2 months to go...

I really can't believe it, but tomorrow (Sunday, April 25th) officially marks my two months left here in Spain... it's so hard to describe the way I feel about this because it is such a mixture of feelings! The same thing happened when I got to the "2 months left" mark when I lived in Valencia 4 years ago. On one hand, I started to get really excited about coming home, and on the other, I started to get sad thinking about how much I am going to miss Spain. The same thing is happening now....

As you can imagine, I really miss all of my family and friends, but I am also really anxious to get back to start finding a Spanish teaching job and an apartment (hopefully in Rochester) and just to get back to the United States in general. There is so much food that I miss like chicken wings/fingers, American coffee, subs (with turkey as a meat choice!), cranberry juice and just about anything bbq, ha ha! But I guess the good news is that I will be home right in time for all of the summer cook outs! :) Another thing that I am anxious to get away from, which I remember bothering me the last time I lived here, is the smoking in public places. Although it is now prohibited to smoke in airports, bus and train stations, and any large public facilities (like hotels and restaurants) are required to have smoking and non-smoking sections, I feel like I am surrounded by cigarette smoke EVERYWHERE I go! There are so many small bars and cafés in Spain and even just walking down the street there are sometimes when I feel like I have no fresh air! After 8 months of this, I have finally gotten fed up with it because to me, it seems very unfair that smokers (who are engaging in an action that can harm the health of others) have more rights that non-smokers. I really hope that the next time I come to Spain in my life, that things will have really changed in this aspect.

Despite my hatred toward cigarette smoking and missing my family and friends a lot, I have also I started to think, "Oh my gosh! There is almost no time at all left! I haven't done HALF as much as I planned on doing when I first got here!! And I am really gonna miss this place!" I almost get this feeling of desperation sometimes, and I want to slow down time and make sure that I really take in every moment I have here while I can. The truth is that there is absolutely nothing that compares in the U.S. to the feeling you get walking down the streets of Spain... even though I have been here for 8 months already, I still get this feeling inside of me every time I walk to class, past buildings, squares and churches that are thousands of years old. You just feel like you are surrounded in history and beauty and you can't help but want to stop at a cafetería, have a café con leche and either watch the people walk by or read a book. I also know another thing that will make it really hard to leave is that the weather is finally starting to get really nice here, and it is making the city become more alive. The squares, parks and cafés are full of people at every hour of the day (and night-- ha ha, this place never sleeps!), just taking a nice walk or even sitting or laying down and relaxing.

En fin... this is just a little reflection I wanted to make when I got up this morning. There are A LOT more things that I am excited to come home to in the States and that I will miss horribly about Spain once I am gone, but that longer reflection will come later. In the meantime, I only have 2 more weeks of classes left in my Master's program!!! Then I have two weeks to get work done and 2 weeks of exams. Time is sure going to fly and I want to be sure that I do the work well and that I am able to enjoy these last two months that I have.... So that means it's time for me to get to work!! ¡Hasta luego!

Moroccan Getaway

I definitely never thought I would be able to say that I had been to Africa in my lifetime, but after this past week I can officially say that I have! And it is all thanks to the adventurous spirit of my fiance, Brendan. Ever since we arrived to Spain, he had been telling me how much he wanted to go to Morocco. Now, I'll be honest... going to Morocco was never really was on my bucket list, but I know that moving to Spain may not have been on Brendan's either... So even though I was not all that excited about the idea (and even a little scared-- I knew absolutely nothing about Morocco!), I knew I definitely owed it to him. He convinced me by reminding me of the warm, sunny weather and of how this would be a once in a lifetime experience because it would give us the opportunity to learn more about a culture that we knew very little about. He was so right and I am so glad that we did it. Even though at times it was very overwhelming and stressful (due to the cultural differences), in the end, I mostly have wonderful memories of Morocco as a lively and enchanting country, full of thousands of beautiful colors, sights, sounds and smells.

To give you a better idea of where we were I have included the map of Morocco above. We spent 3 days in Marrakech (about in the center of the country) and 3 days in Agadir (a south western coastal city).

MARRAKECH

Like I said before, I had absolutely no idea what Morocco was like before going... but I had some very stereotypical ideas of northern Africa that I couldn't help but shake from my head: sand, deserts, camels, hot weather. Well as soon as we stepped off the plane I knew that I was right about the hot weather-- and it was sure welcome! (Just look at our smiles) :)

I also had the vision that everything in Morocco was going to be very old, poor and run down, but boy was I proven wrong as soon as we arrived to the Marrakech airport. It was one of the most beautiful airports I had ever been in! The style was very modern and I just loved it because there were mosaics everywhere, too! Below you can see a picture I took of the baggage claim area.

Before leaving Spain, we made sure to call ahead and confirm our hostel reservations, and we were glad we did because the first one we had made reservations for could not find our reservation! Thankfully, they eventually told us that they found it. We had heard some crazy stories about how the taxis work in Morocco (basically that there are no meters and you have to come to an agreement on a price before they take you anywhere). Therefore, we accepted the hostels offer to have someone pick us up at the airport-- Definitely a good idea because we later found out that everything we heard about the taxis was true!

Our first hour or so in Morocco almost seems like a complete blur to me now. I remember one of my first thoughts as soon as we met up with our driver at the airport was, "Oh no, I really should have tried to learn some French before coming here!" Although the official language of Morocco is Arabic, French is Morocco's "unofficial" second language and it is the best language to know in order to get around easily. In Marrakech, English and Spanish were helpful most of the time, but Agadir was another story...

Anyway, during our whole taxi ride to the hostel we were overwhelmed by "cultural shock", ha ha! Our driver just kept talking to us in French, even though we really had no idea what he was saying, and we kept holding on for dear life as we experienced driving in Morocco for the first time!

As you can see above, the roads of Morocco are shared by cars, donkeys and motorcycles-- oh and don't forget bicycles, buses, trucks and pedestrians! Yep, they're all one big happy family!! But it seemed as though there were no real rules to driving. You know those yellow lines on the road? Well, in Morocco, they seemed invisible, ha ha! It was seriously scary at times!

Stop sign in Arabic

Coke can in Arabic :)

Once we arrived to the city center, our driver dropped us off near the main square (called "Djemaa el Fna") where we greeted by another guy, who thankfully spoke a little bit of English. He led us to our hostel through the square, which we came to find out very quickly is absolutely bustling with energy and action all day and all night. Above is one of the pictures we snapped during our walk.

Now, unfortunately, the arrival to our "hostel" was a little stressful to us because we realized that it was NOT the place that we had booked! Not only was the name not correct, but from the looks of it (see picture above), it was not within our price range! We immediately thought, "Oh great, here we are, getting scammed" but we later came to find out that the hostel we had booked at overbooked and therefore had to send us to one of their other accommodations, which just happened to be a much nicer hotel. And thankfully, we paid the original price we were expecting for the hostel.

Besides being happy about getting to stay in a much nicer place, we were very happy to be welcomed by the ever so famous Moroccan "mint tea". We had heard so many wonderful things about it, and as tea lovers, I can say that we were not disappointed. We even bought some mint tea later on in the week as a souvenir!

As you will see in many of the pictures below, walking through the streets of Marrakech can sometimes make you feel as though you have been transported back in time hundreds of years. However, when Brendan and I went to the bus station to buy our tickets to go to Agadir, we had a chance to see the more modern part of the city, complete with American franchises like KFC.

...and McDonalds... (which upsets me a little because I feel like it is the ONLY thing we are known for as Americans). I really don't think the people that I meet actually believe that at most, I eat at McDonalds maybe once or twice a year out of desperation because I'm in a hurry!

Although it was neat to see the more modern part of the city (and to know that there even was a more modern part), I really preferred to be in the old part of the city. Even though it can feel crazy at times, it is just so much more exciting! It was like nothing I had ever seen before in person-- only in movies. At times, I really couldn't believe I was there. Our first night in Marrakech, we decided not to venture too far from the hotel (since it is very easy to get lost in the small twisty streets, and there are hardly ever street signs visible). We simply headed to the main square to have some dinner and check out the scene. As you can see above, there are beautiful souvenirs for those that love to shop. (Although I must warn you, anybody that goes to Marrakech will end up wanting to shop-- there are just too many cool things to buy!)

Here is a view of the main square at night from the upper terrace of Café Glacier (one of the more popular restaurants/cafes in the square.) So beautiful, isn't it?

All of the flat white tents serve food at night for dinner. It is a great place to go if you are looking for something cheap and don't mind sitting close to people you don't know, ha ha. It actually reminded me a lot of going to a County fair back in the States. The air was filled with the smell of grilled meat and the tables were like long picnic tables. CAREFUL! One thing that we quickly learned is that many of the restaurants/businesses in Morocco will try as many ways to get you to spend just "a little" more money.... As soon as we sat down, they started putting small plates of "appetizers" in front of us-- olives, bread, and tomatoes-- but when I asked if they were free, our server said "no"! The people sitting next to us had already started eating theirs because they thought they were free, but we were able to say "no thank you" and they took the appetizers away no problem.

Our first meal in Morocco consisted of chicken tagine, skewers of grilled beef, couscous and bread. Everything was so good! And boy was it a relief to me to be in a place where there is no ham, ha ha! I am convinced that the people of Spain could not live with out ham, and for the majority of Moroccans on the other hand, eating pork is strictly forbidden according to Islamic dietary laws. (About 98.7% of the population follows the religion of Islam).

The next day, we woke up to beautiful sunny weather and temperatures that got up into the high 80's! We decided to check out the "Jardin Majorelle", recommended to us by a fellow Naz Graduate (Maggie Mullin) who had just been in Marrakech the week before. She told us that it was a gorgeous garden and the perfect place to get away from the hustle and bustle of the markets and old city, and she was right!

A couple playing chess

Such a beautiful fountain! It reminded me of Santorini Island in Greece with the white and blue mixture.

The tall trees offered just the right amount of shade to keep us cool from the hot sun.

After enjoying our time in the garden, we headed back to the old city center to venture through the Souks (Markets). Just as I said before, you will be really tempted to buy things, but I also must warn you that you have to be prepared for a completely different way of shopping. First of all, you better not expect to look at things calmly and at your own leisure. Hardly any of the store owners let you do that. If you are within 6 feet of their store, they will call out and say "Bon jour mademoiselle" or "Hello, come here please! Let me show you something!" and "I give you really good price!" They seem absolutely desperate to get you into their store. And once they get you in there, if there is something that you are interested in buying, this is where the hard part starts.... in Morocco, it's ALL about bargaining. At first, they will quote you a price that is probably 2 or 3 times the actual value (especially when they know you are a tourist)! Brendan and I spent close to 20-30 minutes with each vendor that we ended up buying things from, and I tell you, it gets REALLY tiring after a while.

Spices- and check out that python skin! Yikes!!!

Every corner you turn in the Souks has something new to offer

Lots of hand-painted ceramics

Snake charmers in the main square

Monkeys too!

I was wondering the whole trip why some women covered their faces completely, while others just their heads, and some dressed just the same as me...? If anyone knows the answer, I am still curious and would love to know.

Selling herbs

We had to be on the look out for motorcycles, bicycles and even donkeys and horses on the narrow pedestrian streets!

Here was a moment when I really felt like I had gone back in time- I loved it!

So many donkeys!

In one of the scarf shops, the owner showed us the traditional "desert" way to tie up the scarves.

In Morocco, you can be sure that almost ALL of the things that you can buy in the Souks are hand-made, like these grilling skewers. It was so neat to be able to see him make them right there in front of us!

Fruit stands outside the old city walls

Even though it was in the 80's, this was the typical dress of many Moroccan men.

It's a good thing the rugs were so big, otherwise I might have been tempted to buy one of them, too!

Doors like this one were all over the city- we couldn't take enough pictures!

Inside the Bahia Palace

Marrakech even has a free WiFi park! It was really amazing! It also had tons of free computer hubs with internet (like the one in the picture above) which I noticed many of the people were using to check out Facebook :)

Bus ride to AGADIR (4 1/2 hours)

Although I never really like long bus rides, this one was quite interesting (to say the least). Not only did I get scared for my life on MULTIPLE occasions, wondering if we were going to make it around the tight curve in the road, or if we were going to successfully pass a car in time without colliding with a vehicle in the other lane, but there was also a lot to be seen on the ride from Marrakech to Agadir.

I took the picture above because, in my opinion, it shows one of the more sad cultural differences. Dogs in Morocco did not seem to be valued at all. This one was digging through a box searching for food, and I noticed that as the man got closer to him, even though he wasn't even paying attention to the dog, the poor thing flinched and ran away with his tail between his legs, as if the man was going to kick or hit him! From what I saw, it does not seem normal for Moroccans to keep dogs as pets. Instead, they seem to only be strays on the streets :(

This was a happy sign for us to see at a rest stop! :)

We also saw some beautiful scenery along the way-- dramatic mountain scenes and even this lake!

AGADIR

Chicken with couscous (the best part was the raisins in the couscous-- so good!)

We made plans to go to Agadir based on the fact it boasts about having 330 days of sunshine a year and that it had a beautiful beach on the Atlantic coast... Unfortunately, the 3 days we were there, it was completely overcast (except for our last night, and it started to clear up at sunset). Oh well-- in the end it was good because it meant that we couldn't be beach bums and we got to get to know more of the city first hand.

Just another great example of the big happy family of modes of transportation on the streets of Morocco. Bikes, cars, taxis, people, and even this strawberry vendor!

We took the time to visit the Souks of Agadir- very impressive, but we found the vendors to be WAY too pushy in comparison to Marrakech.

The beach of Agadir at night time-- just gorgeous! The lights on the hill are Arabic characters... not quite sure what they mean though.

When we realized that our last full day in Agadir was also going to be overcast, we decided to take a little trip to the top of the mountain you see in the previous picture. Not only was it the site of the ruins of the 1960's earthquake, which destroyed the Kashbah (the old city of Agadir) but we also heard it had absolutely beautiful views from the top and camel rides!! We couldn't think of a better way to spend our day :) The truth is, even though the entrance to the ruins is free, it definitely was a bit of a tourist trap-- but I think it was worth it. The man in the picture above was one of the first to greet us and he kept begging me to take a picture of him and his baby goat (all with the motive to ask for money). Later, another man started to "lead us" around the ruins and told us a bit of the history of the earthquake, and then later asked for money as well. Both of the situations frustrated me, because this was a very common thing during our trip, but it just broke my heart every time and I couldn't not give them something! What really surprised though was that sometimes, they would actually scoff if you did not give them what they considered to be enough! Definitely a frustrating feeling...

Anyway, on to one of the most fun parts of our trip!

We got to ride camels for the first time in our lives!!! :)

The beginning part was a little scary because camels actually bend their knees completely in order to sit down (see the previous picture). Therefore, when they go to stand up, it is a very rocky ride!

Although the ride was not through a hot, sunny desert, we still considered it a highlight of the trip :) And maybe it was even better because, to be honest, I'm not sure I would want to be on one of them for too long. (Mine kind of tried to bite me when I got off and tried to pet it, ha ha!) The poor things are probably sick of carting people around all day long.

We had taken a taxi up to the top of the mountain, but we decided to hike down it to get back to the city. We had some great views on the way, and it was a great form of exercise.

The view of the beach from the top of the mountain

Just as I said, we had 3 days of overcast weather... except for our last night. The sun finally started to peek out just in time to make for a beautiful sunset.

Oh sun, we missed you!

We returned to Marrakech around one in the afternoon the day before our return flight to Spain. Due to lack of availability, we had to reserve to stay in another hostel, but this one was pretty nice as well. It was the perfect place to relax, and again, have some of that famous mint tea.

For our last night in Morocco, we made sure to get a front row seat on the terrace of Café du France to see the sunset, which turned out to be picturesque.

As we boarded our plane to return to Spain, I really found myself sad to leave. Even though we had our moments of complete stress and frustration, in the end, I really enjoyed this vacation. Brendan was right--this was a great learning opportunity that we may never have had the chance to experience again. Morocco, although a little crazy and overwhelming (compared to what I am used to) is completely enchanting. It has given us some great memories that we surely will never forget.