To kiss or not to kiss . . .

Yes, that is the question. In honor of Valentine's Day (week), I thought I'd do a valentinesish entry.

Kissing is quite complicated here in Morocco.

Kids get a peck on the cheek by anyone (including other children) older than they are. Those of you who know how shy our girls are ("Please - talk to strangers!") can only imagine their immediate reaction to this. Now they are getting used to it and allow the kissing, but haven't returned too many. One time when visiting campus, they got mobbed by a group of college girls who all had to kiss them. They handled it quite well, I thought. Gerald was wondering if he'd get the same treatment, but it never came . . .

Moroccan woman kiss on each cheek as the basic greeting. But then there is the "I-know-you-well-and-really-like-you" kiss which ends with several pecks on the second side. Sometimes one person straightens up only to find they are still getting kisses. They also kiss most of the time when saying goodbye though there is rarely the second-side-repeat-kiss. Then what do you do if you see the person again after an hour or two? Do you re-kiss? Technically, yes. Do you kiss when just passing by someone? Yes, if you know them well. You always kiss if you are a guest or hostess. What about when entering a room of people? You start with the woman on your right who stands up, and kiss your way around the room and kiss everyone again when you are ready to leave. So if you don't want to get up and down when each person enters or leaves, it's best to come last and leave first!

Men - young and old alike - kiss cheek to cheek also if they know each other well (no comments, guys), and Gerald has actually received one of these from one of his students. In his words, "He attacked, so I complied."

Then there are the European or Europeanized men who greet women with a peck on each cheek. Having grown up in strict Muslim countries, this one always throws me for a loop!

And how do you greet other expatriate women? The Spanish and French ladies kiss cheek to cheek, all other European and all American women aren't so sure unless they've been here a while in which case they kiss with the best of them. Then there is my sister-in-law who is French but Americanized. So when we greet each other, should we hug or kiss? Greeting the new crop of American college girls is always fun because no one has any idea what the other person is going to do. Then you throw in the American hug or handshake on top of it all which is really weird to most kissing-country people, fine with Americans, and downright awkward when one person is moving in for a kiss.

Then there are the "sometimes-kissers" (yours truly) who sometimes kiss, sometimes hug, and sometimes just greet in a super-friendly voice to override everything else. People like myself make it hard on everyone else because no one has any idea what to expect from us in greeting.

So there you have it - a kissing analysis for Valentine's Day. And with that, we send you our love . . . and kisses!