beurre d'arachide et baguettes françaises

peanut butter and french baguettes

Paris, France, the city of love, the city of lights, the city of....rain.

After our chaotic travel day, Saturday could only get better. It started out great! Mandy and I got to eat a typical American continental bacon--eggs, bacon, starbucks coffee, and peanut butter toast!..oh peanut butter how I have missed you. (just wait, it returns too!) Once we were filled with energy and excitement, we met up with Caroline and Justin and headed to conquer the city. Unfortunately since we were basically down to one day in Paris, we had to cut down our to-do list to only the essentials and must sees.

So off to Notre Dame we go!

It was magnificent! At first, it seemed like just another old cathedral, but the more I looked at it and saw the detail in the artwork both inside and out, I just walked in silence and in awe. Its fascinating how much time and creativity was put into these places of worship--much more than today's churches. One of my favorite parts inside the church was this mural of all of the appearances of Christ after his resurrection.

From Notre Dame to the Louvre! (how artsy!) Hello Glass Triangles, Mona Lisa, and Jesus's first miracle!

The first thing I noticed about the Louvre was how huge it was! And just in case the inside didn't contain enough artwork, the outside was just as grand to look at. This is not your average art museum.


We only had time to walk down one level of three levels in the three sections and it took us over an hour.It was so overwhelming! All of the people and all of the (obviously) paintings everywhere. We even visited a sculpture showing and its just fascinating how the sculptors can make something so crisp and clean from a piece of rock.
We of course went to the Damen section in order to see the Mona Lisa. Honestly, as cool as it was, the wedding portrait was my favorite one we saw because it was giant! It took up an entire wall while the Mona Lisa only took up maybe a tenth of the wall. It's cool that I can say I've seen the real one, but there were a lot more colorful and more detailed pictures in the same room. Course, the way she was watching me take more time at other pictures made me feel like she was glaring at me with jealousy...I know weird, but its the truth.

The Notre Dame and Louvre took up our morning portion of the day so we went back for lunch. We lucked out because the family Mandy and I stayed with made us all a lunch with their leftovers. What did we find? Peanut Butter and Jelly Sandwiches, Oreos, Crackers, Chocolate, Marshmellows, Popcorn, and...an entire jar of peanut butter!! I forgot how much I loved peanut butter...heck we all did. Everything we thought might taste good with it, we dipped in it. I think we created a new eating disorder--binge peanut butter dipping. But we were in love and it definitely gave us a big boost to keep going on with our day.

After lunch, it was basically night time so it was off to see everything in lights! We went back to the Notre Dame area and actually stumbled upon the biggest English bookstore in France and its so famous it has a cool stamp to go with it when you buy a book. While it wasn't anywhere near "big" it was so cute and quaint! There were books seriously stacked everywhere. Floor to ceiling, staircases, tables, chairs, benches, cubbyholes, everywhere.

From our book extravaganza back to Notre Dame. We had forgotten earlier in the day to find the plaque where everything in the world used to be measured to--"Point Zero" (named oh so correctly).

We finally got to the big moments we had all been waiting for. The Arch de Triumph and the Eiffel Tower! Our experience at the Arch de Triumph was hilarious. Not only did we run into a big group from Spain (we were able to speak Spanish to them!) who we took a picture for, when we asked them to take a picture for us this random Korean man jumped in our picture! He was just so darn excited and odd we laughed it off and considered it a good story to tell. Unfortunately my camera wasn't the one picked to take this one so once I get it from Mandy I'll post it up here. Therefore you're just stuck with one of me for now!

Last but not least, THE EIFFEL TOWER! I tell you, this sight made up for any chaos traveling, any rain that drained our motivation, and any food eating mishap. It was absolutely beautiful. It was at that moment, I was like alright Paris, now you can be the city of love. It stood so tall and so grand and so sparkley! We were lucky enough to get there at midnight when there was a 5 minute light show. So magnificent.

Lets just say we all went to bed happy and exhausted that night. We woke up Sunday morning and headed to actually go up the Eiffel Tower before we started traveling back south. Even though the Eiffel Tower wasn't as pretty in the day time as it was at night, it was still a crazy metal piece of art. Going up it in the elevators was like the Spaceshot at Adventureland (only a little slower). As we were in the elevator looking out, Caroline and this other lady from England we're starting to freak out about the heights when the English woman's son said, "Don't worry, they have a gift shop up here!" We all have no idea how that was supposed to relate to the fear of heights, but it definitely made everyone laugh and relax.

It was so fascinating to see Paris from such a height up, the city just kept going and going! We were able to go to the 2nd platform and then all the way to the top! (go big or go home) The top really wasn't as scary as one would think because it was like a barred tunnel up there. I was never afraid that I was going to fall off, but my camera on the other hand, I was terrified of dropping. I definitely still got some cool photos--even one with a mini french baguette! While it wasn't the complete giant baguette in front of the Eiffel Tower, the idea and action was still completed. 

Traveling back was much less chaotic and stressful than traveling there. Actually I had an "its a small world" moment! As we were all standing in line to check in, Justin said "hey that kid has an Iowa sweatshirt on." As I was looking at him, he reminded me of one of my friend's little brothers. I knew he was studying in Spain this semester so I was shocked to why I thought it might be him in the Paris Airport. But lo and behold, I said his name, he turned around and his family completely unfolded! It was the Price Family! While my friend, Rachel, wasn't there with them, it was still so cool to see them! I tried to explain it too my friends how weird this was since I had spent a good part of my life with them. I had hung out at their house, slept at their house, cooked, ate, and even had been yelled at by them. We go way back. I ended up sitting next to them on the ride home and catching up. It was unbelievable. 

Paris. A trip of dreams, chaoses, and complete serendipities. 

                           

For more pictures: https://picasaweb.google.com/105145268312455361621/PARIS02?authkey=Gv1sRgCIT4jLOKtu3NYg#

He explorado, soñado, y descubrió

et corrompu et volé

Everyone has to have the one trip, that one horror traveling story, and this was ours (hopefully the first and the last!). Our original plan was to leave Granada on the 11:30pm bus arriving in Madrid at 4:30am. Then we would get a taxi (because the metro isn’t open until 6:00am) and taxi to Madrid in order to be there in plenty of time for our flight at 6:20am flight that would arrive in Paris at 8:55am. We would spend the day sightseeing and then Mandy and I would meet up with her family friends and stay there for the night. Easy Peazy Lemon Squeazy right?

I wish. Here’s what really happened.

Mandy and I arrived at the Granada bus station at 11:00pm only to learn that the next bus left at 12:30pm. Trying to stay calm, we call Justin and Caroline and start to tell them of our dilemma so that they can inform the flight attendants when they tell us they’re roaming around Granada because they had found this out an hour earlier when they went to get on the “10:30pm” bus. Note 1: CHECK ONLINE BUS SCHEDULE. Once Caroline and Justin get back to the station, we devise a plan that consists of running and bribing once we got to the Madrid bus station.

And running and bribing is exactly what we did. As soon as we arrived at the station, we sprinted up a ramp and some stairs (remember we’re all carrying 25 pound backpacks during this adventure) and find the first cab man that looks like he can be bribed. We yell to him and tell him we need to get to the Madrid airport pronto because our flight was in one hour and we’d give him 10 extra euros if he could do it. He laughed and said oh my! I will drive fast, very, very fast (rapido rapido!). It was hilarious and terrifying as this man went double the speed limit and kept swerving to pass every car. This man definitely earned his extra euros because he got us to the airport in 15 minutes when it normally takes 30 minutes regularly or an hour by metro.

So we start sprinting again through the Madrid airport to Ryanair to get our tickets stamped. The ticket lady looks at us with a “cutting it close” type of smile and stamps it as we run off. We somehow proceed to make it through the stamping process, through security, and to our gate within 15 minutes of arriving at the airport. When we arrived at the gate, they weren’t even boarding yet! I tell you, if we had been on the amazing race, we would’ve won easy.

So we thought our troubles were over. But wait there’s more! If you call within the next ten minutes…

We’re flying to Paris, easy breathing finally, when the pilot comes on the line and tells us there is a lot of fog surrounding the Paris airport so we’re going to fly in circles for 45 minutes to see if it clears. Clear it did not, so off to Lille we go….Lille? We all had no idea what that place was until we found a map and found out we were basically headed to the border between Belgium and France. Crazy! Upon our arrival to the Lille padunk airport, we are all chaotically herded to busses in order to get us back to our original Paris airport.

Hold the phone! If you call in with your credit card you’ll receive…

We arrive at the Paris airport and end up having to stand in another line for a bus ticket into town. Another hour bus ride later and 15euros poorer, we arrive in the city! I wish it had been an “ahhh” moment but unfortunately it was a gloomy rainy day as we ventured through the streets and the metro to find Justin and Caroline’s hostel. After finally arriving at 4:30pm (4.5 hours after we had intended), we relaxed and checked in with the internet world, before we realized we were all hungry since we hadn’t eaten anything substantial (I was running on a granola bar and a row of chocolate).  Off to the restaurants! Oh wait…no one eats dinner at 5:00 in Paris...Change of plans. Off to the market! With our wallets sad, we binged on the cheap junk food but my, was it delicious!

Lastly you’ll receive double the offer if…

As much as we all wanted to go see the town, we were flat out exhausted and Mandy and I’s travels still weren’t over. Mandy has family friends that live in Germany and were luckily vacationing in Paris the same weekend so we were offered to stay there on Friday night. This travel was another, funnier, adventure. We figured out the metro system just fine but then it was time to transfer to the train in which we had no idea how to buy our ticket. We think we went to the correct machine but it failed to take our cards so we gave up and hoped at the end there would be another kiosk…

There definitely wasn’t. So off into fight or flight mode I go and sprint behind a woman who had a card that worked. I made it through! Mandy did also…yet her suitcase was not as lucky. It got stuck between the doors! It was completely embarrassing as now we were caught sneaking in, robing the train of its money, until one guy was nice enough to go through again for us so we could get out. We lucked out that there wasn’t a police man there but we did later notice the security camera…oops!

So call now!

We finally arrived at the family friend’s vacation house and it was just lovely. It may have well been heaven at that point because we had a comfy bed, hot shower, delicious food, heat, and internet. The family was definitely very welcoming and hospitable. I couldn’t have dreamed of anything better.

So I will say this trip was the eye opener in a sense that not everything is easy breezy and fun and games, but we still were all able to laugh during the moment and even more so now that it’s all over. 

He explorado, soñado, y descubrió 

...et corrompu et volé

(and bribed and robbed)

la mes pasada

It has officially been one month (and one day...I'm a little late with this blog) since I arrived in Spain. I've already spent one month here! Crazy! It almost seems to little but at the same time too much. I have learned and experienced so much in the past month that its hard to believe it all fit into one month. In summary, I've been to

• Granada, Spain (of course!)
• Madrid, Spain
• Alegeciras, Spain
• Tangier, Morocco
• Rabat, Morocco
• Chefchoaen, Morocco
• Lisbon, Portugal
• Caiscas, Portugal

Thats unbelievable! And thats only the first month here. These next two weekends I have planned to go to Paris and then Barcelona! Luckily, I'll be giving my bank account a break until Spring Break after that. 

While I've traveled and had lots of fun, the real reason why I came to Spain started last week--classes...I view them as a blessing and a curse. On one hand I really enjoy learning and having something to do; but on the other hand most of my classes are night classes which is a complete turnaround from my preferred morning classes at Central. Every night I have class until 9 or 10, granted I don't have class straight from 8am to 10pm but its still brain draining. Nonetheless! I'm still having fun and making new friends. 

Update for the past week--finally meeting and talking with Spanish people. 

Last Friday we, spur of the moment, went to a Granada Club de Futbol game. It was freaking awesome! Never in my whole life have I felt that much excitement thriving through each fan and from every corner. We sat in the nosebleeds section with a railing in our way but it couldn't take away from the epicness of the moment. I have wanted to see a legit European soccer game for ages. We sang songs together, laughed together, and even yelled stupid! (tonto!) to the ref a couple times. It was so incredibly lively! Even though it wasn't the top dogs game like Real Madrid or Barcelona, it was still quite a big highlight in my trip. I'm working on getting a picture from Mandy of us at the game--some guy from the top of the stands even threw down his Granada flag for us to hold in the picture. =)

Then on Sunday a group of us was finally able to go to church we had heard about from our friends who had studied abroad previously. My was it nice to be back in the church setting and feel community again. It was great to sing praises--even if they were in Spanish--and listen to a message. Afterwards we learned all these cool things their youth does like eat lunch after service, go sledding, have movie nights, and even go out for tapas! I'm really excited to be able to go to one of these outings whenever I'm not traveling so that I can get to know some Spanish people in which I have a common ground with.

Cha cha cha. One month complete. 

divertir ao sol

Portugal was perfect.
It was the best vacation I could have asked for after the intensity of Morocco. Getting there was a bit hectic since we traveled straight from Morocco to Portugal basically. We realized that we were going to be in 3 countries and 2 continents all in a 24 hour period. Call us crazy, cause we were.

Once arriving in Lisbon, we were greeted with SUNSHINE! It was greatly appreciated after the rainyness of Morocco. We basically rested the first night upon arriving there so that we could hit up the town with new energy in the morning.

Our first day we decided to sight see the town. Apparently Lisbon looks a lot like San Fransisco but since I've never been, I got to experience everything newly. The city is built on all types of hills though, like our walk to our hostel the first day felt like we were climbing a mountain just to get there. The roads and sidewalks are all basically this slick rock so add that to attempting to climb up or walk down steep hills and I was a clutzy slipping mess. Here's one of the really cool, yet trippy, pictures of the roads we were walking on.

The best way to sight see we learned was to take the trolley from the hostel to one of the lookout points over Lisbon and then start walking back towards the hostel. The man was right! We did that exactly that and ran into a monastery, cathedral, roman ruins, and even a castle! The monastery was pretty, as was the cathedral, the roman ruins were seriously found by chance because we got lost more or less, but the castle was definitely my favorite. I've never been to a legit castle before! It had the cool towers, stones, and even place for a moat. We had a blast taking all sorts of fun pictures. Below are some fun pictures we took =)

Portugal Day number 2 was just as great if not better! We went to the beach!! It took us awhile to get there because we didn't know where the train station was; every person we asked kept saying just a little further straight then take a left..it eventually became our motto whenever we got lost. Once we finally go to the right one, we hopped right on and wahlah! to the beach we go. It was so mind altering. It was February 4th and I was at a beach in Portugal--those things just don't happen to a girl from Iowa! I was supposed to be bundled up watching the giant snow storm roll in, not prancing along the beach with my toes in the sand! It was crazy awesome. Once again, more fun pictures.

After the funness of the beach, we took the train to a different stop in order to find these, apparently famous, custard tarts. We couldn't remember the address of it or anything so when we got off we just started walking towards this lit up building and fountain area that we had seen on the ride in. And what do we find? The famous place! What luck! These babies were DELICIOUS! and only .90 euro (so a little over a dollar)...so we got seconds =P It was such a cool and lively building too. 

So much fun. I would advise anyone to go there since it was so beautiful and lively yet relaxing. It was, as I said earlier, perfect.

He explorado, soñado, y descubrió 

ونحن جميعا الإنسان

Morocco was incredible. It was intense and always go-go-go but unbelievable and thats the way it had to be. When am I ever going to get this chance again? How many people have actually done what I just did? How did I, a 19 year old, Christian, American girl, get the chance to walk, talk, eat, and sleep in Africa, in Morocco? How unreal was that? That realization popped into my head countless times and I don't know if I ever fully grasped it. I'm still trying to comprehend everything and debrief hence why its taken me so long to write this post.

We're all humans. I heard said again while in Morocco. It was like a "ding ding ding! you should really listen right now moment." This time, it was more of a grander scheme of the world type though.

Continuing the stereotypes thought, why do we think we're all so "different" sometimes? Why do we feel the need to classify people, to group them into closed off groups? Why can't we look at people as individuals, as blank slates, able to make their own story? At the same time, just because you are labeled into some group, that does not mean that universal feelings, emotions, and even gestures disappear. The people we talked to in Morocco still liked to laugh, still liked to tell stories, still had dreams, still had ambitions, still had pains, and still had fears. They're not all that different from me. Its hard to explain. We're all still connected, we're all still...human. Just because we grew up somewhere else, was taught a different language, was taught a different religion, I'm set to believe that some things are universal.

Another universal human action was a simple smile. Its fascinating what all can be portrayed through a smile, every emotion, every desire. It was the first time in my life where I was completely illiterate. I couldn't even attempt to read any of the words because their entire alphabet was different. I couldn't understand any of their words. It was so weird. While I don't know Italian, Portuguese, or French, I at least can attempt to read it and guess what a sign means using my Spanish and English knowledge. But Arabic--shut down. It was back to relying on the basics. Its amazing how far something so easy to do can go. Because we couldn't communicate verbally with our host mother, we all just smiled at the awkward times...and at the grateful times...and at the cat times--Minush, the pet cat, was our biggest connecting point. He was a fiesty little cat and loved to play. Fatima would, as we were eating breakfast, pick him up and start playing with him or bopping him on the nose or whatever to get us all laughing. It was beautiful. When was the last time I was able to focus on just eating and smiling? Focusing at what was fully at hand because what else could we do? The same thing happened when we were at the small village. I was lucky to sit next to this woman who had a drawing smile where her beauty and innocence shown through. When we got to dance in their house, there was one little girl I was trying to coax to dance with my smile but she always gave me a shy hidden one back. Again, it was precious. So precious and beautiful, you just wanted to cry in the moment.

Why can't the extremists on every side see this? Why do somethings become so complicated so when they could be so much simpler? Why do we play what if games, what if they're mean, what if they're cheating me, what if they won't like me, what if what if what if...what if we just got to know people? What if we were able to put the judgments, fears, and stereotypes behind us? What if we were able to be brave and take that first to talk and listen to people? Why is it that the three top religions of the world--Christianity, Judaism, and Islam--all emphasis love-love God, love others, and love yourself- and yet we have the hardest time transferring that between the lines? We get caught up in so many different things when it always comes back to God is the final Judge and it is He who decides who gets to go to heaven, not us. Now I am in no way shape or form trying to discourage evangelism or people who are trying to convert others, but it is an action that must first drive out of love. They must find it through their own fear and trembling. I can't even say its a religion one should find, but to find an intimate relationship with God. Its possible that if you can't pin your beliefs to match one exact religion or version, then you're probably doing it just right. It has to be my belief, my faith, my standings, and my findings. It has to be a journey I make, not one "made" for me by some "human" defined church. Its interesting how Christianity, Judaism, and Islam are essentially so close in their beliefs, that its the small things that can throw someone over the edge and create conflict because of the fear of who is right? Only God knows...literally. It takes strength and courage to love someone who believes differently than I do. It takes faith in my God, in my belief, that I am able to eat, communicate, and live with those of other beliefs and still keep my relationship with God.

Its a tough world out there, but someone has to start being brave. Its all coming to personal choices to change, to be brave, to step out of the box because isn't that what I've always been told--one person can and sometimes has to make a difference in the world?

He explorado, soñado, y descubrió 

وداعا الصور النمطية

Morocco was nothing that I expected it to be. Granted, I'm not quite sure what I expected, but everything was always new and surprising. This ranged from the environment to the architecture to the people to the beliefs.

Lets start with the environment. I didn't expect as much green--vibrant green--as there was. All of the drives there were rolling hills of green pastures and trees sporadically. There were sheep, goats, and cows! There were at some points in our drive where I felt like I was apart of the Truman Show since it looked like "Iowa" every once and awhile. But that was only one side of the road. On the other was the beautiful, yet murky, Atlantic Coast or the rocks and mud of the Rif Mountains. I know that Africa is not all Sahara or jungle but even though I know that, it still hadn't registered. My mind could not process me being in Africa. I took a picture of these trees in order to help my mind because they looked "African." Whatever thats supposed to mean anymore...

On to architecture. Again, Africa is not what I've seen in the books or movies. It is not all pueblos or huts made out of clay or straw. There is merchandise and commercialism. There are Muslim influences everywhere beyond the mosques. There are less statues but more tile work and attention to detail sculptings in the walls. There are roads and cars that drive by and its like Frogger on steroids in order to cross (I loved it!). And then there is a ton of blue painted buildings in the old parts of town. This blue represents the Jewish influence that lives and breathes across Morocco. I learned that when the Jews were being oppressed in Europe, many fled to Morocco and their government and cities accepted them and protected them. At one point, Hitler asked the Moroccan government to hand over all of the Jews. Their response? They're apart of Morocco, if you want them, you have to take all of us. How not discriminating is that? Chefchoaen, one of the last towns we went too, had a lot of Jewish refugees because it was so hidden in the mountainside. Apparently for sometime the government had forgotten the city was there because it was economically and politically stable. It was just mind blowing to think how all I had heard was how Muslims are so cut off and not really open to other religions from the media, that to hear stories and see real life results of living together in peace and helping each other. It was comforting. I know it is not like that everywhere (just like how some Christians fight with Jews or Muslims) but it appeared that in general, things were peaceful. Mandy took this really cool picture of just the blue accented on the hillside.

On to people and beliefs. The discussions with each set of groups--3 women, 3 men, and the family in the pueblo--all consisted of more or less the same questions regarding daily life, religion, and politics. The two biggest realizations for me were how much influence the United States has on this country and how grey the area is between culture and religion.

I learned on this trip that Morocco was the first country to recognize America's independence and that we have the longest friendship treaty with them. Why isn't this taught in school? America recognizes Egypt as one of its biggest Arab allies because of its social and economic status, but we are Allies with many more Arab and particularly Islam countries that seem to be forgotten about. We were asked more than once of what the USA thought of Morocco and I felt so lame noticing we all had nothing to say. In a sense its a good thing because it appears that the media's motto is "no news is good new." If there is no major crisis that directly affects the USA then we won't know about it. The day we traveled to Morocco was the same day that Egypt entered their government crisis. When we were asked what we thought the USA was going to do about it, we again responded in silence since all of the news stations here were in Arabic. It was almost humiliating to feel so ignorant. We learned that a lot of countries in that area were still expecting big things from Obama in regards to his foreign policies since Bush didn't go over so hot there. One of the men brought up a good point regarding how the War of Terrorism was started. The non extremist Muslims didn't appreciate or agree with what the terrorist groups were doing either--they felt that their name, their religion, was being muddied up. They hated that it gave them this horrible reputation. He asked us why didn't the USA ask Morocco or Jordan to help with finding the Taliban, Al Queda and other terrorist groups? Why did we seem to avoid every Arab and associate them with a Muslim terrorist. How would the war/battle gone if we had asked for help? It was certainly a duh moment for me as my ignorance flared up again. I hate how I had allowed the terrorist, hating Christians, stereotype find a little root in my mind. I know not to follow stereotype and yet its so easy to do. I hate how I let the 2% of extremist Muslim become the 98% in my mind. This terrorism event that shows the extreme Muslims is just like the 2% of Christians that march around with signs saying "God hates fags." I, as a Christian, don't want that to represent me, so why did I think the terrorists could represent the Muslims. Its the same idea with the 2% of illegal immigrants who purposely live off of the government while 98% come here with purpose and to work hard for another cause. Its aggravating and seriously shows how one little thing can explode or how ignorance creates fear. Why is that so? Why can't the rational beat the irrational thoughts?

Moving on...

Religion and culture is no where close to black and white; there is no set line where this is where religion ends and culture begins. America has a problem distinguishing this too at times but not as much as it was in Morocco or many other Arab nations because in predominantly Islam countries, their government follows--there is no state and church separation. This is completely relevant in hearing the discussion regarding the head scarves, hijabs, burkas, and other traditional clothing. While talking with the women they described it as a choice for them, not something forced upon them or something that oppressed them. Their head scarves (the most popular article) was worn in order to respect their beauty. One of the girls said that while "we (American women)" think that the head scarf is a type of oppression to us, they view American women wearing slutty clothing as oppressed beauty. Because the style or mind set of some women is to show off what you got, the respect and natural beauty aspect is lost. The women we spoke to didn't want a man to find her attractive for her looks, but for her thoughts. That is a whole lot more respectful and non oppressive as some media has made it seem. Another analogy/symbol the head scarf is, is a way to show they are devoted to their God just how I wear a necklace that says Faith or has a Cross on it. Its a public announcement of what I believe in. Again--not oppressive. The men had similar thoughts regarding the traditional clothing too. They said that they can walk around wearing whatever they want because they are not the more attractive sex so they don't have much to hide, to cherish. While the Quran suggests women to wear one, the consensus in Morocco was you can wear one or not wear one, but that is up to you and your God. In Morocco, religion is public yet very personal to almost each and every person. Their government does not make it mandatory to wear the traditional clothing, unlike places like Saudi Arabia where it's the government demanding. Their government is oppressing their choice, not their beauty or their dignity.

So there was the grit of the discussions. All three groups were very lively in their talks, sometimes bickering as they had different opinions and stories to tell. There was so much more said that I wish I could remember, but those were the two that stuck out the most to me.

He explorado, soñado, y descubrió 

مطر

I promise you I had a lot of fun in Morocco but it surely rained almost the ENTIRE time. Before we got there we were all excited to leave Granada because it had been rainy or cold all week so everyone in the program was thinking “great we get to go to Morocco which is in Africa so it should be warm and sunny!”…wrong.

We left Granada Friday night after our exam and bussed to Algeciras, one of the most southern cities in Spain on the Mediterranean coastline. We didn't do anything there but stay in a hostel and head to the ferry. My group (we were split into 3 groups) was the only group to be able to ride the ferry at our designated time. For some odd reason, the bus system and drivers were being feisty and let other passengers get on as opposed to all of our groups even though our program had warned them of all of the groups. Luck was definitely on our side today. 

On board the ferry, it was extremely rocky (even for someone who doesn't get motion sickness very easily was feeling the waves) so we headed up to the top of the boat! It was so windy and so wet and SO MUCH FUN! We were sliding all over the place and falling and just flat out laughing. It was beautiful out there with the Mediterranean being so blue and the sky right in sync with it. It was sweet  (and crazy!) to see Europe on one side and Africa on the other. Here is a really fun picture of Audrey, Mandy and I but there are many many more of these ferry pictures.

We docked in Tangier, one of the most northern ports of Morocco, and headed to DARNA. DARNA is a women's center in Tangier that focuses on helping illiterate women become literate and also helps women develop skills like sewing traditionally or modernly and typing/computer knowledge. After our tour of DARNA, we were able to speak with the 3 young women who were giving the tour. Their discussions and responses are located in the other two blog posts. Here is a group picture of all of us together on top of the building. 2 out of the 3 women are in this picture--one in the center and one in the far right.

After Tangier, we got back on the bus to what we thought was lunch. As we were driving along, most of us either awing at the scenery or dozing in and out, we suddenly stop along side a beach. We all were wondering if our lunch was actually a picnic on the beach or something when all of a sudden we see CAMELS! All sorts of loud cheers went up! Because of the rain that was happening on and off, we were told that we may not get to ride them because the men that owned the camels had to walk 2 hours in order to get to us. They surely came through for us and they all are under our gratitude. It was so crazy to be able to ride a camel, in Africa, along side the Atlantic Ocean! I thought those things only happened in movies. Another dream come true. It was beautiful and so much fun! Once again we took lots of pictures of the ride and posing funny ways with the camels that you can check out on Facebook or Picasa. Here's a preview! =D

After the joyous camel rides, we drove to Asilah where lunch actually was. It was amazing! It was called Chicken Tajine and I don't know what was in the sauce that covered chicken and french fries, but I was a major fan.  Before lunch we walked through the Medina--old part of town--and learned why there was so much blue everywhere. But you'll have to tune in to the next post to find out! Towards the end of the walk, we went to an overlook of the city and Atlantic Ocean. Here is a picture of some old colorfully tiled tombs on the right and the ocean/city everywhere else.


Onward march...well onward ride. We finally arrived in Rabat later that night. Rabat is not only the capital of Morocco, but also the city where we would be spending the most time and staying with a host family. Audrey, Mandy, and I all stayed together as we were shown our host mom--Fatima. She was an adorable woman. We were told that every household had someone that spoke English in order to translate between us and our "family members" but our English speaker (the daughter of Fatima) was sick with a cold/flu so she slept most of the time. Therefore our only means of communication was through gestures. It was truly something else (explain later).

The first night we ate at Fatima's husband's sister's house for she lived below us and had 3 other girls from our program staying with them. At their house we got to try on the traditional Islamic clothing and even attempt to eat (and not spill food) in them! It was so cool! They're pretty comfortable too if I were to say so myself.

In Rabat, our group was able to talk with a neighborhood association whose vision was to give boys and men a place to go to when things weren't going so well in order that they wouldn't result to terrorism. Its comparable to USA neighborhood associations that try to keep kids out of gangs. This group was lead by 3 men as a counter of the 3 women we talked to the day before. It was neat comparing their answers and thoughts to the women's and to our American presumptions. Later that day, we split up into smaller groups to get to know some other Moroccan young people and walk around Rabat. I was lucky enough to be matched with 2 of the guys from the morning session. It was cool to get to know them on more of a friend basis than a interviewer basis. It rained the ENTIRE time we were out walking around but it did not damper one minute of the fun we had together! We still went to the overlooks and to the beach; we still laughed and raced with each other; we still talked and hung out; and we finally stopped for warm delicious coffee. What I learned and gathered from them is in another post.

Beyond talking about the culture, we also got to experience it by going to a traditional Hammam bath house. We talked with one girl from the States that was studying in Morocco who said that this was her favorite part of being here. It is a public (yet separate male and female) bath house that has 3 different rooms varying in heat/steam and 2 different water choices--scorching hot or nipping cold. Then you got this olive oil type soap thingy that once you put on, let sit, and rinsed off, you would scrub all of the dead skin off your body. Nasty, yet you felt really clean afterwards. After getting over the publicness of the bath house (if you know what I mean), most of the girls really enjoyed this experience (myself included). The heat was definitely welcomed after a day in cold rain as was the scrubbing part just because we all hadn't showered since we left for Morocco two days previous.

The last full day in Morocco we had to say goodbye to our host families and get back on the bus to head to the Rif Mountains. Fun Fact! It is in these mountains where the term Riffer (like for marijuana) originated. So we were warned that we would most likely be offered marijuana but it was still illegal for us to take as students and as people in Morocco. Back to travels, our first stop was a small village in the mountains. Here we got to talk with a family, eat with the family (yum yum couscous!), and even dance with the family. While some people saw it as a lower version of life, I found it completely beautiful and homey. Their discussion will join the others.

From the pueblo, it was off to Chefchoen--a GORGEOUS town in the mountains. It was another town covered in blue. This is one of the more touristy areas in Morocco so we were able to shop...well bargain--not a fan. We were bombarded everywhere we went of look at this, just take a look, how much you want, its real nice, student discount, blah blah blah. It was a very stressful situation but I survived and got some really cool stuff. After bargaining, our group got together for a big delicious meal--I didn't think I was all that hungry and I ate all of my Bastilla which was a chicken stuffing esque pastry with cinnamon and powdered sugar on top. Amazing. After the meal, we started talking about all of our experiences in an attempt to debrief. It was really cool to hear everyone's thoughts and how their life may be changed after this experience. The next morning we took a hike and saw the city from a mountain side right at sunrise. Take a look at this sight =)

The last day in Morocco was more travel back to Spain...which oddly enough, consisted of going through a Spanish owned city in Africa. Now that was a culture shock after the sketchy, sketchy, sketchy, border crossing. But we survived and we were homeward bound!

He explorado, soñado, y descubrió 

mentirosa

Okay so I lied. I know that is not the greatest line to start out with but I know I said I wouldn’t have another massive update week but I’m going to have to in order to attempt to explain Morocco and talk about Portugal since I passed my exam!  

For Morocco I’ve split it up into 3 different entries of the basics, the culture aspect, and my thoughts over it all. As you can see I’ve listed each blog entry in Spanish because I’ve been in Spain when these things have happened. Now that I’ve gone to Morocco and Portugal, these titles will be in their set language. Since they’re a little harder to read (Arabic especially) I’ll fill you in now.

مطر = rain

وداعا الصور النمطية = goodbye stereotypes

ونحن جميعا الإنسان = we’re all human (part 2)

Divertir ao sol= fun in the sun

Fun fact! I’m taking Arabic at the Centro de Lenguas Modernas so I’ll potentially be able to read and write in Arabic!


Also, if you want see a complete album of all of the pictures I've taken while in Spain, Morocco, Portugal and wherever else I go, here's my picasa website you can view. There are a lot more pictures than the ones on this blog and more scenery type pictures than Facebook has. Enjoy! 
https://picasaweb.google.com/105145268312455361621/TravelPhotos?authkey=Gv1sRgCODq6an55YWRpwE#