Live for 32

       Before I forget to write this entry I just want to remember how good this day was. It was the best day yet in Sevilla. It started out as normal with some class and extraordinarily beautiful weather. However, it should be noted that today wasn't just any day. April 16, 2012 marks the 5 year remembrance of the tragic shooting at Virginia Tech. 

     I truly believe the day was enjoyed even more because of a quote I read on a friend's status : 

"I ask each of you to take the time to be a HOKIE this week. Appreciate life a little more, take in every moment around you, count your blessings, tell the people around you that you love them, slow down, remember what's truly important in life, and live for those 32 that do not have that chance anymore." neVer forgeT 4.16.07

     I re-posted the status and was determined to take the quote to heart and I think that's exactly what happened today. 

    I decided to opt out of my 5pm class to enjoy the weather and soak in some sun on a run along the rio. I think it was more than just a coincidence that on my run I passed a little hint of VT.

It's the little things in life that make me smile.

    While I was exercising on the outdoor equipment, a Spaniard woman of about 30 years came over and started talking to me. Basically she started asking me if I was training for a marathon and when I said no she asked if I was on some sort of team. I told her no I was just exercising to try and stay semi-skinny while living in this fattening country. She proceeded to tell me how strong I looked (I know funny concept, me "looking" strong) and how she was a personal trainer. I had a feeling once I saw how ripped she was, especially at her age. You hardly ever see people who are actually toned here, and in all of Europe for that matter. In the end she gave me her number because she thought we should start exercising together, telling me how her friends can never keep up. She mentioned how she could even practice her English with me which I responded with CLARO QUE SI, I’m always up for a new intercambio! I just love how friendly and easy going Sevillanas are.

      After my run, Ray and I went to the plaza de toros to get our bullfighting tickets for tomorrow (which is already exciting enough to make my day). But since there was a corrido already going on we couldn’t get to the office, so they told us to just come back in the morning.

       So, of course, our next stop would be an outside, great ambi [ambiance] type of bar. We knew exactly where to go- a little plaza near Ray’s school that is always crowded with Spaniards standing around tall tables with their tintos and cruzcampo cervezas. We got the usual tinto de veranos and olives, soaking up the ambi of this wonderful place when next thing you know we see our friend Eduardo. We met Eduardo out the other night when our Swiss friends [friends from Tech studying in Switzerland this semester] were here. He’s an Italian studying his Spanish here (on scholarship for his “tesis”). We spoke in Spanish, threw in some English and even learned a little bit of Italian with him and his friend (name forgotten already).  Three tintos later, the sun was going down and it was getting cold so we made plans to meet up again tomorrow. 

This picture lacks the vibrant ambiance of the plaza but still- tintos and olives. They've got a big place in my heart. 

      On our way home we ran into our program coordinator from Lagos (best weekend/most beautiful place/best trip ever/still need to blog about it). Then my Spanish friend Juan called and said he was in the same plaza but I told him I had to head home to work on a presentation (which I should be doing now but I can’t focus- I’m just buzzing with excitement from this day).

        Ray and I were a tad hungry on our way back (and we had already told Maribel we wouldn’t be eating dinner at home) so we stopped at a tapas bar that’s always smelling of delicious fried goodness. We had some Adobo (little fried fish), some Caballa (another small fish with a vinegar-y salsa on top and then we even went blindly into trying huevas (which ended up being weird balls of fish eggs- but not good like caviar- just weird). Nevertheless I’m glad we tried it- now we know we shouldn’t order it again. I washed my tapas down with a crisp, cold coke from the glass bottle (which Dad always says is the best type). I hardly drink soda so it was quite refreshing.

       On my walk home after dinner (Ray biked home- I’ve given up on the belief that I’ll ever be able to ride a bike without killing myself. I’m just way too clumsy and there are too many distractions around here) I ran into Steven- always a great sight for sore eyes. We caught up on our weekend trips and made plans to hang out tomorrow (basically I’m hanging out with A LOT of friends tomorrow WOOOHOO). Then I ran into Lauren at Phoenix Pub eating some phenomenal looking nachos (Ray and I plan to eat them one of these days post-exercising so we don't feel as bad about it. Wash those babies down with some tantalizingly fresh Strongbows and you've got yourself a heaven). 

So all in all it’s been the best day ever and I love my life and I’m so satisfied and I just want to throw everyone I love in a suitcase and bring them to Sevilla. 

I'll leave you bloggers now with one of my favorite quotes:

Vive bien, ríe a menudo, ama mucho.

Live well, laugh often, love a lot.

And the all time favorite.

We are Hokies. We will prevail. We are Virginia Tech.  

http://www.vtmagazine.vt.edu/memorial07/today.html

And lastly a shout out to my friend, and best Aesthetics Director of our Leadership Team, Dane Harrington for his brilliant article in the Collegiate Times

http://www.collegiatetimes.com/stories/19634/he-said-she-said-april-16

How do you say desert in Berber? "Sahara"

This is what our Berber chauffeur told us on our 1 hour drive into the Sahara desert in "cuatro por cuatros" (aka 4x4s aka jeeps not quads). We also learned some Arabic on our way (the Berbers speak an average of 5 languages, simply from always being around tourists).

As Salaam Malikium: Peace be with you

Yela: Let's Go

Balak: Watch out/Be careful (basically it is what the Berbs yell at you in the narrow streets of the medina so you don't get hit by their donkeys)

Shukran: Thank You

But before we got to the 4x4s we had about a 10 hour drive by bus from Fes. And even though that seems like a lot, 1. i drive that every time i go to school and 2. we probably saw every type of terrain imaginable on our way there. We went through forests, canyons, rivers, mountains, oases, the whole nine yards. We had bathroom breaks literally in the middle of nowhere where we just had to pop a squat and move on, but i must say it was quite liberating. Who needs the necessities of bathrooms anyway? It was an adventure unlike any other.

On our way to the "oasis" where we stopped for lunch we passed thick forests, dry plains, and Utah canyon lookalikes. Our lunch consisted of a buffet of roasted chicken, carrots, potatoes, a pepper and tomato sautee, white rice and the moroccan pita type bread. There were oranges for dessert, so, of course, Ray, Simone, and I grabbed around 3 purses-worth (filled 3 bags with as many oranges as we could fit without our purses breaking). Listen, these oranges are incredible. And we were heading to the desert, we didn't know the next time we'd eat (obviously that was the only thing on my mind).

The oasis stop

As we got closer to where we would be entering the Sahara to find our tents, we noticed a huge cloud getting bigger in the distance. What Simone initially said looked like a sandstorm did in fact end up being just like that. So by the time we got to our 4x4s, we had to wait at least an hour because they couldn't drive us during the storm. We ended up stopping at a fossil store and witnessed how they cut and find the fossils in the rocks. Because the Sahara used to be an ocean, there were fish and crustacean fossils from 500 MILLION years ago! I snagged some rocks/fossils off the ground because I didn't feel like paying any money for the big ones (they were just going keep stepping on them anyway).

Once the sandstorm was over (and we unfortunately missed the sunset) we took the 4x4s for a little over an hour. We were told by a friend who did this trip last spring to tell the Berbers to drive fast, but we soon realized that this wasn't as fun as it sounded. The dunes were extra bumpy from the storm and people were quickly getting nauseous. Our driver's name was Rashid, a nomad Berber who could (of course) speak 5 different languages). If anyone is thinking of traveling to Morocco, I have his new business card- he started his own traveling business for Sahara excursions and even created his own webpage- Yela! As he told us all this I kept falling between being creeped out (per usual) and thinking he was genuinely nice. My feelings sided with paranoid when he wanted to pick us up in the morning and bring us to his village. Granted, he wanted us to have some tea or something harmless but in my paranoid mind, foreign men are always out to get us American girls. However, I will admit the Berbers were probably the most friendly people we've met so far, they just constantly hassle you as well.
By the time we got to our tents we were starving and tired. We ate dinner buffet in our main lounge tent  (couscous, etc again) and headed to our "rooms", individual tents that had 5 mattresses. We added on the layers because after the sun had set it got reeeaallly cold.

At one point in the middle of the night, I woke up to a "HOLY S__T IT'S SO SCARY!" which was Anna trying to leave the tent to take a tinkle. As soon as I heard her I opened my eyes and started to panic. My eyes were open but there was no difference between being open and being closed- it was absolutely pitch black. Never in my life have I experienced such a darkness as that night. We had no lights (they turned them off from a main generator at a certain point) and even though i'm sure the moon was out somewhere, our tents were made of a thick (probably camel hair) material that didn't let any light in. At one point i checked to see if i had gone blind overnight, waving my hand in front of my face and seeing absolutely nothing different. I started panicking and thinking about scorpions and weird bugs being in my mattress with me and crawling into my easily-nestable hair. I snuggled with Rachel and tried to remember how Rashid said there were no dangerous animals in the Sahara ("Well, there are dangerous animals but they usually stay away from the tents"- oh.).
In the morning we were supposed to be woken up by the Berbers so that we could see the sunrise but we ended up just hearing other people talking. I ran outside to see if we had missed it but it was just still rising. This was our first time truly seeing how we were staying in the middle of the Sahara desert. The scenery was breathtaking.

Home sweet home

The 4x4s

After breakfast (hard boiled eggs, crepe like pancakes with orange marmalade and really tasty, chocolatey coffee) Ray and I headed into the dunes (attempting) to do some yoga. We even tried to meditate but what i really think we did was just relax and take in such an amazing silence.

We soon headed back to get dressed and ready to RIDE SOME CAMELS! Hello check off the bucketlist!!!! (By the way out of the 600 pictures i took on this trip, at least 150 were either of camels or donkeys). I was more giddy to see camels in person than my sister is when Dad announces stuffed artichokes for dinner (it's incredibly giddy).
Next thing you know we were up and on them, holding on as they awkwardly got up from sitting down on all 4 legs (pretty sure they are double-jointed, tripled-kneed and weirdly-legged attributed). Thinking in my usual Broadway-staged mind, this would be the perfect scene to sing "A Whole New World" from Aladdin- all we had to do was change the words a little: Shining, shimmering, splendid. Over, sideways and under on a magic CAMEL RIDEEEEEE. (Insert camel in place of carpet). We rode the camels for a while until we ended up at a huge, mountainous dune where we got off camels and started climbing. It was a fantastic view from the top. Ray and I could've stayed up there all day but the Berbers insisted we had to finish our camel ride into the nearby village. There we stopped at a hotel (where our spoiled little directors stayed) and got to dip our feet in the surprisingly cold pool. It was a perfect combination- cold feet, sunbaked face and a blindingly white torso that needed some sun exposure.

Lil Baby Berbs

Sandstorm

Once we finally got back to our tents, the day was at it's peak heat- even the sand was too hot for our bare feet. We wandered off to be left alone from the Berber salesmen that seemed to hang around our main station and laid on towels, soaking it all in. However, if we weren't dodging Berbs, we were avoiding giant black beetles (harmless but too big and always too close for comfort).

Mom + Dad (my #1 blog fans) I have more to write but I do still go to class here so gimme a day or two before you email me saying I haven't updated the blog :)

A Whole New World

So after waking up at 3am, taking a 3 hour bus, 2 hour ferry and 7 hour bus again, we finally made it to MOROCCO. Our first stop in Africa was in Fes, Morocco where the first time on this trip, and maybe even my life, I had severe culture shock. It's just plain uncomfortable to be a woman in that city. The men don't just ogle you like they do in Spain, they stare at you with eyes that drive right through you. Almost all the women wear headscarves and the men have identical outfits of black leather jackets and jeans. 

After we got to the hotel we wanted to explore as usual so we took a walk around, looking for some type of cafe where we could sit and have some Moroccan tea. We soon realized every cafe was completely filled with these creepy, wide-eyed staring men. So we quickly U-turned around and went back to the hotel where we sat in the comfy couches of the lobby and enjoyed some tasty mint tea with fresh whole mint leaves! 

Then we had a dinner buffet at the hotel (which was so nice because we were honestly too creeped out to wander into the wilderness again). The food reminded me of when my Dad and I go out for Indian buffet but this food was comparably subpar. I filled my plate with a little taste of everything- fish, lentils, some yellowish veg soup, stringed beets, cucumber salad, grilled eggplant, carrot salad and actual WHEAT rolls. 

Day 2: The Medina

Today we went to the Medina and I really felt like I was finally in Morocco. It was a labyrinth of small, narrow streets with donkeys being the main mode of transportation/shipping. The Medina in Fes is the largest urban area without cars in the world, made up of over 9600 streets. We were led by our Berber guides (which we were told time and time again to ALWAYS stay with or else we would get lost and probably never leave the medina/morocco again because it is such a huge maze) to the typical stores. 

[One of the guides was known as Uncle Joe and he spoke Arabic, Berber, Spanish, English and French fluently. He had recently visited the US and just so happened to stay in Ray's hometown of Alexandria, VA. He enjoys Bluegrass and long walks on the Sahara]. 

Dates for days

Our first stop was the leather dying section but it was too expensive for me (meaning the Berbs wouldn't haggle to my satisfaction). Next was the spice store where I loaded up on some garam masala, some picante spices and the infamous Moroccan oil for your hair. We also stopped at a carpet store where the smallest carpets still cost around 800 euros. Granted, they were handmade and absolutely gorgeous but as a college student with a constant increasing debt, a constant decreasing income and a rented apartment, I think an 800 euro rug is semi-unnecessary. It just seemed like a strange place for the Berbers to take us but in retrospect I'm glad we saw it. Now I'll know exactly where to tell the hubby we can go for rug shopping- 12 Berber St, Medina, Fes, Morocco. In truth I will never be able to find wherever we were again. 

We had lunch at a typical Moroccan restaurant within the medina. We started off with a huge assortment of tapas (served with the usual bread of the country- it's almost like a fluffier pita). The second course was a huge plate of couscous, chicken, carrots, zucchini and the same weird potato-like yellow vegetable we had had earlier in a soup. For dessert there was oranges, bananas and strawberries (which became a game to eat because we didn't want any of the fruits touching the strawbs - we're not supposed to eat the fruits without peels if we want to keep our stomachs ...regular). There were also some delicious coconut cookies and mint tea with dessert. 

Day 3: Off to the Sahara