It should actually be a very special vacation for Birgitt Binder from the Kulturhaus in Dorfen. However, the beginning of the trip was anything but good.
Dorfen - "I've never been so happy in my life to have Bavarian soil under my feet again", says Birgitt Binder, Jakobmayer's cultural manager in Dorfen, about her early return from Morocco last week. It should be a special vacation. "I always wanted to go to Morocco," reports Binder, "my family gave me the holiday for my milestone birthday".
The Binder family set off for North Africa on March 8, the first stop was Marrakech. "The Corona virus was already an issue, but not in such a way that we had considered canceling the trip," recalls the 60-year-old. There was wifi in the hotel in the mornings and evenings. "We listened to the news there. When we arrived in Riyadh, we noticed that something was different, some things had been canceled and there was very little going on in the big square.
The situation got worse as of Thursday, March 12. "Suddenly the news spoke of various entry stops and border closures." Meanwhile Binder, her husband and the two adult daughters had arrived in Esaouira, a port city on the Atlantic. There they met a group of excited young girls from Germany, one of whom was pregnant. "They had arrived the day before," says the Dorfener and wonders: "How can that be?" For Binders it was clear: "We have to get out of here as quickly as possible. It wasn't vacation anymore. "
Worry about
Concerned messages had also arrived from home. What Binder is particularly pleased about: “Guests from Jakobmayer also asked about Facebook with concern.” So on Saturday, March 14th, they made their way to Marrakech in the morning. An undertaking that tourists are actually advised against. “We had to go through the desert, and since the sun didn't rise in Morocco until 8 a.m., it was still very dark. We weighed up and decided on it. ”There was chaos at the airport. "Everyone wanted to get out."
It didn't look good for the Binder family at first. "We were on a waiting list, and we almost booked a very expensive flight with Lufthansa." Binder complained that the airline with which they booked the trip never gave them any information about the location, the options for traveling home, or at least alternatives have been informed. Binder's older daughter speaks French very well. "It was our luck. In such situations, you just have to be able to make yourself known. In the end, we really struggled to be taken away. ”
Another switch opened. There they met a young German woman who ran out of money to book a return flight. A desperate mother spoke to Birgitt Binder on the phone. "Of course I would have borrowed her money, but Air France, where we finally secured a seat, no longer took her away." Ultimately, Binder knows that the parents were able to book a flight from Istanbul from home.
Back home in Dorfen, the family had one thing above all clear: “We have at least got a little idea of how the refugees have to be on their travels. We saw each other on a boat somewhere in the sea. And unlike the refugees, we always had a fixed goal: our home. ”
Alexandra Anderka