Mindy and Shahida do a holiday throwback to their all-women maternal/child health Peace Corps group in Morocco—starting with 2005 training, then being sent to remote sites where travel took days and life was intense but oddly simple. They reflect on Peace Corps’ bigger purpose: cross-cultural exchange, building empathy on both sides (especially during the Iraq era), and how the experience made them more resourceful and confident.

Then they swap classic stories: Shahida’s sister mails her a garden gnome that she has to open in front of an official, and the gnome becomes a running joke the group “kidnaps” with ransom notes. They revisit the time they went surfing in Taghazout and realized their hotel host was stealing from guests—until they confronted it, got most of their money back, and bailed. The episode wraps with favorite holiday memories—Thanksgiving packages, “Christ is bringing rum,” and the legendary inside joke that turned into a surprise recorder performance at a wedding in Wales—ending on how Morocco was hard, hilarious, and unforgettable.