Trading Blonds for Camels – A Moroccan Adventure

Because Morocco is literally a two hour drive and a 30 minute ferry ride from Sevilla, I really had no excuse not to hop on over to Africa for a weekend…no big deal! ;) We decided to spend a bit more money to go on a trip organized through a local travel agency due to the language barrier and major cultural differences so all we had to do was pay and show up. Before leaving for the bus, my señora pulled me aside to give me the ‘dos besos’ (two kisses) goodbye. As I was leaving the apartment, she then proceeded to shout from behind me “be careful because they trade blonds for camels!” With that setting the tone of the trip, I smiled and left the house to embark on my maiden voyage to AFRICA!!

In our three days in northern Morocco, we managed to visit the cities of Tangier, Chefchuan, and Tetuan with a small stop Algeciras to catch the ferry and another stop in the Spanish city of Ceuta located in Morocco after debarking from the ferry. The weekend was a surreal blur of wandering narrow streets, rain, bold Arabic men, over the top tourist attractions, and humbling panoramic views. The easiest way to describe my experience in Morocco is that it was a trip of severe contrasts. The moments that stick out the most in my memories are:

• Walking through the markets and medinas haggling for goods and seeing such crazy things like entire dead chickens hanging from windows and donkeys walking down the street
• Amy and I stuffing our faces on the bus with the Moroccan cookies we purchased from a random street vendor
• Our disgusting hotel room in Tangier with mold on the lamp shades and an unidentifiable funky odor

• Wandering through the blue medina of Chefchuan in the rain – sometimes crossing flooded areas on logs of wood – only to come upon a singing bridal party, a group of chanting students dancing with drums, and women doing their laundry in the river
• The horrible hokey Arabian culture presentation and meal with a ‘belly dancer,’ ‘acrobats,’ and a ‘fire eater magician’ that Amy had to leave halfway through because of the overwhelming smells
• Breathtaking views of the Rif Mountains and the Mediterranean Sea from the bus
• Amy getting sick from accidently drinking the water!

• Riding a camel!! (So touristy especially since camels are only actually used in normal life in the southern desert portion of Morocco)
• Seeing the Caves of Hercules where the Atlantic Ocean and Mediterranean Sea meet
• Talking for over an hour with the store owner from which I bought my postcards about everything from the American lifestyle to his brother’s family in the Canary Islands

I’m glad we went for the first time to Morocco with an organized group; however, the structure of the trip needed some improvement. We spent way too much time waiting and driving in the bus and not enough time truly immersing ourselves in Moroccan culture – we even were only able to eat one actual Moroccan meal! Instead of wasting hours of our days in tourist presentations about traditional Moroccan woven rugs/blankets and spices/perfumes, I much rather would have spent more than the mere 45 minutes we were given exploring the market places for myself or people watching while sipping on Arabic tea.

On the other hand, if we wouldn’t have driven between all of the cities, I never would have seen the gorgeous peaks of the Rif Mountains or gotten a firsthand view of rural Moroccan life such as men herding their livestock, children playing in the streets, and worshippers heading to the nearest mosque. In the end, northern Morocco is a beautiful rustic area filled with friendly people – I only wish I could have spent more time seeing the real Morocco as opposed to the superficial touristy side.

The Craziness of Carnaval!

This past weekend was definitely a crazy experience of epic proportions! A few friends and I returned to Cádiz on February 13^th in order to see Carnaval – the Roman Catholic version of Mardi gras (celebration before the start of lent). The Carnaval in Cadiz is one of the biggest street festivals in the world. People come from all over Spain, and even Europe, to celebrate!

The bus ride to Cádiz was an adventure all on its own. I’m pretty sure that I never want to be in such a small enclosed place with that many tipsy Americans ever again! Our guide also had some interesting ‘words of wisdom’ to share with the group. “The bus driver doesn't speak English so he doesn't know you're eating. You're not allowed to eat on the bus. Stop eating. - If you get lost, make sure you know where you are. - If you see a fight, run away. There aren't any police. - You'll probably have to pee on the street. But it's okay, if you're a girl you can just go behind a car.” With those lovely and oh so useful tidbits of advice in mind, we departed the bus and headed off into the throngs of thousands of people overtaking Cádiz!

Carnaval is a crazy, crazy place. Even crazier than the “advice” of our bus guide led us to believe! Imagine thousands of people, all dressed up in costumes, socializing and drinking in the streets. We saw people dressed up as everything from heart suckers, clergymen, and chickens to sperm, Avatars, bulls and girl scouts. I don’t even have the words to describe it! Bars and cafes were open but blocked off to prevent property damage so they were selling things through their windows. Random choirs and mini processions would pass by singing at the top of their lungs while others played instruments and banged on drums. In random alleys, we would come across people selling jewelry, scarves, masks…pretty much everything!

The mains plazas in Cádiz were the center of the party. Trying to cross them was an absolute nightmare consisting of pretty much being carried by the mob of people being groped the entire way. I definitely learned how to be aggressive about keeping my personal space that night. I can’t tell you all how often we had to shove people and physically link together to make it through the crowds and to keep the drunken creepers at bay. If I hear ‘rubia, rubia’ (blond, blond) one more time, I cannot be made responsible for my actions! Needless to say, we ended up avoided the plazas!!

At about 3:00 AM, I realized that my shoes were soaked through… I thought to myself ‘wow. That’s weird. It hasn’t rained recently’ then I suddenly realized that my shoes were not soaked with water but rather with urine! ¡Que horrible! At that point, I was starting to get tired and cranky but we were stick in Cádiz until our bus at 5:30 AM. Done with the party, we grabbed churros y chocolate and people watched for the remainder of the time.

Overall the night was a strange mixture of surreal encounters and fun times. It was great to spend time with friends just taking in the madness around us. We were finally able to leave Cádiz and crashed into our beds at a wonderful 7:00 AM the next morning. I’m glad I was able to experience Carnaval once but it is definitely a once in a lifetime only sort of experience!

Córdoba and the Chess Mastermind

Oh, how I love Andalucía! Every single city I have visited in southern Spain, I have absolutely adored! Córdoba was no exception.

Córdoba is a stunning place to visit. It is not only a beautiful city but also one of UNESCO’s world heritage sites. We only had a day in Córdoba so I didn’t see everything that I wanted to but we managed to squeeze in quite a bit. The highlights of the day were definitely seeing the Mezquita and the Alcázar as well as the traditional food we tried for lunch!

The Mezquita is a cathedral that was originally built as a mosque in 600 AD. I have never seen anything like the Mezquita in my life. Its architecture and art demonstrates an intriguing mix of the Muslim and Christian traditions. Multiple columns and the mihrab with the meticulous and intricate Arabic decorations coexist next to depictions of the cross and statuesque marble angels. Walking into the Mezquita, I felt like I could actually feel the layers of history surrounding me.

The Alcázar of Córdoba was also impressive. Although, we never actually made it inside to see to actual Alcázar castle itself. The gardens were so gorgeous that we spent all of our time exploring and taking millions of pictures!

Because I am a very food orientated person, my other best memories from Córdoba revolve around the traditional dishes we tried. The first dish was Salmorejo. Salmorejo is a typical dish of Córdoba that is a cold soup almost like a thicker version of Gazpacho that you eat with bread instead of a spoon. It has a very strong almost tangy flavor to it. I still haven’t quite decided if I liked it or not… The other dish was flamenquín - deep fried bread stuffed with ham and cheese! I was really looking forward to trying flamenquín because honestly, I thought that anything deep fried with ham and cheese would be amazing. Sadly, that was not the case! The flamequín tasted more like the oil it was fried in that anything else. I am on the look out to try it again in hope that it was only a crappy restaurant, not a crappy dish!

After our whirlwind of a day in Córdoba, my roommate Haley and I returned to our apartment and crashed exhausted. The next thing I know, I am being woken up in the morning by the sound of Spongebob (even more annoying in Spanish than in English surprisingly) blaring from the TV and squealing laughter. I was so confused because it is only Haley, me, and our señora in the apartment and I knew that there was no way she could be watching Spongebob on a Sunday morning. Groggily, I wandered out into the living room only to be met with a sudden silence and big brown eyes staring up at me. Our señora’s grandson, Antonio, finally stopped by to visit!!

Antonio is about the cutest thing I have seen. He is a ball of energy in such a way that only six year old boys can pull off with a goofy, crooked toothed smile. He was really shy at first only introducing himself to me in english as Anthony because “Antonio is Spanish but Anthony is Antonio in English and I’m learning English” in one big rush of breathless words.

It wasn’t until the next morning that Antonio truly opened up. He chattered at me all morning telling me about his English classes at school and his fútbol team and then demonstrating proudly the ‘head and shoulders’ song in English. He then decided – quite stubbornly, I might add – that he wanted to play chess. The thing is, I don’t know how to play chess!

Antonio thought it was great that he knew something that someone ‘old’ like me didn’t so he took it upon himself to teach me… in Spanish…with all of the wrong terminology. I’m pretty sure that the rook is not called castilla (castle). He also was teaching me all of the wrong rules, I came to find out later once Haley (who actually knows how to play) joined us! Playing made-up chess in Spanish with Antonio will definitely be one of the memories that I will remember forever of my time in Spain.

Oysters of Doom

On January 29^th, our group traveled to Cádiz as one of our cultural excursions. I fell in love with the city on sight. It is a little ocean town on the Southern coast of Spain that is almost completely surrounded with water. Around every corner, there are quaint little white houses and ancient ruins to explore. In the morning, we went on a guided tour of the city that showed us sites such as one of the largest Roman amphitheaters ever found and the old and new cathedrals. The tour ended with a trip to the top of the Torre Tavira to see the spectacular view of Cádiz and the ocean. Inside the Torre Tavira, they have something called a dark camera. It basically is a series of mirrors that reflect the light in such a way that a live panoramic picture of Cádiz is projected on the final basin. It was like a live-action google maps street view – you could even see the clothes drying on the rooftops flapping in the wind!

After wandering around Cádiz on our own for awhile, we decided to stop for lunch at the famous Freiduria “Las Flores”. As I had never been to a freiduria before, I had no idea what to expect. It turns out that a Freiduria is basically a restaurant specializing in fried food - in this case, fried seafood! As I’m sure most of you know, me and seafood don’t really get along meaning every time I see fish on my plate my brain starts a mantra of “eww, eww, eww…gross scaly thingy” repeating over and over in my head which really isn’t conducive to enjoying the consumption of said gross scaly thingy. I decided to suck it up and be brave so I ended up splitting a sampler platter with a few others. The platter had everything from calamari and shrimp (which I do actually love) to random fish fillets and fish ovaries. I never seem to be able to escape from the huevas – the damn ovaries keep coming back to haunt me time after time! All I have to say is that I ate a deep fried sardine WHOLE. It still had its head, scales, eyes, everything!! Dad should be proud…

The remainder of the day was spent exploring the fish market and soaking up some much needed sun on the beach. On our way to the beach, a bunch of the group decided to buy raw oysters from one of the many street vendors. I thought I had been adventurous enough for one day so I did not partake in this slimy venture. I have never been so glad in my life that I didn’t try something! Everyone that ate the oysters ended up with food poisoning for the rest of the weekend. Five people were even hospitalized! Needless to say, I think that will be our group’s one and only experience with street seafood…

Playing Tourist

Over the last week, we have had a "cultural excursion" every morning before the afternoon classes. Our loud and conspicuous group of 35 Americans managed to completely take over the following touristy destinations in Sevilla:

La Catedral de Sevilla – largest Gothic cathedral in the entire world. The oldest parts of the cathedral (the courtyard that used to be part of the mosque) date from as early as 1184.

La Giralda – tower connected to la Catedral. There is an absolutely gorgeous view of all of Sevilla from the top

El Real Alcázar – Oldest Royal Palace that is still in use in the entire world (the oldest part dates 884!). The gardens and architecture which were heavily influenced by the invasion of the moors is breathtaking! The Alcázar is by far my favorite place in Sevilla at the moment and seeing as it is free for students, I plan on studying in the gardens whenever possible!!

La Iglesia San Luis – Built between 1699 and 1731, it is the prime example of baroque architecture/art in Sevilla. It is really gaudy/ugly in my opinion but interesting to see.

The play Bodas de Sangre by Federico Garcia Lorca

And finally, a flamenco show at “La Casa de la Memoria” which I loved. I mean, lets be honest here – gorgeous Spanish men playing guitars, singing, and dancing. What’s not to love?! All joking aside, it was a great experience. Flamenco is truly a unique artistic entity with an intensity all its own.

The week was non-stop activity but I loved every minute of it! It was great to start to truly get to know Sevilla as a city.

Salsa, Baños Árabes, y Madrid

The beginning of this week was really relaxing. When we didn’t have class, I spent the majority of my time getting to know my señora better and exploring Sevilla. One of the nights, me and a few of the girls that live in the same barrio as I do decided to check out some of the bars in Nervión. After trekking back and forth to the centro (30 min walk) multiple times a day, we figured it would be nice to have places to hang out near home! After wandering around Nervión and going into some so-so bars, we decided to go to this sports bar that was across the street. When we walked in, the first floor was almost deserted but we heard music coming from the basement. We went down the stairs and suddenly we were in the midst of a hard-core salsa (the dance…not the food) club!

It was like a scene out of a movie. We were the only foreigners in the entire room. The aroma of cigarette smoke and sweat permeated the air, music was blaring, and people were crammed shoulder to shoulder around the dance floor watching as people danced salsa like I’ve never seen it danced before! With every song, people would randomly swap partners and somehow still be able to move together like they were life long dance partners doing a choreographed piece. Absolutely amazing and by far one of the coolest experiences I have had in Sevilla so far!!

On Thursday, we went as a group to one of the Baños Árabes (Arab bathhouses) in Sevilla. I was sort of hesitant to go at first because I was envisioning a bunch of naked European men wandering around in a sauna. I’m so glad I was completely wrong! It was an extremely relaxing and enjoyable experience. It had three pools with cold, medium, and hot water, a salt water pool, a jacuzzi, and a sauna as well as tea to drink as we soaked away the remaining lingering pains of long travel. The atmosphere and ambiance was great as all of the beautiful Arabic architecture was lit by candlelight, the air smelled like mint, and the only noise was from the water. I wish this could be a weekly tradition!

On Friday morning, we were off to Madrid. While in Madrid for the weekend, we managed to cram in visits to el Prado, el Palacio Real, el Plaza Mayor, el Parque de Buen Retiro, and Kapitol (largest discoteca in Spain… 7 floors each with a different theme!). Needless to say the weekend was extremely exciting but exhausting.

El Prado is Madrid’s largest museum and has some of the most important paintings in the world like Velázquez’s Las Meninas and Goya’s La familia de Carlos IV. I really enjoyed our trip to el Museo del Prado because we were given a special guided tour that focused on the paintings we had learned about earlier in the week. It was great to actually know the significance of what I was looking at for once!

El Palacio Real was also impressive. It is the official residence for the Royal family, but it is only used for state ceremonies now as el Rey Juan Carlos I and his family actually live in a smaller palace outside of Madrid. The Royal Palace was built during the 18th and 19th centuries and replaced the former medieval Alcázar which burnt to the ground in 1734. It is constructed almost entirely out of stone because they wanted to avoid another fire! Inside, there are more than 2000 rooms all elaborately decorated with art, tapestries, gold, and huge chandeliers.

I really enjoyed Madrid but I am definitely glad I chose to study in Sevilla instead of Madrid. I don’t think I could handle living in such a large/overwhelming city for six months!

Rebelde Sin Causa

Thursday we finally moved in with our families! I’m living in the barrio (neighborhood) called Nervión which is located in the modern part of the city in a huge apartment building on the eleventh floor! It is about a 30 minute walk from Calle Avión Cuatros Vientos to the center of the city and the apartment is only 10 minutes away from Parque Maria Louisa (biggest park in Sevilla!) and Nervión Plaza (huge shopping center) which will be great.

I’m sharing a room with one of the girls from Cornell named Haley. Our room is pretty much a broom closet – smaller than my dorm room freshmen year – and totally decorated in ‘old lady’! Despite its size and decor, it is immaculately clean and has a ton of storage space so I think it will be fine. Luckily, I also love my new roommate. She is always full of energy and we seem to get along great.

Besides Haley and I, there is only our new madre (mother) Pepa. Pepa is apparently a nickname for Maria Josefa… don’t ask me why! At first, I was a little disappointed because I wanted to live with a family that had kids, but now I absolutely adore Pepa and wouldn’t wish to change my living situation at all! Pepa does absolutely everything for us from cooking all of the meals to doing our laundry… she even insists on making our toast every morning!! At every single meal, we both have been absolutely stuffed with food. I can’t tell you how many times I have had to say that I really couldn’t eat another bite. Apparently it is an inherent part of all Spanish mothers that they will never think you've had enough to eat!

Pepa fits the Spanish stereotype of always forcing food on us but she is definitely not the typical Spanish madre. Unlike the other Spanish madres, Pepa does not make cleaning into an obsession. She claims that she is a ‘rebelde sin causa’ (rebel without a cause) because she refuses to wash the dishes right after dinner!! I almost died laughing after hearing this grandmotherly like woman describe herself as a rebel!

The more I get to know Pepa the more I begin to see that she definitely is indeed a rebel without a cause. One of the first things Pepa ever told Haley and me about herself is that she was one of the first women to get a divorce after the Franco dictatorship ended and that it was the best decision she ever made in her life. I have never met someone so proud to be divorced and single! She then proceeded to tell us that men only lead to disaster and that all she needs is Eros, her pet cat, to make her happy. All I can say is that I hope I will be as spunky and full of life when I’m her age…

Huevas Are Not Huevos!!

My first few days in Sevilla were actually pretty nondescript. It rained like a monsoon the entire time so we didn't really get to explore the city much! The sevillanos all claimed that this much rain is extremely unusual... lucky us! What I did see of the city is absolutely stunning. There are orange trees everywhere and the river that runs through Sevilla, Río Guadalquivir, is absolutely breathtaking. The streets are labyrinths of winding cobblestone and ancient buildings. I have never been in a place that has so much history, culture, and art.

On Tuesday, we had our first day of class of the pro-cultural seminar. This is a month long seminar run by our program center that intensively teaches us about the culture of Sevilla and España in general. Each week (Monday through Thursday) we study a different topic. In addition, we have discussion and grammar classes each day. In the culture class we began learning about the Franco dictatorship which was interesting and I could understand Rafael very well. Then it was our first discussion class… God did I hate it.

Puri, the professor, seemed really nice and has a beautiful voice with a musical Andalusian accent. For most of the class we introduced ourselves. I hate talking in front of people I don’t know in English so I was even more freaked out to do it in Spanish. When it was my turn, I stumbled over saying the word ‘Cardiologo’ because I was so nervous. Puri said it correctly and then made me repeat it and repeat it. I was absolutely mortified! It didn’t help that Nate and Phil, two of the strongest speakers are also in my discussion class. Luckily class ended soon after that. Our first grammar class was by far my favorite of the day. Juan is really approachable and friendly and even though it is a ‘grammar’ class, he spent most of class teaching us useful phrases, slang, and cultural quirks.

The program center itself is beautiful. It's located on the 2nd floor (it's actually the third, but in Spain, the first floor is considered as 'planta baja' or ground floor) of an old building, constructed in the 1920s. It has an ancient elevator whose doors you have to manually close for it to operate. I'm not brave enough to try it as it definitely looks like it is over 80 years old! Anyways, the view from the center looks out onto a gorgeous fountain and the Torre del Oro is just around the corner so I couldn’t think of a better place to have to walk to everyday.

Wednesday also turned out to be quite an adventure. Before class, me and the girls I traveled with decided to go out for Tapas again. Wandering down one of the side streets near the hotel, we found a cute little Tapas restaurant with outdoor seating. Besides ordering our stand by dishes of paella, jamón, and patatas ali-oli, we decided to branch out and order two different dishes of huevas. Now, we knew that 'huevos' meant eggs, and we thought that 'hueva' meant a certain type of fish. Basically, we guessed that we would have one plate of eggs and one plate of fish. We figured it would be a pretty safe bet because all of us liked eggs.

We were wrong.

The food arrived and it was definitely NOT eggs. But upon tasting it, it wasn't like fish either. The texture was incredibly crumbly and dry, and broke into a lot of tiny pieces my mouth. Even after pulling out a dictionary, we didn't have a clue what this food was. So, we consulted our waiter who then amusedly told us (In Spanish) "They're fish ovaries."

Oh dear God. Yesterday I apparently ate a million little fish eggs and now they're all swimming around in my stomach about to grow into giant fish and kill me. Despite lunch being quite the adventure, the rest of the day turned out to be pretty uneventful. Tomorrow should be interesting as we move in with our families!!!! I’m so beyond excited yet terrified!

An Eventful Beginning

I am finally in Spain!!! It seems like it has been days since I hugged Mom good-bye in Detroit but really it has only been a few days – a few days of one disaster after another! The whole process of flying freaked me out. I had to triple check that I had everything and even so I was so anxious about forgetting something especially because I waited until the last minute to pack! Before going to the airport, I ate lunch at my all-time favorite restaurant (Border Cantina) with Dad, Mom, and Kyle. Everything was going smoothly up until that point, but then the first minor hiccup in the plan occurred. Apparently my backpack that I stuffed to the rim didn’t fit airline carry-on regulations. FREAKOUT! After a mad dash to Target with the family, all was well because mom bought me a new carry-on and I managed to cram almost everything in it on the drive to the airport.

The flight from Detroit to Frankfurt went by faster than I thought it would; although, that isn’t saying much as I had built it up to be this big horrible nightmare! The fattest baby I have ever seen spent most of the flight screaming in the seat in front of me but headphones work wonders. At Frankfurt, we just barely made our connection, after being delayed in Detroit because of de-icing procedures. We were literally the last people on the bus to take us to the airplane, but we made it just in time. I slept the entire flight, managing to skip the meal they offered. That excitement aside, we finally landed in Madrid ready to start our Spanish adventure, or so we thought.

The Frankfurt airport managed to misplace 9 bags and a Gayle… How is that even possible?! We waited for hours and hours at the airport for Gayle’s flight to arrive and prayed that our baggage would come with it – all in vain. In our desperate search for somebody – anybody – that could give us some sort of concrete information we managed to make three trips to different baggage claims, three between terminal 1 and terminal 2, multiple trips to Spanair and Lufthansa service desks, and two illegal attempts to sneak into other restricted areas only to be yelled at by fat security guards. Our entire marathon through the airport managed to yield the meager info that Gayle’s plane was delayed 6 hours and that our baggage would arrive at midnight. How lovely!

Exhausted and stressed to the max, we checked into our hostel and waited for Gayle to find us. The hostel provided a much needed comedic relief as the walls were plastered in ‘artistic’ hand drawn porn. Only in Europe…


By 1 AM, everyone and everything was accounted for and we managed to snag a few hours of much needed sleep before catching our train in the morning.

The train ride went smoothly and after discovering that some taxi drivers in Sevilla can be downright assholes (made us take 4 cabs with our luggage even though we managed to cram into 2 on the way to the train station in Madrid!), we finally made it to Hotel Becquer – home for the next few days!! We survived our international trip from Hell!!!!!

Part of me still can't believe that I'm actually here, in Spain, about to only speak Spanish for the next five and a half months. And if the beginning of this trip has any indication as to how the rest will follow, I can only say that it is going to be an adventure.