knew – it was very cool.  It was a LONG show, but very fun – we were getting tired, but right before we were leaving, they gave a birthday shout out to myself and Lafon, who’s birthday April 22 – by this time it was April 22.

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We walked the 2 kilometers home, and chatted a bit before retiring, since the music was so loud, it was hard to hear. It was fun, but communicating was difficult. We were talking about the day and our different experience when the group surprised me with a birthday cake!!! I was completely shocked and it really filled my heart that in just over two weeks, our group had bonded so well that while I was playing golf and connecting with my family back home in a personal way, my other family was out in the medina of Marrakech hunting down a patisserie to find a cake and get happy birthday spelled placed on it in icing.

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They also tried to hunt down a candle but couldn’t find and seriously, coincidentally I had found a lighter on the ground during the day – I decided to pick it up in case there was some incense in the room or just in case we needed to start a fire – really, I don’t know why I picked it up. I’d told Zuben and Ana about it and place it on the buffet in the entry. They used it as my candle to make a wish and blow it out. They even thought I might have been on to them, but I didn’t, just a crazy coincidence.

I’ve heard stories about CSC groups in the past, and while all the stories are amazing, it’s difficult to get 15 people from different backgrounds, countries, etc. to get along when placed into such tight quarters for a month. I wondered at the beginning whether I’d make a new family here and I have. It’s not the birthday I expected, it was so much more. To be a bit corny, it was icing on the cake. ;)

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I didn’t partake in camels and medina, but I’m including photos from the group below – more to come.