Morocco/Granada

Hello friends! So fret not, for i am still alive! :) it's just been a little while, but that's ok. So a lot has happened (i know you're surprised) in these last couple of weeks, so i'll do my best to re-tell :)

Now i really wish that there were words that could really describe my trip to Morocco. I mean it's true that a picture is worth a thousand words, but the pictures suck and don't portray anything! But it really was just so wonderful. It was oddly like a little vacation, yet not at all. We were on the bus a lot (a lotttttt) but it was completely worth it all. We went through ISA along with many other isa groups. There was like 150 of us, mas o menos (more or less:) ) so several bus fulls later, we arrived in Morocco. Malaga was conveniently the closest stop; we enjoyed reminded the other kids that :) But so we traveled down to the ferry which carried across the sea... to Spain. It was weird. Spain owns the super tip tip of Mo (my new short version of Morocco) so then we drove to the Mo boarder. As we were there, we had to stay on the bus and not take pictures of anything, because they could come and freak out and steal our cameras! No thank you. A Mo man came on the bus and had this little thing in his hand which resembled a hand gun. Ok. Then it had a laser. Alright... Then he pointed it at every students forhead! He walked to each of us with a stern look and said nothing. Then it beeped at about every kid, and he got off. What in the world was that?! Later discovered it was to take our temperatures and make sure we weren't bringing swine flu into their country. Wow. That was an experience. And i forgot, it had a little mirror thing, so i saw my reflection of this laser pointed at the middle of my forehead. Not so settling. But so then we got there and everything was good :) I'm sorry this is going to be so short and simply factual, but it's better than nothing ya? We went on this tour-esque thing in Fes, Mo which ended up being one of the longest days ever. We saw, felt, smelt, tasted, breathed, and simply experienced Mo to it's fullest. We saw all the touristy things, ate real Mo food (lots of bread-similar to flat bread- cous cous, chicken, yellowy rice w raisins, and more) Recieved lots of sale pitches for carpets (which i did not cave and get one! woo!) Had "Mo whiskey" which is just mint tea, super good. Saw where they die their clothing/leather, in giant things that they stand in. The smell was terrible, so they gave us fresh mint to hold to our noses. ALso fun :) We got to see where they made scarves and other things of the like (and yes... i did cave and get one of those) but then a man decided that brittany should look at stuff upstiars... Ok, so she just looked at me like please come with me! Ha, it was not sketch in the end, but seemed so. We just happened to be the first. A sales guy took our hands and let us try on fancy dresses. I felt like Jasmine. Not gonna lie. We also saw where they made some ceramics and painted them and such. (no caving!) That night we went to a legit Mo belly dance. It was fun, a little different but still fun :) There was a cute little band that played their drums and a man had some like ancient scissors and banged on them! They sounded really cool actually :) One girl was ok, but the other was just dang impressive! Seriously? How do you move your hips like that? ha, her hips didn't lie. Next day we went to the desert, by far my absolute favorite part. Here is where the meanings of the words don't describe it well at all. We got to ride in 4x4s (also known as suvs or jeeps) In mine was Meredith, Amanda, Brittany, Alicia, Kim and I (all good friends from Malaga) It was SOOOO fun! ANd we ended up having a little sing-a-long time.. which ended up being a bring back the 90s classics, a reminescene of our childhood. So fun :) But our poor little Mo driver... Ha. Then we made it. To the desert. THE FREAKING SAHARA DESERT!!!!!! Ah!!!!!!!!!!!!! Brittany and i frolicked around like mere children :) :) Then we all had a little ohmygoshfeelthisrealsaharasand party :) Next morning, got up, watched the sun rise. In the sahara desert. Soo gorgeous. That God of ours is pretty creative with his colors. :) A burbur ended up taking Meredith, Brittany, Amanda and I out really really far. It was so cool. He was so nice. He wrote our names in Arabic in the sand, took us "burbur sledding" aka pulled us down the dune by our feet. Later, towards the end of our voyage back to camp, we realized why he had been so nice. With all his little trinkets and necklaces laid out, i thought Really? You had to pull that? Ugh. Ok... I guess that is their major why of getting money. Suckering tourists. A couple of us got stuff. Later in the day, once the sleep was almost gone from our eyes, we rode camels!!!!!! Yes, again, into the abyss of the sahara desert :) It was rather surreal :) Kim was my camel buddy. I tied a turbon on my head while we were riding (no hands!!) it was sick :) Then we stopped at the base of the dune of doom. And yes we all hiked it! Ah! A burbur practically pulled me up there, but it was so worth it. (really, he held my hand and helped me up, and didn't try to sell to me!) But later i learned that we could see Alergia in the distance. Sick right? I wish i would have grasped that then though :) that's ok. Then the rest of the day was kinda a free time. That night we had the best stinking dance party of our lives!!! It never ended! It was so great! There was an African band singing and playing on their drums. Senor happy (this burbur that seriously was so full of joy every time we saw him, no matter the time of day) was there and just made it so fun. We danced the night away! I enjoyed learning African dances :) They were so goofy. It was just so lovely. Then it settled down some because we had to eat, but the music continued, and you know us, the party never stops! Ha. So sitting there at our little table us Malaga girls and a couple other new friends started just kinda messing around passing a "ball" with awesome dance moves, which soon evolved into a intense dance off. Ha. It lasted so long too! It was great! This alleged "ball" became so many different things. It was great to see people's on-the-spot creativity. The end of it, it became a pizza, that we all ate... Then i brought back to life, by um, bringing back up (heck ya i danced and made throwing up look good!) and then the glorious game ended by us all avoiding the now super gross throw-up ball. It was sooo fun! The next day a friend asked me what we were playing because it looked so fun and cool. Ha, i didn't realize that we had so much attention, but i guess it makes sense. :) We slept in haibas, like tents. Really they were like thick blankets put up by some wood. It was so epic falling asleep, seeing the bright moon through the roof :) but it got coooold. But so before the giant dance party we hung out on the dunes. So i got to actually see some locals :) One was super awesoem and became best friends with Brittany and I. His name was Said. (sigh-eed). The smartest, sweetest burbur man i've ever met. He was different. You could tell he just loved life and wanted to learn. He taught us little games in the sand, and like mind-teasers. His english wasn't perfect, but he has learned it simply by listening to stories. It was kinda fun talking to some of the burburs, because the only language we had in common was spanish, hooray for practicing! Most spoke Arabic, Burbur, Spanish, English and French. No big. The next day bus ride was kinda weird. I knew we were going to reality, but then realized what my reality is. These people i just met have never left the desert. And i was returning to Spain, like for more adventures. I jsut felt so insanely blessed. It was a moment of "really? I'm doing this now? wow. " Then, we stopped on the side of the road for lunch (bread, cheese, bottled water, fruit) and kids on our trip complained up the wazoo! It's too hot, too long, bus ride, just this to eat??, etc. But there was this little family. The smile on this little boy's face seriously could have lit up New York. soo precious. I just thought, these people don't even have the luxoury to complain... Wow. Then, little smiler's brother broke my heart even more. As i stood there in the security of my TOMS shoes (btw, if you are not aware, TOMS is an amazing organization which donates a pair of shoes to a child in need. So for every pair you purchase, they'll give a pair, one for one.) i saw him running around barefoot amongst the dirt, rocks, broken glass. I felt so helpful an so helpless at the same time. There was also a man walking by with his mule, who had a broken leg, in a little sling. I saw a sad little limping mule. It was so sad! So i hope you caught a little glimpse of why this was more of a moving trip for me. So much more than a casual trip to Mo. :) Also, side note, lots of friendships happened on this trip. It was glorious. That's all. :)

In continuation of the updates, this last weekend we went to Granada. Ah!!! Loved it. It was cool, being there (i had thought about studying there instead) but it was great to see, but i don't think that i personally would want to live there. Malaga is more my style ;) We got to adventure, have tapas, kabas, see fancy pants places. Like Capilla Real where Fernando y Isabel are burried, so yes, i've seen the graves of the people that allowed a man to come and discover my beloved country. That's pretty cool. :) Also, i'm in this history of arte class, and we've talked a lot about the architecture of buildings, so it was cool to actually see lots of it. I felt so nerdy though :) We got some good shopping in, i got Aladdin pants! So there is a lot of Mo shops there (ah ha ha and you thought you were done w the Mo stories!!) but it was so fun. Then that day we had a little dance party in the hotel in our awesome pants :) Shakira happened to be on tv... so we took advantage of that! Ha :) so fun. For siesta, Kristin, Brittany, Amanda and I had a giant snuggle party :) :) it was great. I woke up insanely confused, it was so funny. I was expecting to be in my bed at home (maybe i had a dream??) then remembered i was in Spain, got it. malaga. room, not malaga. confusion continued. it was great. well, not in the moment. Anyways, we had a lot of fun. :) Iker and Heidi (our directors) had a little surprise for us, and wouldn't tell us at all. :) I loved it. :) it was cute. We walked around Granada at night and climbed up the cobblestone streets to see "El Mirador" also known as a super awesome view of La Alambra. Then we went and saw some Flamenco!!! It was really neat. :) It wasn't exactly what i thought it would be like. I guess i didn't really know what it would be like. Their voices just are so mesmorizing. I really wish i could sing like that. How do they not kill their voices? I recommend youtubing some Flamenco if you're not familiar w the sounds i'm talking about. Camaron is super super famous. You should have some luck finding that. (that's not who we saw, he died, but just captures the essence) We also went and saw La Alambra, made by Arabs (i really had to think past the word "Musulmanes") :) but it has lots o pretty gardens :) We were there for 3hours, which just skims it.

So one-words to summarize both trips, Morocco: moving Granda: FUN!

Thanks for keeping up with my thoughts :) Hope you enjoyed, see you soon!

Luegos!

Five fast facts

So i went to Morrocco this "weekend" (in quotes because it was rather long...) So more info to come, but 5 fast facts for you...

1. I'm in love! With the world and how huge it is. And really just in awe of it all.
2. God is soooo huge and ridiclous and completely in Morrocco and just plain great. :)
3. I've discovered there is immense truth in the quote "The more places i go, the less i know"
4. I feel so insanely blessed! I met people in the desert (yes, the Sahara desert) that have never left the desert. That would be like me never leaving Arvada... which i have many many times. Example, i returned to SPAIN from Morrocco. And this isn't even my first time in Europe... I'm a lucky lucky girl.
5. I chose five facts really for alliteration purposes and now think that "four" works just as well....

♥