Schedule: I Love Hip Hop Morocco & On Board time 1800
Today was my last day in Casablanca, Morocco and I was determined to go out and have some fun. I had yet actually been out in the town walking around because I planned so many other trips. However I had heard that I wasn’t missing too much. So after breakfast my friends and I decided to go out and visit the souks in Casablanca. It was okay. It wasn’t everything that I thought it would be however, I am really happy that I went out and experienced more of the town and culture.
Again, the blonde hair got the best of me. Boys were making the kissing noises and ooo la la’s at me. So frustrating. But I didn’t let it get the best of me. I enjoyed the day. We ended up finding internet at a local hotel but only Sara had her computer. I wish that I would have known that yesterday because I would have went out and uploaded some photographs for you all. Having limited Internet is definitely a bust.
We headed back to the boat (ship) and made our way on board. The security level at this port was a level 2 so we had to undergo a little more extensive search and seizure of our belongings. I think that by now all the staff know me and realize that I have a pacemaker so I get to go around the metal detector now much more easily. But all the girls and all the boys still get a pat down just to be on the safe side.
As the boat finally headed out at 2000 the sun had already set. It was beautiful outside. You could see the Hassan II Mosque all lit up and the green laser beam facing meca. It was fantastic. However it was quite difficult to take a photograph because (a) it was dark and (b) the boat was moving. I will upload some photographs as soon as I get the chance. Thanks for following. Now I am off to do some schoolwork and some sleep.
Thursday, September 24, 2009
Sunday, September 13, 2009
Schedule: Open Day
Today was a pretty uneventful day. I was pretty whipped out after the day trip to Marrakech so I slept a lot. I needed the rest and I’m not unhappy that I didn’t get up. Rest is good.
Today was a pretty uneventful day. I was pretty whipped out after the day trip to Marrakech so I slept a lot. I needed the rest and I’m not unhappy that I didn’t get up. Rest is good.
Saturday, September 12, 2009
Schedule: Independent Marrakech Day Trip
So last night when I got back, I sold my trip to Rabat and decided to do a day trip to Marrakech with some friends instead. So after going to bed at midnight I was up bright and early the next morning at 5:30am in order to meet my friends in the square to head to the train. Sally and Sarah decided not to go, which was a major bummer, however Heidi, and myself met 2 other girls, Lauren and Amanda, wanted to go too… so we had a group. The train left at 6:50am and we had to walk to the front of the port and then catch a taxi. Oh boy. Negotiating time, the local taxi’s love to rip off the foreigners, especially girls. Well we didn’t let them get the best of us. It was 10 durhams apiece. Not too shabby. That is about $1.50 American.
So we got to the train station and bought our tickets (90 durham) and we were set. We had conquered that much of our trip. The next part was easy. We just had to sit and wait and admire the view for the next 3 hours until we reached Marrakech. Now despite that I was completely tired I did all that I could to stay awake. The sights were beautiful and it was really neat to see all the free-range animals, cows, goats, and sheep mostly.
The train ride was nice and it was a great relief to finally get to Marrakech. YAY we made it this far. From being with my Moroccan family the night before, the gave me the hook up on a great place to eat when we first got here. Sega Fredo. It was delicious, free, and I was so happy to have a good trustworthy meal. Thank you Mustapha. Now it was time to find the souks, ( little shops ) in the medina (the old part of town). So after walking a little ways we ran into a man that wanted to be our tour guide. Ha ha. He was very funny but we decided that we wanted to face Marrakech on our own, so he pointed us in the direction of the old medina and we were set.
We walked around for hours and hours. It was great. However, it was very very tiring. All the vendors wanted to do was completely rip you off and so you had to barter your way through everything. I have never been so hassled in my life. It was crazy. I found a couple of great gifts, I am very pleased. I can’t wait to show everyone.
So after being there for hours and having to sneak photographs of the people we were all finally ready to leave. We had had enough of the henna ladies, the snake charms, monkey people, and the man who made dentures. Oh boy what a day. On our way back we got completely turned around and ended up on the wrong side of the medina. Without a map we figured that we would just try to see if we would recognize anything. Nope. We finally settled for a taxi and made our way back to the train station. We got there by 6pm and we had an hour until the train left. So we decided to eat dinner… at McDonalds. It was pretty funny. But I didn’t feel too bad because we weren’t the only students in there. :D It was just that time when we all were waiting to go home.
On the train ride home Lauren and Amanda fell asleep and Heidi and I made small talk all the way home. It was nice. I learned a lot today. It was very long but very educational. The Moroccan culture is very different and very pushy. They all are trying to make a dime in any way possible. I mean most the items that I picked out the wanted like 220 durhams and I ended up paying 100. So I must say I am a very strong girl as with the other girls that I was with. I would say that the best part of the day was when Lauren was bartering and the vendor said “you are strong girl… do men like that in America?” We all just laughed and it completely made my day.
Yay for a good day!
An adventure all of our own
So last night when I got back, I sold my trip to Rabat and decided to do a day trip to Marrakech with some friends instead. So after going to bed at midnight I was up bright and early the next morning at 5:30am in order to meet my friends in the square to head to the train. Sally and Sarah decided not to go, which was a major bummer, however Heidi, and myself met 2 other girls, Lauren and Amanda, wanted to go too… so we had a group. The train left at 6:50am and we had to walk to the front of the port and then catch a taxi. Oh boy. Negotiating time, the local taxi’s love to rip off the foreigners, especially girls. Well we didn’t let them get the best of us. It was 10 durhams apiece. Not too shabby. That is about $1.50 American.
So we got to the train station and bought our tickets (90 durham) and we were set. We had conquered that much of our trip. The next part was easy. We just had to sit and wait and admire the view for the next 3 hours until we reached Marrakech. Now despite that I was completely tired I did all that I could to stay awake. The sights were beautiful and it was really neat to see all the free-range animals, cows, goats, and sheep mostly.
The train ride was nice and it was a great relief to finally get to Marrakech. YAY we made it this far. From being with my Moroccan family the night before, the gave me the hook up on a great place to eat when we first got here. Sega Fredo. It was delicious, free, and I was so happy to have a good trustworthy meal. Thank you Mustapha. Now it was time to find the souks, ( little shops ) in the medina (the old part of town). So after walking a little ways we ran into a man that wanted to be our tour guide. Ha ha. He was very funny but we decided that we wanted to face Marrakech on our own, so he pointed us in the direction of the old medina and we were set.
We walked around for hours and hours. It was great. However, it was very very tiring. All the vendors wanted to do was completely rip you off and so you had to barter your way through everything. I have never been so hassled in my life. It was crazy. I found a couple of great gifts, I am very pleased. I can’t wait to show everyone.
So after being there for hours and having to sneak photographs of the people we were all finally ready to leave. We had had enough of the henna ladies, the snake charms, monkey people, and the man who made dentures. Oh boy what a day. On our way back we got completely turned around and ended up on the wrong side of the medina. Without a map we figured that we would just try to see if we would recognize anything. Nope. We finally settled for a taxi and made our way back to the train station. We got there by 6pm and we had an hour until the train left. So we decided to eat dinner… at McDonalds. It was pretty funny. But I didn’t feel too bad because we weren’t the only students in there. :D It was just that time when we all were waiting to go home.
On the train ride home Lauren and Amanda fell asleep and Heidi and I made small talk all the way home. It was nice. I learned a lot today. It was very long but very educational. The Moroccan culture is very different and very pushy. They all are trying to make a dime in any way possible. I mean most the items that I picked out the wanted like 220 durhams and I ended up paying 100. So I must say I am a very strong girl as with the other girls that I was with. I would say that the best part of the day was when Lauren was bartering and the vendor said “you are strong girl… do men like that in America?” We all just laughed and it completely made my day.
Yay for a good day!
An adventure all of our own
Friday, September 18, 2009
Friday, September 11, 2009
Schedule: SOS Children's Village & Evening with a Moroccan Family
This morning around 11am I went on yet another one of my SAS trips. However I had hopes that this would be life changing, and I was right. First stop of the day was the George Washington school. Here is where all the privileged kids get to go to school. They like to say that this is where Morocco's future leaders are shaped. The school was nice and started about 10 years ago and started with 20 children. They now have around 700 students of all ages. We ate lunch here in the cafeteria and at first it was really really awkward. All the children were looking at us and we were looking at all the other kids. Oh boy. But then something changed… they approached us. Oh my goodness it was so nice.
Now for my favorite part of the day. The SOS children's village. THE KIDS WERE IN SCHOOL….AHHHHHH. I was so upset. We had been there for about 45 minutes before they told us that the kids do not get out of school until 4:00. sadface. So we waited. The kids came home early at about 3:30 and we were able to play with them for 45 minutes. It was fantastic. To see how shy they were and all that we wanted to do was to take pictures and play. Our hearts and souls were completely released in their presence. It was fantastic. I don't know her name but she truly captivated me. All of us received a traditional Moroccan greeting from her, a kiss on each cheek. It was phenomenal. For the next 45 minutes all of us SAS big kids fell completely at home and had a blast playing. I took photographs of course, because that is how I have fun. I even broke out the Polaroid camera… it was a big hit. Those are my most favorite photos. The reactions on the girls faces as they posed with me. I wish that I would have take more. None of us wanted to leave. But eventually we did, and I know that I left with a completely different perspective. Oh how I wanted to stay.
Lastly I ended my day with my Moroccan family. Shady is 11 and his brother Sammie is 17. Shady was quite the talkative little boy. He was fantastic. Both Shady and Sammie go to the George Washington School so their English is much better than their parents. However communication was never an issue. Shady always understood when there was a question so he was able to communicate in French to his parents. But for the most part we all understood and just had to talk a little slower. :D I had an amazing time. Mustapha was the dad. What a gorgeous man and so genuine. He insisted that we call home… remember mom? I was so excited to not have to hunt down a phone card to call home. And I remembered the number off the top of my head! ;) The mom, I can't remember her name. She was beautiful and you could tell that she loved having four girls around. Overall it was a beautiful day.
To be able to call home was my highlight. However the day was fantastic. I have the email and the address of the Mustapha's family and shady has facebook so I will be adding him soon as a friend. I again used my Polaroid camera to take a picture so we are all up there on my magnetic walls. :D I couldn't have planned for a better day and I couldn't have planned for any better company.
The emotions that overflow me right now are miraculous and I can't help but pause and reminisce on the day. I am so very happy.
Ta Ta for now.
This morning around 11am I went on yet another one of my SAS trips. However I had hopes that this would be life changing, and I was right. First stop of the day was the George Washington school. Here is where all the privileged kids get to go to school. They like to say that this is where Morocco's future leaders are shaped. The school was nice and started about 10 years ago and started with 20 children. They now have around 700 students of all ages. We ate lunch here in the cafeteria and at first it was really really awkward. All the children were looking at us and we were looking at all the other kids. Oh boy. But then something changed… they approached us. Oh my goodness it was so nice.
Now for my favorite part of the day. The SOS children's village. THE KIDS WERE IN SCHOOL….AHHHHHH. I was so upset. We had been there for about 45 minutes before they told us that the kids do not get out of school until 4:00. sadface. So we waited. The kids came home early at about 3:30 and we were able to play with them for 45 minutes. It was fantastic. To see how shy they were and all that we wanted to do was to take pictures and play. Our hearts and souls were completely released in their presence. It was fantastic. I don't know her name but she truly captivated me. All of us received a traditional Moroccan greeting from her, a kiss on each cheek. It was phenomenal. For the next 45 minutes all of us SAS big kids fell completely at home and had a blast playing. I took photographs of course, because that is how I have fun. I even broke out the Polaroid camera… it was a big hit. Those are my most favorite photos. The reactions on the girls faces as they posed with me. I wish that I would have take more. None of us wanted to leave. But eventually we did, and I know that I left with a completely different perspective. Oh how I wanted to stay.
Lastly I ended my day with my Moroccan family. Shady is 11 and his brother Sammie is 17. Shady was quite the talkative little boy. He was fantastic. Both Shady and Sammie go to the George Washington School so their English is much better than their parents. However communication was never an issue. Shady always understood when there was a question so he was able to communicate in French to his parents. But for the most part we all understood and just had to talk a little slower. :D I had an amazing time. Mustapha was the dad. What a gorgeous man and so genuine. He insisted that we call home… remember mom? I was so excited to not have to hunt down a phone card to call home. And I remembered the number off the top of my head! ;) The mom, I can't remember her name. She was beautiful and you could tell that she loved having four girls around. Overall it was a beautiful day.
To be able to call home was my highlight. However the day was fantastic. I have the email and the address of the Mustapha's family and shady has facebook so I will be adding him soon as a friend. I again used my Polaroid camera to take a picture so we are all up there on my magnetic walls. :D I couldn't have planned for a better day and I couldn't have planned for any better company.
The emotions that overflow me right now are miraculous and I can't help but pause and reminisce on the day. I am so very happy.
Ta Ta for now.
Thursday, September 10, 2009
Schedule: City Orientation & Welcome Reception
Hello my followers. Today was my first day in a new country, the country of Morocco in the city of Casablanca. It rained all day today. From what I have heard it supposedly only rains 25 days out of the year here and the rest of the days are just hot, so I feel pretty lucky to have been here during rain. This morning I went on the City orientation with a special visit to the Hassan II Mosque.
The mosque was absolutely stunning. Our tour guide said that they can fit 20,000 people on the inside and 80,000 people can fit outside the moque. Crazy! The architecture was beautiful. The ceiling, the lights, the doors… it was phenomenal. The main entrance that the king comes through 2 times a year, the door weighed a total of 14 tons, 7 tons per door. Oh my goodness. Luckily no one has to push those open, they are actually electric. Another fascinating fact about the mosque is that it has a sunroof. When the days are nice they open the roof to left the light in. I wish that I could have seen that view it would have been truly captivating. Oh well. Next time.
After visiting the mosque I then attended the welcome reception. Not really sure of what was going to happen, I am really excited that I went. I made 2 new friends from Morocco name Abdullah and Soufine. They were totally cool and such gentlemen. :D We got to eat some local delicious treats as I was able to have the famous mint tea for the first time. Now the saying goes that when a boy thinks that a girl is cute he serves her tea that is sweeter, now if the the boy doesn't like the girl then he serves her tea that is not sweet. So I hope that you can figure this out… I was served some very sweet tea from the waiter. It made me smile. By the time that dinner was over I was definitely not ready to say goodbye. So we decided not to say goodbye to our new friends so we took a few photographs and decided that we would meet up on Sunday and hangout. What a great end to the day.
Oh and just for future reference. The sweets are really sweet and the drivers are crazy. I have never heard so much honking in my life and the use of the gas pedal was ridiculous. I swear that we went over a speed bump going like 60mph and our bus driver just laughed and laughed. Morocco has definitely left it's mark on me… my butt is soar.
Hello my followers. Today was my first day in a new country, the country of Morocco in the city of Casablanca. It rained all day today. From what I have heard it supposedly only rains 25 days out of the year here and the rest of the days are just hot, so I feel pretty lucky to have been here during rain. This morning I went on the City orientation with a special visit to the Hassan II Mosque.
The mosque was absolutely stunning. Our tour guide said that they can fit 20,000 people on the inside and 80,000 people can fit outside the moque. Crazy! The architecture was beautiful. The ceiling, the lights, the doors… it was phenomenal. The main entrance that the king comes through 2 times a year, the door weighed a total of 14 tons, 7 tons per door. Oh my goodness. Luckily no one has to push those open, they are actually electric. Another fascinating fact about the mosque is that it has a sunroof. When the days are nice they open the roof to left the light in. I wish that I could have seen that view it would have been truly captivating. Oh well. Next time.
After visiting the mosque I then attended the welcome reception. Not really sure of what was going to happen, I am really excited that I went. I made 2 new friends from Morocco name Abdullah and Soufine. They were totally cool and such gentlemen. :D We got to eat some local delicious treats as I was able to have the famous mint tea for the first time. Now the saying goes that when a boy thinks that a girl is cute he serves her tea that is sweeter, now if the the boy doesn't like the girl then he serves her tea that is not sweet. So I hope that you can figure this out… I was served some very sweet tea from the waiter. It made me smile. By the time that dinner was over I was definitely not ready to say goodbye. So we decided not to say goodbye to our new friends so we took a few photographs and decided that we would meet up on Sunday and hangout. What a great end to the day.
Oh and just for future reference. The sweets are really sweet and the drivers are crazy. I have never heard so much honking in my life and the use of the gas pedal was ridiculous. I swear that we went over a speed bump going like 60mph and our bus driver just laughed and laughed. Morocco has definitely left it's mark on me… my butt is soar.
Monday, September 14, 2009
Tuesday, September 8, 2009
Schedule: Open day
Hello everyone. So it has been an amazing adventure that I have had in Cadiz, Spain. You all are probably so eager to hear about everything since I haven’t uploaded anything till now.
Today was my last day in the wonderful city of Cadiz. This morning I went to the fish market and had the best time of my entire trip thus far. The people were so welcoming and friendly. They all saw my camera and instantly wanted their pictures taken. I had such a blast. There was water splashing, bones cracking and lots of yelling going on from the vendors. I felt so absorbed into the environment that I couldn’t help but enjoy myself. I hope that you enjoy the images as much as I had taking them. I talked to several of the vendors and even when I didn’t understand them they still wanted to talk to me, it was fantastic.
Finally the last thing that I did in port was head to the beach. I walked along with some friends, picked up some sea glass and put my feet in the water. It was so hot today. The beach was covered with couples, kids, and grandparents. Also an interesting thing that I feel somewhat jealous of is the fact that the women are so comfortable in their skin. Women of all ages, shapes, and sizes went topless. It was so cool and so refreshing to see. I was completely moved.
As we walked quickly back to the boat to meet the on ship I snapped my last few photos of the beautiful town of Cadiz, Spain. I have Polaroid’s hanging in my room from the few days I had there and it is nice to be able to have those up so I can reminisce already. We pulled out from port at 1800 and headed to Gibraltar. I had a funny picture of myself with my hair all-windblown because holy cow is was like 30 mile an hour winds on deck 7. It was so much fun to be up there with the other students, faculty, and the kids. We all stood there as the sun went down remembering all the memories that we have created in Cadiz.
Oh oops. I accidentally had a Coke today. Sorry.
Hello everyone. So it has been an amazing adventure that I have had in Cadiz, Spain. You all are probably so eager to hear about everything since I haven’t uploaded anything till now.
Today was my last day in the wonderful city of Cadiz. This morning I went to the fish market and had the best time of my entire trip thus far. The people were so welcoming and friendly. They all saw my camera and instantly wanted their pictures taken. I had such a blast. There was water splashing, bones cracking and lots of yelling going on from the vendors. I felt so absorbed into the environment that I couldn’t help but enjoy myself. I hope that you enjoy the images as much as I had taking them. I talked to several of the vendors and even when I didn’t understand them they still wanted to talk to me, it was fantastic.
Finally the last thing that I did in port was head to the beach. I walked along with some friends, picked up some sea glass and put my feet in the water. It was so hot today. The beach was covered with couples, kids, and grandparents. Also an interesting thing that I feel somewhat jealous of is the fact that the women are so comfortable in their skin. Women of all ages, shapes, and sizes went topless. It was so cool and so refreshing to see. I was completely moved.
As we walked quickly back to the boat to meet the on ship I snapped my last few photos of the beautiful town of Cadiz, Spain. I have Polaroid’s hanging in my room from the few days I had there and it is nice to be able to have those up so I can reminisce already. We pulled out from port at 1800 and headed to Gibraltar. I had a funny picture of myself with my hair all-windblown because holy cow is was like 30 mile an hour winds on deck 7. It was so much fun to be up there with the other students, faculty, and the kids. We all stood there as the sun went down remembering all the memories that we have created in Cadiz.
Oh oops. I accidentally had a Coke today. Sorry.
Monday, September 7, 2009
Schedule: Day trip to Seville
Today was a really good day. I woke up this morning and went to breakfast. I had pancakes and fruit and of course a big glass of milk. Oh did I mention that I was sitting outside on the deck 6 as the sun came up. :D This trip has been so fantastic and I keep meeting tons of new people and I am learning and experiencing so much.
After breakfast I boarded the bus to go to Seville, Spain and hangout in that town for the day. We went to The Alcazar, La Giralda, and The Cathedral. It was approximately 1 ½ hour drive from Cadiz to Seville and our tour guide was full of wonderful information. I have a notebook full of notes but I think that you all will want to see my photographs more than anything. :D
First we went to the Alcazar and I was completely blown away by the architecture, and all the details. It was beautiful. My favorite part was the ceiling of the dome. With a super wide lens I was able to capture the majority
The Cathedral was absolutely stunning and magnificent in size. The coolest part was seeing the burial place of Christopher Columbus. His burial site was absolutely splendid and it was hard to squeeze in to get a picture with the hundreds of people all touring the place.
So after a day of touring Seville and a fabulous authentic lunch I went back to the boat. I met up ½ hour later with some new friends from the day trip to Seville and we went on a mission. I found stamps, a calling card, a couple little trinkets and headed back to the ship to see what everyone was up to. I was worried that I wouldn’t be able to use the calling card right away because the phone booth were a little walk away and it was already dark. However my wonderful roommate went with me while I called my parents. :D I’m so glad that I got to hear your voices. It completely made my night.
Today was a really good day. I woke up this morning and went to breakfast. I had pancakes and fruit and of course a big glass of milk. Oh did I mention that I was sitting outside on the deck 6 as the sun came up. :D This trip has been so fantastic and I keep meeting tons of new people and I am learning and experiencing so much.
After breakfast I boarded the bus to go to Seville, Spain and hangout in that town for the day. We went to The Alcazar, La Giralda, and The Cathedral. It was approximately 1 ½ hour drive from Cadiz to Seville and our tour guide was full of wonderful information. I have a notebook full of notes but I think that you all will want to see my photographs more than anything. :D
First we went to the Alcazar and I was completely blown away by the architecture, and all the details. It was beautiful. My favorite part was the ceiling of the dome. With a super wide lens I was able to capture the majority
The Cathedral was absolutely stunning and magnificent in size. The coolest part was seeing the burial place of Christopher Columbus. His burial site was absolutely splendid and it was hard to squeeze in to get a picture with the hundreds of people all touring the place.
So after a day of touring Seville and a fabulous authentic lunch I went back to the boat. I met up ½ hour later with some new friends from the day trip to Seville and we went on a mission. I found stamps, a calling card, a couple little trinkets and headed back to the ship to see what everyone was up to. I was worried that I wouldn’t be able to use the calling card right away because the phone booth were a little walk away and it was already dark. However my wonderful roommate went with me while I called my parents. :D I’m so glad that I got to hear your voices. It completely made my night.
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