Morocco!

Morocco!

Yep, I went to Africa for a weekend. 

This excursion was probably one of my favorite memories while in Spain. It was amazing! Not only did I learn a lot, but I also had a lot of fun. It brought me a lot of appreciation for a completely different culture. Most of Europe is somewhat like American culture; as in, we can see similarities. But, the culture in Morocco is so different from our own, that some may think it is scary. It is an Islamic land, and some of the people are quite devout. It is a very peaceful area, at least the parts I went to. Warning: some of my comments might be controversial so do not get offended. However, talking about such things, the things that no one else wants to, has always been a hobby of mine. Let’s face it: America is guilty of racial profiling. In airports, in everyday life, we all do it. What I learned though, and most of what I already thought, is that in doing an action of that, one portrays the upmost of ignorance. What people do not understand is that sometimes a religion is a race; it is who these people are. It is their culture, their way of life, and defines them as a group. Like Catholicism in most of Europe, especially in Spain, it is simply what they call themselves. They may not go to church, but they are Catholic. They might not even believe what they are supposed to, but they still call themselves Catholic. To some, it means a devotion to religion. To others, it is the country’s history, and to others still it means celebrating all of the holidays. I guess in general, it means different things to different people. The same is true in Morocco, as well as other Islamic countries. Some people are devout, some are not. However, they all call themselves Muslims. Most of the women, as well as men, in the parts I visited did observe the traditional dress. I noticed that the younger crowd was a little bit more liberal with this, as in they only wore the hijab (the head covering). So, in some ways it is similar to how some call themselves “white”, even more specific, Christians. We know that there are MANY different sects of Christianity; the same is true of the Islamic religion. So, how would you like to be stopped in an airport because you were white, or they thought you were a Christian? In fact, maybe they thought all Christians were the same, and they had only knowledge of such sects such as the people of Westboro Baptist Church. For my Christian friends, I am sure you do not want to be considered under the same umbrella as those people. Therefore, why in the world do we all assume that every person that even looks Islamic is the same. It is an ignorant, uneducated, and a just mean assumption to make. It makes me very heated just thinking about that. Also, to go on another topic that is controversial: and that is the men. While I was there, the men did stare at me. This is a fear that some women have, and I can tell you first hand that it is true. Yes, you heard me right. Well, I do not blame them.

Yes, you did just read that sentence correctly. However, let’s take a step back and understand why this statement is true. These men, from a young age on, have only ever seen one type of woman, and that is of one that is fully clothed. By fully clothed I mean that they probably only ever saw the skin of their hands and face. That was normal to them, completely normal and the only way  they ever saw women. When they grow up, of course they see other women of different cultures and religions. However, the way they were brought up was that they never saw skin. So, when a young lady, such as myself, walks by with clothing that reveals skin (clothing considered modest for American standards, aka long skirt, shirt that covers shoulders, etc) of course they are going to stare. Growing up, they never saw this. It is odd to them. This is exactly the same as if I was just chillin in Florence and saw a man wearing a speedo just strollin down the street. Of course I would stare! Forget the fact that he might be good looking, but our eyes are simply drawn to foreign things, especially if someone is half naked. That is the equivalent of them seeing us. So, stop thinking how disgusting that is because you know you would totally stare too.  

In general, what I observed about the Muslim religion was that they were a very respectful people. They devote everything they do to their god. Their food, dress, and every day routines are all centered on their religion. In turn, they are very calmed, collected, and also very nice. The mosques are also very different from the religious centers in Europe. 

This is out guide going inside 

The mosque from the door opening. 

Everything is very specific, and nothing is of lavish expense. Since I am not Muslim, I was not allowed inside the mosque (which I think totally makes sense, especially since there are always people inside doing their prayers). But, I did see a little inside, as well as the outside. The outside might look like a regular building, or at least not look like a cathedral. However, the inside is very different. It is all very specific to accommodate the prayers that they do, and also in adoration to their god. Shoes of course must be removed, as washing ones feet is part of the collection of actions to pray. I found it very humbling, as they took so much time, and multiple times a day, to complete their prayers. Likewise, their eating is also in adoration to their god. All the meat is prepared in a certain way, as well as alcohol is never consumed. So, all our meals fit that restriction.

Speaking of food, I ate some of the most delicious food of my entire life. Seriously, every meal was like a five course heaven.

Inside the hotel, where we had dinner and breakfast everyday. 

Moroccan vegetable soup. 

Some meat on a stick, then couscous with medley including chicken. (This was amazing)

Desert, then tea

 To Hailey, I had real couscous. You should be so proud. I mean the real stuff; after all it doesn’t get better than eating couscous in Morocco. That’s like eating pasta in Italy. Anyways, I really liked it. I mean it was super delicious. We always had Moroccan soup before the meal, and the delicious Moroccan tea was always at the end of every meal. It was super good. It was sweet and oh so delicious.

Beautiful place were that meal was served (lunch in Tetuan) 

Our guides were awesome in each city. We visited Tanger, Tetuan, and Chef Chaouen. My favorite was Chef Chaouen. It was a city in blue.

I’m getting ahead of myself; I will save Chef Chaouen for last.

In each city, we visited the “medina” which normally was the oldest part of the town and was like an oversized market. It was super cool and nothing like I had ever seen before.

 I saw a chicken be decapitated right before my very eyes just strolling through the medina in Tetuan. It was also huge, and maze-like so I was very glad our guide new everything. It was super neat to visit these places, as I would never have done that on my own. Tetuan was our guides hometown and so he knew everybody and everything. That was cool, too though because I knew everything he was telling us about this place and how things really worked was accurate. He told at the beginning of the tour that he had three wives; he seemed serious so we all believed him. Even though we thought this was odd, we tried to be understanding as to not offend him. He told us at the end that this was a lie, but he wanted us to think it was true because polygamy is really a thing in his culture. Point made, well done dude. Anyways, he was super fun and his English was pretty good. He knew so many languages; I was super impressed. He could speak Arabic (obviously), as well as Spanish, French, English, and about two other ones that I can’t remember. He was super talented. We went back and forth between Spanish and English the whole time. At times, I could honestly understand his Spanish better than his English.

This is in Tanger, where the Atlantic meats the Mediterranean. 

On Sunday, we visited my new favorite place in the whole world: Chef Chaouen. It is literally the most beautiful little town I have ever seen. When I said the city was blue, I mean every building, the street, etc was some shade of white and blue. It looked like a small paradise. It was wedged between mountains and the view was spectacular. It was peaceful, beautiful, and the people were very friendly. If you cannot tell, I adored this place. It’s funny, because all the blue has a purpose. The town is blue, because the blue and white apparently repels the mosquitos, as well as other bugs. I didn’t notice, but when our guide told us that it definitely made sense. In the other cities, bugs were everywhere, as the meat, food, etc is all in the open and sanitary habits are not practiced. However, the color of this city was made to extract that problem altogether. Makes me want to paint my future kitchen that color, not to mention it is so beautiful.

I made new friends on this trip and we had the best conversations. They were super cool and had awesome life stories. As a whole, I have met so many cool and awesome people while away. I just love meeting new people.

Cool new friends 

I adored Morocco. I learned a lot about a culture completely foreign to my own, bought some really cool things, met some awesome people, and got fat from some of the most delicious food ever. It was an amazing trip. Oh, I also rode a camel too. 

We became besties. 

Inside the Classroom

Well, my time is running down and I have been trying to cram as much fun in as possible. It has been such a blast. Again, as usual, this post encompasses many days of entries. 

School has been super great, as well as very difficult. Ever since they put me in the new, higher level, things in general are just harder. However, challenging is good. I also love my classmates. We really represent a global diversity. We have been doing all kinds of practice with different past tenses. I really just love our random converations about current events the best. Of course my vocabulary is expanding, but I am also learning lots about different phrases to use for different activities. Again, everything is different in Spain. I mean, it is still Spanish and all, but so many things are different. I love it though. I love learning, and getting to really use it, the real dialect. Grammar is important and all, but I just like conversation. Plus, I really think that is so much of a faster way to learn the language than to spend years in a classroom with basically no outside practice. Plus, of course, this is way more fun. 

We learned a new tense, the preterite imperfect. I love this tense. It is so much easier than all of the other tenses we have learned so far. Plus, it sounds cool, and I think it is easier to pronounce in general. Also, unlike every other verb tense, there are only 3 irregulars. Miraculous!!! But really. Also, i feel as if the times when you are supposed to use it are so much easier (you know without the if ands or buts). I guess I just love this tense. 

Estar calvo- to be bald. Good thing this doesn't run in my family. 

Also, I learned the difference between saying an old friend and an old friend. 

Viejo amigo- an old friend, as in you have known them for a long time. 

Amigo viejo- an old friend, as in they are old, like in years

I feel as if this small difference is super important, kind of like in our sentences when we leave out commas. 

I've learned where to put things in a sentence, and how direct and indirect "complements" work. For example, when using indirect, the sex of the word doesn't matter, but with direct it does. This is all still very confusing to me, but I suppose I did learn something. We have also done a lot of review with reflexive verbs, but I really feel as if that is one of the easiest thing to master. However, then there is also adding in those "complementos", that's what they call them. 

I also learned a new comparitive phrase, using "tanto como" to describe equal things, instead of like " mas que" and "menos que". 

We discussed the current economical condition of Spain. Aka, everyone in the U.S. needs to stop complaining. In all of Spain in general, the desempleo (unemployment) rate is about 25%. For youth, it is even worse. There are many people leaving to find work elsewhere. I wonder if all of the tourism in the summer helps, because I feel like (especially as the summer continues) that there just influxes more and more tourists. 

I know this sounds wierd, but I really don't even feel like a tourist anymore. I really feel like I live here, which is among many of reasons to which I do not want to leave. 

La Feria

En mi escuela, los estudiantes y yo aprendemos muchos vocabulario específico de España. 

Por ejemplo, 

in Spain: 

el ordenador: computer 

el móvil: cell phone 

la fotocopiadora: copier 

but in Latin America: 

la computadora 

el celular 

la copiadora 

These are super simple words, but it just gives an example of some of the major differences between spanish spoken in the United States and Latin America and spanish spoken here in Spain. A huge difference that obviously everyone knows is that Spain uses vosotros. In Granada specifically they also have a very strong accent and almost speak with a lisp. 

I also learned some very interesting and maybe somewhat helpful things today in class regarding health, of the public kind. 

Firstly, there is no "911" number. There are separate numbers you call depending on the emergency. 

116- general 

061- emergencies having to do with the heart (por ejemplo: el ataque cardiaco)

016- something with mujeres (I didn't understand this one but I'm assuming it has to do with like giving birth.) 

I thought that was very odd. I think it's organized, but you really have to think and in a crisis most people are panicked enough. 

We also got in a heated conversation about healthcare. The only word that any of the other international students knew about anything regarding our health care was "Obamacare". It was so hard, especially being a nursing major and this topic heavily future effecting me, to describe what I wanted to say in Spanish. Many words to describe the way out healthcare works and the changes it is going through go way beyond my simple vocabulary. I tried, but failed. Needless to say (and not to my fault, if anything I tried educating them) other people outside of the US have a very altered view of the reality of our healthcare system. Although with everything going on, many Americans don't know what exactly our healthcare is. Anyways, that was a very exhausting conversation to have. I did learn more about Spain's healthcare, as well as some other European countries. It seems to me that most people don't use the hospital, or just any healthcare services. I'm not really sure how everything works, but I did get good perception of the people. The people think it's good because it covers lots of people but they know the quality sucks. However, they have never known anything better (seen the newest technology), so it doesn't really matter. I plan to research and learn more about how everything works. 

But I have noticed that in general, people are just healthier. So, maybe they don't need it as much. I don't know. 

I really need to learn medical terms in Spanish though. I feel as though that would be very helpful. 

Speaking of helpful, I did learn some phrases that could possibly help me with my profession, like in an emergency or something like that. I can now ask someone of they need help, ask for help myself, and ask how I can help someone. There are different words to exemplify urgency. 

Por ejemplo: 

¿Cómo puedo ayudarte? 

This is a simple phrase to ask how you can help someone, but I wonder what the formal frases are to which I would need to use, such as in a CPR situation. 

Although, I don't see their legal system as being as anal. By this I mean, someone wouldn't sew someone for not saying the right thing, or for saving them, etc. However, from what I have received about their legal system, when you break a law it's serious business. However, to get caught breaking laws or such things, is very hard. The policia seem very nice and helpful. They are nice and to be honest : super hot. Like, they are all in tip top shape, which I think is awesome. They mean serious business.

I'm really getting used to everything here. 

I love it, and I love learning new things everyday. 

Another fun activity/day to mention is the fair. Okay, so I have not been to the fair since like 6th grade. Actually, I hate the fair. You know, crappy rides that are portable, cotton candy, turkey legs, it's all there. 

However, the fair (la feria) here is much much different. Firstly, it is a specific characteristic of the holiday Corpus Christi. It's really a thing in Granada during this holiday time. It always comes around during the time of this holiday.

It's a huge event with many things to do, and it is not culturally at al like ours. First of all, the dress is much much different. (But, people here in general just always dress so much nicer.) 

My favorite is when the girls are wearing the traditional "Seville" type flamenco dress. There were so many of those dresses and I love it. Yeah, people dress like this for the fair. 

Because, along with crappy rides, games that rip you off, and bumper cars that could probably give you whiplash (like way worse than American ones but I loved them), there is also many tents, with many themes, for dancing and partying. By tots of tents, I mean LOTS. There was one for like every type of music. It was hilariously awesome. That was probably my favorite part. And you can just hop from one to another. It's like mini discotecas, but for all ages alike. It's fabulous! I wish our fairs were like that. 

I spoke a lot of Spanish that night, as I went with Danyell, her boo, and his friends. They are super cool, too. Like, they are from Morroco and speak like many languages. I also learned how to write my name in Arabic. That is so cool. Also, I learned a lot about the "Arabic" culture. I put that in quotes because that's like saying someone is white. I mean, Arabic could mean a lot of things as well as not a lot of things. Confusing, I know. But, I really just learned a lot. I mean what Americans label people that look like that as Arabic, encompass so many people. Again, it's like saying someone is white. Also, the Muslim religion I learned is a lot like the Catholic faith here. There are many people that call themselves catholic, but do not practice. Same with being Muslim. It's more like a culture thing. For example the guys we were with were Muslim, but didn't practice. Technically, they can't drink (or eat pork but they don't eat pork) and they do it anyways. Like, it's totally different. Not everyone that is "Muslim" is like everyone else that is Muslim, just like with "Christians", we just can't understand that because religion to us is not a culture thing, it's an actual religion that we actively practice. It's just very different. And I love different. I love learning about people that aren't like me.

Speaking of Morroco, I'm going there this weekend! Yeah, no big deal just going to Africa tomorrow. Aka I'm super pumped!!!! Like, I'm going to a completely different continent tomorrow! I'm so cool I know. Anyways, I'm really excited about that!!! 

Just another day in the life. . .

Hello friends, 

Yesterday was super fun. Today I'm sure will be as well. 

I didn't explore a morrish palace ,or get lost in the woods. 

I didn't save a life or make a profound leap in my Spanish. (Although this new class is going much faster than the last one and I'm learning mucho vocabulario, as well as so many new verbs and their conjugations.) 

I didn't meet a hot guy and I didn't discover new meaning within myself. 

I just had a good day. School was great. I love school. Nerd here, yes I know. But really, my profesors are great, as well as my classmates. We learn a lot but also have a lot of fun. Spanish is awesome, too. I seriously love the language so much. I wish I could major in Spanish and Nursing. I would also love a lot of other majors, but nonetheless I start nursing school in the fall, so there is no turning back now. Speaking of which, I really think my experience here will help me with my future profession. 

I've had such a good time here and I've met some great people. My roommates and I would literally make the best sitcom, whether we are out for helado (which is often) or just chillin over lunch at 3pm, we always have fun. 

I love it here. That is all. Just simply that. 

:) 

Hiking!

So, Sunday my roommate and I decided that we wanted to go hiking. There is a trail (that to and fro takes about 7 hours ish) that she found great reviews on that starts from the city and ends in a small little pueblo. 

She knew pretty much where we had to go, but there was a point on the map on the internet that she didn't understand. I let her drive the ship as I had no idea at all where we were going. 

Anyways, we started this treck and we were not prepared at all. We didn't have a nutritious breakfast and we had like one water bottle for the both of us. I should have brought my big backpack, but it was hot and I didn't want to carry a lot. 

So we began this adventure and in the beginning it was all uphill, okay so like the whole time it was uphill. Also, it was super hot. We got to some really pretty spots, but Louise had no idea where we were. Pretty sure we were not on that trail at all. It had been like 3 hours and all our snacks and water were gone. I was super thirsty and not feeling well. Then, we came upon this cliff thing that we could climb down (even though we had no idea where we were) At this point, I had been thinking for a while we should turn back. One, we had no water. Two, we didn't know where we were going. I convinced Louise to turn back. 

The view was beautiful though. I mean, breathtaking really. I worked at a summer camp in the smokies, and this looked completely different from those mountains. It was a whole different type of wilderness. 

So, at least I can say I got lost in the woods in Spain. The "woods". 

Anyways, we eventually found our way back. Once we saw civilalization again, we went straight to buy a bottle of water that held 1.5 liters and it went down in less than 1 minute for the both of us. We had been "hiking" aka going straight uphill then downhill for a while. We were hungry at that point and although it is the worst fast food chain in America, we really wanted American food so we got it regardless of the terribleness of it. 

It was so delicious. 

I've gotten pretty good at ordering and getting what I want to say across, even though it might not be perfect grammar. That's the thing about speaking and getting yourself around, you don't have to know everything, you just have to be able to work yourself, and be able to explain around the things you don't know. You'd be surprised how little you can know to do this. Plus, people are super understanding and patient usually because they are just happy you are speaking the language. Many tourists don't even try. 

And really, I don't feel like a tourist. I really do feel like I live here. I know some of the good hole in the wall places, and can get myself around, and I love that.

Seville!

On Saturday I went with my school to Seville. It was such a beautiful city, very different from Granada. It's architecture (architectura) is very different than Granada. Also, the most noticeable thing about Seville, it is friggin hot! Like, super hot. It also has humidity, which Granada has like none of. In Fahrenheit, it was 111.2 degrees, 44 degrees Celsius. That is very hot my friends. So, I apologize for my ratchetness in all my fotos. As always, I learns a lot about Seville and it's history. Seville is basically dedicated to Christopher Columbus, kind of like how Granada has so much on Los Reyos Católicos. 

Seville is the capital of the region Andalucía. It is a super "fancy" city, at least that was the vibe I got. Por ejemplo, Seville has your upper class, dress fancy, and some might say snooty people and culture while Granada has your average Joes, southern friendly, also dresses nice but in a different way people. Also, the Moorish influence is not apparent in Seville. 

The cathedral there is so beautiful, probably one of the most beautiful a things I have seen on this trip yet, right behind the Alhambra. It's architecture is a mix of the Renaissance, Gothic, and Baroque periods. There are many rooms within the Cathedral which exemplify these separate characteristics. 

This is right outside the entrance, and as you can see the outside of the building has a very gothic look. The thing in the center is called a giralda, coming from the verb girar which is to turn or spin. It used to be used for sailors coming in to see which way the wind was turning. There are lots of them in Seville and I'm pretty sure the one on top of the bell tower, the Giralda, actually works. 

The Giralda used to be the minaret, which is like a lighthouse type thing, of the mosque there. However, after the Reconquest, they turned it into a bell tower for the Cathedral. It had a great view once you got to the top, after like 32 "flights". They weren't stairs though, it was a winding ramp the whole way up. Once we all got to the top, we were so sweaty. The view was worth it though. 

Giralda from down below. 

Inside the Catedral, our guide showed us many things and taught us a lot about the history. There were so many tourists, so getting a good picture was hard. But, I did get a few. First of all, Christopher Columbus' tomb is here, along with his supposed remains. I say supposed because it is in hot debate to whether those are actually his. There was been DNA testing that can prove the remains at least come from his lineage, but it is still not absolutely certain. I think they are his though. Anyway, his tomb is cool. The 4 kings pictured holding his tomb represent the four regions back then of Spain and the kings that ruled those regions, when Christopher Columbus returned with new trade routes and lots of wealth, Isabel could unite the country. You might wonder why Columbus is so idolized here, well when he wanted to make his expedition, he first went to Portugal but was rejected. He went to some other places, but Queen Isabel of Spain decided to approve and fund his expedition. Thus, Spain received wealth the wealth that came of it. In turn, Columbus was super greatful to Isabel, as well as Spain as a whole. This event helped to further unite Spain, which Isabel and Ferdinand had been doing since the moment they said "I do". Literally, their marriage was the start of the unification of Spain. 

There is a place in the Cathedral where people can actually get married in, like normal people. Here, however, at this alter,

These rooms exhibit the pure Renassiance influence, much coming from Italian artists. 

I definitely felt like I was in a castle walking through, like Huntchback of Notre Dame style. It was super cool. 

From afar, afar. 

This is our guide, guía, and Danyell. 

Seville is beautiful, no?

Beautiful plaza with lots of shade, sombre, where we ate lunch. 

Plaza de España. This was so beautiful. It was enormous and of course, hot. It is special because it represents every city in Spain and the unification of the country as a whole. 

Me and all my sweaty glory at the Plaza de España. It was not possible to get a decent picture because it was so hot. But, here I am nonetheless. 

Yo vivo in Granda ahora. Es mi ciudad favorita, por supuesto. 

These nifty things were everywhere in Seville. 

Gustavo Adolfo Bécquer was a Spanish romantic poet. This monument was dedicated to him, called the Glorieta de Becquer. This part of it was my favorite. The three marble women represent the three states of love. Some might say, past, present, and future love. However, our guide, who was super funny, said she thought it meant the puppy love, the sensual love, and then the reality of love ( going from right to left). As you can tell the future/ reality of love is the sad one, it also is the only one with real flowers in her hands. Oh how true this is. I thought this was funny, so I decided to be the "adoring fan" type of love, the I think you are beautiful I swoon type of "love". Obviously swooning is so yesterday. 

Seville was great and I wish I would have had more time there, but I am also glad I live in Granada. :) 

Mi clase nueva

Hoy, fui a la clase nueva. Es muy difícil, pero es muy interesante. 

My teachers from my old classes pulled me aside Friday and told me they thought I should move up a level. Mind you, I've only been here for two weeks and knew basically nothing before ( Well, I was better off than most beginners thanks to Penny Evans/Dean. Seriously, she was the best teacher, I mean I still remember it, along with all the history she taught us a well) 

So anyways, I was a little scared to go to this new class. I didn't think I could keep up. 

Last week, in my old class, wae started learning some past tenses. I picked it up super fast, but I still did not feel I knew everything (vocab and all the verb conjugations) to move up. I love learning as much as possible and I would get impatient when we couldn't move on. I think that is why my teachers moved me up. I really liked them and wanted to stay, but they are right. To be honest, I'm glad I did. It's much more difficult, but challenging is fun. I liked being on top of everything in the old class ands always knowing more than the others, but it's better for me to be in a class more challenging. I like having to constantly be on my toes and the pressure yields to rapid learning. Today it was good, and although I was right about not knowing everything I needed to, I didn't need to know every single thing to be able to keep up. Context clues helped me to make up for the things I didn't know. Plus, my professors are amazing. Since I got new ones today, I had to do the whole introduce yourself, where you are from, what you do, etc. My second professor knew I was from the U.S. without me even saying anything. Why, who knows. There is a new dude that is 17 and in my class. He's from New Mexico though so I credit him with having to speak it lots in actual practice at home. 

So, the World Cup tournament has started. The very first game was super predictable. However, the Spain vs. the Dutch game was a whole different story. I was super hoping for a huge party in the streets. After and during the game, it sounded the exact opposite in the streets. It was cool because I stayed home and watched the game with my host mom and roommates, but if I had been sleeping I still would have known the status of the game, simply by the noise in the streets. I'm pretty sure, most everyone was watching that game in this country, and if not it was playing anyways. 

What a super depressing game. I mean, really. It was so sad. It was a great game, as in lots of activity and a big upset, but man did it suck. I knew that they were coming back for revenge after 2010, but I did not foresee that. I don't think anyone did. Robin was killin it. And let's be honest, he's pretty cute, too. I'm wondering how long is MVP playing will last in this tournament. He's a baller though for real. My host mom is from Argentina so those games she actually cares more about. But, she always has all the games playing. 

At UNA, I played some intramural soccer (I was terrible) with the honors program and so we have a groupme from that and it is hilarious. I keeps me connected with them through the world's sport: fútbol. 

It is seriously so much more fun to watch than American football. Plus, fútbol is universal. 

Being here in general during the World Cup is awesome though. 

Every day in class we talk about the teams (equipos) and what's going on with all the matches/games (partidos). Since we have students from all over, it makes it very interesting.