I'm Leaving on a Jet Plane

I'm leaving tomorrow night! To a city full of canals, gelato and pigeons!

Venice!

Also, I probably won't have internet. But I'll tell you guys all about it (eventually).
I'm so excited!!!
Image Source: http://beautifulplacestovisit.com

I Went to... Morocco!

   And it was beautiful! I know it was a very touristy deal. We rode around Tangier on a bus with a energetic tour guide yelling into a microphone. They even gave us little blue stickers that boasted the name of our tour company. But no matter! It was still beautiful. Yes, we rode camels. But even though that's what people seem to be the most excited about when they go to Morocco, I loved just walking around in the back alley ways with my camera. One of my friends and I were always at the back of the group, trying to get one last good picture while our bus driver waited patiently for us.

   I wanted to take people pictures so badly! Arabian people are - in general - beautiful and there were a lot of veiled women and traditionally dressed men. But I always feel so rude taking pictures of people. I'm sure they see so many tourists who just rudely snap pictures. There were several pictures that I was dying to take, but I didn't. But I did get some sneaky fotos while casually holding my camera on my hip.

   The school took us to a delicious Moroccan restaurant for lunch. We had couscous, sesame bread, salad, omelette, chicken kebabs (I politely shook my head), mint tea and tea cookies. The building was beautiful. Everything was decorated in the Arabic fashion; even the bathrooms were gorgeous and had beaded curtains hanging in front. There was even a group of men plucking away at their foreign-looking instruments while we ate!

   Maybe one day I'll get to back and actually see what Morocco is really like. A few weeks before, I had met this Moroccan girl and she told me that what we would see isn't really what Morocco is like. But at least I saw enough to add Morocco to my list!

Ferry from Tarifa (southernmost point in all of Europe) to Tangier, Marruecos

It's so weird when they stand up or crouch back down

I'm a camel. I am awesome.

Baby camel! Notice that I am not closer than a good foot. Too many horror stories about camels.

It took a surprising amount of courage to touch it. And I'm usually not a baby about stuff like that.

I really want a chipped blue door with a gorgeous door handle.

You can see fog rolling in on the top right. It was dense and dark and advanced quickly even 

as we stood on the cliff. They told us in 45 minutes the whole view would be covered.

Snake charmers! (read: awesome tourist photo-op)

Moroccan boys watching the snake charmer.

They would stick their head out, stare at us, then duck back in. The next time they came out,

I showed them this picture, and they started to giggle

Just chilling on the side of the road

This sesame bread was so good!

Live music during our meal!

Most delicious mint tea EVER

I noticed this man just pausing in the street even as everyone else swirled around him.

Upcoming posts about the Andalucia Trip: Sevilla (home of the third largest cathedral in the world) and Córdoba (with an astounding mezquita)

   ¡Ciao!

Photo Booth!

Since I've gotten here, I sometimes just take computer fotos instead of writing down what I did or thought that day. They're not all that fascinating, but it's a little taste of day to day life here! ("Photo Booth" translation: not-so-amazing webcam fotos)

9-25-11: One of my first Euro notes! Speaking of Euros,
 I need to trek to town and find the closest ATM...

9-28: Sunbathing on the roof! I can't wait until it's warm again.

10-15: Dutch Blitz while waiting for the banana bread to cook

10-16: Vamos a la playa!!
Off to the beach

10-25: I'm inexplicably excited about picking oranges at 10 pm

10-26: My little biology stick men. I still remember what I studied that day!

11-05: Sabbath! Ever since I bought this dress (an H & M dress for $10 at Plato's Closet! What!!), Esther has
claimed it's hers. So of course I had to send her a picture showing that I'm proudly waring MY dress
here in Spain.

11-06: One of my Moroccan scarfs. Beautiful AND warm AND Moroccan? Can't ask for anything better!

Yachts & Gibraltar

More about our Andalucia trip in mid-October!
   We spent Wednesday working out way down the coast, stopping every few hours. Most of the cities were vacation destinations for rich European people. I've never seen so many yachts!
   We also spent a couple hours in Gibraltar. We listened to British accents, bought some English chocolate and enjoyed some tea and scones. Even though it's in Spain, Gibraltar is actually an English province. Someone asked me why Gibraltar was important. I remembered when I was really young, my dad showed on me on our world map how anybody going from the Mediterranean to the Atlantic had to pass by Gibraltar and that's why lots of countries fought over it. Thanks for helping me look smart, Dad!

The actual Rock! Not my picture...

Glass-making museum
Esther, you would have thought this was real if I hadn't said it was a statue, wouldn't you?

Source for Picture of Rock of Gibraltar: gibraltar-dream-weddings.com

Only A Month...??!!!

Until the quarter ends!! That's actually bad news; I have sooo much reading to do! I have 500 pages to read... in Spanish. No bueno. Not to mention tests and a bunch of busy work.
   So that's my excuse for why I haven't posted anymore. Sorry, guys! I'm working on it, I promise!
   Quick Update: It's been freezing! And rainy and gray. This afternoon, the rain actually stopped and there's even some blue sky peeking out! Even though it's not actually that cold, we don't have heaters in our rooms. Yesterday, I would just turn on our shower and let it run, trying to get some hot steam.
   Today is our first Monday in almost a month! We've had so many festivals and then our big trip to Andalucia as well. Last week, the festival wasn't even on Monday, but on Tuesday. Whenever I asked someone why we had Monday off, they always shrugged and said, "Es un puente! It's a bridge between the weekend and the festival!" I can definitely get used to the calendar here.
   Next weekend is a long weekend as well. But I'm not going to spend it sleeping in and watching old episodes of Grey's Anatomy. Au contraire. This one is off to Venice!

This is what we have been reduced to: socks with flip-flops. It's just so cold!

Granada

Bendiciones de Sevilla! Thankfully, we're taking Saturday afternoon easy. It's a welcome relief after several days of non-stop action. And so I'm using my afternoon productively and writing you all a blog post!

   Granada is amazing. I love it. So much. My favorite part was the old Arab neighborhood, called El Albaicín. It was beautiful! White-washed houses, narrow alley ways, delicious smells of Arab food wafting from the houses... Unfortunately, we only went at night and it was too far to walk back in the daytime.

   But the whole city was beautiful as well. I loved the central area around the cathedral as well. The cathedral itself is a sudden visible contrast to the buildings around it. But when we entered...! My goodness. I repeatedly despaired of being able to capture an adequate taste of it all; but then I would find something else just asking for a foto.

   Afterwards, we wandered around the old part of the city. So, so beautiful and atmospheric. We passed street performers, gorgeous fans and shawls in tourist shops, took pictures of old Moorish doorways, and saw a statue of Queen Isabella giving Christopher Columbus permission to search for the Indies.

    After a few group pictures next to the statue, we were given free time. My group of girls went straight for the bakery we had passed. As usual, I had a horrible time making up my mind. After going back and forth between the glass display inside and the window outside, I finally walked up to the counter and asked for a chocolate tarta. The guy had been watching me with an amused expression, and now grinned at me and asked if I wanted to go outside one more time to be sure. When we came back the next day, the guy recognized me and laughed hello as soon as I walked in. Both my chocolate and the strawberry tart were delicious, by the way.

   That evening, we went to the Arab part of town for a flamenco show in one of the inhabited caves! It was really cool; unfortunately, we were all exhausted from traveling and walking all over the neighborhood for more than an hour. I couldn't focus as much as I wanted to, but was left with a very clear impression of guitar music, loud singing, heel tapping, clapping, and "Óle's!"

   The next day was dominated by the Alhambra Palace! It was so beautiful. I loved it. The Moorish detailing, the gardens, the fountains... Gorgeous. We walked forever, but I still feel like I didn't see all of it. But I think that's typical of palaces though.

   That evening, we wandered through the old town again. Unfortunately, we forgot a couple souvenirs in the café and had to go running and sliding back along the marble sidewalks. It was frightful but fun! We made it back before the café closed and were relieved when the waiters just laughed and handed us our stuff. 

   Wouldn't it be amazing to have a white-washed apartment in the Arab neighborhood above Granada facing the Alhambra Palace? Yet another addition to my list of places to possibly live!

La Catedral

"I pray that my light will be a prayer"
Offerings: .10€, .20€, .50€, 1€ or 2€

Street Performer; I couldn't believe he wasn't a statue

Arabic Name!

At the Flamenco show

Granada and Tangier both had amazing settings for portraits

Alhambra fountain

Alhambra Palace; just look at all the Moorish detailing!

Just a few of the options available, and what I choose

Café