Morocco, Africa!

I am sooo happy that I was able to convince a couple of friends to come to Morocco with me this past weekend. This is something that I had been planning on doing even before I got to Spain, so I'm glad everything worked out.

Last Friday we loaded a bus and drove down to La Linea to board a ferry to Africa. I was even able to see the rock of Gibraltar again (mi amor!). Anyways, once we got off of the ferry we were all really excited because we were finally in Africa!!!! Psych... little did we know we were still in Spain. The ferry drops you off in a city called Ceuta which is Spanish territory; from there we drove about 15 minutes to get to the Spain/Africa border, where we had to wait about an hour and a half to get all of our passports stamped and approved. By the time we got to our hotel, it was late (we left Sevilla at 2:30pm), so we ate dinner and went to bed.

The next morning we first visited the Moroccan city called Tetuan. Tetuan was a very poor city and it was sad to see how little people had. We walked through the main market, which was pretty interesting to see. I was really grossed out because in Tetuan, as well as all the Moroccan cities that we visited, people buy their chickens alive and then have to kill them and stuff at home (no doubt I would be a vegetarian if I lived there)... so there were chickens running around everywhere, which freaked me out even more due to my minor hatred of birds. The markets sold every kind of vegetable imaginable and fruit and bakery items. It was really nauseating, however, to see people buying pastries and baked goods that had 20 flies sitting on them. Most of the people were very friendly and smiled at me. The official language there is Arabic, so I wasn't sure whether to speak Spanish or English (since arabic was clearly out of the question). To my surprise, a lot of the people knew both languages. After the market we walked through an area that had shops exclusively for making Moroccan dresses. The dresses are expensive to make, as the designs are hand embroidered and made of silk. It takes about a month to make a dress and costs about a month's earnings to pay for one (plus you have to provide the dressmaker with fabric). If the dress is for a bride, it is worn for 3 days (weddings last 3 days in Morocco), and then after the wedding she can wear it again for any special occasion. We also went to a spice shop that had spices (obviously), and different types of herbs/teas. We also went to a rug store and got to see a bunch of really beautiful Moroccan rugs and blankets. My friend Jack bought one for 110 euros, although he definitely could have bartered and probably paid half of what he did for it. We had lunch in a very touristy restaurant that had Moroccan dancers and entertainers, which was cool; we had a "Moroccan meal" which consisted of soup, salad (rice, salsa, carrots, lettuce, other vegetables), and cous cous with beef and vegetables.

The next city we visited was Tangier, a port city that was much more modern and developed than Tetuan was. We drove outside of the busy city area to the Atlantic/Mediterranean coast, where we went on the beach to ride camels! It cost one euro for a 2 minute ride... it was fun, but it would have been a lot better if we had been able to go on a longer ride to an actual destination, instead of going in circles. We then drove back to the city center and got a bus tour, which included going up to see the outside of the king's house (well, his house for about a week each year). After the bus tour we checked into the hotel and had dinner, which was fish... if you know how I feel about fish, you could've probably predicted that we ended up at Mc'Donalds shortly after dinner ended. I got a kid's meal for 20 dirhams (less than 2 euros), which even included a dragon light-up toy (every 21 year old's dream)! After the Mc'Donalds adventure we headed back to the hotel because we had to get up at 7 the next morning to go to ChefChaoen. However, it didn't even pay to go back to the hotel early because I literally did not sleep a wink. There was a wedding going on in the streets so literally every 10 minutes there was honking and screaming.

The bus ride to ChefChaoen the next morning was very unpleasant, as the combination of being tired, having a horrible bus driver, and driving on narrow roads through the mountains is not a good one. When we finally made it there, we had a 15 minute break to go to the bathroom (which was a hole in the ground) and breathe in some fresh mountain air. There is nothing really historically significant about ChefChaoen to my knowledge, but it is an awesome city because it is in the mountains and the whole city is painted blue/indigo! It was really beautiful. We spent most of the morning walking around the city and afterwards went to a market where we were able to barter for scarfs, rugs, blankets, jewelry, etc. Before leaving, we had another Moroccan lunch (soup, a salad thinger, and a beef stew dish).

I think visiting Morocco was a great experience. It was amazing to see how different everyday life is there compared to the United States (and even Spain), and it made me appreciate all that I have a lot more.

PS. Dad, you have another rock to add to your collection.





Picture #1: Tetuan, Morocco
Pictures #2-3: Market in Tetuan, Morocco
Picture #4: Riding a camel in Tetuan, Morocco
Picture #5: African scenery
Pictures #6-8: Chefchaoen, Morocco

Feria de Abril!

This past week, Sevilla celebrated its festival called "Feria de Abril." Basically what this consists of is a week-long party filled with drinking, singing, dancing, music, and lots of decorations and lights. On Monday night, the festival started with the "alumbrado de la portado," the lighting of the main entrance to feria. The lights were turned on at midnight and the party began! In the feria grounds, there are thousands of "casetas" (tents) that line the streets. There are public tents and also private ones which you need to be invited into (there are literally body guards standing outside the tent to make sure you are allowed in); the public and private tents have a totally different atmosphere. The public tents usually consist of big groups of Spanish teenagers (usually because all of their friends can't fit into one private tent), Americans, and creepy old men who are trying to hit on the Spanish teenagers and/or Americans. The private tents, on the other hand, are much more intimate and allow you to experience a more "authentic" feria. The private tents usually belong to families, so you need to be a friend of the family (or a friend of a friend of the family in my case) in order to get inside. My roommate and I were very fortunate to have made Spanish friends this semester, because we got to experience feria in the private tents instead of the public ones. We went to our friend Antonio's tent a couple of nights (a guy we met on a bus trip to Madrid) and got to meet a lot of his friends which was neat. One of them was a really good flamenco dancer, and it was fun to watch him dance with all the ladies. Throughout the week we also went to our friend Fernando and our friend Nacho's tents which was really fun. Fernando is the son of a fashion designer that Natalia works with, and we met Nacho through CIEE.

The streets in feria are lined with really pretty lights, and there are flamenco dancing and singing break-outs everywhere (in the streets and in public/private tents, so literally EVERYWHERE). It's really awesome because people of all ages dance and sing; nobody is shy. The official drinks of feria are manzanilla (a white wine that is REALLY strong), and rebujito (a mixture of manzanilla and Sprite). We got free drinks (and food!) in the private tents which was pretty convenient considering I am a poor college student.

Feria probably has been my favorite week in Sevilla thus far. It is like a carefree fantasy world, and I hope everyone gets the chance to experience it someday!

VIVA LA FERIA!!! :)






Picture #1: La portada de feria (the main entrance to feria)... there is an airplane on the top of the structure because it is celebrating the 100th year anniversary of aviation in Spain
Picture #2: Me in front of the portada
Picture #3: Me and Natalia with Antonio and a couple of his friends (Antonio is the one next to me)
Picture #4: Lights in the streets of feria
Picture #5: Me in front of the portada again
Picture #6: Some of the pretty flamenco dresses
Picture #7: Me in a caseta

Madrid

This past weekend, I went with my art interest group to Madrid. We left on Friday and since the program paid for everything, we got to take the train (a 3 hour ride) instead of the bus (a 6 hour ride). We even got to stay in a really nice 4-star hotel right next to Puerta del Sol. On Friday we walked around the city and looked at all the popular sights with our tour guide Angel (my old teacher). It was really neat to see everything and also learn the history of the city. My favorite part of Madrid from the first day was the "Palacio Real," the place where the kings and queens have always lived up until the democracy began. After our tour it was time for dinner... the majority of the group went out for tapas, but a group of us girls decided to go to a different restaurant because we were HUNGRY and didn't want to wait forever to get our food (which is obviously what happens when you go out with a huge group of people). After dinner we randomly saw the Spanish student that came along on the trip as a guide; he was with his Madrid friends, so we went with them to a bar for the rest of the night. One of the guys was studying to be an English teacher, so we tested his knowledge in English and gave him some suggestions of where to study in the United States (not Wisconsin).

The next day we woke up early to begin our loooong day of museums. We had a free breakfast buffet at the hotel which I was really pumped about because it had pancakes AND cereal!!!!! Two foods I have been consistently craving while abroad... I was so excited for the cereal because there was SKIM milk (which is basically unheard of in Spain), but it ended up being a let down because it was really warm and therefore really unappetizing. After stuffing my face with pancakes, we went to the "Museo Nacional del Prado" (the Prado museum). This was a really interesting museum for me because a lot of the paintings here are ones that I had previously studied in my Spanish classes. The star painting of the museum is "Las Meninas" by the painter Velasquez. Other paintings that I really enjoyed seeing there were "El dos de mayo" and "El tres de mayo" by Goya, paintings which depict a battle against the French that took place in the Puerta del Sol in Madrid. After El Prado our group went to a free lunch buffet (which was awesome) before heading to our next museum, "el Centro de Arte Reina Sofia." This museum had a ton of work by Pablo Picasso, which was cool to see although he isn't one of my favorite artists. The star painting of the Reina Sofia museum was Picasso's "Guernica," which represents the bombing of Guernica during the Spanish Civil War. Picasso stated that he would not allow "Guernica" to be in Spain until democracy came to Spain, and this promise was kept. In 1981, after Franco's dictatorship ended, the painting was finally moved from New York City to the museum in Madrid.

After being museumed-out, my friends and I met up with my friend Jack Hale who is currently studying in Madrid. We went to a bar called "Dubliners" because my friends had just found out that their flight to Dublin was canceled due to the volcano in Iceland. We had a lot of fun and it was nice to see a fellow Green Bay'er in Europe! The next morning we had to wake up early to go to (you guessed it) another museum, but ended up leaving the hotel much later than expected due to everyone's flights being canceled and needing to find alternative ways for people to get back to Sevilla. Once all of that was figured out, we headed to the Thyssen Museum. Here there was a Monet exhibit which I was really glad I got to see. The museum also had a lot of Pop Art, which I loved, although I was upset I didn't get to see any of Andy Warhol's work. After the museum we had a couple hours of free time before heading back to Sevilla.

The festival "Feria de Abril" is going on in Sevilla this week, and we don't have any school because of it (yes!)... I'm not really sure what the festival is going to be like, but I am going to "the lighting of Feria" tonight. Since a lot of people who were planning on traveling in Europe this week had their flights canceled, a lot more of my friends will be attending the festival which I am pretty excited about. I'm just relieved that I didn't plan any trips this week that required flying, because I would be pretty bummed if any of my trips had been canceled. I'm hoping the smoke clears up in Spain by next weekend so I can fly to Barcelona. It's crazy how ash and smoke from a volcano in Iceland expanded all the way to Spain in three days! Kinda freaky...

I'm headed to Morocco, Africa this coming weekend with Jack (the friend who is studying in Madrid) and my roommate Natalia. We are going (with a travel group) to the cities Tetuan, Tangier, and ChefChaouen. It should be a very interesting experience, and I am soooo excited to go!

One month and two days left!

Emily



Picture #1: El Palacio Real... palace where the kings and queens lived
Picture #2: Plaza Mayor... bullfights used to take place here and people were also killed here during the Spanish Inquisition
Picture #3: Clock in Puerta del Sol... on New Years Eve, this is the place to be (it's like the Times Square of Spain)
Picture #4: My friends and I standing in the entrance of the Prado Museum
Picture #5: Pablo Picasso's "Guernica"... that stupid lady wouldn't get out of the way!
Picture #6: My friends and I in the bar "Dubliners" after they found out their flight was canceled
Picture #7: Me in front of the Puerta de Alcala

Bullfighting pictures

Hi everyone,
When I wrote my last post I didn't have my bullfighting pictures uploaded, so here are some of the pictures I took! Also, there was a bullfighter a couple of days ago who got attacked by a bull and thrown into the air; he had to get rushed to the hospital and was in critical condition but I guess he is okay now. Here is the link if you want to watch it (it's in spanish, but it shows him getting thrown into the air)...
Link: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8g1cgqyUBhk&feature=fvhl

Also, here is a link for the movie that Tom Cruise and Cameron Diaz filmed in Sevilla this fall! I'm really excited to see the movie because watching the trailer I recognize a ton of different areas in Sevilla! Things you can see in the preview are: Puente de Alamillo (bridge with a big white statue thing of poles sticking out of it), Santa Justa Train Station, Avenida de la Constitution (when they ride the motorcycle between the two buses), Plaza de Toros (bullfighting stadium)... pretty neat!
Link: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2TrpB3VujHw&feature=related



Picture #1: Horses dragging the dead bull out of the stadium... gross
Pictures #2-4: Artsy pics :)
Picture #5: The guys were allowed to run behind these little stands to protect themselves from the bull... which I thought was unfair. The bull doesn't have anywhere he can hide!

A successful spring break complete with monkeys (and I don't mean my family)

Spring break, as well as my 2-week-long adventure with my family, ended last week. It was great having my family here and being able to show them around my new home, and I was glad they made it in with minimal problems. I was still in school (taking exams!) the first week they were here, so my parents and Sam got to discover Sevilla on their own for a little bit... They visited all the touristy stuff (Cathedral, Alcazar, Italica, Plaza de Toros, etc.) during the day, and at night I took them to get tapas, watch free flamenco shows at a bar near my school, and show them around a little bit more.

On Friday, my parents, Sam and I took a day trip to Granada to see the Alhambra and the city. I had already been there, so I was able to guide us around with little difficulty. I definitely didn't mind seeing the Alhambra again... it's such a pretty place! I was also really glad I was able to find the gyro/kebab stand that my friends and I had eaten at on my previous trip!

Krista joined us the second week my family was here, and Sevilla was starting to prepare for Semana Santa (Holy Week). Semana Santa is a big deal in most Spanish cities but Sevilla is the city that is most famous for its holy processions. It is so hard to describe what Semana Santa in Sevilla is like to someone who hasn't experienced it... but I will try. Every church in Sevilla has a huge "paso" or platform which is decorated with a religious scene, real flowers, and a ton of other decorations. (The most popular religious images are obviously Jesus and Mary). Each platform is carried from the church to the cathedral and then back to the church... and each procession lasts probably around 12 hours, with thousands of people following and/or watching it, and each day about 8 different floats go to the Cathedral. The people involved in the procession are dressed in uniforms that look like KKK (making it a rather eery procession for American viewers) and they cover their faces to remain anonymous. Half of these people stand (in a loooong line) before the platform and carry candles, and the other half stands behind and carries large wooden crosses. There is also a band that follows the procession and plays music throughout the day. It is crazy busy in Sevilla and since our apartment was near the Cathedral we were always trapped around processions, making it extremely difficult to get anywhere without having to take hour-long detours. There were a lot of processions that we were able to watch right out of our apartment window, so that was pretty neat.

With Krista, we did a lot of the same touristy stuff that my parents and Sam did the first week. One thing that I really enjoyed doing with them was seeing a professional flamenco show. I had taken them to a bar that has free flamenco dancing, but the dancer that was there every night we went was an overweight, not-very-feminine woman who was cranky and yelled at the crowd a lot. They decided they wanted to spend the money to see a real flamenco dancer, so I took them to a place that I had gone to with my program. We all really enjoyed it. The family was also able to meet Pepi and I think they all really liked each other. My dad, of course being Mr. Social, kept trying to talk to her even though she doesn't understand one word of English.

We also went on a couple day trips while Krista was here. The first one was to Cadiz, a city on the western coast of Spain that is known for its beaches. We were planning on swimming in the Atlantic Ocean and relaxing on the beach, but it ended up being cold and windy leaving us with not a lot to do. We walked around and tried getting into some museums, but they were all closed on the day we went (probably because of Semana Santa). We were all pretty bummed out that the weather wasn't the best, but still managed to take off our shoes and walk in the ocean for a little bit. We also took a day trip to Gibraltar, a UK territory which is located on the southern tip of Spain. We rented a car, which was actually cheaper than a bus and gave us more time in the city... our trusty GPS got us lost and we ended up making the tour we arranged to be a part of wait 30 minutes for us to get there. It was literally like the amazing race... speeding on the highway, frantically trying to find a place to park, jumping out of the car and SPRINTING to get to customs (it's a good thing you just needed to hold up your passport as you walked, or in our case RAN, through). We finally found the tour bus and were able to relax. In Gibraltar it is illegal to go up the rock of Gibraltar unless you are a resident or part of a tour, so thank god it didn't leave without us. As we went up the rock we stopped at different points; the first one was a spot that has a view of Africa to the left, Spain to the right, and the Atlantic and the Mediterranean Sea. It was really awesome, especially being that close to Africa (I realllllly want to go there now!). We stopped at another spot where you could walk inside a cave. It was cool, but I had already seen a really similar cave in Aracena. After the cave, we were able to play with monkeys! This was probably my favorite part of the trip... the monkeys were sooo cute, especially the baby ones!

After my family left, I spent the last weekend of spring break in Lagos, a beautiful city located on the southern coast of Portugal. We had a hotel that was literally a 30-second walk away from the beach and we were lucky to have really nice weather. I spent the entire weekend relaxing and soaking up the sun next to the Atlantic Ocean... it was wonderful! One of the days we were there, we took a sailboat on the ocean and got to go explore some of the caves, which was really neat to see. Another night we went to the most south western point of Portugal (and in all of Europe) to watch the sun set. The place we went was a cliff surrounded by the Atlantic Ocean. It was sooooo beautiful but extremely windy; the wind was so strong that it would make rocks fly up in the air and hit us in the face! But I literally think it was the most beautiful sight I will ever see so it was totally worth it. I definitely fell in love with Portugal on this trip and have a strong urge to go back again and see more.

Spring break is now over and it's back to school for me, which shouldn't be too difficult since we have another spring break in a week! Yesterday I went to my first bullfight. I was really really nervous because I don't handle violence and blood well, which basically are the two words that best sum up a bullfight. I was surprised to find that I actually didn't mind it that much. There were about 6 or 7 different bulls that were killed, and the first one I saw was really disturbing but after that I think I was kind of numbed to the event. The atmosphere is so strange, it almost feels like you're in a different century... It's just surprising that stuff like this is still going on in the 21st century. It was definitely an interesting experience though. I'm also really surprised that more bullfighters haven't died doing this. There were 2 close calls during the event where the bullfighters were almost screwed: one guy dropped his red flag and had to jump over the wall so the bull didn't attack him, and another guy tripped after he stabbed the bull. I would prefer to not see another bullfight, but I might go back if Evan wants to see one when he visits.... we'll see.

Hope all is well in the States! Sorry to hear about all the snow, I'll be sure to soak up some sun here for all of you. Hehe....

Emily :)




Picture #1: In Granada, the Alhambra
Picture #2: Krista, Sam and I in Sevilla... "with Spain in the background"
Picture #3: during a Semana Santa procession
Picture #4: me and Monica the monkey in Gibraltar
Picture #5: standing in Gibraltar (the UK) in front of Africa (left) and Spain (right)!
Picture #6: Mom, Krista and I in front of the Rock of Gibraltar
Picture #7: Natalia and I on the sailboat in Portugal
Picture #8: on our cave tour in Lagos
Picture #9: at the most south western point of Portugal (and Europe) watching the sunset over the Atlantic
Picture #10: at one of the many beautiful beaches in Lagos