fruit

I just bought 5 apples, 5 oranges, 3 potatoes and a cucumber for only 3 Euros.

2 continents, 3 countries, 4 days

I have never smelled so many different scents in so few minutes. With each step I took through the Medina of Tetuan, Morocco, I felt like I was going further and further back in time. The Medina is the oldest part of the city, where the streets are the smallest and you feel like you are in a labyrinth of food and spices and smells. One of the neatest parts of the day was when we heard the call to pray, ringing out from the little mosques in all corners of the Medina. But, it wasn't a bell or a clock tower striking. It was more like a monotone cry that almost sounded like the voices were electronic. The sounds of these men traveled through the market from whichever mosque they were occupying. Many of the men stop what they are doing to gather 5 times a day on the old Persian rugs, leaving their shoes at the door behind them, just to pray.
We started the trip by driving down the coast of Spain. Then we got in a boat and traveled across the water from Europe to Africa. The first city was Ceuta, which is still in Spain but on the continent of Africa. It was beautiful. It is basically a little strip of land that sticks out from the continent and is surrounded by water. You have the option of swimming in the Atlantic ocean or the the Mediterranean Sea. It was really cool to stand on the land and look to my right to see one body of water and to my left to see the other.
Next, we crossed the border to enter Morocco and drove to Tetuan. The view from the hotel was spectacular. The mountains we were facing were called elephant mountains (or something like that...) because one of the mountains kind of looks like an elephant. :)
Tetuan was where I tried my first Arab tea at a tea salon. The tea is drenched with sugar and floating mint leaves. During this experience, I was surrounded by men. It is very rare to see a woman out at night. Even during the day, I was one of the few women without my head covered.
The Medina was filled with little trinkets to buy and different types of dried fruits and nuts and other foods to eat. The streets were so filled with people that at some points we couldn't move. Every corner led to another corner which led to another corner and every hole in the wall was a window or a door of someone's house. People actually live that closely packed together. Above the streets were hanging sheets, I suppose to protect from rain or sun and the ground held stray cats and garbage.
I was met with the same feelings when we entered the Medina in Tanger the following day. It didn't feel quite as old or packed with people but the size of the streets were the same. The Medina in Tanger led us to this amazing lookout point where you could see the Northern coast of Africa and look over at the city of Tarifa. We also stumbled across a small tea room where about 7 or 8 men were about to gather to play some music and have some tea. (In Morocco, there is absolutely no alcohol.) We were fortunate enough to be invited into this tea room to listen. The walls and floors were covered in Persian rugs and instead of tables, there were spokes in the ground to hold up the tea. The music was wonderful and some of the instruments, I had either never seen before or only seen in my music history text book. On the wall were written words in Arabic for one of the songs/chants and they played very lengthy tunes without any music at all.

The rest of that night was filled with tasting some of the Moroccan food and being surrounded during dinner by people watching the Barcelona soccer game. (Barcelona won, of course.) There was also some souvenir shopping and chasing sheep down the tiny streets to try to get a picture.


The next day we crossed back over to Europe and then crossed the border into another country. Although Gibraltar is located in the Southern part of Spain (Andalucia), it is British territory. My dream of someday seeing and walking on the Rock of Gibraltar was finally fulfilled. :)
There were monkeys roaming around freely, climbing on the cars and stealing people's food.
Another wonderful moment was driving to the southern most point of Europe to see the lighthouse.

I think one of the coolest aspects of the trip was to be able to clearly see the influence of the Arab culture that was left behind, all throughout Andalucia, after they were forced to leave that area. I have been living in an area of Spain where much of the original Arab architecture still remains. The old tiny streets, the patios decorated with flowers, the walls lined with tile.... These things may appear to be very "Spanish" but actually came from the Arab influence. Even in a now English city, sits a Mosque, seeming to be out of place in front of the famous "Rock of Gibraltar" and the modernity of the city, but instead is untouched and still used.

observations

1. People in America like to dress like people in Europe to be a little bit different and more trendy. The thing is, when you live in Europe and you wind up looking like everyone here and not looking different and trendy. Now, what is trendy is to where clothes from the United States.

2. Spanish people use white out all the time. The kids even have little bottles of white out in their pencil cases for when they make mistakes.

3. This is probably because they teach the children to write in cursive from the time they first learn to write. Even a little 5 year old, who I tutor, writes in cursive and never in print. Also, the cursive they use is different. They keep some letters in print like the capital "G" or the "k" and then continue on with the rest of the word in cursive.

4. The students have pencils and erasers. This sounds like the American students except for the fact that NONE of the pencils that they use have erasers. Did the concept of putting them together not reach Spain yet...? :)

taking Spain for granted

After biking through the city of Munich, climbing the Alps in Salzburg, and riding pedal boats up and down the Vltava river that runs through Prague, there is still something sweet and serene about running through the rolling hills of Spain, surrounded by millions of olive trees. With only a little more than a month left, it's easy to begin to realize how much has been taken for granted. I remember when I first got to Spain, everything was foreign and exciting and different. I used to go for walks or runs on this path that sits above my little town, just to be in the mountains, to breathe in the fresh country air and see the sun set over the sea of olive trees. Of course, with the colder weather, came fewer and fewer walks but also less appreciation for everything. The characters in my story slowly became real people with real families and jobs and problems and dreams.
About a month ago, groups of people from France, England and Germany came to Spain to work with the teachers in my school on a project that links the 4 elementary schools, internationally. They come up with ways the children can learn about each of the different cultures by sending each other things and doing the same activities despite the difference in languages. In order for everyone to communicate, English was the languaged used, which meant that Michelle and I had to translate everything for these few days. Taking the people on tours of our little town of Cabra and then to Granada to tour the famous Alhambra, made me realize how much I have gotten used to seeing things here and how much I have taken for granted. Watching their faces change with appreciation for the architecture and the cultural traditions that are so different from their own, made me realize that I am lucky to still have more than a month left in Spain. So often have we (the American girls here in Cabra) complained about so many luxuries that we miss about the United States that, in turn, we forget that there are things we will never find in the States except maybe in Epcot, Disney World or a restaurant imitating this foreign culture. When we were driving back from the airport after our wonderful trip to Munich, Salzburg, Vienna and Prague, I was overwhelmed with the landscape we were driving through from Malaga to Cabra. I felt as if I had just arrived for the first time all over again. Everything was so green and the mountains were glistening orange as the setting sun spewed its purples and blues and pinks all around us through the clouds.
I am so thankful to have had the opportunity to live here and experience the people, the typical food, the architecture, the traditions and the amazing landscape. I look forward to embracing this next month and a half ahead of me and appreciating the moments I have left. :)

on the bonnie banks

After Ireland, we went to Scotland. It was neat to be at Loch Lomond and teach the other girls the lyrics to the song about the lake. :) We had fun singing it in a round.

O you’ll take the high road and I’ll take the low road

And I’ll be in Scotland afore ye

For me and my true love will never meet again

On the bonnie, bonnie banks of Loch Lomond.

We spent the next couple of days in Edinburgh where we saw the place where J.K. Rowling started writing Harry Potter and we also got to explore the underground city. There used to be a wall in Edinburgh to keep the English out and all the people had to live behind the wall. There was not enough room for everyone to live so they started building up toward the sky. It is said that these were called the first skyscrapers. Once the building reached four stories high, they started to move in the wind because they were made of wood so the people had to start building underground. We took a "ghost tour" of this part which was pretty fun.

One day, we left Edinburgh to take a tour of the Highlands of Scotland. The landscape was like nothing I've seen before in my life. It was absolutely breathtaking. The trip was topped off with a visit to Loch Ness to see the Loch Ness monster. No luck...

sittin' on top of the world with my legs hangin' free

I spent Christmas with my friend Tess's family in Madrid. We sang lots of Spanish and English Christmas carols with her Dad playing guitar, me leading the English songs and him leading those in Spanish. It was wonderful to be around a Christmas tree, a big meal and a family, even though it wasn't my own. Since I know them from New Jersey, it felt like a taste of home.
Then, the day after Christmas, my Dad came to visit for a week to make me feel even closer to home! We spent time in Madrid and Barcelona and Toledo, overdosing on Spanish food and sightseeing. :)
We got to spend New Year's Eve together also.
New Years Eve in Spain is a little different than in America. First of all, in Spain they don't count down from 10 and unfortunately, there is no ball to drop.. :( But, instead, they count the 12 bongs of the clock when it strikes midnight and on each bong you are supposed to eat a grape. Now some people have said that you make a wish with every grape and other people have said that you think of one wish the whole time. The point is there are 12 grapes and you must eat them all. Also, families eat dinner together to ring in the new year and then the "young adults" go out around 2 or so to party until the restaurants open in the morning to serve them churros and chocolate. (I didn't make it that far...)

In Madrid they also have a rehearsal New Years Eve. (Any excuse Spain can find to party will do...) This happens on Dec. 30th in the Puerta del Sol, which is Spain's version of Times Square. It's basically the same thing as New Year's Eve except you can eat anything but grapes when the clock strikes midnight. Dad and I got to experience this fake New Year's Eve.














On New Year's day, I flew to Ireland to meet up with my roommate, Michelle. We spent 5 days touring around Ireland. Everything was so so green even though it was the middle of Winter. I think one of my favorite parts was exploring the Blarney Castle. I felt like a little girl in a fairy tale. The whole trip was pretty spectacular. It was great to bask in some of our comforts from home. For example: speaking English again, having several coffee options, find couches and comfy chairs at coffee shops, having dryers to dry clothes, bagels, central heating....
I loved learning about Irish history especially hearing it while in Ireland because so much of our history and heritage comes from Ireland. Almost every single person I know in the United States is "part Irish." It was unbelievable to hear the stories of the potato famine and how people were put in jail for stealing food and then sent to the United States and exiled from the country. Some people were forced to leave everything they knew behind just to try to start a new life in America. The potato famine is the reason why so many Americans are there today. I guess it was very impacting to be on the land where this all took place and to walk along the beach of the Atlantic, looking out, knowing that the other side holds New York City.
Another impacting day was when Michelle and I went to Cobh, a small city outside of Cork, from where the Titanic left to make it's way to America.

The reason Michelle and I got to see so many things in Ireland is because we signed up for a 3-day tour with about 20 other people our age that took us to all the main sites in the country. It was crazy to get so close with these people in only three days and to learn about their stories and share such awesome memories of Ireland with them. We were all from different places with different backgrounds and reasons for being on this trip.
One of the guys on the trip had been dating a girl for 3 years and they were about to get married. He had money saved up to buy a house but the girl left him so he used the money to travel instead. He's from Australia and had been traveling for 5 months. His time in Ireland left him with 2 weeks left before he would be out of money and have to go home and face what he left there 5 months ago. Another girl had spent several years as a linguistics specialist and was burnt out. She needed to escape for a while to try to figure out what to do next with her life that she thought was all planned out and perfect. Two of the girls were from the States and on their Winter break from college. They weren't there to escape anything or reflect; they just wanted to have a good time. There was a girl who had never traveled by herself before in her life and who's fiancé is in the army. She hadn't seen him in months and has always wanted to travel so he encouraged her to go ahead and do it. This trip was her first trip by herself.
Another married woman had come on this trip because she and her husband had just had affairs with other people and she needed to clear her head. She had always wanted to go to Ireland and he thought it would be a good idea for her to get away before they reunite and commit to working things out. So, she grabbed a friend and left. There was a brother and sister from the mid-west. The brother was in his first year of college and had never been anywhere out of the country and the sister was in her fourth year. They wanted to travel together before they parted ways again to go back to their schools. There was an Italian guy who had been living in London for over a year learning English. There was a German guy who was born and raised by his German family in Africa but was back in Germany for college. He spoke 5 or so different languages. Then there was me and Michelle. Michelle from California, me from New Jersey, both of us 2 years out of college, teaching in Spain, both of us not wanting to start "real jobs" in the States, both of us wanting to see the world. Michelle is planning to go to grad-school for the next 2 years back in California. Me? Who knows...


Oh, when I step into the light my arms open wide
When I step into the light my eyes searching wildly
Would you not like to be sittin' on top of the world with your legs hangin' free?
Would you not like to be ok?

I can't believe that we would lie in our graves
Wondering if we had spent our living days well
I cant believe that we would lie in our graves
Dreaming of things that we might've been.

-Dave Matthews Band (Lie in Our Graves)