Morocco!

I am tired and still excited from an adventurous five day adventure through Morocco!

Anna and I left for the bus Friday night.  It was an 8 hour bus ride to the Southern coast of Spain.  Let's just say it was not my favorite part of the trip.  Don't worry-it gets much better!

Once we got off the bus, we jumped on a ferry to travel across the Straight of Gibraltar and into Morocco.  I have a very cool Arabic stamp in my passport now.  On the ferry, we were broken up into 3 groups and got acquainted with our group leader, Colleen.  She is from Milwaukee and worked for the Peace Corps for two years in Morocco where she learned Moroccan Arabic and worked at a community center in a small town.  She is now working with Morocco exchange, which is a program that guides trips through Morocco for American students in Spain.  (That's me!)

We exchanged our euros for dirhams.  One dirham is about 10 euros, so I felt very rich.  (Sadly, that is not the case.  Donations are always appreciated.)  From there, we saw some of Tangier.  Tangier is right on the cost, and we could still see Spain our across the Mediterranean Sea.  We met with some Moroccan women at Darna--"our house" in Arabic.  Darna is a women's center in Tangier that helps women to learn skills to help them find jobs.  There, we talked with three women over lunch.  They shared a lot about the Muslim culture as well as Moroccan life.  I also had my first Moroccan tea.  I could drink that stuff all day.

Next, we were on the road again with our bus driver named Hussein.  Our next stop was a surprise--a camel ride on the beach!

Woah!  I'm on a camel!

After that adventure, we went to Asilah, another beautiful city on the coast.  After a walk through Asilah, we were on our way to Rabat.  Rabat is the home of Colleen and a big university and lots of coolness.  In Rabat, we stayed with host families.  I roomed with Anna and my friend Kara, who is also our neighbor in Madrid.  Our host mom was very sweet and arguably one of the best cooks I have ever encountered. She didn't speak any English, but her daughter and daughter-in-law were fluent.  They were the sweetest family!  I noticed that everyone in Morocco is overly hospitable.  I had more food than I could ever need in one sitting.  Once we were settled in at our house, our host sisters had us play dress up!  We tried on some of their elegant dresses and they had us put on make-up, pose for pictures, and dance.  We were kind of like their dolls.  Such a funny experience.

Me, Anna, and Kara in fancy attire.

With our host sisters!

After a long day of 3 cities and lots of bonding with our new friends, it was time for bed.  The next morning, we had some delicious crepe-like things and some more Moroccon tea.  Again, the food here is great.  That morning, we met with some students from the University and chatted over more tea and cookies.  Our schedule was changed a little due to the protests taking place in downtown Rabat but it really did not affect us much.  We went back to our host families house for lunch, then left for sight seeing in Rabat.  

Fertility pond--we fed the eels a hard boiled egg.  If they eat the egg, you are supposed to get pregnant.

Roman ruins.  This city has been occupied by the Berbers, Romans, Moors, and Muslims.

Walking through Rabat with some Moroccan friends.

Tea with new friends.

At the end of the day, we went to the public bath (the hamman).  It was a truly Moroccan experience that I would not know to try unless I had gone on this trip with this group.  I went into it having no idea what to expect.  Basically, it was a big, hot room.  There were spickets to fill up buckets with hot water  and we washed our hair and got exfoliated by a woman named Zora.  Afterwards my skin was so soft!

The next day, we got up nice and early and were on the bus to Chefchaouen.  Chefchaouen is a more touristy city in the mountains and it is unlike anything I've seen before.  All of the buildings are blue and periwinkle and there was some great shopping.  Along the way, we stopped in a village in the mountains and had lunch with a family who lived there.  That night, there was a big protest in the downtown area, but we stayed away and enjoyed a nice dinner away from the madness.  After dinner, the restaurant owner had a Moroccan man walk us back to our hostel to make sure that we were safe.

Anna and I are trying a new look.

View from the top.

Happy, happy salesman.

On our final day, we hiked up to one of the peeks overlooking Chefchaouen and saw the sun rise over the mountain peaks.  The rest of the day was spent traveling.  We crossed the boarder into Spain while we were still in Africa.  It is one of two Spanish cities that are still in Morocco and the border of Spain and Morocco is the biggest gap of GDP in the world.  Morocco was the biggest culture shock that I have ever experienced, but I also found that I had so much in common with Moroccan people at the same time.  I would love to return there some day!

Tomorrow, my parents will be here.  I can't wait to show them all that Madrid has to offer!

African adventures!

Tonight I am off to MOROCCO and I can't wait!  I will be traveling with a group from school and we will be meeting up with the Peace Corps and doing all sorts of crazy things...camel rides, staying with host families, picnic in the mountains...

We are taking a bus to the south of Spain, and then crossing over to Morocco via ferry.  Here is the website of the program I am traveling with.

http://www.moroccoexchange.org/

Also, most importantly, HAPPY 50TH BIRTHDAY DAD!  I know he will be having a great time with my sisters who have a special surprise for him.  I wish I could celebrate with them, but my parents will be in Madrid in only one short week!


I highly doubt I will have any internet access over the next five days, so I will update you next Wednesday.  Don't worry grandma--I will be very safe and stick with the group.

Adventures in Paris

I had the greatest Valentine's day weekend ever with Liz and Anna in Paris!  Even though they were both feeling a bit under the weather, we were adventurous and saw so much of the city.

On Friday, we got to the airport at 11 for our 1:00 flight and arrived in France at 3:00.  From there, we had to take a shuttle to the middle of Paris, and then the metro to our hostel.  We stayed at the Aloha hostel.  Not the best hostel, but not the worst either.  We got a free crepe each day!  When we arrived, we dropped off our things and met two of our roommates, Nacio and Peter.  They were both around 30 years old and were traveling around Europe for a month--very cool!  We also noticed a backpack on one of the bunks but didn't know who it belonged to...that will come in later.  

After we settled in, we got a delicious dinner at McDonald's (don't judge me, I was saving up my money for the crepes) and we were off to see the Louvre!  

On Friday nights the Louvre is free for anyone under 26, so we definitely wanted to fit that in.  It was so overwhelming, but I was able to see a lot of the masterpieces.  Anna and I took some pictures to show our Art History teacher.  She was so excited when we showed her in class today...I think it earned me some brownie points.

The Winged Victory of Samothrace--my favorite statue in the Louvre!

    Some of the masterpieces from our art classes-the Mona Lisa is tiny.

Here you can see how small it is!

Everything looks beautiful when it is all lit up!

Anna and I on the ferris wheel!  She was a little scared.

After we were done with our museum visit, we decided to go on a Ferris wheel ride.  It sort of reminded me of riding the Ferris Wheel at Navy Pier, but it wasn't as big.  The city looked beautiful and it was a great end to our night...or so we thought.

When we got back to our hostel, we got ready and snuggled into bed.  Not more than 30 minutes later, the missing roommate comes in, turns on the lights, and makes a big fuss about getting into bed.  Not only did he drop a packet of food into my backpack (he was in the bunk above me) but he chugged his water bottle louder than any person I've ever heard in my life.  It was kind of funny, until it wasn't.  Let me just say that this guy needs some serious medical attention.  He snored louder than any person I have every heard in my life.  It wasn't human--thats how he earned his nickname "Bear" for the rest of the weekend.  Little did I know that Anna was having as horrible time falling asleep as I was.  She had to take things to the next level when she started hitting him in the foot to get him to wake up and stop snoring!  The brief break in the noise only happened for 30 seconds tops, then he was back to business.  It was torture!  

The next morning, after we were nice and noisy in waking up the Bear, we got our free breakfast and were on our way to enjoy our bike tour.  We signed up for a tour with this company called Fat Tire Bike Tours.  I think we will do a tour with them in London, too.  It was a lot of fun and a good way to see so much of the city without walking everywhere.  We saw the Eiffel Tower, The Peace Monument, Les Invalids, Napolean's Tomb, Concorde Plaza (think the ending scene in The Devil Wears Prada and the end of the Tour de France), and the Louvre.  For lunch, we stopped in a mall that was underneath the Louvre.  

The Eiffel Tower

Napolean's Tomb

We're the Eiffel Tower.  Get it?

After our tour, we went shopping at the craziest and most congested shopping mall I have ever seen, then went back to our hostel before dinner.  We went to this pizza place by our hostel and had a delicious dinner.  We also met some enthusiastic French physical therapists that night who were eager to practice their English and Spanish.  

When we got back to the hostel, a new guy had replaced our friends Nacio and Peter.  He was very nice, and fresh out of prison!  I swear, we had the most interesting cast of characters in our dorm.  (I slept with my purse under my pillow).  The Bear was still there, but I had my iPod on full blast and was exhausted from the night before, so I got a much better sleep this time around.  

The next morning, we woke up and went to Notre Dame for mass.  Then we walked from the Notre Dame to the Arch de Triomphe and got in a lot of site seeing--it is quite the long walk!  On our way there we stopped at a stand on the Champs d'Elysees for some lunch.  Then we went to the Eiffel Tower and me and Liz did the trek to the top.  It was so beautiful but much colder than the last time I had been up there!  By the end of our sightseeing, my legs were shaking even when I was standing still.  I guess I need to exercise more!

We went back to our hostel to gather our things, hopped on the metro, hopped on the shuttle, and then waited in the airport for a while.  We had a delicious dinner of Pringles, Lays, babybel cheese, and Coca Light.  I know you're all jealous.  We finally made it home to Alejandra and Marlene at around 1:30.  Gabby and Roberto are out of town for the weekend, so we heard all about their adventurous weekend and they heard all about ours.  

I have lots of studying to do this week so it is back to reality for me!  

I hope everyone had a happy Valentine's day!

Semana Cinco

This week I had a "welcome back to reality" moment when I thought about my three midterms, 2 papers, and presentation within the next week.  I guess I AM here to go to school.

Sunday, when I got back from Switzerland, I had a great day with the family.  Alejandra, Marlene, and I had lunch together, and then went on a walk with Killer to a gigantic park just down the street from our house.  I didn't even know it was there.  The weather has been in the 50's this week, so it was a great day for a stroll in the park.  When we got back, I did some studying, then Marlene, Roberto, and I went on the roof to look at the sky through their gigantic and fancy telescope!  I didn't know this, but Marlene is an avid star gazer and taught me all that I need to know about astronomy.  Roberto is also somewhat of an astronomy buff.  It was very cool to hear them talk about the constellations.  We were able to find Jupiter, too!

Roberto made burgers for dinner and it was sad/weird to eat dinner without my fabulous roommates.  They were in Lisbon, Portugal until Monday.

This week was a lot more studying than in the past, but lots of fun, too, because the weather was beautiful!  I didn't even need a jacket.  On Monday, I met Maria, the mom of Luis, Juan, and Anna, for coffee.  They are moving to Baltimore for the summer and she needed help signing the kids up for YMCA camp.  Props to the moms out there who deal with forms like this all the time.  I had a hard enough time figuring it out, and I speak English.  I am glad to have this family in my life.  They are so friendly and they brighten up my week!  I love visiting their house twice a week and talking with the kids.  This week, they were so excited to show me their Green Bay Packers shirts that their dad brought back from his trip to the US.  I didn't have the heart to tell them that I wasn't a Packers fan.  I hope that I can prepare them for their summer of English speaking before May comes around.

For my linguistics class, I am doing a project on loanwords from the Spanish language.  This is very applicable in my daily life because there are so many words that we use in English that come from the Spanish language, but we pronounce them very differently.  I have to transcribe the words phonetically and compare the way that English speakers and Spanish speakers say them.  Wish me luck!

This weekend, Anna, Liz, and I are going to Paris!  I can hardly wait.  I will be sure to update the blog when I return with all the details from my weekend.  Unfortunately, Anna has strep throat, and I have a self-diagnosed bone spur.  I'm sure we can overcome our weird ailments and have a great time exploring the city.  We have a bike tour scheduled for Saturday, so we need to be in tip-top shape.  I hope my high school French knowledge can help us communicate with the Parisians.  Parlez-vous fracais?  Oui, c'est vrai!

Beaucoup d'amore de Madrid.

Dear Mom and Dad: Let's buy a lake house in Lucerne

Okay, just kidding, but not really.  Switzerland is one of the most beautiful places that I have ever seen.  Everything is peaceful, but urban at the same time.  It was a fun adventure for me and Kenzie!

Kenzie and I got to the airport with plenty of time to spare on Friday morning.  I passed out immediately on the flight, but woke up just before we landed, right on time to look over the Swiss alps.  Zurich is just north of the alps.  Once in Zurich, we took our free shuttle to our hotel and got situated.  The public transportation in Switzerland is very clean and easy to use.  Our train ride was about 15 minutes from the center of the city, so we ate lunch and were on our way to explore.

Kenzie is a great travel buddy.  She was in charge of the map and we located all of the places that we wanted to see.  My favorite sights were:
1.  The Swiss National Museum
2.  Fraumunster--known for its unique stained glass windows.
3.  St. Peter's Church--has the largest clock face in the world.
4.  Lake Zurich, of course!

The Swiss National Museum

Kenzie all dressed up

On Lake Zurich, in the main city center

Zurich

After we saw our historical sights, Kenzie and I went to a famous chocolate shop called Peclard.  It is a three story cafe with comfy chairs and couches for lounging.  We spent a long time picking out our pre-dinner snack.  The man at the counter spoke English, so he helped us to decide what to get and even let us try some of their many specialty truffles.  My favorite was champagne flavored.  Kenzie decided to get a few more truffles, and I decided to get a chocolate log...I don't really know how else to describe it but it was the best chocolate I have ever tasted.  Here is a picture:

It was so rich that I was washing it down with the sugar cubes on the table!

After our dessert, it was dinner time.  We walked around Banhofstrasse which is one of the most well-known shopping streets in the world.  Unfortunately, it was far too expensive for me, but we found a yummy place for some dinner.  There is a lot of Italian and German food in Switzerland so we found ourselves at a pasta/pizza/mix of everything place.  The serving were so big that me and Kenzie were able to split our ravioli stuffed with mozzarella...yum.

At that point, we were so tired that we decided we needed to head back towards our hotel.  (It was only 9:00, but I had gotten up at 5:30 that morning).

The next day, we were up bright and early to catch our train to Lucerne and check in to our hostel.  The train ride was very comfortable, and our hostel was a 20 minute walk along the lake from the center of the city.  Lucerne is about one hour via train from Zurich and has a similar feel to it because it is also on a lake.  Lake Lucerne is my new favorite place.  It is so peaceful and serene and the mountains are on all sides.  Here are some pictures from our day in Lucerne:

The Lion Monument-in honor of the swiss guards who were massacred during the French revolution.  It is carved into the side of a huge cliff just a short walk from the lake in sort of a quiet nook.  This was definitely my favorite sight in the city.  Mark Twain called it "The most moving and mournful piece of stone in the world."

The Chapel Bridge-oldest wood bridge in Europe until it burned down in the 90's.  They rebuilt it (obviously).

Tower connected to the bridge which used to be a torture chamber among other things

Trees here are crazy looking

We couldn't go paragliding because it was too windy, so we took a boat cruise across Lake Lucerne to Weggis and explored the town on the other side of the lake.  It was a perfect day to be out on the lake!

Again with the trees...

Birds were flying next to our boat on our way back.

The hostel.

After our boat ride, Kenzie and I settled on a german place for dinner, Rathaus Brewery.  Along the way, we ran into an excited bachelor party.  They were carrying a boom box and the groom requested a dance with Kenzie.  It was very entertaining and I was happy to stand to the side and take pictures.  We learned in Switzerland that it is customary to give the groom-to-be any extra change, but we needed all of our swiss francs for dinner!  For dinner, I had a Bretzel (giant pretzel) with roast beef, onions, and lettuce--like a pretzel sandwich--and tried some of the local beer.  It was my favorite meal in Switzerland.  We also went to an Irish pub and a few other places in the area.  We met some friendly people from Germany and Switzerland.  It was a fun night, but we needed to go to bed so we could catch our train at 7 AM the next day!

I am so happy that I got to experience Switzerland.  Next time I find myself in the Swiss alps, I will definitely try to fit in a paraglide and some fondue!

Cheers!

Week Four in Madrid!

It is Friday at midnight and my roommates have just left me.  It is weird being the only one home!  Liz and Anna are going to Lisbon, Portugal for the weekend.  Their flight leaves in the morning, but the metro doesn't start running until 6 AM, so they are camping out in the airport to avoid taking an expensive taxi at the crack of dawn.  This weekend, I am going to Zurich and Lucerne in Switzerland with my friend Kenzie.  Zurich is a very busy city, and Lucerne is beautiful.  Google some pictures.  It is gorgeous.  This weekend will be my first hostel experience--wish me luck!  Our flight leaves at 9, so we will have enough time to make it to the airport on the metro.  I am so excited for this weekend--mainly for the cheese and chocolate.  I will update you all as soon as I return on Sunday.

This week was fun.  I am definitely starting to get in the swing of things.  I started and finished The Girl Who Played With Fire.  It was such a good book.  If you are a super busy person, don't start reading it because you won't be able to put it down.  My tutoring job is going really well--Luis got a very high score on his exam--and my classes are still not stressing me out.  Normally, I would be busy all of the time with school work, but I have enough time in between classes to get some studying done and my classes really aren't as difficult or intense as they would be in Saint Louis.  However, midterms are coming up soon, so stay tuned...

Dinner was extremely filling tonight, but delicious.  Egg soup (my favorite soup that Gabby makes) and spaghetti.  After dinner, Gabby and Alejandra showed us some flamenco, rumba, salsa, and cha-cha.  Gabby takes dances classes for fun and is very talented!  We are going to go to one of her flamenco shows.  Gabby also gave me some food to take with me for the weekend.  She honestly thinks of everything.

I hope everyone in the midwest held their own during the thundersnow!  I know my dad had a fabulous time digging everyone out of the snow.  I miss my family very much, but I can't say that I miss the Chicago weather.  This weekend it is supposed to be in the 40's in Switzerland and sunny--not bad at all.    Warm wishes from Madrid!