by Rachelle de Bretagne

Created on: May 25, 2008   Last Updated: October 31, 2008

Many moons ago, when I was younger, I spent years living abroad until the travel bug passed, though I shall always remember a home created in another country more than any other, simply because it offered me all the things that a real home should offer. I had forgotten the basics of what living was all about, and had begun to take for granted the luxuries that we insist on having within our homes.

Accustomed to a washing machine, a dryer, television, video, etc., it was a very strange and surreal experience to find myself homeless in a country where I did not speak the language. Not only did I have no money for accommodation, but I had no idea where the next paycheck would come from, and for two months was without a roof over my head though found out what a real home is all about.

Meeting with a Dutch girl in the same predicament, we wandered the streets of Tetuan a little afraid of the hustle and bustle of the marketplace, and joined a team that were heading for the Moroccan mountains to study the apes. We had no agenda except to get by day after day, and to take whatever opportunity came our way, though we had no idea of what would await us, high up in the mountains. After a bumpy taxi ride, and a hike through the hot summer sun, we were exhausted, hungry and very much out of our depths until we reached the base camp.

Here, tents were put into place, and Claire and I wandered around helping where we could, although after a while decided to go on our own to see a little bit of the countryside around us. What we found deep in the forest was a tree house which would become our home for the next two months. A small wooden ladder took us up to a platform which was clean and sufficiently large for two sleeping bags laid out.

The walls that held us safely within the tree house were built out of branches which also hid us from possible predators, and it was here that I found the meaning of home, more than at any other time in my life. In the daytime, we earned our keep carrying the bags of the exploring students, who in return fed us, and each night as the team headed for the base camp, Claire and I headed for home.

Sitting in our tree house on a moonlit night, the companionship between us grew. We watched sunsets together against a silhouette of trees, listened with joy to the birds, and talked about things that actually mattered instead of the shallow talk that people talk in civilized homes. This was our safe place away from the world, and we learned a trust as friends

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