Semana Santa [10 days of European adventure]

So sorry it has taken me so long to write this blog post about semana santa. Semana santa was not so relaxing so after coming back to Granada I needed to digest and relax for a little while before writing. For semana santa, which was 10 days long, I traveled to Germany, the Netherlands, and Scotland. It was such a great trip full of tons of traveling, sightseeing and meeting new people. This may or may not be a super long post. Feel free not to read the whole thing.

Germany.
On Friday March 30th, I took a city bus full of people to the bus station in order to head to the airport in Malaga to fly to Germany. I was full of nerves because I had never traveled by myself before. After what seemed like a long bus ride to Malaga we made it to the airport and from there it was another waiting game. The gate for our flight was not called until 10 minutes before. My travel partner Alicia and I were both a nervous wreck. But we made it on the plan and prepared for our 2 hour flight. We finally began to decend and all I could see was farm land. We got off the plane and the smell of cow hit me. We arrived at Dusseldorf Weeze airport, which to my surprise is not actually in Dusseldorf, but about an hour away from the city. At this point I tried to stay calm and figure out how we were going to get to the city. We asked the information desk and the German woman wasn't very helpful. She told us to take the bus to the train station, but when we walked out to the buses there were none to be see and lone behold all the information was written in German. So we headed toward the door of the aiport to talk to someone else when we run into someone from my program.  He just happened to be spending his break in Dusseldorf with an old foreign exchange student. I asked the foreign exchange student if he knew where Gruiten was and by some miracle it was his village, which we found out was really small. He offered to drive us to our destination.  We hopped in the car with him, and sped down the autobahn toward the family's house where we were staying. The house of the family was pretty far into the woods, but was so peaceful. The family was absolutely amazing. Feeding us amazing food like German sausage and potatos, chocolate, ice cream and so much more.  They even had the fuzziest cat I have ever seen.  The cat is the son of the Friskies cat, so he is pretty much famous too.

On our first full day in Germany we visited the Neanderthal Museum, which was supposed to be about an hour walk away, but turned out to be 2 hours with us getting turned around in the woods. It was a great walk despite all the wind and sprinkling. The next day we headed to Cologne.  As we were at the train station buying our tickets these two German men saw that we had bought the wrong ticket and offered to take us to Cologne on their ticket. So we headed to Cologne with these men who turned out to be super nice. They showed us a little bit of Cologne before they had to head to their meeting. Walking across the bridge into part of Cologne we saw this really cool display of engagement locks. People who are engaged write their names and the date and put a lock on the bridge. It is so sweet!  While in Cologne we visited the Dome where we climbed up 533 steps to the top. It was such a rush being up that high.  We also went to the chocolate museum where we sampled some Lindt chocolate and got to see how it was made.  I also disovered that there are Roman ruins pretty much everywhere. The next day we headed to Dusseldorf where we saw lots and lots of shops. There wasn't too much to do there besides shopping. Here are some pictures from Germany!

 The Dome

The next day we took a train to Amsterdam. Holland turned out to be nothing like the Holland, Michigan that I know. The only thing in common is the tulips, but there ends the similarities. In Amsterdam I saw things I thought I would never such as the red light district (such a sad sight). While in Amsterdam for our short time we tried to pack as much in as we could. We visited the Anne Frank house, which was such a blessing to see and to experience. We also visited the Tulip Museum (I assume now that it was meant for people on drugs). I also went on a canal ride and saw a lot of the city. We visited the Van Gogh Museum and the Marijuana Museum (more informative than you would think). The 2 days that we were there were absolutely packed. Here are some pics!

 Anne Frank House

After just two days in Amsterdam we headed to the airport once again to go to Edinburgh, Scotland. We arrived pretty late at night there and went straight to bed after a long day of travel. The next day we woke up and were ready to explore the city.  The day provided for beautiful sunny weather (unusual for Scotland) so we decided that it was the perfect day to climb up to Arthur's seat. It was such an amazing view. Along the way we got to see the Queen's castle where she stays when she visits Scotland. The view from the top was breathtaking and a bit windy. On the way back down we decided to take the path less traveled, which we will just say was interesting.  That night even though we were tuckered out, we decided to go on the free pubcrawl with our hostel.  During the pubcrawl I met the crocodile hunter, a 33 year old man from Australia who decided to creep on me. I was officially creeped out. The following day we went to the Craigmillar castle and had fun weaving our way through the rooms. Then after that we walked through the National Museum of Scotland. The museum was huge and had so much stuff in it. You would have to spend days in there to see everything. It was crazy! That night we went on a free Potter trail tour in which we got to see the places where J.K. Rowling wrote the Harry Potter books and where she found her inspiration. Our tour guide was dressed in robes and even handed out wands. It was pretty awesome! The next day we took a day trip through the highlands to Loch Ness.  It was a lot of riding in the bus, but was worht the views that we were able to see! Too bad I didn't get to see Nessie though.  The following day was the day we had to leave and it was Easter. I had a chocolate bunny and a cadburry egg to celebrate then we hit the double decker bus to the airport and then headed on our way back home to Spain. Here are some pics!

 Arthur's seat

 Craigmillar Castle

 Tour guide for Potter Trail tour

 Haymish the highland coo

 Loch Ness

 Scottish Monument

Happy Easter!!

Overall the trip was so great. Full of planes, trains, and buses. Three countries in 10 days was a lot to handle, but I am just so blessed to have had the oportunity to travel to these places.

Call Me Maybe

So I decided to do two blog posts since it has been a long time since I have written and I think that writing down both Morocco and the other days in one blog is way too much. So lucky for my readers here is another blog post and I promise this one will be shorter.

So after a wonderful week in Morocco I returned to classes on Wednesday. I was lucky because we only had two days of classes before the weekend. On thursday I had a test in my language class and then I took a field trip with my favorite professor, Ana, to the Alhambra.  It was such a fun field trip because we got special VIP passes and we got to go in parts of the Alhambra that only special groups get to go into. We got to enter the Queen's dressing room and we got locked in the tower of the captive princesses. So I guess that makes me a princess now. lol.

The weather has been beautiful here. Perfect for eating ice cream...especially at Los Italianos, my new favorite. It is also perfect for going to a great restaraunt called the Mirador that overlooks the Alhambra to celebrate my friends birthday. And also, a perfect time to go hiking in the Los Cahorros. Hiking through the mountains was breathtaking and again waking up early was well worth it.

Well, this week brings only 3 days of classes. There is a strike tomorrow in the entire country of Spain so I do not have class. Then friday I am off to Germany for Semana Santa. Cannot wait to share my adventures from my first travel experience in Europe!!!

Ps. Thank you to everyone who put stuff in my care package. I feel so loved and blessed to have such great family and friends. Miss everyone!!

I bless the rains down in Africa...

I WENT TO AFRICA!!

Morocco was one of the greatest experiences of my life and I am so glad that I had an opportunity to go. My time in Africa was packed with so many things, but not the usually touristy things that you may be thinking of. So I guess I will just break down my time in Morocco day by day since there is so much to the trip.

So on Friday, March 16th I woke up bright and early in the morning and was all ready, with my backpacked packed, to head to the bus. I was so nervous for what the trip would bring, yet so excited. Once on the bus we headed to the line of Gibraltar where we would be staying in a hotel for the night.  Upon arriving there we ate lunch on the rocks alongside the beach and then headed to Gibraltar. It was the strangest experience just walking across the border into another country which was filled with residents speaking Spanglish. I was confused the whole time which language I should be speaking. Gibraltar was fabulous. For those of you who do not know, Gibraltar is a colony of Britain that is in Spain. While there our group took a guided tour in a van with a man named Pepe. He told us all about the history of Gibraltar. He was quite the jokester, saying that on your left is the American embassy (McDonald's). It was so funny. On the tour we visited some caves and we got to hang around with some monkeys. Later in the day after drinking a delicious smoothie we head up a path leading to the top of the rock of Gibraltar. It was a hot and sweaty walk, but well worth it after seeing the sunset over the ocean. Beautiful. That night we ate at a restaraunt that had fish and chips and all kinds of British cuisine, which was much appreciated after the long hike.

Saturday. Once again we hopped on the bus and headed to Tarifa, an area in Spain where there is a port to cross to Africa. The stretch between Spain in Gibraltar is a very short distance. As a result of the short distance, many Africans try to swim across to Spain in order to have a better life. Many of them die trying.  On the ferry I went to sail across the Straits to Africa (how crazy!). Once finally in Tangier, Morocco after an hour ferry ride we headed to DARNA, which is a women's center where they teach women skills like sewing, reading and writing so that they can get jobs. It was so cool because we were able to talk to some Moroccan students about life in Morocco and about their perceptions of Americans.  After eating lunch with the students we headed to Asilah.  Along the way, to my surprise, we stopped on the side of the road. Our leader had said we were not going to ride camels, but she tricked us. I got to live one of my dreams and ride a camel along the beach. It was so cool!!! I was so excited!! After that little stop, we headed into the city of Asilah. We walked through the street filled with blue and were able to see some really cool artwork. Next we headed on our 3 hour drive to Rabat. After being on the bus for what seemed like forever we made it to Rabat. In Rabat, we met up with our homestay families. My two friends and I headed with our host mother, who spoke only Arabic, and host sister to our home. There were amazed to find that we were going to be staying in a palace like home. The house had three floors and was so spacious. We ate a great meal with our host family and we even got to meet some of the cousins. One of whom, was only 11 and spoke Arabic, French, and English!!

 Tangier

 Asilah

Sunday. We ate an early breakfast with our family and then headed to our van again. Then we went to an NGO in Sale, which was just across the river. There we got to talk again with some Moroccan students, who were so intelligent and knew so much about what was happening all across the world. We also were able to see a shanty town that hold about 50,000 inhabitants. The poor town was so close to the rich homes. The contrast was shocking. On our way back to the NGO, there was a group of men who apparently really excited for a soccer game. They came up to our van and started banging on the windows with their flag sticks and hands. It was a little frightening.  Next we headed to visit the Roman ruins and the Mausoleum of King Mohammed V.  In the ruins there were so many storks flying around.  In the Mausoleum there were some really cool looking guards with funny looking uniforms. Finally after walking around a lot we sat down with our families to eat lunch. Then we met up with some more Moroccan students who took us on a tour of Rabat. We got to see the ocean and the other sights. The boys we walked with were so much like us, yet so different. It was really cool to learn about them and their culture. After this we regrouped and gather all the stuff we needed to go to the Hammam. The Hammam is an arabian bath, a public bath. It was such an enlightening experience. The women in the bath were so comfortable with their bodies. There was no shame. It made me feel good to just let go and be vulnerable. Then after getting really clean in the bath we went to a house and got henna. The woman who did our henna worked really quick, but did an amazing job.

 Guards at the Mausoleum

 Roman ruins

Henna!
Monday. This day we packed up all our stuff and said goodbye to our homestay families. I was really sad after having such a great time with my little host sister Kenza who was turning 5 that day and with our two maid friends who covered us in perfume and took pictures with us. But it was time to head to a village in the Rif mountains. After a long and twisty turny ride we finally made it to the village. We were able to talk to a family with whom we discussed politics, ate couscous, and took a walk to a beautiful overlook. Afterwards we drove to Chefchaouen.  The blue city. There we went shopping, which was basically bargaining. We ate dinner at a place called Casa Alladin. And we slept in a hostal.

 Rif Mountains

Tuesday. We woke up early this morning and went on a hike up to the Spanish mosque. The view from the mosque was breathtaking. You could see the entire city and the mountains beyond. It was well worth waking up early and hiking through the rocks. After the hike we ate a delicious breakfast and then got on the bus once again and headed to Ceuta where the border between the Spanish colongy and Morocco is. Crossing the border in Cueta was another experience. There were so many people trying to cross the border. People were pushing through to get their passports checked. Once we made it through that mess we walked through no man's land and made it into the Spanish colony of Algeciras. In Algeciras we had to grab a taxi. We used our offensive techniques to snag a taxi from all the people who were trying to get one. We drove to the port and got on the ferry and headed back to Spain once again.

 Chefchaouen

There was so much more to this trip that I cannot even describe. I learned so much. Some things that I learned include, but are not limited to...
1. I am horrible at bargaining in Spanish and in English
2. I am selfish. I know nothing about other cultures and news around the world.
3. I love dates, figs, and almonds.
4. I need to learn more languages, and put more effort in trying to speak spanish.
5. I need to step out of my little bubble and try to experience more, because I am so lucky to have all of these opportunities.
6. I know a few words in Arabic now...shukran (thank you), shabet (full), kooli (eat)

Spring has sprung and it is keeping me on my toes

Spring is on its way here in Spain. I am really loving the weather. Sixty degrees and sunny. It is a nice change compared to enduring the cold weather that Michigan brings. I cannot wait for it to get even warmer here. So along with spring, the month of March has brought with it so many cool outings and activities, and unfortunately also projects in tests (I guess I did come to Spain to study, not just lay around the whole time).

This past week I had my first test, in my Lorca and Andalusian Literature class, and I had to turn in several project proposals. Actually doing homework has been to tough to get back into because I had such a long break, but hopefully it will all come back to me how to to homework and study. 

On Wednesday, I had my second and final spanish cooking class. We learned how to make lentil soup and we made this really tasty apple tart. It was so much fun because it was actually my turn to cook. I helped cut up the apples and put them on the tart. It was such a simple recipe. I definately want to make ti when I return home. 

Thursday was an especially awesome day. In the morning I had my orientation for Morocco. We got our packing list and helpful hints on what to expect while we are there. The orientation got me really excited to go. I cannot believe that I will be in Africa this upcoming weekend!! What a life!! Also on Thursday, my art and architecture class got a brief lesson on caligraphy. I learned out to write my name in Arabic during the session. It was sooo cool!!! Also that night I went out with some girls from my neighborhood and we had a game night!! We went for tapas first and then we went to this cool place that had all kinds of games like Tabu, Trivial Pursuit, and Uno. It was such a relaxing and fun evening.

My name in Arabic!!!

On Friday I took a field trip with my class to Malaga. We went to two museums, including the Pablo Picasso museum. Picasso was born in Malaga and live there for some of his life. Antonio Banderas is also another famous person who is from Malaga. In the Picasso museum we got to do a workshop where we scratched a design into a CD and then covered it with ink and the pressed the design into paper. I am so lucky to have an opportunity to do such hands on things. After we finished up the workshop some of us headed to the beach to eat lunch. Although it was freezing, it was still really nice to sit by the sea and relax for a little while.

 My CD design.

Yesterday, Saturday was yet another packed day. Around 5pm I headed to a Granada basketball game with my neighborhood group. It was so fun!! We got free strawberry milk and I got popcorn and we sat and watched the game.  Even though Spain is not the best at basketball and our team lost, it was still a fun outing. Later on after the game I went out with my friends to my first ever discoteca. We danced into all hours of the night. It was such an interesting experience experiencing the Spanish youth culture.

 Basketball Game!

Next week I have two exams and a project proposal due and I leave for Morocco on Thursday!! Another busy week. And soon it will be Semana Santa, for which I have finally finalized my plans. I will be heading to Germany, Amsterdam, and Scotland!! I am so excited for all there is to come!!!

The Beginning of March Madness

The month of March has begun. How did it get to be March already, I have no clue.  To start off I guess I will talk about the end of February....

So the Sunday after my last post I went to my first ever Spanish church service. The church, which is one of the very few evangelical churches within in Spain, is really close to my house. The church does not look like a normal church, but a store front. Upon arriving, we attended a bible study for the youth first. It was a really great study that talked about growing in Christ. At the end of the bible study the teacher came up to me and my friends and said that God has brought us here to Spain for a purpose. It was really encouraging. After the bible study, was the actual church service. It was so cool because even though we sang in Spanish I knew the songs. We sang a lot of songs that I normally sing at Hope and at Radiant. I was so excited to be singing something familiar, even though it was in Spanish. I learned from the service that you can worship in any lenguage and God brings everyone together despite our differences. What a great first experience it was!

On Tuesday we did not have class because it was a Spanish holiday, well an Andalusian holiday. The day where Andalusia gained its independence. It was nice to have a break. I spent the entire day in the sun. Right when the day started I headed to the my favorite park (Parque de Garcia Lorca).  It is absolutely beautiful there. The weather was perfect. It has started to get into the upper 60s here. I decided to try to go for a run in the park, but that didn't happen. I ran for about 10 minutes and then found my self sitting on a park bench watching people around me and basking in the sun.  In the park I just feel a sense of peace flowing through me.

Parque de Federico Garcia Lorca

On Wednesday, I had my first ever Spanish cooking class. It was so fun!! The class got split up into two groups and each group cooked one of our class days. I am cooking next week, but it was still fun to watch other people cook and then I got to eat their food. What a deal!! The class made Spanish tortilla, which consists of eggs and potato. It is made kind of like a quiche or omelette. It tastes really good! And they also made magdalenas, which are a muffin type thing that have lemon in them. They were delicious. I even brought one home to share with my host mom and she insisted that we make them.

On Friday, we had our IES trip to Cordoba. It was a very early morning beginning at 6am, but it was worth it. The first places we stopped at was the Madinat Al-Zahra. This is the so called "lost city" or "lost paradise" of the Umayyad Dynasty (one of the first Muslim rulers in Spain.) The city was built when the one of the Umayyads became a caliphate (leader).  The city represents power and authority. After the Umayyad Dynasty fell, the city was taken apart and then it became covered with dirt since it is built on a hill. An archaeologist discovered the city and from that point on work has been done to uncover it.  It was so cool to see the ruins from this lost city.

The archaeologist have found pieces of the city that they must number and try to fit together.

After seeing the ruins of the city, we headed into the center of Cordoba to see the mezquita (mosque). The mezquita of Cordoba actually belongs to the Church now. The mosque is still standing, but right in the center the Christians built a church.  It is one of the craziest things I have ever seen. When you walk into the mosque you see what a normal mosque would look like with tons of arches.  The mihrab is still even standing. Then you walk to the center of the building and all of a sudden there is a cathedral. I cannot wrap my head around it. It was honestly one the strangest things I have ever seen. It was so cool to see though. It is the only mosque/cathedral in the entire world.

 The Mihrab

This tower contains a minaret (tower for calling prayer) from the original mosque.

On Saturday, I went to two houses in which Federico Garcia Lorca lived. It is so interesting to learn about this author and to see how important he is to Granada.

As I said in the beginning, March is going to be a crazy month. Next weekend I have a trip to Malaga for my watercolor workshop class and I have another trip for my Lorca class. And then the next weekend I am off to Morocco. Then after that comes Semana Santa. Here comes the madness!!