This weekend’s our first “PUENTE” or BREAK and tomorrow is the officially a day dubbed La Fiesta de Andalucia. A break much needed to have some time to explore our home town! Since I typically don’t have class on Fridays this has been more than an extended weekend for me. Thursday evening-Sunday free is a typical weekend but because of Puente we were given 2 more full days to disfrutar! Classes resume on Wednesday and continue through Thursday, and Friday, like most weeks we have classes off again:)

To fully take advantage (aprovechar) the time we’ve been given 6 of us made plans to attend Carnaval 2012 in the Andalusian city of Cadiz, por supuesto. Our bus was scheduled to leave Granada at 11:30h in the afternoon at a nearby hotspot for young Spaniards, called the Botellon, and arrive approximately 4 hours later in Cadiz after a 30 minute rest stop half way through the trip. On Sunday our bus was scheduled to leave Cadiz at 6h exactamente por la madrugada to return to Granada, ida y vuelta por solamente 17 euros. And yes, you are thinking logically now that you’re asking yourself, so…when do you sleep? It is exactly what you’re thinking. You don’t! If you choose to rent a room in a hostel or hotel for the evening you’re making a mistake in more ways than one. 1) You’re wasting your money. 2) You’ll be missing the party! Hundreds of buses are organized for each weekend of the Carnaval festival to bring people to enjoy the day and into the early morning hours. The masses are literally outside all day long and all night long! The party does not stop and if you’re not prepared for it, it’s a little hard to keep it!

Let’s just say, Carnaval was an experience! For many it’s an experience already forgotten, but for me one it’s definitely the opposite. So much transpired that it’s hard to literally document every single detail, a task that I am not trying to take on today. I have decided instead to go the route where I give you some educational and historical background on the event, very beneficial to know the origin and understand WHY this happens annually! Basically every PARTY in Spain has a purpose, which always make the get together all the more fun. I knew that I would literally want to document every moment of an experience like this but unfortunately about a week and a half ago my Coolpix handheld camera dropped off of the table while I was eating lunch at home and is suffering an irreparable lens error. -_-. Entonces, when I wanted to take a picture and capture a sight in the city, I took complete control of my friend Anna Marie's camera. Lucky for me, I was in charge of it and I held onto it virtually the netire time. Sometimes I don't know what to do with myself if I don't have a camera in hand!

CARNAVAL:

Carnival is a festive season which occurs immediately before Lent; the main events are usually during February. Carnival typically involves a public celebration or parade combining some elements of a circus, mask and public street party. People often dress up or masquerade during the celebrations, which mark an overturning of daily life.
Carnival is a festival traditionally held in Catholic and, to a lesser extent, Eastern Orthodox societies.

Andalusia
 In Cádiz the costumes worn are often related to recent news, such as the bird flu epidemic in 2006, during which many people were disguised as chickens. The feeling of this Carnival is the sharp criticism, the funny play on words and the imagination in the costumes, more than the glamorous dressings. It is traditional to paint the face with lipstick as a humble substitute of a mask.
The most famous groups are the chirigotas, choirs and comparsas. The chirigotas are well known witty, satiric popular groups who sing about politics, new times and household topics, wearing the same costume, which they train for the whole year. The Choirs (coros) are wider groups that go on open carts through the streets singing with a little orchestra of guitars and lutes. Their characteristic composition is the "Carnival Tango", and they alternate comical and serious repertory. The comparsas are the serious counterpart of the chirigota in Cádiz, and the poetical lyrics and the criticism are their main ingredients. They have a more elaborated polyphony, being easily recognizable by the typical countertenorvoice.


----THANK YOU WIKIPEDIA, FOR MAKING THAT SO EASY ;P

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Honest, ours/everyones costumes say a lot! If there was one word that I would without a doubt use to describe this festival it would be CREATIVITY. What surprised me the most was the creativity of the Spaniards and of course the Europeans, Americans, and people from all over the world too. There were elaborate costumes in every corner. People with disfraces of American series and television shows that I haven’t even seen costumes of in the United States at costume parties! (Chris aka Spiderman, not pictured! And with Tracey a new friend from France also studying in Granada.)


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The people are all incredibly friendly and since everyone’s congregated in general areas to fully experience the masses of Carnaval, typically Plaza San Antonio y the Plaza with the enormous Catedral. I have been informed that Cadiz is one of the most beautiful cities in Spain. Because of all of the chaos and mischievenous that takes place during this week long celebration of Carnaval, I was advised not to go, so as to not have to see the streets of Cadiz in this state! In hindsight one thing that I don’t understand is why people would party and essentially trash the area surrounding and leading into a Catedral. There were so many people around and there was so much constantly going on. Once we found the center of the Carnaval party, we were most content! (Me pictured facing the cathedral. Not even 1/3 of the madness in this specific location in front of the Catedral OR 1/8 or 10th possibly of the madness that is Carnaval!)


I  also located a Ceverceria 100 Montaditos, conveniently located at the corner of the plaza of the Catedral. When I saw it out of the corner of my eye I was so ecstatic. My pointer finger practically shot out of my arm pointing in the direction of the restaurant as I shouted the name outloud! I’ve been looking to reunite with one of these amazingly cheap and delicious restaurants since returning to Spain! (There are none in Granada and I only happened to see one in passing in Sevilla.) In the end, Carnaval really wasn’t what I expected it to be. It started off nowhere near desirable for the activities we wanted to engage in. Since we had to take care of some people right when we got there it did put a little damper on things to start but I’ll admit it did get better. Fortunately, we got to meet, converse, laugh, dance, take pictures with, take as much advantage of the night and day as we could possibly handle, and be crazy with many Spaniards from all over, Americans, and some French people too! A great portion of the viaje borato a Cadiz, was the view of the beach in the moonlight. The stars were spread across the sky. We made a point to get as close to the water as possible and feel the sand on our shoes and toes; some people waded in! By the end of the trip we had made many friends with more students studying abroad in Granada, some Erasmus students, and others local Granadinas. This means now we have more connections in this beautiful city!

 My rating or final thoughts on Carnaval 2012 in Cadiz? Longest. Night. Ever. (We may or may not have been counting down the hours…and we started as soon as we arrived in the coastal city. When we got back onto the bus we were pretty exhausted, cold, and sleepy!)
 
Literalmente, cada fin de semana es una aventura nueva.

LITERALLY, Every weekend a new adventure! Te interesa oir mas? Escuchame:)

To conclude my second month living abroad here in Granada every weekend has been jam-packed with adventure after adventure, opportunity after opportunity. If you had a chance to read or skim my last post you'll see that I have a pretty demanding schedule. Despite this, I opted to participate in a service learning program, of my choosing, so I can volunteer some of my free time while at the same having the chance to speak with native Spanish speakers, and ADULTS (which I feel is where and when I struggle with in communicating the language the most!). FAISEM, was my center of choice, which stands for FOUNDATION FOR SOCIAL INTEGRATION OF THE PEOPLE WITH MENTAL DISORDERS and they have these all throughout the country, to my understanding. Many others are volunteering their time to receive credit for their universities, but as a senior with 2 degrees in pursuit, I really don't need the extra hours.

Viernes - el dia 17 de febrero

My first experience there to really enjoy the presence of this crazy in a fun out of this world kind of way group was Friday the 17th of February. In a nearby city named Cadiz, also located in Andalucia (the southern community of Spain where Granada is also located), every year around this time there is a week long Carnaval festival, where people wear disfraces and spend entire nights and mornings out and about in the central parts of the city, drinking and eating the night away.. all to celebrate the time before Lent, so closely linked to religious practices and ideals. That Friday I was invited to the Carnaval celebration at FAISEM. And since this is my internship project, or the site where donde estoy haciendo "practica" this was my first assignment. We simply listened to music and had our own celebration. The creativity in the room was amazing and the music non-stop! So we danced for hours, enjoying one another's company while we danced, sang, and shared some snacks. I left feeling refreshed and honestly just great.

I've been told that a great way to engage yourself in a large part of the culture as well as simply get a chance to really communicate with others in the Spanish language, one simply has to take a step outside of the main doors of whatever location you're at. By simply joining the people taking a cigarette break every now and then you get a lesson in itself.

Here is a little background information of where I am working and with what type of people. http://www.faisem.es/pagina.asp?id=120 So far my experience there has been great and I cannot wait to spend some more time though. Despite the fact that when I do finally get there for the evening/day it's typically after long days.

Sabado - el dia 18 de febrero

Saturday was the program trip to Sevilla! One of the sites I've been waiting to see the most! Sevilla, Spain, also a province in the autonomous community of Andalucia, was my #1 choice for studying abroad. Everything happens a reason though I fortunately had the opportunity to travel there for the day with my new friends. So after a 3 hour bus trip to the breath taking city, we spent the day marveling at the heavily Baroque architecture and beautiful people. 

In addition to some guided tours of the city, we had a little bit of free time to do some soul searching in Sevilla on our own.
-The Catedral y la Giralda, which the lines were enormous for both. & in retrospect, I wish I would have climed la Giralda. Maybe next time!
-When we walked through the center and plazas around the Cathedral there was actually a protest/parading rally going on through the streets which was interesting to watch. My mom warned me prior to leaving for Spain that if I saw anything like this I should NOT participate. I didn't participate, Mom --but I couldn't resist photographing a bit of the event from the sidelines! Sorry Mom <3 lol
-We walked all along the Guadalquivir river and were able to find the Torre de Oro (pictured below).
-We saw other areas of town with beautiful structures, architectures, fountains, the works!

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I´m a little bummed that it was only a day trip! As soon as we got off the bus and had the opportunity to start walking around I immediately saw the cleanliness of the city and how it seemed that every part of the city was radiating light, even the people. I saw the families and the children going about their daily lives and enjoying themselves in the streets and I immediately had an inkling that someday I would want to take my family here and that this really would be a great place to raise a family! 

Sunday - el dia 19 de febrero

Another program led excursion we experienced was a Granada F.C. vs. Real Sociedad FUTBOL game! Never in our lives would we imagine ourselves watching the professional team of our very city. Naturally, we took full advantage of this sunny day to literally sport our love for Granada and the professionals in a sport that is a very important part of the Spanish culture. Granada won the game, ending with a 4-1 score, each goal was more exciting than the last. And we thoroughly enjoyed hearing the obscenities belted out by the granadinas and surrounding espanolas. It was an excitingly warm day, we didn't know we would be so lucky! The crowd was very intense and rowdy. What made it all that much more of a rewarding and cool experience was that we could participate in the craziness of the crowd. From doing the wave numerous times to attempting to join in on the chants (after dechipering them, of course), it´s a day we wish we could repeat..every weekend. And conveniently for us the game was within walking distance of our homestays. So after the game was over we all left a little tanner, happy, and even more proud and excited that we had chosen Granada to live in this semester. Anna Marie and I naturally had every intention to attend the match painted! Unaware of the weather we would have we limited it to our faces. At a local chino we found face paint for 1.50 euro and each bought our own package. (It would prove to be useful in more ways than one and on more days than just this cultural experience, which that in itself is always a beautiful thing.) We saved the artistry until we had successfully arrived at the venue for the game. And what a site to see it was:) many people were standing around and watching us as we painted one another's faces half red, and half white, with some black warrior paint for Anna Marie. I've literally ALWAYS wanted to paint myself for a sporting match. It was never exactly deemed appropriate for Bradley soccer games, especially with match conflicts and a lack of good weather to go all out and paint our bodies. And since Bradley doesn't have a football team, that obviously wasn't an option. 

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What better than Spain for a first time experience like this??
(Pictured here with Jose, nuestro profe de tutorias, Granada Seminar, y fonetica, Anna Marie (a fellow Bradley student and great friend!), me, and Veronica, la directora de nuestro programa de Central College Abroad.



Honestly, what better place than Spain for aventuras nuevas!
Don't tell anyone, but I never want to leave :)
 
I started using one of the Centro de Lenguas Modernas computers to write this blog. Not a smart idea! The computer itself´s capacity to have more than 2 windows open at the same time is seriously disappointing. Gladly, there are 24 computers in here and as long as there´s an open spot and the computer is not locked from Windows, I can just switch. Moving on the the Microsoft Office that I was just ATTEMPTING to use... from 97´! WE ARE IN 2012 hahah that kills me.

Honest, a lot has transpired and I have a lot of ideas to share so YES I will jump, and scatter, and skip, and leap around. Please brace yourself. I´m going to talk about everything from spanish things, to what I´ve been doing to keep up with things in lif in general, and anything as simple as holidays and customs.

Soon (I really mean that) I will be posting a page exclusively for the food I have experienced here. That may not interest some of you but you have to understand that the food alone is a huge part of our experience here in homestays, let alone a huge part of la cultura española. As a required part of our program through Central College, my fellow students and I have the pleasure to dine in the comfort of our own homes(tays) for every meal. Yes, every meal is provided, but the discrepancies and variances of what all is available to each and everyone of us to crazy! Generally you eat breakfast at what time you have to get things done. We all have class, my entire family has school or work so generally they eat around 8 ish or so and I´ll have cereal for breakfast around 9 or so after I´ve ran, showered, gotten ready, and am about to leave for class.

Mi horario de clases
My class schedule:

Mondays:
10:30-12:30 Frances
(Come home for lunch and I have time to run and do what I wish)
5-6:30 Literatura Espanola
7-8 Fonetica
8-9 Granada Seminar
Home for Cena

Tuesday:
Generally an early morning, up at 7:15 to run and have adequate time to shower and leave for school at least by 930
10-11:30 Civilizacion & cultura
1-2:30 Produccion Oral & Escrito
(Choosing to get a bocadillo packed for every Tuesday so I don´t have to run back and forth from home!)
4-5 Tutorias
6:30-8 Literatura hispanoamericana
Home for Cena

Wednesday:
Earlier morning an option if I have a mtg in the afternoon, which happens sometimes
10:30-12:30 Frances
(Come home for lunch)
5-6:30 Literatura Espanola
7-9 Practica en el sitio de Faisem
(Return home for cena)

Thursday:
10-11:30 Civilizacion y cultura
1-2:30 Proccion oral & escrito
(Come home for a late lunch if I wish, have time to run/exercise in between)
6:30-8 Literatura hispanoamericana

Viernes
-Most Fridays = no class! [:)]
-Depending on the week I either have M/W classes or T/TH classes
-If I don't volunteer on W night then I come in the afternoon for a bit on Fridays.

The word siesta has once again become a foreign word for me. I don´t have time to! My ´free time´ in between classes is filled up with 25-30 minute walks to and from school (depending on the site where I have class, I have 3), doing homework, using the computer lab, or running and doing workouts.
Of course we try to make time on the weekends to have fun...sometimes a little too much fun:) I know my dad will just LOVE reading that, huh Dad?

Celebrating Holdays – Valentines day!

    Not typical for men to get flowers or for large baskets full of candy for your lovers and friends. If someone is celebrating for the day they may choose to wear red and then in that instance you can wish them a Happy Valentine´s Day but generally Spaniards do not wish one another this salutation normally! And in comparison to us in the United States we live for this day to express our emotions...just check Facebook. Especially on a day like this, Facebook tells all.

    I celebrated with some tapas, amigos, y chupitos. I find that´s the best way to go. Of course I support showing and sharing love too so I gave candy kisses and lollipop hearts to my friends while we shared croquetas, papas fritas, y alas de pollo, and a few friendly games of fooseball.

    What made my Valentine´s Day the most special was the package I discovered had arrived at my school from my parents! So many goodies to enjoy and to share from my family to my host family here in Spain. They were very grateful for the sweet chocolate con mantequilla. Sure, I had to lug all of my treats home carrying that box in my arms for my long walk home but it was just the perfect size. I have a beautiful family!

Speaking of family and el Dia de San Valentin, I also helped my little sister, Paloma, with her English class. She had an exam the next day and wanted my help reviewing! I like spending time with her and especially like helping her. Honestly, I just wish I could always understand her! She talks so fast and with a great accent so sometimes in regular conversations I don´t always know what she´s saying. I definitely need to hang out with her more and get on her level.

More family matters..

I found out that my host father, Antonio, has 2 horses! In a small pueblo located in the Sierra Nevada...can you believe that! I only hope that when they do some more family activities they invite me on them. He told me that when it gets better weather maybe we can all go, I certainly do hope so!
 
Blogging! Seems to be a task that I have completely forgotten how to do. Which is very unfortunate for me because there´s so much to catch up on and unfortunate for all of my avid readers. So quickly, so as to not waste any more time I want to apologize for being selfish and not sharing my experiences as much as I said I would be. From here on out I think I´m going to try for shorter posts, more frequently so I can make sure to share the things I really want to and really need to, in a timely manner:).

PARIS! Was beautiful, as I´m sure you can probably imagine. I will keep this short, as this was a while ago. We (friends Anne Marie and Katie) took this trip on the 2nd of February until Sunday the 5th. We did all of the touristy things that we could possiblty do in 2 ½ days. We saw:
La Cathedral de Notre Dame
L'arc de triomphe (both of them! Which was a crazy real life experience for me)
The Royal Palace
La Louvre (but bring the stereotypical students that we are, did not go inside because we didn´t want to/have the money to spend on it. We found out later that on Sundays before 5pm it´s free! Not sure if that´s just for students but by that time we were to be already grounded back in Spain in our hometown, Granada.)
L´arc de Triomphe du Carrousel – getting to visit THIS monument over all of them is what meant the most to me. My sister and I when we were young (how old?) we had to build a structure and this was what we came up with, with the help of our parents. And with the help of our dad literally to construct the monument.  What I remember the most were the horses and soldiers we had to put up on top. I never in my life imagined that I would see the actual architecture
L´oblelisque
Powerwalked Les Champs-Élysées – Tuvimos prisa (we were in a hurry) because we had to meet Katie´s friend at the bottom of La Tour Eiffel. Since I had to go to the bathroom and we couldn´t stop in any restaurant or café unless we bought something it was less than an enjoyable stroll. We had in the L´arc de Triomphe de l’Étoile in our view of the horizon to guide us there, for it was our next stop.
L'arc de triomphe de l’Étoile – until I traveled to France I had no idea that TWO of these existed. Let alone that this one was twice the size of the smaller scale one that my sister and I had made!
La Tour Eiffel – freezing and cold sweating because we had been running, in fear of arriving late, we made it! I could barely feel my fingers after 5 hours or so of walking around in the cold. Although dressed for warm weather with my layers of 2 jackets, gloves, earmuffs, 2 pairs of socks, and a scarf, the wind and weather got to me. It got to us all! I finally made it to the bathroom... and boy, did I need it.

We saw everything that we had wanted to/intended to see. We navigated the trip very well. After living and traveling in Spain I definitely felt confident to say that Paris was much easier to spend time in. The streets don´t wind and angle like the ones in Spain. They want you to find where you´re going with relative ease. So again, the navigation was without difficulty, but the trip was not without challenge, of course!
The weather was one of the hardest things to get over. We had a great time in Paris but the weather made some of it almost unbearable, namely the wind.
Although we were well-equipped, in my pair of boots at least, that Anna Marie happened to borrow for our long excursion day, did not do well in the cold, and we honestly thought that she had gotten frostbitten on her toes. We stopped in Starbucks to warm up with some coffee before making our way to the first L´arc and on from there, because we had already made a trek to get to the Lourvre. It was here at Starbucks that two boys with city maps or something of the sort tried to come to our table and play a trick on us. A typical method of stealing is coming up to them with a map, generally when they see something of yours that´s valuable on the table. Fortunately for me in this scenario, it was my iPhone. As soon as Boy #1 started to move his map to rest onto our table directly over my iPhone I recognized the scheme and pushed his hand away before any damage could be done. Maybe if they were speaking a language that exists in some part of the world I would have been focusing more on what they were saying, but o well. Rookies ;)
Next challenge, higher in level of difficulty ,was THE sickness. We had one full day in between returning from Marruecos and then leaving to fly to France. We took it easy during the day but made a point to meet some granadinas and students before an early flight. THE sickness seemed to only get worse as my time went on in France and I would have to find a bathroom anytime after we ate, anytime I had excruciating stomach pain (which was very often). It was unlike anything I´ve ever remembered experiencing in my entire life thus far. Maybe that´s an exaggeration but it was not an ideal situation for a trip abroad in the extreme cold, with a lot of walking and a lot of things to see.
And what was the only medication that I had with me? Tums, that tasted like...candy. They were left with my host parents from the girl who studied abroad previously with my family. They came in assorted colors and they literally tasted like sweets. Initially I was glad that I had kept them in my duffle bag that I had brought to Marruecos. But the more I consumed them the more I´m convinced that they were candy since they didn´t really seem to help me that much, or as much as I hoped they would.
I feel that I handled it as best as I could, besides the fact that I had to, I wanted to have a good time and make sure that my friends did too! We stayed in a really great hostel. It had wifi available to us in the lobby and occasionally in our room on the 5th floor. They provided free breakfast in the morning, and we were easily able to find a shuttle service back to the airport when we needed it at about 4.15 am on Sunday morning. Our second night our roommates in the dorm room were two German boys and an Argentinian. It was nice to be able to spend the night talking and listening to music with new amigos desarollarndo amistades nuevos. Katie´s father was also in town and he helped make sure that all the while we were in France we were well accomodated. For our last dinner on Saturday night Katie invited Anna Marie and I to her Dad-Daughter dinner and he treated us all! We had filling entrees with dessert too, while we watched a French soccer game in the background. For dinner on Friday, the night of our full day of excursions, we invited Katie´s friends mom out to dinner with us. We found a really nice Pizza bar and she ended up treating us too! We were very grateful and feel very blessed. Saturday night, since we had the shuttle service picking us up at 4.15 in the morning, we didn´t purchase a night for the evening since we knew that we wouldn´t be sleeping and we felt essentially would be a waste of money if we  purchased this. Our new friends, the two Germans, and Argentinian, were still in our old room for the night, with a Brazilian we had met earlier, and with an American. They let us hang out in their room and then we went out for a little while to a spot that they wanted to check out. Although we were tired, we went for the sake of enjoying our last night and opportunity to hang out in Paris. Our friend Rob had met up with us at our hostel because we all had the same flight to catch in the morning.
Our flight left at 7.20AM and we got there with more than enough time to spare. I´m glad we left when we did because I heard later from other students in my program that also traveled to Paris, that it snowed all day! And then later on I saw it in the news.

Overall a very exciting, brisk, detailed, and upbeat trip to Paris. It was a clean, fun, and lively city. I would without a doubt go again....in the summer.

 
These posts are way over due but better late than never!
Marruecos Day 1

After 3 hours on a roomy Spanish bus, WHICH INCLUDED a partial game of going on a picnic, bocadillos from our host families, sharing authentic Spanish grab bag candy, and trying to find comfy ways to “sleep” to no significant avail, a 20 minute rest stop at a gas station for more snacks for some, a bathroom break for most, and Mahou for some of the boys, and listening to the rain sing a pitter pater on the roof, we made it to Algeciras!

It was dark, luminous, and wet when we arrived. We were all a little out of our element. The area didn’t seem to be the greatest, especially in comparison to Granada, even with its huge amounts of construction everywhere. We figured we weren’t going to be staying at a 5 star hotel comparable to the comfort of our pleasant homestays. It seems Algeciras would maybe be just a quick stop for tourists. The rooms were cozy, although cold and engulfed with smells of smoke and must, and my roommate and I, Fatima, couldn’t figure out how to turn on our television. At this particular hotel there were no remotes because you had to pay a 8 euro fee to retrieve it from the reception desk. When you turn on any of the TVs the channel that happens to be on is what you get. Nick, Griff, Fatima and I and others spent some time watching Salvame, a tv show discussing plastic surgery, after some of us had spent some time lounging in a bar listening to music (and videos) that portrayed a little of the Arabic culture we were about to encounter. I got a splinter when letting Fatima into our room and we spent 5-10 minutes getting it out…and that’s how the night began. After a late night and early morning, we awoke at 6:30am to get engorge in the luxury of a 10 minute shower with amenities! As you can probably recall I’m limited to 5 minutes back in Granada. The water was scorching hot but as you can probably imagine, still very nice.

We had 7am breakfast and enjoyed a more typical light Spanish breakfast of a buffet of assorted ham, cheese, bread, juice, and wonderful/much needed coffee. At 730 we traveled on a “quick” bus ride where we rode into the morning sunshine. Our view was a majestic mix of clouds, skyline, and greenery. 

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What we didn’t realize at first was that off in the distance the welcoming horizon was really water! From Algeciras to Tarifa, Spain we held ferry tickets. Next Stop: Tangier, Marruecos across the Mediterranean Sea. The ferry was incredible, it had a luxurious cruise feel. The wavy ride was calmed by the comfort of a much needed snooze. We set foot on African soil ecstatic, refreshed, and eager for what lie ahead! After walking through the port we found our van for the weekend for the 14 of us in Group 3, 16 including our driver and Justin our Morocco Exchange leader (and former Peace Corps Volunteer, originally from Iowa).This is the core group that we would be with for the next few days to multiple cities and multiple sites (additional group shots to be added later).


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In a “world” of Islam, Muslims, Arabs, Morrocans, and Africans, most of us didn’t exactly know what to expect. Immediately after arriving in Tangier we drove to DARNA (“our house”), a women’s center that operates to help educate women, provide them a location to practice trades and essentially become small business owners, and give these women and girls’ refuge and solace. We were able to see a handful of women and girls at work working on projects in the looms in our tour of the center. We had lunch scheduled here after and enjoyed it with two new friends who had given us the brief tour of DARNA. They would be the first people to introduce what it means to be a Muslim in Morocco in Africa, discussing everything from family matters, food, traditional garb, religion, U.S. Foreign policy, Moroccan politics, the current king, international issues, cultural diversity, women’s rights, startling history, and PDA in the country.These new friends were a young girl, only 19 and a guy, 25 years old. It was an interesting conversation although we were all very tired, namely because the two had varying opinions on certain situations in Morocco, that made it much more intriguing! We each were given tea with a huge dish of chicken, vegetables, and cous cous and ate until we couldn’t anymore.


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Afterwards we drove to a city called Asilah, located along the Atlantic coast in preparation for the long drive to Rabat, the capital of Morocco. Upon arrival in Asilah we left everything but our necessities and cameras.

Morocco Exchange also provided each of us with a binded book on what to expect, history, what to do, what not to do, etc. so on any extended travels in our van we had the chance to take a look if we wanted to learn something new.

Just some brief notes: Four times a day there is a call to prayer that can literally be heard from every location in the city. Children my age already know 5+ languages: standard Arabic to communicate with all Moroccans, their Arabic dialects depending on where they live/where they’re from, French which is considered the business language, English that they all learn in high school and WELL I might add. In most houses toilet paper is generally scarce and hot water in the sinks etc. not typical either. Some feel that the government is too much in the people’s business. Many do not support U.S. foreign policy activity, namely with wars and foreign relations with other Islamic nations. There are stray cats everywhere and anywhere! The term passing lane does not seem to exist, but thankfully for us our driver seemed like a professional. Eat only with your left hand!

Before Rabat, we each rode camels! Enough said. 

The everyday markets are massive where everything can be sold from fruits to entire animals and fresh fish. Depending on where you go in the city some parts are definitely cleaner than others. Even in the central parts of the city, for example, the capital there is a lot of trash on the floor and uncleanliness. The shanti towns, that exist in many third world countries, literally were large zones of what appeared to be boxed, very enclosed and close housing for the extremely poor. It was definitely  hard to grasp how large some of these zone areas are. It help put into perspective the discrepancy not only between how we live in the first world but also the drastic difference between lives of many Africans and Moroccans. The uncleanliness had no effect on the people that we had the pleasure to spend time with; all of the Moroccans were extremely agradable! They were more than welcoming, wanting to share all of their culture with us.

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When we first met our host family we know that it was going to be very difficult to communicate. The only person that had a pleathera of knowledge in the English language was “Fati(ma) Souza”, a 22 year old student and the niece of our new host mom. She would not be staying with our for the duration of our visit, this made our cultural experience with a new family a little more challenging when she was not around to translate for us. “Auntie” (I have no idea how to spell her real name) and “Yu-sula” were overly accommodating and their generosity shined through in every gesture –nods, smiles, hand movements. 


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Courtney, Malissa, and I were welcomed home with a beautifully decoated room to share. The design is very common to find in Morocco. The rooms are basically equivalent to large living rooms that we have in the states. What became our beds is really one continuous seat that borders the entire room so the middle is open. No shoes allowed on the carpet and shoes are required on the tile floor. Our first night for dinner we were welcomed with a fresh salad, chicken, bread, orange juice, and olives. Morocco was the first place in my experience abroad thus far where I was given juice to drink with my meals. I absolutely loveeee juice.

We were more than grateful and very satisfied. One thing that pleased us the most was that upon arrival we found toilet paper in the family bathroom! 


Morocco Day 2
For breakfast, amazing "flatbread" with cream cheese that we recognize from the states and warm tea. My roommates Courtney, Malissa, and I had to walk through the market daily to get to our Exchange meeting points and activities. We were guided by a familiar Spotted Cow sign and a street sign that we could actually read RUE DADDA. Our walk was a lot more relaxed because we were seeing Rabat in a new light, literally, because we hadn’t seen it in the day yet.

We made our way through Rabat by way of van to visit an NGO in Sale. It was called “Hope for Salé”. Unfortunately for the day the center was empty and we were not able to meet any of the students and children that attend their center. Instead we had another long group discuss with 3 Moroccans that work and volunteer time in this center. One was very conservative and a devout practicing Muslim and the second was very much more liberal on the political and religious spectrums, the third didn’t speak as much. This made for some very interesting and comical discussion! At the center of the front of the room there was a framed picture of the current king, King Mohammed VI.

Later we would also visit the Roman Ruins, Chellah and the Mausoleum of King Mohammed V. Experiencing this part of the culture was great for us because we had the  chance to run around in the nice weather (at the ruins) and climb things and have photo sessions. At the Mausoleum the same happened with less climbing but there were many guards for us to take pictures with!

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We returned to have lunch with our families before we would go explore Rabat's Kabash (old fort), street life, and the Medina market. For lunch, we met many more nieces of Auntie, majority of whom spoke English! We watched the American movie, Aquamarine while we ate. A fresh pasta salad with more bread, beef and potatoes in the large dish in the middle, and to the left the orange plate is sweet potatoes which we fell in love with. After asking many questions and tasting ingredients, we found out the secret ingredient and how to make it. We also had freshly made fruit smoothies!!


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On one of our walks back to the central meeting point with Fatima we stopped at a local merchant, selling and making Sugar cane juice! It reminded me of my very own family and our culture. When I was younger and we would visit Florida on family vacations and to visit family, I remember us bringing back sugar cane with us and Dad making the juice in the blender. This experience brought back great memories! Since the man was Fatima's neighbor, he gave it to us for free. The best things in life are truly free:) The picture also gives a brief idea of the close proximity on the streets of local vendors etc.

It was nice to be able to do this before we went on our cultural exploration with Moroccan students that volunteer their time with Morocco Exchange. We literally walked around for hours around Rabat, as aforementioned to see the Kabash, old fort, street life, and Medina. We did some shopping at the local markets, negotiating prices for the perfect buys.  From the very top of the city where we could overlook Rabat and Salé all the way down to the water and coastline, back up again. A little exhausting but very worth it and enjoyable with our new friends Mehdi and Soufiane. To finish our get together we sat at a little local café to talk some more. Some of us had coffee, others of us decided to go with milkshakes, all on Morocco Exchange!


Before being able to turn in for the night after a very active day, we met 2 more Peace Corps volunteers working in Africa, and also a Fulbright Scholar as well. They shared with us about living and working in Morocco and answered any and all of the questions that we had. Next stop was the Hammam (the public baths!), optional for everyone. Men and women have their separate Hammams. Generally women go with underwear on and that's it. As a group we decided to go in swimsuits/sports bras and shorts and although we felt comfortable in this manner, by how everyone else was dressed (or not dressed...) we did feel a little out of place. Everyone was really friendly and helped show us the ways of how to get the most use of out the Hammam. In this one there were three rooms, the walk in, the second, significantly warmer and humid, and the last, very hot and humid. There were people sitting in there with a greenish henna substance all over them in the "sauna". The entire experience was very liberating, cultural, and fun. The necessary 'tools' were provided for all of us: something to 'scoop' the water, packages of brown soap, an individual rag to scrub all of our dead skin cells off, and buckets of hot water to pour and wash with. After we changed it was back home to have our last dinner with our new family! It was very light but the very typical Moroccan soup was very tasty, with bread, hard-boiled eggs, and dates.
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Morocco Day 3

Our final breakfast was no let down of course. The warm coffee was fantastic and the substance in the orange pot...to die for. It reminded us slightly of something similar to peanut butter although we know that it clearly wasn't. It's still a mystery to us but soon hopefully after some research we can figure out how to make it! We had more of the "flatbread" with various oils and cake :) Another first for me in my experience in homestays thus far; I haven't been given any cake/dessert like that with my meals. And I absolutely love desserts so I was more than happy. Today Courtney, Malissa, and I faced two of our most difficult challenges: First, we accidentally set our alarm for an hour earlier than we needed to wake up (because Morocco is an hour behind Spain), and that was very difficult to grasp! We didn't know how to apologize in Arabic, or in French that we had accidentally made them rush to prepare breakfast. This did give us more adequate time to spend with them in the dining room that was always chilly, especially in the mornings, when we could see our breath when we breathed. The second biggest challenge, we would have to say goodbye to our new family! 

Yusula and Auntie walked us to our group's central meeting point for our last goodbyes and it was the sweetest thing. When Yusula (only 17) hugged us all she told us that she loved us! It was a magical and emotional goodbye for all of us. Many "Shukrans" and hugs were exchanged, especially at this time. The cutest thing about Yusula was that she had a few pages of English-Arabic translated sheets with basic words on it, i.e. about family members, body parts, some foods, and when she would try to talk to us she would take it out. We were able to communicate mostly through hand gestures and my basic knowledge of French. The cutest thing about Auntie was how she smiled at us and would do everything for us and provide us with whatever we needed. She always made sure that we ate until we were full and that we drank until we were satisfied.

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For our last day in Morocco we would spend a lot of time on the road traveling! We drove to the Rif Mountains (which the scenery reminded me a lot of my time traveling in Colorado). We spent time with a family living in a mountain village. We talked about everything from education, simplicity of life, and economic challenges of rural areas in Morocco. We prepared lunch together as a group with fresh fruit and vegetables so we could enjoy a pleasant picnic meal outside with nuts, dates, tuna, and spotted cow cream cheese --all of the perfect ingredients to make amazing sandwiches. All week long water bottled water was provided for us so we would not have to chance drinking the Moroccan water. The sun was comforting, as was our time talking with our new friends: a young student who was our translator named Mohammed, and a family, who were gracious enough to open up their home to us.


To wrap up our final adventures in Morocco, after hiking to the top of a mountain with the husband and his son, we said our goodbyes and thank-you's for a drive to Chefchaouen, a city located in the mountains. First as a group we walked around the Medina to learn some background information about its Moorish and Jewish inhabitants as well as its historical link to Al Andalus. We had our own time to shop, which meant more negotiation of prices and talking with local vendors, with whom we could use our Spanish! For the evening I stayed with Anna Marie, Fatima, and Katie in what we dubbed the 'pent house suite' since we were on the very top/roof terrance. As a group we had a very special celebration dinner in the Medina of Chefchaouen followed by sharing reflections of our thoughts on our journey. Mainly we discussed how rewarding we felt this trip was for all of us, how we would want to do it again and revisit Africa, and how there's a lot we want to take back from this trip and share with others. 

Morocco Day 4

At 7 am the majority of the group participated in a hike up a nearby mountain during the sunrise to look down at the city of Chefchaouen below us from outside of the city gate. It was beautiful to say the least. We had breakfast in the local plaza after making our trek back down the mountain and were allowed to do more shopping if we desired. To conclude our journey we drove through the mountains, fields, and cities, to Ceuta before crossing the Moroccan-Spanish border, where we would regain the hour time difference we often forgot existed and would take our final boat journey across the Strait of Gibraltar. We arrived in Algeciras, Spain an hour later, where we would have to embark on another 3 hour journey back to our real home, Granada, Spain.

To Courtney, Malissa, and I it's still a mystery where our host family showers on a regular basis. (We never really asked).
To the group, it's still a mystery why in America we are so close-minded, unintelligent, and unaware compared to Moroccans.
& To me it's still up in the air when I'll be returning to Africa again to have another great experience, but maybe someday!