Morocco!! Day 2

October 31st

We woke up early to get started with the awesome day we had ahead of us! This was our only full day in Fes and we had a lot to see and do. Words cannot describe what an incredible day we had in Fes. They say Morocco is the land of the five senses, and after touring Fes I really do believe it. I have never been anywhere where there is so much to see, smell, taste, touch and hear. As I describe the amazing day we had in Fes, I hope to portray at least some of these exquisite sensations I experienced there.

We began the tour by stopping at the King’s Palace to see the outside, which has beautiful doors and intricate arched mosaics. Our tour guide, Mohib, was really great. At the beginning of the tour he told us that the one thing he wanted us to do after our experience in Morocco is to go back to the States as “ambassadors” of Morocco. He wanted us to realize how friendly and welcoming the country of Morocco is, and try our best to eliminate the misconceptions many people have about Morocco. Granting Mohib’s wish, I hope that this blog helps to show all of you what an enchanting and incredible place Morocco is.

After taking some photos by the King’s Palace we took the bus to the Medina. The Medina of Fes el Bali (The Old Fes) is the oldest part of Fes and is surrounded by walls. The Medina is basically an area of the city made up by narrow winding streets, containing everything from the fresh local market to the leather tannery. This splendid network of small streets has existed, unchanged (only expanded) since medieval times. Thousands of people walk these small streets but no cars can fit; hence, it is believed to be the largest contiguous car free urban area in the world by population. People use donkeys to carry their good through the Medina, and because of this you often here people yelling “Balak,” which means “watch out” as they try to pass by with their donkeys! The Medina of Fes el Bali was classified as a UNESCO World Heritage Site in 1981. We spent most of the day walking through the Medina and stopping at a few of the most interesting locations.

First we walked through the fresh local market, which was amazing to see. Everything is naturally grown and organic, with no preservatives. The people do not even use refrigerators or ice for the local fish, meat or produce…that is how fresh it is! Our tour guide explained to us how the people buy, cook and eat every single day. The only buy enough food for one day and return to the open air market for the next day’s meal. Everything is recycled and nothing goes to waste. I really admired seeing such a sustainable society work so perfectly. It is so different from our concept of eating, where we are accustomed to not knowing where our food comes from. However, here you know exactly which local farmer your produce comes from and where your meat comes from…they even hang the camel head outside the shop which sells camel meat (they eat camel meat often)!

After passing through the market, we walked through the coppersmith portion of the Medina. We saw men diligently hammering and working on constructing pots, pans, utensils, anything you can think of. I continued to notice the sustainability of this society as our tour guide explained how people bring their old pots and pans to the coppersmiths and they melt them down again and make new ones. It is so awesome! We saw many young boys working alongside their fathers in the coppersmith quarter, as families there continue the tradition of passing their craft down to their sons. It was here that I really began to notice how women have such a subordinate role in their society. Not only are they often not given the opportunity to be educated or learn their families craft, they are seldom even seen outside the home. Their primary job is to stay at home with the children, and sadly enough from a young age they are taught their subordinate position in society. Our director had warned us that it would be shocking to witness the fact that women are really treated as second class citizens. It really was sad to see this during various points in our trip.

Next, we went to the local pharmacy and watched as the pharmacist explained the purpose of all the natural oils, medicines and beauty products. This was one of my favorite parts of the trip, because it was so amazing to see how all the natural products (with no chemicals and preservatives) work the same way as our beauty products and medicines. Needless to say, I was so impressed with these products that I spent a little over what I planned on Christmas presents! After the pharmacy we went to the area of the Medina where the leather tannery is. Phewww what a smell! They gave us mint leaves to hold under our noses so that we could handle the smell as we walked through there. They leather tannery was extremely interesting. All the hides are dyed by hand, which is allowed because they use no chemicals, only natural dye. Even though it smelt really bad, it was awesome to see all the amazing bags and shoes they make out of the leather…all by hand! Our next stop was the place where they hand make carpets. Women work for years on the intricate designs of these rugs, they are amazing! My roommate Jill did a great job bargaining and she bought a beautiful rug for her family. Even after some great bargaining they were pretty expensive, so I decided to not attempt the bargaining process. After having lunch at a restaurant in the Medina (we had yummy cous-cous!) we went to the shop where they make scarves! I wish I could have bought a scarf for every friend and family member, because they were unbelievable! Even when I bargained well they were really expensive, but it is understandable after you see how they make them!

After all these amazing experiences in the Medina, we maneuvered our way out of the puzzling labyrinth of streets and headed back to the bus. We took the bus to the ceramic portion of the city, a little outside the Medina. This is where they make amazing mosaics for fountains, tables, plates etc. We watched a man make the pottery and learned all about the process of making pottery. We also watched some men hand painting mugs and plates…so awesome! After spending some more money I don’t have in the ceramic shop ;) we went back to the hotel. That night we went to watch a belly dancing show which was incredible!

Morocco!! Day 3

November 1st

The exciting day in Fez was over and now it was time to head out to the desert! We spent most of the day on the bus (about a 10 hour bus ride), but stopped at an oasis to each lunch. Around dusk we arrived at the spot where we had to get off the bus and get into 4x4 jeeps to head out to our camp site in the Sahara! It was such an awesome experience riding through the dunes and watching the sunset! We had a line of about 25 jeeps to bring all 150 of us out to the desert…so many people! When we arrived at our campsite I couldn’t believe what I saw. The campsite was all lit up with candles and the tents looked enchanting with the moonlight shining on them. I was so excited! We had dinner inside the big dining tent and then went out to play in the dunes! The moon was almost full and the stars were so abundant! I really can’t describe how beautiful the Sahara is! The sand is so soft and warm to the touch, I couldn’t stop digging my feet into it. After star gazing for a while, we settled into our “haimas,” or tents, and got some sleep.

Morocco!! Day 4

November 2nd

We woke up at 5:30am to watch the sunrise over the dunes. It was still dark as we walked about a ½ mile to a tall dune. Sitting on top of that dune, watching the sunrise and listening to the peaceful silence of the Sahara was absolutely breathtaking, an experience I will never forget. It felt like time stood still for a moment as I sat there watching the sky turn various shades of red and orange, I was waiting for someone to pinch me and wake me up from this dream I was in. After the beautiful sunrise we went back to camp for breakfast and got ready for the adventurous day ahead of us! After breakfast everyone bought turbans to protect our heads and faces from the sun during our long day in the desert. Around 10am the camels arrived at camp! The men who were directing the camp/our tour guides were Berbers, a desert tribe that speaks Berber which is a dialect of Arabic. The Berbers were so knowledgeable and friendly, as we spoke to them in Spanish while they organized the camels for our camel ride! Riding the camel through the dunes was so much fun! Even though you feel like you are going to fall off when the camel gets up and down, it was awesome!

We rode the camels all around the desert and took a break to climb a huge dune and see the panoramic view of the desert. Wow!! One of our directors brought her snowboard and some people were sand boarding down the dunes. After seeing the astonishing view of the Sahara from the top of the dune, we got back on the camels and headed to a small desert town called Merzouga. Here we went to another place where they sell awesome Berber rugs and then headed to a school to give out our toys and school supplies we had brought for the kids. Visiting this poor town and seeing the children run around with excitement as we walked up to the school had a very profound impact on me. I had brought a big bag of toys to give to the kids and when I pulled it out of my backpack I was literally almost mauled over by a group of seven year old boys who began fighting over the toys. It made me so sad to see them this way because it was obvious that they had never seen toys like that. I felt so helpless and wished I had brought more toys, because they ones I did bring were ripped out of my hands. Seeing the excitement on their faces as they played with their new toys was so awesome. Once we got inside the school house the same thing happened. The teacher had to yell at the kids to sit in their seats and wait until we came around and passed out the pens, markers, papers and binders we brought. They could not control their excitement, they were just adorable. This humbling experience really helped me realize how extremely fortunate we are in the United States. Although many districts are complaining of the budget crisis and not having enough materials, we really do have more than enough to teach our children. This poor teacher had almost nothing to teach a classroom of thirty young boys and girls. Although seeing this school made me sad, it really did inspire me to continue working hard in my education so that one day when I am a teacher I can go to third world countries and help educate young children like those I saw that day.

After seeing the school we went back to camp for lunch and relaxed for a little while. We took some photos of the dunes and watched the sunset. Before dinner a group of my friends and I sat with a few Berber men and talked. This was an awesome experience because we learned so much about the Berber tribe. These men speak at least five different languages, and they have learned all of them just from spending time with tourists in the desert! They call the desert their “escuela internacional” (international school). They are so smart! I brought my journal to the dune and my friend Mustafa translated words from Spanish to Berber and Arabic in my journal! They also played Berber music and taught us a song in Spanish called “Vamos a la playa.” This was truly a surreal experience, as we sat on the dune listening to so many different languages and learning about the lives of these men. The simplicity of their way of life is incredible; it was awesome to learn about. My friend Mustafa showed me what a sand bath is as he dug a whole for me to lay in and covered my legs with sand. He massaged my legs with the sand on top of it, talk about exfoliating! My friends Melissa and Nicole got a sand bath as well, it was so fun! After spending time with our Berber friends we went back to the tent for dinner and dancing! An African band came to play at the tent and we had so much fun dancing the night away!

Morocco!! Day 5

November 3rd
The incredible day in the Sahara desert was over and now it was time to pack up and leave. We left in the campsite around 8:30am in the 4x4 jeeps and headed back to the buses. As we were leaving the camp and I was reflecting on the days before I couldn’t help but smile from ear to ear. I knew that I would never forget this experience. We spent most of the day on the bus heading to another city in Morocco called Meknes. We arrived at our hotel in Meknes around 7:30pm and headed up to our rooms to shower! Our bath tub had a lot of sand in it after my friends Andrea, Jill and I showered. I really appreciated that shower; it felt so refreshing after being in the desert for two days. It is crazy how quickly we can take things for granted at home…little things like a warm blanket, warm water and soap! We were exhausted and went to bed right after dinner.

Morocco!! Day 6

November 4th
We woke up early and packed up to head back to Spain! We spent most of the day on the bus (about 10 hours). The bus ride was not bad though, because we watched a lot of movies and joked around with our directors the whole ride. Everything was going smoothly until the very tail end of the ride home. We were about 1 mile away from crossing the border back into Spanish territory when our bus broke down! We all had to evacuate the bus and grab our luggage because it was smoking. Thankfully, the other two programs (from Madrid and Sevilla) had two other buses that were ahead of us. They came back to get us and we all piled in the two buses to get across the border and to the ferry in time. Our poor bus driver had to stay behind with the bus. In the midst of all this chaos my roommate Jill and I both started to feel really ill. In addition, our main director Eugenio got his really nice camera (with all the pictures he usually turns into a dvd for us) and ipod stolen when our bus broke down. We all felt so bad for him. After getting off the ferry and heading to our new bus, I began to get really sick. Thankfully we only had three hours left on the bus to get back to Granada, but that felt like eternity. I will spare you the details, but I was very sick. Our directors were really nice and comforting and stayed by me the whole time. My roommate Jill was getting very sick as well. By the time we got back to Granada I had such a high fever and was so dehydrated, that they had to take me straight to the hospital. After an IV with pain medication for my stomach cramping and water, I began to feel a little better. My blood work came back fine. The doctor told me that I had gastroenteritis, or an infection in my stomach. They gave me medicine to take and sent me home. When I got home Jill was still very sick. She went to the doctor the next day and got the same medicine as I did. I am very thankful that I didn’t get sick until the very tail end of the trip because I had the most amazing experience of my life in Morocco. However, it does stink that Jill and I have to be in bed all weekend because it is one of our last weekends in Granada! We have the next four weekends planned with trips!

Overall this trip was more than I imagined it to be, it was a once in a lifetime experience! I hope that you enjoyed reading about my trip to Morocco! Love and miss you all!

Excursion to Ronda & Malaga

Last weekend we went on our first excursion with our program to two cities in southern Spain, Ronda and Malaga. The first day we toured Ronda for the afternoon. Ronda is a small but gorgeous city in the mountains. Ronda is famous for a bridge that Ernest Hemingway wrote about in his novel For Whom the Bell Tolls, which takes place in Ronda. During our walking tour of Ronda we visited Los baños Arabes, the Arab baths. This was one of my favorite parts of the walking tour because of how amazing the baths are. These baths mimic ancient Roman baths in that they have three separate rooms, the hot room, warm room and cold room. The Arabic people would use these baths frequently in the past, men in the morning and women and children in the afternoon. These baths exemplify the Arabic influence in southern Spain, a very interesting part of Spain's history. When the Christians southern Spain the idea and purpose of the baths changed completely. The baths were looked down upon and became an area of town inhabited by prostitutes. After visiting the baths, which are now a museum, we visited a mansion in Ronda that had spectacular views of the valley below. The inside patio of this mansion was built to create a natural air conditioning and heating system in the house. The house always stays the same temperature, no matter what the weather is like outside, as they use a patio cover to control the amount of light that enters the home. Very environmentally friendly, I would love to build a house like that one day, imagine the amount of electricity they save!

After visiting Ronda for the afternoon we got back on the bus to head to Malaga. After checking into our hotel a group of my friends and I walked down to the beach to watch the beautiful sunset! The next day we went on a long walking tour of Malaga and learned all about the rich history of this city. We visited the Alcazaba, which is another palace like the Alhambra (the one in Granada). The Alcazaba has more Roman influence than the Alhambra and even has a Roman theater that was awesome to see. Malaga also has many museums dedicated to Picasso because he was born there. We saw many different signs dedicated buildings to him and explaining what he did inside those buildings, such as where he was baptized.

Overall I really enjoyed our trip to Ronda and Malaga, it was awesome to see other cities in southern Spain. We still have two more excursions with our program in November, to Alpujarras (a pueblo in the mountains of Granada) and another excursion to Sevilla & Cordoba (two more cities in southern Spain). My roommate Jill's parents and sister are coming to visit over Thanksgiving break. We just planned a trip to Barcelona for a weekend, which I am really excited about! We leave for Morocco next Thursday, I can't believe how fast it is coming up!

La belleza de Paris

The beauty of Paris:

Jill and I stayed in Paris for four nights (we stayed there longer because we had a free place to stay in Paris!). Paris is a beautiful city with so much to offer. Jill and I took the train out to Versailles on the first day we were there. The Palace of Versailles is gigantic, but gorgeous! We did a walking tour of the Palace listening to head phones that explained the history of each room and what the kings and queens used to do in those rooms. My favorite spot in the palace was the Hall of Mirrors, which is breathtaking! It has beautiful paintings all over the walls and ceilings and it lined with mirrors that match up with windows looking out onto the immense gardens outside (I will post some pictures!). After Versailles we went back to the city and walked along the Seine river. The river is beautiful and seemed to be the heart of the city. That night we went on a Seine river cruise which was awesome. Even though it was freezing cold that night, I still enjoyed seeing the whole city lit up at night (especially the light show at the Eiffel tower!). On the cruise Jill and I met an Australian couple from Noosa (a place Julia liked to visit, it is close to where she lived), so needless to say we had a lot to talk about :) They were very nice people!

Our second day in Paris we went to the Louvre museum. I can't even begin to describe how big this museum is!! There was a pretty long line to get in because every first Sunday of the month it is free to get in (yay!). After finally getting inside and orienting ourselves, we went to see the Mona Lisa. I was surprised at how small the painting is in real life. Even though there were a million people surrounding the painting, it was really fun to see in real life :) After that we went to another wing of the museum where all the ancient Egyptian art and artifacts are, it was awesome! We walked all around that side of the museum (and even got a little lost haha). After we left the Louvre we stopped at a little cafe near the Seine and treated ourselves to a delicious banana chocolate crepe, yummy! Then we walked to the Notre Dame cathedral and waiting in line to go inside. The cathedral is also very big and beautiful. The stain glass inside the cathedral is amazing! That night we went treated Manu & Slyvain (the people we stayed with) to dinner because they were so nice to let us stay at their apartment for free!

On our third day we took the train to the Eiffel tower. We had planned on having a picnic in the park by the Eiffel tower but it was pouring rain on that day :( We waited to go up the Eiffel tower until Monday because we thought the line would be shorter on a week day, but it turns out that we probably should have gone over the weekend because we couldn't see much at all from the top of the Eiffel tower due to the fog. Even though we couldn't picnic and couldn't really see much, it was still an awesome experience to go up the Eiffel tower! We sat at the cafe on the second level for a while and had some coffee and tried to enjoy the view (what we could see of it!). That night (our last night in Paris) Manu and his friend Gabriel took Jill and I to an authentic French restaurant. We tried some authentic French cuisine which was a fun experience! Are you ready for this?...I tried goose liver!! Goose liver is the typical dish they eat at Christmas time. I didn't really like it at all, but I tried it! I am so happy we were able to stay with people that live in Paris because we definitely experienced some things we probably wouldn't have, had we not stayed with them.

On the fourth day we got ready to leave on our 14 hour adventure to get back to Granada :( We had to take a bus to get to the airport that we were flying out of (it is outside of Pairs) then fly to Madrid. In Madrid we had to wait a few hours before we got on our bus to head back to Granada. After a five hour bus ride we arrived in Granada at 5am...only to wake up for the first day of classes at 830am the same day! To say the least, we were extremely tired! However, we were able to travel cheaply which is all the matters on a starving student's budget!