Adventures in Africa!

"If adventures will not befall a young lady in her own village, she must seek them abroad."
- Jane Austen

Wise words from Jane Austen. And that's exactly what myself and three friends did last weekend. Not only did we travel to another country, but we traveled to a completely different world- a world so different from anything that I have ever known. A world where I felt like (in some ways) I had taken a step back into time. The country of Morocco is 98% Muslim and 2% Jewish and Catholic. Those percentages alone were so completely foreign to me. The weekend was filled with picturesque landscapes, new experiences, unnecessary spending (more like failing to bargain, sigh), couscous and green tea, and loads of laughter. Such a cool experience.

My friends and I traveled to Morocco with a travel organization called "We Love Spain." We began our journey leaving from the dock of Algeciras and taking the ferry to Spanish territory in Africa called Ceuta. Once there we crossed the border into Morocco. We spent the night in a beautiful little fishing village where we enjoyed an awesome dinner and an oceanfront view from our hotel rooms. That's quite a step up from our bunk bed hostels! I roomed with my friend Julie, who is teaching in Cadiz. I haven't seen her since our orientation in September so it was really great to spend the weekend catching up with her.

The next day we ate breakfast at the hotel and departed for Tetuan. We saw the local palace in the Hassan II plaza and we took a walking tour of the Medina (the old city). The walk through the old city was really interesting and a tad uncomfortable. The Medina consisted of fruit and vegetable stands, second hand clothing shops, art shops, abandoned alleys, and animals running a muck. I thought that the "cat calls" and constant staring we receive in Spain would have made me used to it, but boy was I wrong. Men would say things in French or Arabic that I was grateful to not understand. Even the children stared. A lot of the towns people told us not to take pictures, which I suppose I can imagine why. Sometimes the women would walk the opposite direction from us or hide their faces, which broke my heart. It was an experience, that's for sure. I also had the opportunity to dress up as a traditional mountain woman...oh yeah, that was interesting too. You'll have to see the picture to really understand what that means. That's what I get for laughing at the tour guides jokes :). After the Medina tour we made our way to a beautiful carpet shop. The intricate design on these rugs was so unbelievable that, sadly, Megan, Julie, and myself ended up buying one each. I thought that I bargained mine down to a good price, but after seeing some other carpets throughout the weekend I'm thinking that I did not. You win some you lose some. It was quite an unnecessary purchase since 1. I bought a carpet for a house I don't have 2. It's royal blue. Seriously? What's going to match that? Julie suggested that I hang it in my future classroom. Not a bad idea. After feeling a bit of buyers remorse, we headed over to lunch at an Arabic palace that was converted into a restaurant. I sure was fed well this weekend- loads of wonderful veggies, amazing bread, flavorful meat, couscous (um, yum), and "Moroccan whiskey" (also known as green tea since Morocco is a dry country).

After our lunch we hopped back on the bus and headed towards Tangier, a very rich and contemporary city on the coast. Before we went into the city, we stopped at the grotto of Hercules (beautiful caves) and to see the straight (where the Mediterranean and Atlantic ocean mix). After that was the highlight of my trip...the CAMEL ride. Mind you it wasn't exactly riding camels in the Sahara Desert. Remember riding horses at children's birthday parties? It was kind of like that :) but nevermind, I still rode a camel and it was awesome. After our awesome camel ride we made our way into the city where we had free time to wander around. This was interesting as well. The big group was split up and it was only me, Julie, Megan, Kelly, and our two new German friends (all girls). Probably wasn't the smartest idea. We went through the market, which was a lot like the market in Tetuan. It was completely harmless, just a little uncomfortable. BUT we managed to make a few purchases along the way. We then went back to our hotel for dinner and free time.

Our last day, Sunday, we woke up at 6am. Oooff. That was rough but well worth it to see the city of Chefchouen, a tiny mountain village nick named the "blue village." Why is it called the blue village? Well, because everything is blue. Yep, everything. It's absolutely gorgeous and so peaceful. We had a different tour guide for this trip and he was the sweetest little man! He kept telling us that we would see him on TV, haha. Anyways, he took us around the most beautiful parts of town. We also entered the old town, where up until a few years ago only Muslims were allowed to enter. It was a gorgeous neighborhood of, well, blue! The people were friendly, it was quiet and peaceful and was a nice change of pace. We ate lunch at a wonderful restaurant as well. I told you, I was fed well. After lunch we departed back to the port of Ceuta to come back to Spain. The ferry ride back was a little intense- intense meaning EXTREMELY rocky. Almost everyone on the boat got sick, including yours truly. We had to wait an extra hour in the middle of the water waiting for another boat to come out of the dock. We were very thankful to finally reach our buses, though sad that that's where we would say goodbye and head back to our original cities.

This trip was absolutely amazing. I laughed more than I have laughed in a long time and I reflected on many things that have been on my heart. I'm grateful for friends that, no matter what contienent I'm on, are willing to laugh with me and to talk\listen. One of the most precious gifts we are given is that of a true friend- i'm thankful to have friends all over the world.

Next big trip- Ireland in March! I'm sure you'll be hearing from me before you then :). Until next time. Love and miss you all.

KA