One of the Big Ones

In my post from earlier today I commented on acts of kindness and how they get repaid. I didn't call them acts of kindness at the time, but I guess that is what they are. I referred to the one in the previous entry as a small thing, and said that there were big ones too. Actually, I'm not sure whether you can measure an act of kindness or not. They just kinda are. That said, here's what I meant by a big one. It's not in sequence, and I'm skipping alot to tell this little story, but I'm very excited and I wanted to share.

For the first ten or so days in Marrakech I stayed at a hostel called Waka Waka. I won't go into it now because I plan on going into it later. Soon, but later. As in another post later. Perhaps the next post later, and the later being two days from now or so.

Stop pressuring me.

The really great guy who manages this hostel is Hussein. Hussein's cousin Abdellah runs a tour agency, and there's a booklet at the hostel describing the various one or multi-day excursions they offer. I was sitting around one day reading the English descriptions (it comes in three languages) and noticed lots of spelling and grammar issues, as well as the use of some interesting words that Google translate might toss in, but which no English speaking individual would use in that particular context. All of which is good. No big deal, and totally understandable. But I decided to clean it up, do a little rewrite, that sort of thing, just for the heck of it. Hussein had been really great and I figured a cleaner English version of the descriptions would help attract business and I had the time and thought it would be fun, and all that good stuff. Something to do. I asked Hussein if he thought it would be okay for me to do this and he asked if I wanted anything for it and I said no, it was just something fun for me to do, and he said sure.

Sunday morning I went by the hostel with my tablet, grabbed the booklet, sat down, and got to it. Got it all done and then asked Hussein where I could send it. He said he'd have his cousin come over and we could talk. So Abdellah comes to the hostel and we meet. I explain what I did, and kinda awkwardly as I didn't want to be disrespectful to existing materials. He took it all in stride.

And then he offered me a job.

Okay, not quite a job, but a job.

So tomorrow he is sending me to Essouira, a coastal city a couple hours away from Marrakech. This is one of the day long excursions his company offers. I go. I enjoy. I take pictures. And then I come back and write about it for his agency. Fair exchange. I get a free trip, and he gets new marketing materials. Personally I don't think it's actually fair as not only do I get a free trip, I get to "pay" for it by doing two things I love and would be doing anyway.

And this is likely the first of many. Here's hoping anyway.

I was utterly gobsmacked when he made this offer. Completely and utterly gobsmacked. (Nearly) speechless. And why did he do it? Why did he present me with this opportunity, before even having read the rewrites? He told me this, so I'm not guessing. Abdellah is giving me an opportunity to be able to see all these amazing places in Morocco at no cost other than my words and pictures because I'd decided to help him out without having met him and without any expectation of being rewarded or thanked for it. Which is true. Doing the rewrites was something I was doing as much for me and my own entertainment as it was for helping Hussein, or someone in Hussein's family out.

And honestly, the amazing thing about this opportunity and why I was so stunned when it was presented is not the opportunity of travelling around for free. It's because I'd actually taken a first major step in doing the thing I really wanted to do, become a part of a place where I was staying. Actually live somewhere, not just be touring it. Have the opportunity to actually connect with people in a more meaningful way. And I'm not kidding myself, there is still a ways to go, but a door has opened, and I'm getting to step through it and see where it leads, and discover the adjacent possible. I am so frickin' excited about this I am totally losing it. Again. All because of a little act of kindness.

Here's hoping I don't botch it up.