Maroc, Morocco, Marruecos, Al Maghrib, etc...

So again I blog while waiting for class to start instead of studying like I should be doing. But, I consider this trip to Africa quite blogworthy so that justifies my present nonscholastic attitude, right?

So last Wednesday the 16th of April I departed for Algeciras, the city in which I would catch a ferry over to Tangier and then take my first step on African soil. Algeciras is a pretty town and it has schawarma so theres really nothing I can complain about. Not much noteworthy went on there except stumbling upon a hidden plaza at the top of a hill full of old men shootin' the Spanish breeze. The next morning Ali and I woke up at an ungodly hour (only to be eclipsed by the last morning of our trip) to go meet with the group and catch the ferry. The boat trip over was a bit choppy but no one tossed their cookies and everything was fine. We got to Tangier and went to Darna, which is like a woman's shelter and took a tour. After that, our translators, students at the university of translation in Tangier, had a talk with us about Moroccan culture to them. Very interesting. Then, one of the highlights of this trip happened. We drove a really long time but in the middle of our drive the guide, Lindsey woke up, turned around, and asked "Hey, do you guys want to ride camels?" And of course we did so we pulled over to te side of the road and rode camels on the beach. No, not wild camels unfortunately, they had....handlers. But I prefer to call them camel shepherds. Then we drove to Rabat to meet our homestay families.

Ok, Im realizing if I outline everything we did that would take a really long time and you would all lose interest in reading. So Ill sum it up. We talked to lots of people, stayed with homestay families another night, went to a Hammam (a Turkish bath house where everyone scrubs eachother down, p.s. I have never felt cleaner in my life), visited a family that lives in a village in a really rural area, ate lots of yummy cous cous, adn went to a mountain town that was way pretty. I learned a lot on the trip and definitely recommend this program to anyone. Oh, I havent told you the program... its called Morocco Exchange. Props to it. Heres some funny quotes that I was very amused by...

Jessica: Did you know that there is DNA from every baby that a woman has had still in her uterus?
Ali: Wow, you gotta get that flushed out, man.

Lindsey: It's not called Pepno Bismo? (Pepto Bismol)

Lindsey: I studied primatology so I studied monkeys in Belize and followed them and collected samples and watched where they'd sleep and go back to camp and...
Sara: Samples? What do you mean samples?
Lindsey:..........poop. I'd go back to camp and sift through their poop.

Bored and Procrastinating.

So here are a few observations I have to make about Spain. Granada in particular since its my home base on this side of the Atlantic...

1. I was rereading my blog entries (yes, Im that bored and that much of a procrastinator) and they are chock full of funny stories and opinions and are much lighter in tone at the beginning of this trip. Me thinks I am no longer in a light hearted vacationy mood here in españa. That is to say, I have kind of internalized Granada as my home. At least for now... weird.

2. Pigeons have LOTS of sex. My piso´s living room window opens into the square center of the building... its hard to describe but basically its an area protected from everything outside. The pigeons have found it quite nice for their home though, they fly in from above and settle down on window ledges and a small rooftop at equal height with the aforementioned window of my piso. Point is, the pigeons are always on it. Doing it. Always. I, in fact, have been woken up by the sound of flapping wings and sexually strained cooing noises.

3. The amount of cous cous I have eaten in my life has quadrupled just from this year. I dont think much more of an explanation is necessary.

4. People dont judge you for buying mass amounts of alcohol multiple times in the same day. Rather, they are more prone to judge you because your outfit is not monochromatic, as is oh so popular here in Spain.

5. Buffy is still amazing... even in Spanish audio. The DVD player I have automatically sets the language to Castellano of every DVD it plays. This has resulted in many episodes of Buffy being watched for the first 5 or 10 minutes without realizing that Buffy habla español. I still laughed and cried in all the right places.

Ok, I need to move onto my next procrastinating activity which will most likely be either buying a newspaper or taking a walk in the drizzly rain (yay drizzly rain!).

Champagne, Rummy, Sun and Snow - life in Pradollano

So this Saturday, after finding that Epsom salt, or Magnesium Sulfate does not exist in Granada (its a whole other story of why I was looking for it, but thats not today´s tale) there was an impromptu trip to Pradollano, the pueblo in the snow in the Sierra Nevadas. It was conveniently only a 45 minute bus ride away, but it was also, inconveniently, April. There was no snow in the town. So we decided to take a ride on the ski lifts to visit the snow. We were literally the only people not in snow gear or carrying skis while we stood in line. Then it turns out tickets were sold in a totally different place so we got out of line and went to buy a ticket or 3. Also turns out that they were 15 euros per ticket just for an up and back ride! Aw hellz no. So our snow plan was defeated. Instead, we bought some champagne and orange juice and made mimosas. We found a little corner where the Monachil five-O wouldnt disturb us and started up a game or 12 of rummy (thank god Emmy remembered to bring cards). We basically passed the whole time in that pueblo así. However, as nice as it was, the temperature was too nice and we didnt really realize we had been sitting in direct sunlight for like 5 hours. Yes, we are sunburned. And now my already gnarly farmer´s tan is even gnarlier. Do you spell narly with a g? I dont know, but I am a fan of silent g´s so Im spelling it that way. Deal with it.

Oh, and in two weekends from now I am goign to Morocco! My first time in Africa =) I´ve heard good things so I´m excited. Ummmmmm qué más? Not a whole lot, really. Ok, off to class I go. P.S. if you read tis please comment because the last and almost only comment I´ve gotten in the last like month was a spam comment. I know, I didnt realize they existed in blogging either. (See previous entry´s comments) Point is, I need to feel the love. Feel me it!....I think that sentence would only make sense to someone whose brain has been as warped by Spanish as mine has. Hasta luego!

Mateo

Lolzasaurus.

Yesterday on my way to class I was walking on Gran Via, basically the main street of Granada with all sorts of everyone walking around. I was waiting for the stoplight to change so I could cross the street and I heard in the distance an electronic sound like a police or ambulance siren. But, it didnt quite sound like the Granada police or ambulance. I kept looking up and down the street keeping an eye out for any emergency vehicles speeding past, but to no avail. What the heck could it be? Then, as I made my way to the other side of the street, the sound was suddenly behind me! I spun to to see what was making this sound and then, I recognized the sound. It wasnt just prolonged, monotone electronic beeps... IT WAS CELINE DION! The noise came from a 50 something year old homeless ...er, excuse me, hygenically challenged... old man riding his bicycle and absolutely blasting "My Heart Will Go On", you know, the Titanic theme song, on his Fisher-Price or Playschool brand megaphone! Apparently the Spanish dont find this very amusing since they just cast a sideways glance and continued on their way. I, on the other hand, cracked. up. I think the others on the street saw me as crazy as the bike guy, but probably chalked it up to me being a guiri (foreigner). Anyways, if youd have been inspired to listen to that magical song by Celine Dion, heres a link to the closest sounding version I could find. Mind you, this version is about 40 times better than what was coming out of the megaphone. Imagine only the main tones and no embellishment. Ok, here it is. http://wilstar.com/midi/titanic.htm

Paz.