Week 9//Week 10: Oct. 30th-Nov.12th (Morocco, Africa)

Hello friends! Well, it has been an interesting two weeks. I got back from Paris and two days later, I was on my way to Africa. Needless to say, Week 9 was a short two days for me. That Tuesday, October 31st, was Halloween. Now in Spain, they don't really celebrate Halloween which is ironic because the 1st of November is actually a holiday in Spain. It is Día de Todos los Santos (day of all the saints) and no one has classes or anything. So, in my opinion, they should celebrate Halloween because they can go out at late as they want because the next day is not a school night like it is most of the time in America.

Well, I left for Morocco at 3:45am on November 1st. I took a taxi to the Portuguese consulate, which was the meeting spot, and we got on a bus and set out on our journey. We didn't arrive to our hotel in Fez, which was our first official stop, until 7:30pm that night (8:30pm Spain time), so it was a very long day. I was on this trip with my program, ISA, and there ended up being 130 people on the program. We took a bus to the port, took a ferry to Morocco's port, and then our same bus to Fez. How is it possible that we took the same bus but on two different continents, you might ask? Fun fact, we took our busses and bus drivers on the ferry, along with the 130 of us. It was pretty much an American-take over on that ferry. The second day in Morocco, that Thursday, we spent all day in the Medina. The Medina has over 9,000 streets in it and the taxis in these streets are mules. It is so deceiving as well because, walking through it, it is a bunch of narrow streets that are dirty and disgusting...but if you step inside one of the buildings, it is this massive 'palace' with beautiful architecture and a homey interior. The Medina was quite the experience. At one point, I saw a man chop off the head of an animal. It was awful. We walked through tons of streets that all looked the same and if it weren't for the tour guide, we would have been lost for days. We visited four main places: the rug place, the pharmacy, the leather store, and the scarf store. The rug place was cool but insanely expensive. It makes sense though because these rugs are handmade and dyed. It takes months or years to make them. The next place, the pharmacy, was all-natural stuff. A lot of it you probably could have gotten in America, but it's much cooler to say you got it from Morocco. And some of the stuff really did seem unique. Morocco is known for their mint tea. It is insanely good and I am convinced you can only get that type of tea in Morocco so, there. The leather store was cool, but also sad. It smelled horrible because of the "factory," so to speak, out back where people were making the leather. My host mom told me later than many of the people that work in this "factory" die or have problems by the time they are 30 because of all the chemicals. Hence, why it was a sad place. And the stench--I don't know how anyone could stand being there everyday. Lastly, the scarf store had the Moroccan dresses and all sorts of different turbans/hijabs (the name of it depends on how you wear it on your head). I have been trying to expand my wardrobe to include some red since I attend a University who's colors are Maroon and Gold. Side story, the reason I never have owned red is because of a traumatic incident my freshman year of high school where I wore a red t-shirt to a strength and conditioning camp. Well, I was new to the school but apparently red was forbidden because it represented our rival schools, Chaparral and Ponderosa. You could only wear blue (which was Legend's, my high school's, color). I didn't know that since I was new but boy did I learn that fact fast...let's just say I did a lot of EXTRA strength and conditioning that day and then, after that, my wardrobe contained absolutely no red. Anyway...so I'm trying to get some red back into my wardrobe so I bought a red scarf to wrap around my head for when we went to the desert. Afterwards, we went back to the hotel to eat dinner and then back to the Medina that night for a folklore show. That was actually a blast. There were belly dancers and magicians and a band and they served us some of that delicious tea. They brought almost everyone on stage (or in the middle) at one point or another to dance with them. It was very interactive and entertaining. The next day, Friday, was another travel day. This was a traumatic day for me because we had to pee in the wilderness, not just once...but twice. Few things in life make me cry, but squatting to pee in front of a whole bunch of strangers in the middle of a fairly open area...that could be one of them. The first place we stopped was at least somewhat of a forest. But the second place we stopped...it was pretty darn wide open. Anyway, we took the bus to this Oasis, which was really pretty because it was the desert but then it was also full of palm trees so it kind of looked like a jungle. We stopped above to look at the view and then drove into the Oasis where the bus dropped us off. We were walking through the "jungle" when all of the sudden there was this building. And this is where we ate lunch. It was so weird because we were literally in the middle of nowhere. It was a nice place and it had wifi which was funny because everyone was desperate to get on their phones. I personally loved not having my phone the entire trip. And because 130 people were trying to use the wifi, it stopped working anyway. After that, we took jeeps into the desert. This was actually one of my favorite parts because there was only about six of us per jeep and we were all "four-wheeling" through the desert. It was an hour drive and it was dark out so you just saw 20 jeeps' headlights in this wide open space that was the desert. Then, we were pleasantly surprised when we got to our campsite. It was much nicer than we expected. There were about 5 toilets, and a huge tent where we ate our food, and then tents to sleep in with little mattresses and a tiny pillow. The sand was gorgeous. I had just learned how much I didn't like beaches because of the annoying sand, but this sand was different. It was full moon so we could see quite well and we just sat on top of a dune and let the sand run through our fingers. At dinner, there was a live "band" playing and a guy who was insanely good at the drums. After dinner, the band needed a break so they asked if there were any musicians in the room. Two guys who knew how to play guitar got up there and started playing some John Mayor. We all just sat around singing for a couple hours. It was great. I actually ended up getting in bed pretty early that night because they told us they were going to wake us up for the sunrise the next morning at 5:45am. And that they did. We watched the beautiful sunrise over the desert and it wasn't as cold as I thought it would be which was even better. Did I go back to bed after the sun came up? I sure did. Later that morning, was the camel ride. This was another favorite part of the trip. I named my camel Alibaba. We were a part of a smaller group of four which was nice since you can imagine how crazy it is to have 130 students on camels. We rode for about half and hour and then ended up at this massive dune. Kellie (me) thought it would be a great idea and "easier" to run up the dune. Um, yeah...so I made it up fast, but am pretty sure I almost had an asthma attack at the top. But, it was worth the view. Don't you worry. Might not have been worth almost dying, but I didn't die, so yay. After taking lots of pictures, we went down the dune which is so much better than climbing up. Some people chose to just roll down, but I just enjoyed wading through the lovely sand between my toes, which wasn't hot like beach sand but was perfectly fine and soft. We then rode our camels again to a small town and went to a hotel-type thing with an outdoor pool. I had brought my swimsuit but it was nowhere near hot enough for me to want to jump in that freezing water. I enjoyed a nice beverage (soda) by the pool while dipping my feet in and that was perfect for me. The rest of the evening was pretty uneventful except for, late that night, the weather was amazing. I was in shorts and a jacket but was perfectly comfortable sitting on a dune. Well, my friend Kelly and I were just chatting and these Moroccan men came up to us. And they sat with us and talked with us for probably more than an hour, but it was great. These "nomads" are crazy because they can speak 4-5 languages...but the even more incredible part is how they learn them. They learn them solely from having conversations with tourists. And they say they have broken English/Spanish/whatever, but it is really good. We had a genuinely great conversation and they told us jokes and made us laugh and it was fun. And that's what they do. They have a great conversation with you and then they try to lure you further into the desert or try to hold your hand and that's when you decide it's time to go to bed. The next morning was a failed attempt to see the sunrise. We did get up to check, but it was super cloudy so we decided it was more worth it to sleep. We had another long day of traveling ahead. We made one cool stop in the "Cedar Forests" or something like that to see the monkeys. They were very similar to the monkeys we had seen in Gibraltar, where they aren't friendly and they are massive. We got some fun pictures, though. Then, that night we stayed at a hotel in Meknes. I wish I could have explored this city some, because it was the biggest and 'most popping' city we had been to, especially after two nights in the desert, but I had no energy and it was late by the time we arrived. That night, dinner was the best meal I had had the entire trip. So, let's talk food for a second. They tell you not to eat anything not cooked or any fruit unless it has a peeling. So all the meals/food we ate was couscous (which is gluten and I'm nots supposed to eat but I didn't realized that until later) or rice, meat, vegetables, and cuties/bananas for desert, and bread of course (which I also can't eat). And for breakfast, it was pretty much all pastries and maybe a hard-boiled egg. Then, you also are not supposed to drink water, brush your teeth with water, or anything like that. You could only have bottled water. Well, this was all very challenging for me so I hardly ate or drank anything all week. And I did end up eating some gluten for breakfasts because I was so hungry. So, I guess that was the worst part...there is a lot of elegant and delicious food in Morocco that could be gluten free, but I didn't get that experience. I think part of it was also because all our meals were buffets because there were so many of us, so that was unfortunate, too. But anyway, back to the dinner on the last night...it was really good. It wasn't a buffet (for once) and they served us steak, mashed potatoes, and vegetables. Mm, mm. But then, the next morning was all pastries again, so darn. But then that Monday, was another long day of traveling. And we had no stops for actual food, just snacks. So that day, I had a croissant and hard boiled egg and some tea for breakfast, potato chips and soda for lunch, and a cutie and some gluten-free crackers for dinner. I was hangry (hungry+angry) by the time I got home, for sure. I got back to Seville around 10:30pm, and it was a whole other world. When I had left the Wednesday before, the weather was cooler in the nights/mornings, but it was still fairly warm. And the days were hot. No, when we arrived back in Spain...it was FREEZING. Fall has finally arrived.

So that was my trip to Africa. I've had tons and tons of people ask me how it was and my best response is: "It was an adventure." I'm so thankful I went because I think it was an opportunity I never will have again. I already appreciate it much more than I did during my time there. But I am glad to be back in Spain and it felt good to be "home." The next day, Tuesday, I had to jump right back into things with teaching at the bilingual school in the morning, class afterwards, and then tutoring later. I'm telling you--you probably won't believe me--but I was a whole different person on Tuesday. I was so motivated to be healthy. I figured since my stomach had shrunk from not eating all week, I would keep my stomach that size and just eat smaller portions. I also was motivated to run 4 times a week and workout. It was a busy Tuesday, but even my host mom thought I was a whole new person. I forced my roommate to go on a run with me and do a hard workout after. My garmin watch said we burned 600 calories. I was just in the best mood...until--dun, dun, dun (dramatic sound effect)--after dinner on this past Tuesday night (the 7th). My stomach started hurting really bad and I couldn't figure out why. I felt nauseous, like I could throw-up. I decided to just go to bed and hope that I would feel better in the morning. Well, that didn't go well. I was super sick all day on Wednesday. I had to stay close to a bathroom, and whenever I stood up, or even sat up, I had to take deep breaths to keep from throwing-up from the stomach pain. I forced myself to go to class because I had two quizzes and I wasn't about to go to the doctor just to get a note to excuse me from class. The only funny part about this day is my Sports Psych professor told me I have the perfect voice after I answered a question of his. How complimentary that my voice is smooth and coaxing, confident and affirming, (because I guess those are the traits in your voice that you need if you are a psychologist), even though I'm very sick. After my classes, I tried to go to lunch and eat but that was a terrible idea. The rest of the night I spent in bed, curled up in a fetal position. I didn't go to dinner and just decided to rest and avoid food as much as possible. I talked to my mom for a couple hours, which was great but made me wish she was with me. Talk about missing your mom--I have never wished harder for a teleportation system. I finally was able to sleep for a few hours and felt a little better...until I stood up. Then I was doubled over in stomach pain again. I didn't know if I just had the stomach flu, or if it was something I ate, or something from Morocco, or the gluten. I think it was probably a mix from everything though, to be honest.  However, my stomach felt super inflamed so I am almost certain eating so much gluten had a lot to do with it. I have decided that if it comes to eating gluten or starving, I'd rather starve if it keeps me from feeling like I did on Wednesday. Which, technically is better for your intestines anyway when you have celiacs. It's just a difficult thing to avoid gluten when you are in Africa, especially since I was in such a big group. Well, Thursday came around, and I made myself go to class again. I only had one class which was good and then I finally told my host mom I wasn't feeling well so she fixed me "un vaso de caldito" (a cup of broth) for lunch, which reminded me of my grandma's amazing chicken-noodle-soup, just without the noodles. Then, she started giving me tons of instructions and was thoroughly concerned and helping me in any way she could. Thursday was so much better than Wednesday, but my stomach was still shaky so she told me not to eat any solid foods for awhile. I think I was pretty hungry though, because I hadn't really eaten since Tuesday night, and so my stomach was growling a lot. Well--I wanted to be healthy. I guess this was just a part of my diet. Friday, I didn't have any plans which is almost worse because then I just want to lay around all day. I told myself I have an excuse because I'm sick, but I'm not as sick as I was on Wednesday, so is that really an excuse? My roommate got really sick though and was throwing up. Maybe she was having sympathy pains for me... My friend from Denver who is studying in Salamanca ended up visiting Sevilla Friday night so I finally decided to take a shower and go out to meet her in centro (downtown). I felt so much better after taking a shower and getting ready. I had eaten lunch too, but I think it was a little too heavy for my stomach. Anyway, I met her and her friends, and Mary Jo met us too, and we went to a rooftop bar to look out over the city as the sun went down. It was beautiful. Then after, we went "tapa bar hopping" in Triana, which is a pretty neighborhood on the other side of the river. It was a great time catching up with Lauren. We had so much to talk about. Well, then I got home and woke up on Saturday feeling awful. My roommate felt awful too, so we decided to just watch movies in bed all day. I tried to eat some lunch but it didn't feel right. So we laid in bed and stopped eating the rest of the day. I finally realized that my stomach was swollen so I called my parents--who were enjoying a nice lunch at Olive Garden (jealous)--and they did some research. You gotta love your parents. So they ended up concluding that because I ate so much gluten last week, my intestines were super swollen which was stopping the food from digesting properly so my stomach just kept getting bigger and bigger because my digestive valve isn't working properly or something like that. Anywho, just not good stuff and so today is now Sunday and I am thankful I feel better, but I can still tell my stomach is swollen. My roommate asked me how far along I was in my pregnancy. 😅 That makes a girl feel good...but I can at least get some work done today hopefully! On the road to recovery I'm praying... but I think my stomach has also shrunk by now since I really haven't eaten normal in two weeks (since before Africa) so, my host mom keeps saying, "Es tu dieta" (it's your diet). Because I had told her when I got back from Africa I needed to eat healthy to recover. Little did I know how true that was. I am just so very thankful that out of all the weekends, this was the one where I got sick because this is my last weekend in Seville until finals. God takes care of me always. :) 

So back to a normal class schedule this week and then I have Portugal this weekend, Italy for Thanksgiving, Amsterdam after that, and Valencia to conclude my travels before finals. Ahhh! Well, thank you all for reading and hope you all are doing very well. It's getting closer to me coming home and I can't wait to see all of you! It's almost the Holiday season with Thanksgiving right around the corner. Have a fabulous week and I will talk to y'all soon. Hasta luego!

P.S. I am adding a few photos here, but there are tons more from Africa on Facebook!!

Beautiful Sevilla city view from the roof top bar

My friend from Salamanca

So glad she came to visit!

My face...I was a tad scared at times when he made weird noises

Nomads loved jumping in our photos

This is from the top of the hill I climbed (where I almost died)

Alibaba, the camel!!!

Can you imagine 130 people on camels?

Oh, the "viento" (wind)

the amazing Moroccan tea!!!

These pomegranates were as big as our heads...

All hand made/hand painted ceramic!!

Thought this captured a very Arabian setting

Look at those packing skills!! Notice the pink blanket...that's the Kellie touch:)

Week 8: Oct. 23rd-29th (París, France)

Bonjour! I just got home from France and so my mind is still full of "Bonjour" and "Merci" and "Se vou play" ("S'il vous plait" is the actual spelling). Soooo, let's talk. How many people get to say "No big deal--I'm going to Paris for the weekend." These Europeans have such cool opportunities and it surprises me that they don't travel as much as I thought they would. Americans that study abroad here though sure take advantage of it. At the airport, there were a ton of people from my program. But, I am getting ahead of myself. I'll start at the beginning.

On Mondays, I have three classes which always make the day feel super long. However, I hardly ever have plans on Monday after classes so it is also my day to just relax, take a nap, catch up on email or do some relaxing activity. Then Tuesdays always get busy. In the morning this past Tuesday, I went to the school I am teaching at each week, except this time, we just decorated the school with Halloween decorations. I got to meet a girl named Anna who is from the U.S. who is here for the school year as a teacher's assistant. She's 25 and this is her second year doing this teaching assistant position.  Her first year, she was in Galicia in Northern Spain. She was super fun to talk to and we had a good time chatting. So we had decorations in our hands and were walking around the hallways when a class came filing down the hallway and saw us with the decorations. They recognized Anna, and said "Hallo" in their Spanish accents and then the little ones got excited and said, "Halloween!!" Adorable. Then after that, I had my one class at the University and then I went home for lunch and then headed to the ISA office downtown for tutoring. I am practicing Spanish with one of the directors from our program each week so that I can improve as much as possible. The hour went really fast and then I headed back home and spent the rest of the evening writing a paper. The 2,000-word essay was due on Thursday, but I wanted to get it done that night so the next night I could just edit it and relax and not worry about trying to cram. I finally finished it late at night and was pretty brain dead. I had two other assignments due in other classes the next day that I hadn't even worked on yet, so I decided to go to bed and wake up early the next morning to finish my homework. However, the homework was so much harder than I thought it would be and I ended up running out of time. Therefore, my entire Wednesday was very stressful because I felt two steps behind what I needed to do. However--as always--it worked out and I even did pretty good on my reading quiz despite not reading the article. After classes, I was brain dead but knew I had to get the essay done. I took a nap after lunch and I had planned to lay down for an hour but accidentally slept for four. So, I knew I must have been super tired. I finished my essay though and was very proud of it. I even turned it in more than 12 hours before it was due so go Kellie! It was an interesting topic. I had to write about: Arguments for and against Wikileaks: Transparency vs. Privacy. Communication and journalism is something you can talk about for long periods of time and we have many discussions in class. What is the solution to genuine journalism? I really enjoy my teacher--Rúben. I think I have talked about him before. Anyway, then on Thursday I had tutoring again through my University to practice my Spanish some more. Lola is her name and she helped me with my Spanish homework that was due for the next Monday which was great because my goal was to get all my homework done before that weekend so I could enjoy my trip to Paris. After class, I had scheduled an appointment to get my eyelashes redone so I went in to see my amiga de pestañas (eyelash friend)--who, I found out later, her name is Sonia--and she made my eyelashes look all pretty again. Well, after that I ran some other errands and then I went home and, as bad as I wanted to veg out and watch a tv show or something, I knew I should finish homework. I spent the rest of the evening doing all my homework that was due Monday, which, I had been assigned a good amount of work. Normally, I don't have a ton during the weekend so I was disappointed, but I also knew I wouldn't want to deal with it on Sunday or when I was in Paris. I finished all of it right after dinner and then still had to pack. I realized I hadn't taken a plane since my flight from Paris to Madrid to start my program in early September, so I was a little nervous. I hate the liquid rule. It is ridiculous. But I finally got to bed around 1am and then was out the door by 7am the next morning with just a backpack. My packing skills have gotten much better while being here because, well frankly, you can't bring hardly anything with you when you travel because there are so many rules! So Paris...

Friday morning... I had allowed myself an hour for the bus and then an hour and a half to check-in, get through security, and find my gate. I left promptly at 7:05am and was sitting down waiting for my flight by 8am. I guess it's better to be early rather than late but I quite overestimated how long it would take to get through the whole process...oh well. The lady at the check-in desk was so nice. I asked for a ticket in Spanish and handed her my passport and then she started talking to me in Spanish and it was a glorious moment because I didn't have to think at all...I just understood what she was saying. She then realized I had an American passport and said she could tell me in English but I assured her I wanted to practice in Spanish. She then said that was great and goes, "Gate 8" and then corrected herself and said "Puerta Ocho" and flashes me a smile. I liked her. I then got through security with no problems and practically no line. So then, I just sat and decided to read the book I had brought by Nicholas Sparks called "The Choice." It is a really good book and I highly recommend it. I buried my head in it and the time went so fast. At about 8:40am, I went to my gate and realized I couldn't understand the language. I had been so confident in my Spanish that morning...what had happened? And then I realized it was because a ton of people were speaking French. It's a weird concept and not one we deal with in America. When we fly from DIA (Denver International Airport) to Dallas, we don't hear a whole other language. Yet, here in Europe, a two hour flight means a whole different culture, city, language, everything! It is kind of mind-blowing, kind of weird, kind of overwhelming...and all of the above. I was doing well with my languages that Friday because a lady in front of me needed to fill her water bottle and she asked me to watch her bag. Although she said it in French, the language of gestures is universal so thank the Lord for that. She had said "Merci" to me earlier because she was putting something in her bag and the line had moved but I let her go in front of me still. I just nodded and smiled the first time, but this time I had remembered from my trips with Amanda and Peter that "You're Welcome" was "Prego." So I said "Prego" and we got on the plane. Well, ahem... I should have just not revisited this in my mind because I was happy with how the situation had turned out and thought (as I wrote just a few lines above) that I was doing so well with languages. But now that I am thinking about it I am thoroughly embarrassed. Prego is you're welcome--just in Italian, not in French. 😳😳😳😳😳 Don't trust me with my languages. Do not use Prego in French. It doesn't exist. Oyy, Kellie. Well, let's just move on. SOOOOO. Ahem, oh wait. There's more... as if I didn't probably seem stupid enough to that French lady, on the plane, I was in the emergency exit row and the flight attendant was trying to give me the instructions in French and I had to tell her I only knew English. She told me she was going to tell the couple next to me the instructions in French and then she would tell me in English. Well, the couple goes "We can do it in English" and it made me feel so small because the French know 30 languages and I know one. I might have been able to do it in Spanish, but I sound very English anyway so ugh. I wish I could be cool. So, I read my book the entire way to Paris and it was a pretty quick flight. I was on an airline I had never taken before and I liked how quick and organized they were but they were super strict about bags. My bag got marked as a bag that goes under the seat but, since I was in the emergency exit row, I couldn't have any bags under the seat anyway. It all worked out and it was nice to have the extra leg room. Well, when I got to Paris, I was meeting my friend there from DU who is studying in Amsterdam. He landed about 40 minutes before me and had sent me a text saying he was waiting at a restaurant named Paul's and as I walked into the airport, there was a big sign saying "Paul's" literally right outside my gate. I figured he either knew which gate I was coming out of, the stalker, or it must be a really small airport. Neither were true--he just happened to choose that cafe (apparently). So we made our way downtown and made it to our Airbnb by 11:30am. We had until 2:30pm to check-in though so he had found a crepe place that made their crepes with buckwheat (so I could eat them, yay!) and it was a 20 minute walk. Because I had thankfully packed light, the walk was easy and we made it to the restaurant in no time. It was packed and we ended up getting take-away and then eating at a park close by. It was great because it gave us a couple hours to settle in, enjoy a French delicacy, and catch up on the past few months. Our host had messaged us and told us that she would be late and would meet us closer to 3pm, so we finally meandered our way over at 3pm instead of 2:30pm and waited for her. She didn't show up for about 30 more minutes, which was strange, but she seemed unorganized and frazzled. I felt bad for her. We made our way upstairs and then she rummaged through her purse for about 5 minutes until she realized that she didn't have the keys and that she left them at her own place. She said she'd be back in an hour and took off. We didn't know what to do so we went to a cafe down the road and had a glass of wine and beer. We were people watching and enjoying soaking up the sun. There was a definite temperature drop in Paris, but the sun felt great and I was happy for the change of temperature. She finally came back and we got into our room about 5pm. It was a great place, though. And although it was a little inconvenient having to wait with our bags, I felt bad because she seemed to have had a horrible day. That night, we set out to have dinner at a Jewish food restaurant about 20 minutes away but because it was a Friday night, they weren't open. They aren't allowed to be open until Saturday night according to their laws, I think. So then we walked back towards this other place that was back the way we had come but on the way there, we realized that place closed in 15 minutes. So, a third time we walked back and found a cute hole-in-the-wall restaurant. It was really busy so we knew it was probably good. I don't know what type of food it was but it was fresh tortillas with meat and hummus and veggies and stuff inside. They didn't have gluten free but we finally convinced the guy to give me a bowl instead of wrapped in a tortilla. They played some fun music. The area we lived near was so cool. I had to keep reminding myself that this was real. We were really in Paris. After dinner, we walked around some more and decided to try to find a place to have cocktails. There were so many places to choose from and that's the awesome part. We walked all over and there were these neighborhoods full of bars and restaurants and just amazing places. We saw the Notre-Dame at night, also, and it is so pretty. We also saw another really beautiful building that had the Olympic Rings in front of it. Apparently Paris is holding the Olympics in 2024. Cool, huh? Crazy what you stumble upon when you are in PARIS. Sorry--I just have to keep reminding myself that all this actually happened. So anyway, for our cocktails, we wanted a place that was popping, but all of them were so full and, being Americans, the concept of space is quite important to us. All the tables were so close together...Europeans just have no personal space. We finally compromised on a place that was busy, but had seats on the very end with a table in between us and the next people over. After drinks, we went and got ice cream at this yummy place. My friend had lived in Paris for a month a few years ago, so he had some good recommendations of places to go from his parents. We learned very quickly that Paris is quite expensive. After ice cream, despite the freezing weather, we walked back. As long as I walked and had pants, boots, and a coat on, I did okay. So that was the first night. The second day was full of exploring. We had tickets to see the Eiffel Tower at 5pm. We had stumbled across a Japanese restaurant the day before the smelled delicious so we went there for lunch. It was as good as it had smelled, don't worry. Then, we went to the catacombs. So I was excited to see these considering it was Halloween weekend, but that excitement quickly failed as I realized the line wrapped clear around the block. We would have had to have waited for hours. So a little tip...it's worth the extra money to pay for the tickets online and skip the line. We then visited the Luxembourg gardens, which were pretty but you could tell it was fall. Things were starting to wither and there were leaves everywhere. After that, we started making our way towards the Eiffel Tower. We stopped by a grocery store and got a bottle of wine, cheese, salami, and a bar of chocolate and took our picnic to a park bench in front of the Eiffel tower. That was one of my favorite moments. It was like I was in a movie. After, we went inside the gate to wait in line for the elevators to take us up to the top of the tower. Well, what's life without adventure? I had brought along a knife with a bottle opener for the wine, but little did I think about the security for the Eiffel tower. It wasn't my knife so I felt bad and I got through the first security point (shh, don't tell anyone) but then the second one had a bag scanner and there was no way I was going to get through without being caught. So I tossed it right before security. Living life on the edge, everyone. Well, the timing of our tickets was the most perfect thing ever. We got to go to the very, very top and we watched the sunset from up there. Photos do not do it justice, but it was so wonderful. The view of the city and just being there. It was another movie moment, but instead of pinching myself, I was reminded that it wasn't a dream because of the intense, bitter, frigid wind. Right as the sun set, we decided to take the elevator down to the second level (which is actually super high still) because we wanted to go outside of the Eiffel Tower back to the grass to get an overall view of the tower because, at dusk, they turn on 'the twinkling lights' for just a few minutes. This was another favorite moment as we were running down hundreds and hundreds of stairs (I told you the second level was high) just laughing and having a great time. I didn't care one bit what people around us thought. We ran outside the gate and turned around, and literally the timing could not have been more perfect because the lights started to twinkle at that very moment. It was breath-taking. After the lights stopped twinkling, we took a bus closer to our apartment and looked for a restaurant. We ended up going to a Thai food place, which is my favorite type of food. That was it for Saturday night. Sunday was weird because, when I woke up, my watch said something different than my phone so I was super confused, until I remembered my host mom saying something about a time change on Sunday. We fell back an hour which actually worked out nice because we got an extra hour in the morning before we had to check out at noon. Sunday was rainy, which I didn't mind, but it was unfortunate that we had our bags to carry around all day since our flights were so late at night. After checking out, we went back to the crepe place that we had gone to the first day for breakfast, but it was so crowded and you had to have a reservation. So we found this other place called Season and there was an hour wait time for the restaurant, but there was a take-out section that was more like a second restaurant since it had tables, so we ate there. It was a healthy, gluten-free, all-natural type place but I got gluten-free avocado toast that was really good. It was such a cute little place. No space--but hey, welcome to Europe. Afterwards, we went to the Louvre museum. Unfortunately there was a huge line so we couldn't go in but I got a picture by the pyramid and can still say I've been there. We went to the underground mall after that and I had my first Starbucks since I've been in Europe. Sad I know, but it was at least a cool Starbucks since it was underground. We then just visited a whole bunch of different places around the city like the Grand Palace which is across from the Petite Palace. We saw green fountains, we went into a prison that was also a palace in the 14th century. We saw lots of cool buildings and parts of the city thanks to our super duper metro passes. I highly recommend it because the metro takes you seriously everywhere and because Paris is so big, it is necessary. We got a pass that was 4 Euros ($4.66) and it includes zones 1-5 and was an unlimited pass. So we could use it to get all over the city (including the airport). It was perfect! ALSO! One of the trains that we got on was playing the perfect French music which completed my French experience. It was loud, too, which I loved since it drowned out the noise of the train. Ready? Think classic French music where you are sitting at a quaint cafe in the bustling city, sipping your coffee and tapping your foot to the beat of the music playing. You are sitting at a table, and you pick up your coffee to sip it as you look out the window just as a snowflake falls to the ground. The snowflake is incredible, but what really catches your eye is the incredulous view. Right before you lies the Eiffel Tower. You smile as you realize how content and perfectly at peace you are as you sway to the music. Think music from Sleepless in Seattle or Ratatouille. Good ol' classic music or good ol' disney music (depending on what era you are from). Ah. I sigh just thinking about it. #moviemoment. I should just start a hash tag for all my movie moments. Okay, back to real life, friends. So, after exploring different parts of the city, we ended up going to the other crepe location (same place, different location). I finally wrote down the name--it was called the Breizh Cafe. This one was much more "tranquilo" (calm) than the other one that we had tried to go to that morning. It seemed a little fancier, too. Guys, another movie moment. It was so fun because we went in and enjoyed our last supper, taking in the surroundings while enjoying some scrumptious food. I ordered a crepe with egg, Iberian ham (from the Basque country of Spain!!), and cheese. We also ordered cider because the restaurant was known for its delicious cider and it sure was good. Finally, we shared a chocolate dessert crepe with ice-cream. I just have to say, the crepe without the ice-cream was around 6 Euros, but with the one VERY SMALL scoop of ice cream, it was almost 10 Euros. THE ICE CREAM IN PARIS, MAN. So expensive. Negativity over. Because really, it was such a beautiful place and another movie moment/one of my favorite moments. Oh, and the best part was... there was this older lady sitting right next to us when we sat down (and I mean right next to us because remember space...you know, not a thing).  She was eating a crepe roll with tea that came with a mini tea pot. She seemed so sweet and content and I enjoyed watching her. With her amazing French accent, she waved the waiter over and asked for more hot water. Then, for the check and then she left and gave a tip, as well (which is pretty rare in Europe). Well, less than two minutes after she left, another old lady comes in and the waiter seats her in the exact same spot. She orders a dessert crepe and the exact tea as the last lady. She then enjoyed her crepe and seemed so sweet just like the last lady. And then she asked the waitress, with that same awesome French accent, if she could get some more hot water...weird right...and then after finishing her tea, she paid and left a tip. The minute she left, my friend and I were like, "Did you see that?!" I think they should be good friends or would be if they knew each other. 30 minutes. They missed getting to know each other by that much--que pena (what a shame). But having them sit next to us just added to the ambiance and beauty of the restaurant. That and the music and people who were laughing and chatting around us. It was an embrace-the-moment, people watch, and relish the moment type of meal. After we finished, we walked around a little more and I was able to FaceTime my mom, who was at church, and say hi to some friends from back home. Another movie moment, because they go, "Where are you?" And I was able to say, "No big deal (even though in my head I was freaking out), I'm just in Paris." I flipped the camera and showed them the plaza where I was currently standing which, at the end of the massive street, was the Eiffel Tower. Yep. I was in France. It was such a different experience from the first time I was there. I think I was more comfortable since I had been there before but that also made it awesome, that even though I went to the same big city twice in 3 months, I had two completely different adventures. After that, we headed to the airport and I headed back to Sevilla. Crazy enough (but not that crazy), I ran into one of the girls on my program at the Paris airport. That's how we Americans are--we have the travel bug. So I wasn't actually that surprised at the likelihood of one or more of the people from our program being in Paris the same weekend I was. My flight landed at 11:55pm, and my goal was to be home before 1am. I had class at 10:30am today and I needed sleep... I was exhausted. I made it home by 12:45am and my host mom is a saint and had dinner waiting for me. And another perfect end to the weekend was my roommate waited up for me just to welcome me home, the sweet dear. So needless to say, it was a wonderful weekend and no words could explain the emotions I felt throughout the three days at being in such a city. 

It is now Monday the 30th, and I only have one more class tomorrow before I leave for Morocco on Wednesday at 4am. It is going to be six days full of adventures such as riding camels in the dessert, camping in the sand, eating lots of new food, and who knows what else. I get back next Monday, so I will probably have another long post for you next week sometime of my time in Morocco. So until then, friends, remember to enjoy any #moviemoments you have and to live life to its fullest! And you should listen to some classic Sleepless in Seattle/Celine Deon/Frank Sinatra type music...it's good for the soul. Au Revoir, mes chéries (goodbye, my darlings). 

Just an everyday building near the place we stayed at...

Olympic rings!

Notre-Dame!

Notre-Dame is in the background

Look carefully! you can see the twinkling lights

La Louvre!

Even the metro stations in Paris are cool 

The green fountain!

The Grand Palace!!

Dinner at the crepe restaurant the last night

Isn't that ice cream scoop RIDICULOUSLY small?!?!

Week 7: Oct. 16th-22nd (Córdoba & Granada, Spain)

I have officially been in Sevilla for more than six weeks. This is week seven of classes and then I have seven more after this week. How crazy! I am counting down because I am excited to be at home, but then I also don’t want to leave. It’s a tough battle to fight. Rough life, I know. Well this week was more miserable than the past six weeks because I had to study A LOT. I had three midterms on one day--one right after the other--and then one the next day as well. Let’s just say by Thursday, I was ready for a break. A lot took place this week and weekend though and overall, I am happy about it.

This past Monday night, I got an email from ISA, my program, that I was accepted into the program for teaching English to kids. I was told that I had to be there at 9:45am the very next day and I needed to sign a contract at the ISA office beforehand. The ISA office was about an hour or more in the opposite direction and both places were very far from where I live. I almost bailed on doing the program, especially because I was stressed about having to study for midterms but my roommate convinced me to give it a try. So I got up at 7:30am (that is very early here) and made my way to the ISA office to sign the paper...ugh, that’s all they needed...and then grabbed my schedule and headed to the school. The school was located in the more suburban area of Sevilla and I was almost completely alone on the metro on the way there which felt so strange. Once I arrived, it was less than a five minute walk to the school. I had a very difficult time opening the door. You had to buzz in in order to get the door open but every time it unlocked, I could not figure out how to open it. I finally got it to open on the third try and then I walked up to the front door and couldn’t open that one either. It was rough… then I didn’t have any idea where to go or which classroom I was supposed to be in. It always adds an extra layer of fun when you aren’t fluent in the language, too. It was a bilingual school--or at least they teach classes in English--so I was hoping more people would know English but no such luck. I finally found my way to the classroom and FELL IN LOVE. There were about 30 kiddos or so and they were about 11 or 12 years old. They were all so curious and seriously so adorable. They had to introduce themselves in English and then they got to ask me questions in English. They were mostly yes or no questions but I cannot tell you how much fun it was and how adorable their accents were. Then the teacher, Sylvia, let me write on the chalkboard and lead some activities. A chalkboard, yes, that’s what I said...and I don’t know how they do it. My hand hurt so bad because the chalk is so tiny. And to have good handwriting with a piece of chalk is quite the challenge. It was so fun though. I thought about moving to Spain to teach English to students there. No joke. Still slightly considering it. I guess every other week I am with the students I was with on Tuesday to teach them English and then the other weeks, I am with 8-year-olds to teach them science. We shall see this week how that goes. Science might be quite trickier. Either way, I am thrilled at working with them and am so glad I didn’t bail.

So then Wednesday came and I had my three midterms. On the bright side!!! It rained for the first time and it smelled SOOO good. I had forgotten what rain smelled like. My roommate and I got our rain gear on--my rain boots and rain jacket--and took photos that night in the rain. But anyway, midterms. They went better than expected I would say, but my Sports Psychology test was ridiculous. I just don’t even understand the questions he writes. He had to blot out or give us the answers to three out of 30 of the questions because he didn’t proofread his work. I like that class and I like him as a person and coach, but as a teacher...he is very frustrating. Wednesday night, I spent a good deal of the night studying for my Communications and Media in the Digital Age class. That is when I realized I really enjoy that class and I also have a mini crush on my teacher. Not a lovey-dovey crush, but more of an admiring crush. I like who he is as a person. I really enjoy his class and I like the way he teaches and how passionate he is. He has also taught me so much in life and in material in the last six weeks. He is one of the younger professors there and is single, but that doesn’t matter. ;) So the reason I am telling you all this is because of what happened on Thursday. Because before this all took place, I didn’t realize how much I “admire” him. So I was supposed to have tutoring at 11am at my University to work on my Spanish. I was going to meet with a lady named Lola and she works in the international office called CUI. I don’t remember what that stands for, pero bueno. (<--a transition phrase in Spanish that means “but good” and it’s a perfect phrase for this scenario but doesn’t sound right in English so I am going to use some Spanglish.) So I was walking to this office and thinking about my teacher--his name is Rúben by the way--and as I walk up to the office, guess who is standing outside? Rúben. We are on a first name basis...cool right? Ha. Just kidding--every teacher goes by their first name. But anyway, he works in that office as well, but he was outside and he looked at me and goes “Hola, q tal?” It clicked. I realized why I appreciated him so much. He speaks to me in Spanish and treats me like a friend as well as a student. I like that he doesn’t just speak in English but also that he gives me the chance to be a Spaniard. I also realized how in class he always looks me straight in the eye, which I appreciate teachers than maintain such concentration. So I went in for my tutoring session but Lola ended up not being able to meet which gave me more time to study more for my midterm so it worked out. I took my midterm later that afternoon and I ended up being the last person in the classroom with Rúben. As I was walking up to leave I was thinking of all the ways to say bye in Spanish and have a good weekend and stuff and he totally beats me to it and says it so quickly that I just stumble over my words and go, “Gracias, hasta luego.” Ugh. The struggle.

Well Thursday night, I finally felt free and was able to facetime my mom for 3+ hours and it was glorious. It was like spending an afternoon with her. It was great. Then, that night, Carly and I had a wine night with cheese, aceitunas (olives), and potato chips. We watched the Switch, an American movie, but don’t worry it had Spanish subtitles.

Friday morning, we left early for Cordoba and Granada on one of our excursions as a group. We stopped in Cordoba first and it was an older city that was beautiful. There is a pretty mosque/cathedral there and our tour guide was very passionate and proud of his city. The tour seemed a little long though because there were a lot of people and we were starving by the end of it. But it was cool to think how at one point Muslims, Christians, and Jews all lived in harmony together. There were many cool little restaurants and there were lots of awesome narrow streets and cute tourist shops. It was slightly hilly but seemed like more work than we were used to because Sevilla is so plano (flat). Our host mom had packed us bocadillos (similar to sandwiches) and we sat outside and ate them after the tour. We then got ice cream, of course. I got mango...classic. I usually either get mango or fresa (strawberry) because the fruit tastes so good. Then, we went and got drinks and tapas at a restaurant after where we could just sit and chat. It was a short few hours in Cordoba and then we headed to Granada. Granada is a college-town and is very hilly compared to Sevilla. It is the only city in the south where you can ski in the winter time. We saw the snow on the Sierra Nevada which are the mountains there. It made me want to ski real bad. We arrived in the heart of the city and ended up staying at a beautiful hotel. I did not realize how cold Granada was at night so I very badly under-packed. I brought mostly shorts and tank tops. I had one jacket. I greatly regretted my packing decisions. That night, we climbed about 10 flights of stairs (or the equivalent) outside to get to this viewpoint. It was exhausting. We were sweating despite the freezing weather (in the 50’s and 60’s, which is cold compared to Sevilla). The view was incredible though. It was of the La Alhambra at night and then it overlooked the whole city, as well. So gorgeous. After that, we went to a flamenco show. We had the room just to ourselves. It was so much fun. They can sure move their feet fast. I hung out with a great group of girls this weekend. There wasn’t really a set group but I had a blast with all the different people I hung out with. That night, we went to dinner after and I biffed my spanish so bad when I was trying to order a drink. Yet, the camareros (waiters) had such a great time with us. I love when they can mess with us Americans instead of hate us. We even got a photo with one of the waiters, which I will post below. After, we found a dessert place that was FANTASTIC and even had gluten free options! There was chocolate cake, a date cake, and carrot cake. I got carrot cake and it was so moist and fresh and yum! I was a happy camper. After that, my friend Mary Jo and I decided to go get a glass of wine at one of the places near our hotel. Our hotel was literally smack dab in the middle of everything. Then, we decided we wanted to check out one of the clubs. There were big men/security guard type people out front and we were really intimidated. One of my friends from Santander, Elena, who lived in Spain for a few years and just knows Spain really well was messaging me and telling me how they were just bouncers, like the US has. We felt silly we had thought they were something else but that made a lot more sense. So we went there--and got IDed--which was funny because they have no idea how to make sense of our American driver’s license. Also, fun fact. My license expired at the beginning of this month since I turned 21 in September but I didn’t want to get a new license before I left because I would have to get another new one when I get back so I am using it despite it being expired. I never usually get IDed so it works. Anyway, MJ and I had a good time. It was literally all locals which was cool but we tried to blend as much as possible. We decided they are so cool and we are so not. They have such little dance moves, but they’re good. MJ and I like to go crazy. We like our space. But we didn’t want to draw attention to ourselves. We stayed out til about 4am and I had 10,000 steps before going to bed. That’s always fun. The next day, we had to wake up early for the all-inclusive breakfast before meeting for our tour of the La Alhambra. They had gluten-free options at breakfast which was exciting. So then, we saw La Alhambra. It was a palace and fortress that was built a long time ago. There were a lot of historical facts that went in one ear and out the other because it is too much for my brain to retain, but one thing I remember is that Isabella and Fernando lived there at one point and they honored Christopher Columbus in one of the rooms we stood in. The design was so intricate and most of it was so well preserved. It was so impressive. The views were incredible and the gardens...lovely. I told myself I was going to just enjoy the tour and only take a few photos. I think I took over 200 photos not going to lie. It was incredible. I highly recommend it. After, we went out for tapas and drinks. So in Granada, when you buy a drink, you get a free tapa. By the way, a tapa is a small portion of something. Like a small bocadillo or a tortilla de patata which is like an omelet. So we went to this restaurant and I spent eight euros and got two alcoholic beverages (I’m legal and it was only soda and wine, don’t worry friends.), a omelet thing, and an assortment of meats and potatoes. We stuffed ourselves. Our waiter was so nice about my celiac disease as well. It was a grand experience. After, we all hit a wall and went back to the hotel and I napped for three hours. Then, we got up and went to go get ice cream and found a frozen yogurt place. Eat, drink, be merry--right? After, we walked around the city. It was incredible how many people were out but there were SO many cute restaurants. We got dinner at this one restaurant and it had stuffed potatoes with a sauce over it that had mushrooms and beans or something. I enjoyed it very much. Dinner was also fun just because of the people I was with. After dinner, I convinced them to go back to the dessert place from the night before because I wanted the chocolate cake this time. I’m such a bad influence, I know. Unfortunately this time, I was disappointed because they only had the dates cake. I decided to get it but it was not very good. It was dry and it was sugar free, lactose free, and gluten free. I can’t imagine anything like that could taste very good. After dessert, MJ and I decided to go to a bar and get drinks and talk. We had such a great time. It was a cute bar but we realized that it was only old people in their 50’s that were there. That was great for us because we could be left alone to talk. She’s a really good friend and gives me good advice. She also has a relationship with Jesus so we relate in that way. Well, after that we decided to try out this famous discoteca that a friend of hers had recommended. Let me just say--it was crazy! There were four bars inside this place. It was kind of inside of a mall. All of the bars were playing different music. We had fun for the first two hours, but then afterwards it got so crowded, we couldn’t even dance. There was a lot of shoving and I don’t like that. Also, a ton of Americans and people from our program were there and we don’t like that, either. We prefer to be with the locals and to have our space to dance. We left around 3:30am, before we got our 10,000 steps but we figured it wasn’t worth it. Besides, we needed some sleep. We had 9,400 steps so it was close enough. The next morning, we went to the cathedral where Isabella and Fernando are buried. It was a cool tour and we didn’t have a tour guide this time. We had one of those devices that you hold up to your ear and it tells you all the details. I chose for mine to be in Spanish because I thought it’d help me focus more but I gave up shortly after. I preferred to just look around. You could actually go underground sort of and see the tombs. It was cool. Then, we went outside and there were the statue people who dress up like statues and stand still unless you give them money. Then they will take a picture with you and move. One of them looked like a statue and he kept scaring people, even a little girl. After that, we went back to the hotel and sat and had coffee and just talked and enjoyed each other’s company. An hour before we were supposed to head back to Sevilla, we decided to get a quick lunch. We ended up back at the place we went to dinner the night before because it was so good. There were so many solicitors out at this time which is annoying that they can just come up to your table. One lady walked by, just a tourist, and she saw the stuffed potato and was like “¿Qué es? ¡¿Qué es?! ¡Yo quiero!” It was great. She was so nice. I love people like that! Then, we ended up heading back for Sevilla and got home around 8pm. Now it is back to reality. I am not sure I am ready to face the week. At least I don’t have midterms this week. Just a paper for my class with good old Rúben. :)

Well, sorry for the long post! A lot happened this week I suppose and with the trip to Cordoba and Granada, I just had a lot to record. I hope you guys enjoy the pictures! It’s almost November (already?!) so I will be posting a group of photos on Facebook soon...after this weekend probably. Hope all is well with you guys and that you are enjoying your fall weather. Sevilla is supposed to be between 85 and 90 degrees this week...ahh. Longest summer ever. Pues, adiós mis amigos!

This is my friend Maddie--such a sweetheart

This is the statue man that scared everyone

Beautiful view of the city!

MJ and me

Seeing the gardens finally made me feel like it was fall!

Gorgeous gardens 

Id like to point out that this was taken in the bathroom--that's how nice this place was.

Fun fact. If you look at this photo up side down, you can see the exact same picture because of the reflection.

This is the same reflection view as the photo above, just from the other side..

So much detail

My friend Juanita! 

Our fun waiter that took a pic with us!

The night view of the La Alhambra

Night view of the city...worth the sweaty hike

This is in Cordoba!

Cool pic in Cordoba where the cathedral spire lines up right in between the narrow street

The mosque/cathedral in Cordoba

Cordoba!!

IT RAINED FOR THE FIRST TIME!!!

"singing in the rain"
also, you can see the name of the street we live on behind me so it's a great pic for when my memory fails me a year from now