White Water Rafting!
15 Feb 2011 Leave a Comment
The past few days in Uganda have been very exciting. I can’t believe that we only have a week left before flying back up to London. Time has gone so fast! But it has been an extraordinary experience – I couldn’t have asked for a cooler program. Liz and I have been here with two other awesome volunteers which has been a lot of fun, Pastor John and Barbara have been so wonderful and hospitable, and I have had a great time doing the volunteer work and getting to know the children at the orphanage.
Last week, Barbara took Liz, Kylie, I with her to visit the women’s prison. Many of the women came up to meet us and shake our hands, and then sat to listen to Barbara talk. Barbara is so compassionate and caring, and it was obvious how much the women at the prison respected her. It was a shock for me to see that the women who had children were responsible for caring for them at the prison. There were around four or five kids that sat with their mom’s in the room to listen to Barbara. Most of them looked between the ages of 2 and 5. That is just horrible that just because the parents got into trouble, the kids have to go live at the prison also. Every time Barbara goes to the prison, at the end of her speech, she always talks with the group of women who are pregnant to give them advice and to ask what they need to care for their baby. When Barbara has the money, she will go and buy the products (such as baby carriers and wipes) for the pregnant women at the prison. Barbara said that the most common crime that the women commit to be put in prison is fighting or beating up other people, or mistreating children.
On Friday at the school, I also had the chance to listen to part of the afternoon debate which was pretty interesting. Every Friday after lunch, the kids all participate in some sort of debate which normally lasts 3-4 hours. This is the first debate I got to listen to – it was a debate on if fire or water is better. I took the side of water. I think it is good that the teachers are teaching the kids so early to learn to debate and form opinions, and it was really cool to watch.
On Saturday morning, John drove Liz and I to the company through which we were going to white water raft for a full day. We got there around 8 in the morning to have breakfast and a small orientation for rafting. It was at this time that Liz and I realized we were signed up for Grade 5 rapids – which is also the highest that is legal for a company to allow novices to raft down. Most of the people we were rafting with had done rafting before at a lower grade. Before this, I realized I definitely had a false impression of just how difficult and dangerous white water rafting can be. Two British girls that we were talking to said that when they went last time, one girl had dislocated her shoulder while rafting, and another guy had smashed into a rock when the raft flipped and had to be taken to the hospital for stitches. At this point, I was slightly worried about my knee dislocating while rafting since it is so prone to it already. Thankfully, no serious injuries occurred.
Liz and I got on our raft with two ladies that we met from Canada (Monica and Carly) and one girl from Israel (Ester). I had never met anyone from Israel before so it was exciting to talk to Ester since Liz and I will be going to Israel in May for about 2 weeks. We might now meet up with Ester in Tel Aviv when we go which would be cool. We also had a really cool and funny instructor who sat at the back of the raft named Bret (he was originally from South Africa). When we got into the water, he first did a few drills with us to get us prepared for the rapids. There was a special way we had to hold on onto our paddles and the side of the boat if we felt that we were going to flip over. This was one thing I never really got the hang of when flipping as you kind of go into panic mode when there are rapids and the raft crashing over your head.
We first went through four Grade 3 rapids before getting to the Grade 5 ones. It takes a lot of arm power too as you want to enter the rapid at a pretty high speed in order to not get bashed around too much by the waves. This was one thing we lacked since we did not have a full raft and only one guy. So, the first large rapid, we ended up flipping which is both scary and exciting the first time. I ended up getting trapped under the raft on the first flip – every time I tried to swim out from under it, the rapids would push the raft around causing it to keep landing on my head and pushing me under. Finally, after getting out of the rapids, I was able to swim out from under the raft. I definitely felt like I was going to drown at one point when I could not get out from under the raft. Once everyone was at the side of the raft, we all were told to swim away as the current had pushed us too closely to some rocks.
After we all pulled one another back into the raft, we went through three more Grade 5 rapids. We flipped for a second time, which was so much more enjoyable than the first. I got used to feeling like I was drowning when the rapids were crashing over my head, only this time, I did not get stuck under the raft which was nice. The rapids and current, however, did cause me to lose my grip on the outside of the raft and I ended up drifting away which was pretty exhilarating. Any time this happened to someone, there were always three kayakers at the end of the rapids there to row you back to the raft. On the third Grade 5 rapid, we just barely managed to stay upright – everyone was still recovering from the first two flips which motivated us all to row our hardest through the next.
After these rapids, there was a massive lake type stretch that we had to row across to get to the next cluster of rapids. The wind was also against us which made everyone feel like despite how hard we rowed, we weren’t getting anywhere. Our guide, Bret, was even getting tired and he was worried that we would all be exhausted by the time we got to the end which were the really dangerous and rocky rapids. So, the guides all discussed rowing for a half day instead and offering partial refund. The guide on the other raft, however, was feeling particularly motivated and attached the first aid raft, and the other two rafts together. He then went to the safety raft in front with the large paddles and rowed all three rafts across the entire stretch while everyone rested and ate lunch. He was everyone’s hero that day. We definitely went through a company that really cared about their customers.
After that long stretch, everyone put their helmets and life jackets back on for the next rapids. When we were getting close to the end, our guide pulled a prank on us. He told us after the first smaller rapid, to be prepared because there is a much more difficult one afterwards that we have to take seriously. If the rapids and current would have pushed us down that one and we flipped (which it is almost impossible to go down it without flipping), Bret said that we would not be smiling at the end. Well, after the first one, we saw the massive one and everyone paddled their hardest to go straight and escape the current. Bret told us that this rapid was an example of Grade 6 and it is too dangerous for most rafters to go down. He said he kayaked down it once, lost control, and felt like he was going to drown. So, we all exited the raft, walked past the Grade 6 rapid, and then we got back onto the raft for our final and most challenging Grade 5 rapid. This one looked very intimidating and one girl in our team did not want to get back in after looking at this rapid. But Bret coerced her to get back in as if she left, the raft would be even more lighter and prone to flipping, plus unbalanced. The first raft with the other group of people had an intense flip. One guy in that raft said later that the rapids pushed him under 3 times. On this rapid, everyone rowed their hardest and we surprisingly made it through successfully without flipping.
After white water rafting, everyone was so sore. Liz and I ended up staying at a resort partner with the company we went rafting through (they offered a free night as a promotion). The resort was very nice – it was my first hot and constant shower for around 3 weeks. I then got up early in the morning to watch the sunrise over the Nile, and then Liz and I went to breakfast at Denile Café in Bujagali Falls with Monica and Carly (who also stayed at the resort after rafting). After breakfast, Liz and I went down to the Nile River to swim for a few hours before heading back to John and Barbara’s.
Liz and I now have only one week left Uganda and we will then fly up to London for a day, and then fly to Bangkok, Thailand on February 26 to spend 2 and a half months in Southeast Asia. I will really miss Uganda and everyone I have met here – I would love to come back one day in the future!
Uganda!
11 Feb 2011 Leave a Comment
***Will add pictures later
I have now been in Uganda for about a week and half and things are going great! Liz and I did, however, have our closest encounter ever with missing a flight. We had completely misjudged how long it would take to get from central London to Heathrow Airport. Our flight was scheduled to leave at 7:00 PM and, after a lucky guess of getting off at the right terminal, we did not arrive at the airport until, literally, 5 minutes to 6 PM. Liz and I rushed to the Kenya Airlines check-in desk and thankfully, there was no line. One of the workers told us that she thought we were going to miss our flight, however, she hurried to try and get our boarding passes printed off. We then checked-in our luggage (thankfully no $50 luggage fee!), and then rushed to security which took a bit longer with the line. After making it through security, Liz and I grabbed our shoes and carry-on bags, and actually sprinted to our gate. We got to the end of the boarding line, and were finally able to relax once we boarded. Kenya Airlines turned out to be the coolest airline I have ever flown on, hands down. Everyone had their own mini TV screen right in front of them, a large selection of good movies and music from every genre, and even a selection of tv shows. Although an overnight flight, Liz and I felt the need to get our full money’s worth by not sleeping, but instead watching all the movies and TV shows that we could fit in during the flight, including Social Network, Easy A, Glee, and Wizards of Waverly Place. Liz and I also found a way to keep the cool green Kenya blankets that all the passengers got to use during the flight! After spending the entire night watching movies, we arrived in Nairobi, Kenya at 6 AM for a 6 hour layover. Liz and I set our alarm and tried to get a few hours of sleep before our last flight from Nairobi to Kampala, Uganda.
When we arrived in Uganda, Liz and I had a few problems with paying for our visas at Customs since we both just have credit cards, and they would take only cash. We had to make multiple trips outside of the Customs security check while they held our passports in an attempt to get the correct amount of Ugandan Shillings. Upon first using the ATM, I fell in love with the exchange rate. 2400 shillings is equivalent to about one US dollar.
After finally getting through Customs, Liz and I were greeted by Big John, who we are living with throughout our five weeks in Uganda. John and his wife Barbara run the orphanage that we are volunteering at in a small village about 2 hours from Kampala (the capital city). The city is called Jinja and, to our surprise, we discovered that this is known as the “Adventure” capital of Uganda. We are located 5 miles from the source of the Nile (Lake Victoria), and because the Nile river runs straight through Jinja, there is a lot of white water rafting, bungie jumping over the Nile, speed boats, and many other fun options. I also learned that there are many crocodiles in the Nile. Liz and I are planning on doing white water rafting this upcoming week.
As for a little about Big John – he first went to college and got a degree in Finance and had a very good job as a businessman for a few years. As a strong Christian, he later felt that he was called to be a pastor. He returned to college, majored in Theology, and started a church. He felt the need to start an orphanage after an incident with a couple in his church. The couple both had AIDS, and also 8 children. The father had passed away first, and the children’s mother was very ill when she confronted John and asked that he look after her children when she passed. The world is aware that AIDS/HIV is a huge problem in Africa, but discussing the problem with a local who had been affected by it made it seem so much more real. After the mother died, John had a huge heart and took care of her children at his own home. This inspired in him the idea to start Kidron Christian Orphanage. John was able to buy a large piece of land and begin the building of the orphanage. Because of the large problem of AIDS, many children become orphans at a very young age and are even more apt to getting AIDS themselves. John wanted the orphanage to be all girls because he is very sympathetic toward the problems that young girls easily grow victim to growing up in Uganda. There is a large problem with rape, and many girls are not taught the skills they need to be independent. Many women are very poor which makes them very dependent on their husbands for money and the things they need to survive. John and his wife teach and prepare the girls at the orphanage as best they can with life skills, a free private education at Kidron Christian School, and offer them guidance after they turn 18 on what to do next so that they can support themselves. John has been married to Barbara for 5 years now, and she also has the biggest heart for the orphans having been one herself. When Barbara was a young girl, her parents had also passed away and she was left switching between the houses of relatives who treated her like a servant. Barbara is great for the girls to talk to about their past as many have either lost parents, been abandoned, or been mistreated by their family.
Liz and I are living in a spare room of John and Barbara’s home. One other volunteer, Greg, had already been here for the past two weeks and is planning on staying until mid-February. Greg is 25 and from North Carolina. He is very nice, and it has been great talking to him. A few days later, a girl from Belgium (Kylie) arrived to volunteer for about a month. She is sharing the room with us. It has been a real blessing getting to volunteer with Kylie and Greg – we have all grown pretty close. Most nights after we get back from the orphanage, we play cards and watch some movies in our room. During our latest movie night, we watched Shawshank Redemption.
We have been very busy during the past two weeks painting a new playground that was just installed for the kids. It has three slides and a large swing. The only downside is it has been very hot – Liz and I didn’t realize until we got here that Uganda is right below the equator in the Southern Hemisphere which means that the months of December through February make up their summer. After the first few days, we finally finished the playground and were able to move on to the new medical clinic for the orphanage. The clinic was just built and will provide a full time doctor and a live-in 24 hr nurse. Another really cool thing is that the clinic will also be available for free to people in the community that are HIV positive. We all worked to paint the outside and inside of the clinic before it opens sometime in mid-February. The work at the orphanage has been very rewarding knowing that it will be put to great use, and the locals have been very gracious. The kids will now have a doctor or nurse around if they get sick whereas before, there was not a clinic within close proximity to the orphanage so it was only in cases of emergency that they could be brought to a medical facility. We have had to practice conserving the little resources we have for the project as the budget allows only so much. One instance where this became a problem was when we ran out of wall tape so as to make as even of a paint line as possible between two colors. We had to attempt to reuse the old tape that we had already rolled into a wad. This was a very tedious project, but it turned out alright.
One thing I have truly loved about the program are the children – they are all so sweet and caring. There are currently 17 girls living at the orphanage who range in age between 5 and 15. It is definitely challenging to witness their childhood in comparison to when I was a kid. They had to learn very early on to help each other with tasks such as getting water, cooking the food, laundry, and helping to wash the younger children. It is truly admirable how much every child is dedicating to helping out, even when it is not asked of them. There have been plenty of instances in which some of the girls have asked to help us with the painting and help us with sweeping out the classrooms at the school before the start of term. I have had a blast teaching volleyball to one of the girls (Sarah) who, for a nine year old, is already very talented. She can bump much better than I could at that age and it is great to see how much she is interested in learning to play correctly. Although John and Barbara can provide only for 17 children at the moment, they are trying hard to expand and get the finances to provide for more children. They just began laying the foundation for a new dormitory for the girls during the beginning of February. I have seen the floor plan and it looks spectacular! Although they only have the finances to do half of the building right now, John is pretty set on getting as far as they can on the other half and leaving it up to God to provide.
Another thing that John and Barbara do when they have time is visit the men/women’s prison to help give the prisoners encouragement and direction. I have a lot of respect for John and Barbara for doing this because a vast majority people do not think about or really acknowledge those in prisons who have done wrong. The government of Uganda does not provide simple things like soap or shoes to the prisoners which really surprised me. John and Barbara try to bring soap/shoes to the prisoners whenever they can afford to do so. Furthermore, what really shocked me, was at the women’s prison, any mother who has a baby or child that needs to be cared for must raise them in the prison if there is not a relative to care for them. John and Barbara care very much at attempting to talk with and guide the prisoners so that they do not feel entirely pushed aside and forgotten by society which is normally the case. In the bible (Luke 5:31), Jesus says “it is not the healthy that need a doctor, but the sick. I have not come to call the righteous, but the sinners to repentance.” John and Barbara do not judge any of the prisoners, but long for them to lead better lives once they are released from prison. I had the opportunity to go to the men’s prison with John a few weeks ago, and I was amazed at the loud applause that greeted John from a large group of prisoners. I was even more amazed when John told the group at the end that the four of us (Greg, Kylie, Liz, and I) each would like to say some encouraging words. As I try to avoid public speaking at all costs and had no idea that I would be expected to make a small speech, I panicked a quite a bit :p I have not yet been with Barbara to the women’s prison, but I could tell from my experience at the men’s that John and Barbara are greatly revered and respected by the prisoners.
One thing I have grown to absolutely love about Africa is the fresh and delicious fruit! I have tried so many different fruits here that are not commonly available in the states including Jack fruit and passion fruit (very tangy, but good). The bananas (and the vast majority of fruit) is so much fresher and sweeter here than in the US. I have definitely developed a new constant craving for pineapple as well. Other than this, the meals normally consist of hard boiled eggs, fruit, and bread for breakfast, and chicken, fish, avocado, rice, and beans. Barbara occasionally prepares delicious Passion Fruit juice. We normally have lunch at the orphanage which consists of maize and beans every day. All the organic and natural food here makes me want to entirely stop eating all the processed food when I return to America. I feel like I have so much more energy every day here just because the food is so healthy.
One thing that I am beginning a pro at is hand washing my clothes. I have not used a washing machine since leaving Madrid, however, the two girls that were living briefly at John and Barbara’s house (Francesca and Debra) both gave the four of us a much needed lesson in how to properly hand wash clothes. I was amazed to see that it is so much more effective than a washing machine. Francesca did my white towel that had all sorts of stains on it, and I was stunned to find it completely spotless when she finished.
Our first Sunday in Uganda, John invited us to go to his church which has been a really fun experience every week. Although it reminded me very much of a Baptist church, John’s church is non-denominational Christian. Furthermore, I could tell I was in Africa when John told us the night before that church starts at 9 AM and the next morning, we did not leave until after 10. And John is the pastor. I soon learned that the church is very chill and never starts at the given time, and it is no big deal to walk in late. During the first part of the service, there is a bunch of singing and dancing. Everyone gets up and stacks the chairs to make room for dancing and singing. The second week was really cool – a large group of people began the train around the two large rows of benches in the room and everyone joined in. I imagined someone starting that at my church back home and laughed. One thing I witnessed right away was how much of an amazing church community it was. Everyone cares so much about each other; when Barbara noticed that a certain lady was not at church that Sunday, she asked the congregation if anyone had any information on her to see if she was sick or something. It was just amazing that when they notice someone did not come to church that day, they care so much that they are not there that they ask everyone. The congregation was also so welcoming to us when we came for our first Sunday and nearly everyone introduced themselves. They also had us stand up in front of the congregation to introduce ourselves and where we were from. I felt so comfortable going there! Although the service is done in Luganda (the local language), there is usually a person that translates most things such as the sermon into English. The only part that takes some getting used to is the heat. So many people jam packed in such a small room makes it so hot. Church normally lasts till about 1:30 in the afternoon.
Last Sunday, we all got to watch the church do a baptism which was a fascinating experience. After service, a large group of people walked about 30 minutes to a spot at the Nile River where they do the baptisms and about 7 people got baptized. It is a big step for many of the people as most here cannot swim so they get very frightened about going into the water. Many people from the church go along to support those getting baptized and sing the entire time. Afterwards, everyone had sugar cane and Jack fruit. I also got to experience a bit what it would be like to be a celebrity as many people wanted to take pictures with the Mzungu’s (this is a term for “white person” in Africa).
It is impossible to walk through the village without loads of kids shouting Mzungu at us the entire time and occasionally following us. It is very rare to see white people here. Some kids who have never seen a white person before are even scared of us. Once when the four of us were walking through the village a group of kids came up and one of them was carrying a toddler in their arms. The toddler started screaming at the sight of us and when the kid put him down, he ran in the opposite direction. Although kind of humorous, it also kind of makes you feel like a monster. As in Morocco, if you are white you can expect to have everything cost about double it does for a local. I have definitely grown accustomed to bargaining while in Africa, particularly the motorcycle taxi rides into Jinja. I also knocked off about 10,000 shillings of the original price of a dress that I bought for the dress code at the orphanage. In Uganda, women are expected to wear dresses or skirts below the knees. Pastor John said that some women are just beginning to wear pants (mostly in Kampala), but that it’s still not fully accepted in such small villages.
One large, unexpected challenge was when John asked for our assistance in fetching water from the well. We took the truck and we were shocked to see around 30 large yellow water jugs. When full, one of these jugs weigh approximately 45-50 pounds. John and Barbara were leaving that weekend for a week in Kenya and wanted to make sure that we had plenty of water to use for the week. We first brought down all the empty jugs to the well and John parked the truck as close to the well as possible. It was on a hill which made the task even more challenging. We had to carry the full water jugs up the hill to John’s truck to load them. There were already a large group of people from the community there fetching water, and the moment they saw four mzungu’s struggling with the water jugs, they (the kids especially) all burst out laughing. I was shocked to see how strong the local people (especially the women) are in Africa just from carrying water jugs every day. One girl who looked to be around 13 told Liz, Kylie, and I as we passed that we are weak and we need to do physical activity every day. The sad part was we had nothing to say to defend ourselves. The next day, we were all so sore! This was a huge motivator though. Next time we go to fetch water, I am determined to be more prepared. In my free time after the orphanage, I occasionally walk around John and Barbara’s house carrying two full water jugs on either side. Slowly, but surely, it has been getting slightly easier, and amuses John and Barbara.
On February 1, classes at the primary school started. It has been very interesting being in an African school environment – it is so different than what I was used to as a kid. The school has nursery through Primary 6. Now that we have finished painting, we basically just assist the teachers with stuff. This usually consists of drawing and coloring posters which has been quite a challenge – I almost prefer the painting. I never had patience for art class in junior high, and never took art in high school. Considering the past week, however, I wish I had. We have had to attempt to draw replicas of the pictures (most being people) out of the teacher’s books (the kids do not have text books) and enlarge them on poster board. Easier said than done.
Since school started, I sat in on a history class (Primary 5) to observe the classroom experience. The main advantage to a private school in Uganda over a public school is the student to teacher ration. The class I sat in on had around 22 students for one teacher which was pretty good. John said that although the government changed the law to provide a public education for all kids, the education is not good and there are too many students to one teacher. I thought that the class did pretty good with such limited resources. The main problem I felt was that there is too large an emphasis on repetition and memorization in the classroom of small facts that are likely to be obsolete in a month’s time. The school is also one teacher short (there are 5 teachers) so there is always a class that has no teacher at some point. It has definitely been very interesting observing the school system here. The discipline here also consists of teachers hitting the kids with a stick or something like that if they misbehave. The headmaster, Patrick, wants to abolish this and implement other forms of discipline. It will be a large change though, he said, as this is the only discipline the kids are used to.
Last week, John took Greg, Kylie, Liz and I to a nice resort to use the swimming pool there which was a lot of fun. We had a pretty fun game going with a ball where there are three people at opposite corners ready to jump into the pool. One person in the pool throws the ball to the first person as they jump in the pool. They then have to catch AND throw the ball to the next person who does the same before hitting the water. It was pretty sweet! The resort also overlooked the Nile River which was absolutely gorgeous. Greg and Kylie went down at one point to swim in the Nile and ended up seeing crocodiles. We later had an amazing lunch of fries (known as Chips in most other countries other than America) and pizza, and then went to play some pool. I watched the sunset over the Nile – it was by far one of the most beautiful sites I have ever seen!
So far, I have not been having any problems with mosquitoes here in Uganda. I think I have had a total of one bite thus far. Liz and I did end up buying anti malaria meds for our time here though which are absolutely disgusting. We have to continue taking there for 4 weeks after we leave Uganda. Although they are a pain to remember taking, the side effects are pretty wicked. Malaria meds commonly cause super vivid dreams and occasionally hallucinations. So far, I have had some pretty cool dreams since I have been taking them.
These past few weeks, I also feel like I have grown a lot closer to God which I am happy about. That was something that I really wanted to work on this year, and being able to stay with Pastor John and an awesome group of Christian volunteers has been so enriching. I am definitely so happy that we came to Uganda for five weeks – we found such an awesome program. I can’t believe that we only have 2 weeks left here. Our flight leaves for London on February 23, and we arrive at 5 in the morning on February 24th. We are spending the day with Daniel (a couchsurfer we stayed with in London), and then our flight for Bangkok, Thailand leaves early in the morning on February 25th. We have not made any plans yet for Thailand such as what places to visit. We will most likely be going to Vietnam as well for a few weeks as we have to leave Thailand after 30 days before we can re-enter for visa purposes. I am very excited to backpack around Southeast Asia!
As for our remaining two weeks in Uganda, Liz and I are planning on going white water rafting this Saturday. We also may go to a certain place that Pastor John knows of to feed bananas to chimpanzees! I am really excited for this. I am planning, after leaving Uganda when I have more internet time, to upload an album of all my pictures from Uganda as I do not have too much internet time. I will try to keep everyone updated!
Jen
Morocco and the United Kingdom!
19 Jan 2011 Leave a Comment
Monkeys in marrakech!
Salam!
The last few weeks in Morocco went fantastic! Liz and I spent a few more days after Christmas in Fez with a couchsurfer named Jamal. The last few days in Fez, we went to the medina to explore. In comparision to the one in Essaouira, the one in Fez was massive causing Liz and I to get lost several times. It had many small shops and cafes scattered throughout, and cheap markets. We met up with Jamal at an awesome café called Café Clock (where we also found Precious a home in my last blog) and we talked with him and his friend Kamal for a few hours. They both had a really good English and were fun to talk with. We then went back to Jamal’s and played the guitar with him for a few hours and we taught him the Friend’s theme song. He then gave us a lot of information on Fez and Morocco, and we told him a bit about America and the traditions there. It was a very fun night!
Elizabeth Katherine Kidd
Elizabeth Katherine Kidd was born in Toledo, Ohio, however, she has resided in Bowling Green, Ohio for the duration of her childhood. She was born on July 31, 1991. She is the daughter of Gary and Eileen Kidd and has one older sister, Mary, who is now 23. Elizabeth, aka Liz or Lizzy or Beth, had traveled to quite a few states throughout her childhood, including many in the Northeast and Midwest, and even Hawaii. She did not, however, visit the big island. When Elizabeth was 16, she decided the summer before her senior year to attend National Honors Convocation in Los Angeles, California. This is where I met her. The summer before that, she had gone on a program to New York City. During her senior year of high school, Elizabeth fulfilled her dream of living in a large city by applying to DePaul University, located in Chicago, Illinois. She decided to spend her Freshman year in the Honors program here, majoring in Digital Cinema. Elizabeth is a very hardworking and motivated student, earning all A’s as a Freshman. Elizabeth is currently planning on transferring, although is not sure at this time where she will be attending, and is planning to major in Psychology with the intention of potentially going on to Medical school in a few years time.
Neal (Brother), Liz, and Aziz in Marrakech!
Liz and I also experienced our first Hummum during our time in Fez. This is a very traditional part to Moroccan culture. Hummum’s are based all throughout Morocco and basically serve as shower houses. The ones that tourists normally do are really awkward and involve a lady who washes your body, rubbing off all the dead skin. Although it was a very interesting experience, it was super awkward.
henna tattoo!
On our last day in Fez, Liz and I went to Christy and Stephen’s (the American couple we gave our cat too) to visit Precious one last time. We then met up with two of Jamal’s friends, Unez and Mohammad, who were very nice and took us on a drive outside of Fez and around through the mountains and a National park. They also took us to a really nice surrounding city where we had a traditional Moroccan lunch. It turned out to be a very fun day.
That night, we took a 9 hour bus ride from Fez to Marrakech. The buses make frequent stops which seems to add on so much time to trips. Once we finally arrived the following morning in Marrakech, we called the guy we were couchsurfing with (Aziz), and he came to pick us up. When we arrived, we met another couchsurfer who was also staying at Aziz’s place in Marrakech for a few days named Neal. Neal is originally from France, however moved to Tangier, Morocco with his family about 10 years ago. It was really cool talking to him – he was a unique person, and Liz and I soon added him as a “brother” in our international family, which grows more diverse every place we go to :p
Nomad tents in the Sahara Desert!
During our first night in Marrakech, we went with Neal and Aziz to a really famous square located near the medina. This was a really cool and different experience. The square had many small markets selling things like snails, freshly squeezed (and delicious!) orange juice, and some other Moroccan food items. There were also many different dances and small shows that people all crowd around that are pretty cool to watch. Liz and I were both able to hold snakes and some adorable monkeys! I have never seen monkeys anywhere besides the zoo, let alone been able to hold one so this was really cool! This is also a major tourist hub though, so Liz and I also ran into awkward situations. Two lady’s that did Henna tattoos just completely grabbed our hands, even after we said we weren’t interested, and began just drawing the henna on our hands. We repeatedly said that we were not going to pay, but apparently the two women seemed to think we were joking. When they finished the tattoos and we began to walk away, they followed and kept cursing at us, trying to get us to pay. The taxis are also super sketchy. Many times, they will play dumb and refuse to turn on the counters in order to “set their own price.” Liz and I soon decided that if we ask for the counter to be turned on and they refuse, we pay our own price. This soon became pretty convenient for us since there is no structured system with the petit taxis in Morocco. Taxis will also sometimes exploit the counter system by not resetting the counter once one person gets off who was on beforehand. Taxis pick up multiple people in Morocco at a time rather than having a private journey, and can set the counter to three different people. Many times, they will not reset the counter if a person gets out, and then will trick the other person into paying for both since they can make it show up on the screen. Between some workers in the square/medina area and the taxis ripping tourists off, Marrakech, although amazing, had some of the largest tourist traps that we have encountered.
Liz and I in turbins and on our camels!
I also discovered that the water changes from city to city in Morocco. I had been fine drinking the tap water in all other cities that I had been to, however, after downing quite a bit of the tap water in Marrakech, I ended up getting sick for the next two days which was a bit miserable. After that, I tried to drink mostly bottled water.
Liz and I ended up spending New Year’s Eve in Marrakech as well which turned out to be a lot of fun. Neal and Aziz had been planning to go to this really popular party at a British Pub in the city that takes place every year. The only problem for Liz and I was that the entrance fee was 60 euros pp. However, Aziz was able to get us in for free! The party was an awesome way to celebrate the New Year, and we met so many people from the couchsurfing website there that came from all over the world. There was a really cool DJ, dancing, belly dancers, and some other entertainers that made the night a lot of fun!
Me and Yassine!
The day before we were suppose to leave Marrakech, a girl from Hong Kong also came to stay at Aziz’s (Neal had left by this time) and we from had a nice conversation with her. I had never met anyone from Hong Kong before so that was pretty cool. Aziz then took us for a drive to the outskirts of Marrakech to show us a deserty area that was really pretty – plus, Liz and I got our first look at quite a few camels. This made us all the more excited for our desert tour the next day!
On January 3, Liz and I met up with Moboruk at 8 AM for our desert tour. He was the one who would drive us the 10 hours from Marrakech to the Sahara Desert. The first day, we drove about for about 6 or 7 hours, including multiple stops at some scenic/touristy spots to take pictures. We even passed some really cool spots where movies were commonly filmed, including a studio near Merzouga, Morocco. It was really cool when we later watched What a Girl Wants, and we recognized the exact location in Morocco where a certain scene had been filmed.
In the Sahara at the movie studio - exact spot a scene in What a Girl Wants was filmed!
That night, we stayed at a nice hotel in Dades George which is a place right in the center of the mountains and by a river. It was very pretty. The next day, we finished the drive to the desert, where we then met our tour guide Youseff (sp?) who was also super nice. W then spent the next week doing a bunch of camel riding which was really cool at first, but soon became fairly painful and repetitive. We named the camel carrying our luggage “Lady G,” and the other two camels Pookie and Snookie. The camels were all boys.
The first night in the desert we stayed in a small nomad village with a lady named Karen who was originally from England. She had lived in England up until she was 18, and then took a gap year from university to travel to Australia and work there. She ended up basically staying there to live and work for quite a few years and did a lot of traveling to other parts of the world. When she came to the desert, she fell in love with how quiet it was (she doesn’t like cities) and being able to see all the stars at night. She then decided to move from Australia to the Sahara desert to start a small tourism business in the village. It was very interesting hearing about what motivated her to make such a drastic move to the desert away from everything she was used to. We spent our first night with her and a few locals around the campfire, learning how to play the Moroccan drums and talking. It was a really cool night and we learned a lot about Berber life in the Sahara. It was also amazing to see all the stars with no light pollution. I also saw that shooting stars occur much more frequently than I always though – I saw 10 to 15 by the end of the week. It is just so easy to miss some of the smaller ones with all the light pollution from cities.
Playing berber drums in the Sahara!
We spent the next four nights with two different nomad families in the desert. It was super interesting seeing how they went about everyday life and what it is like to grow up in the desert. It is definitely a much simpler life without technology, and they all seem perfectly content with the desert and are not interested in anything different such as going to a city.
During the day, the desert was normally between 70 and 80 degrees, however, it dropped drastically at night and became very cold which definitely took some getting used to. Once during the week, Liz and I also tried sand boarding which is the same as snow boarding except on sand. We also realized how difficult it is to walk up a sand dune. You slide a few inches every time you take step which makes seem like it takes so much longer to get to the top. Liz and I realized how out of shape we were as we were trying to keep up with Youseff. He made it to the top about 20 minutes before we did as we took multiple breaks. I felt so accomplished once I finally got to the top.
Pay phone in London!
A few of my favorite things about the desert was being able to see the stars at night, and how healthy the food was. Nothing is processed in the desert – all the food we ate came from vegetables and fruits. We had a lot of tagine and Kus-kus throughout the week.
Toward the end of our week, Liz and I did both end up getting sick though. The day before we were suppose to drive back to Marrakech, I got sick in the morning in the middle of the desert. I got off the camel and ended up continuously throwing up like 5 times while trying to walk through the desert. I finally had virtually zero energy left and the more I tried to walk through the sand dunes, the more I kept throwing up. Youseff ended up taking the camels back to his brother who lived somewhat close by, and then had his brother come around a half hour later to take me to his house so that I could rest. It was a pretty miserable day and by the end of it I was totally appreciative for the access to actual medicine back in the US. There are many types of “Berber medicines” that I tried during the week. It was a pretty miserable last day in the desert.
Tower Bridge in London!
Although the desert was a very different and interesting experience, it is not something that I would have wanted to grow up in. Seeing all the stars at night was cool, but I prefer the city to the desert. After my week in the desert, I am so thankful for small things like hot water, toilets, and a bed, and having the opportunity to go to school as a kid.
We left early on the last morning for Marrakech at 8 AM. Once we got to the mountains and all the sharp turns again, I did end up getting sick again. It was a relief when we finally got back to the train station in Marrakech late that night and could get out of the vehicle. At that point, I was starving hadn’t not eaten barely anything during the past two days so I decided to have McDonalds which surprisingly turned out to be good – a nice break from Tagine which didn’t sound appetizing at all. That night, we did more traveling and took a train from Marrakech to Casablanca. We arrived in Casablanca around 10 or 11 PM, and our friend from couchsurfing, Yassine picked us up so that we could stay at his place again. Yassine was the first addition to our International family as we stayed with him for 6 days in Casablanca when we first arrived in Morocco. In Casablanca, I picked up my new passport finally! And I even got to keep my temporary one which I will now use for scrapbooking purposes. Besides this, Liz and I returned to Café Americana to work on couchsurfing requests for the UK and other travel plans, including finding and purchasing our flights to Thailand, Israel, and back to Madrid over the next few months. We now plan to be in southeast Asia from February 25 to May 16, Israel from May 17 to May 29, and Madrid from the 29 to June 1 where we fly back to America. I am very excited
A guy in a kilt in Edinburgh!
We left Morocco on January 13 and have been in the UK for the past 6 days. We spent two nights in London with a really nice guy from couchsurfing named Daniel who works as a consultant in London. The night we arrived, we didn’t get into the city until around 1 AM and we realized the bus we were supposed to catch had stopped running at 12:30 AM. Our lack of cell phones again served to be very inconvenient, and we can never figure out how to use the pay phones, but some random people at the bus stop came over to help when I guess we were looking pretty distressed. They let us use their phone so that we could call Daniel for new directions to his place.
Heart in Edinburgh - the myth is that if you spit on the stone heart, you will have good luck!
The first full day in London, we did a bit of sightseeing and went to the London Eye, Buckingham Palace, the Big Bend, Thames River, Oxford Street, and London and Tower Bridge. That afternoon, I also had to go to the organization we went through for our Spain program to pick up my package with my new credit cards and digital camera to replace those that were stolen in Madrid when I was pick-pocketed, as well as mine and Liz’s anti-malaria pills for Uganda which we were suppose to start taking one week before leaving for Uganda. It turned into a bit of an adventure trying to find WAVA, but as usual, Liz and I luckily ran into people that helped out – in this case, a guy in a shop that we randomly went into to ask for directions happened to work in the same building as WAVA and was able to call one of his colleagues (even though the building had been closed for about a half hour) and talked to the manager still at WAVA to open the door for us so that we could get our packages. Otherwise, the building was closed on weekends and we would not have been able to get our malaria meds on time, and I probably wouldn’t have ended up getting my package since I had to go to a different location (postal warehouse) to pick up my package since I had to pay VAT customs taxes on it first. Daniel helped us the next day to find the post office before it closed which we never would have found on our own. We have definitely experienced some miracles this year.
The Elephant House in Edinburgh - where JK Rowling wrote some of the Harry Potter books!
Our last night in London, we watched the Hangover, made pizza, and played racing on the PS3 with Daniel and some of his friends. It was a fun night! Liz and I also did a lot of repacking, and I ended up throwing away my sweater, jean leggings, and some other wintery things to make some more room in my bag. Living out of a backpack is an interesting endeavor.
The Elephant House!
We also spent two days in Edinburgh, Scotland with this really nice Scottish couple (Mark and Heather). I really enjoyed exploring Edinburgh – the city has a lot of history, most commonly known as a city during the witch trials era. “Witches” were hung on the Grassmarket street in Edinburgh. Parts of the city (the underground and a cemetery) are also known to be haunted, and there are many tours that go through the underground and cemetery. Liz and I almost went one, but ended up missing our tour. We visited the cemetery during the day, however. One thing I found pretty cool at the cemetery was that a dog was buried there a long time ago. This dog had was known in Edinburgh to be super loyal and devoted and when its owner died, the dog went to it’s owner’s grave in that cemetery every night. Eventually, when the dog died, it was buried by its owner in the cemetery.
Greyfriar's dog - gravestone in Edinburgh
We also explored the Royal Mile and Princes street which are the most popular streets in Edinburgh. We went up the hill take some pictures of the Edinburgh castle, and we also visited the Elephant House Café twice where Harry Potter author JK Rowling began writing the Harry Potter books. This was pretty cool since I am a HP fan!
That night, Liz and I had a movie night and watched the Parent Trap and What a Girl Wants – some of our favorite movies from our childhood! – with Mark and Heather. This was a lot of fun!
We spent our last two days in the UK in Oxford, England. We stayed with an MBA student (Nigel) that goes to Oxford University and it was really cool since he was able to get us into one of the really popular colleges (Magdalen College) at Oxford that tourists normally have to pay to get into. So we were able to walk around the college which was really cool! We also explored downtown Oxford which was also pretty nice. Oxford is a really diverse and student-driven town – it was definitely a unique place.
Christ Church College, Oxford Great Hall - also used as the Great Hall in Harry Potter films!
Liz and I also went to another popular college called Christ Church College which is where some of the Harry Potter Hogwarts films were shot (particularly in the Great Hall of the college). Oxford is definitely a gorgeous university and a really cool city!
During our night there, we went out to eat with Nigel, and then we spent a few hours at a pub in downtown Oxford at a couchsurfing get-together where we met a ton of other couchsurfers from all of the world which was pretty cool.
We are now leaving for Kampala, Uganda tonight for our volunteer program which I am really excited for! I will try to update as much as possible, however, I am not sure how much access I will have to internet while in Uganda. We will be there from January 20 to February 23.
Jenna
Christmas in Fez!
27 Dec 2010 2 Comments
Chilling at the beach!
Morocco has been going fantastic and I have been meeting so many great people. Liz and I were a bit unlucky with the weather in Essaouira – it was very rainy and windy the majority of the time we were there; however, our last day was warm and sunny. I spent most of the last day exploring the Medina…..and eating a lot of ice cream! There was delicious ice cream shop very near to the café that Liz and I frequented nearly every day in Essaouira when the weather was miserable. We also had to make a flight change with our Ryanair flights from Morocco to London – we realized that we had made a really stupid mistake and booked flights on accident from Portugal to London. Ryanair is super different, and since the flight was indirect, we didn’t realize we had to book both separately. So we had to pay 100 extra euros for the flight change. Liz was also busy working on her transfer college applications, and I did a lot of research about student life at Brown. I am so excited for college next fall. However, the rainy and cold days in Essaouira did not make me as excited for the weather in Rhode Island.
Essaouira
We left Essaouira about 3 days to make, what would become, a longggg journey to Fez for Christmas. We originally had bus tickets to leave Essaouira at 8:30 PM and arrive in Fez at 7:30 AM the next day. When we got to the bus station at around 8 PM, we discovered that our bus hadn’t showed up. We then were given replacement tickets for a different bus that was suppose to leave at 10 PM, arrive in Casablanca at 4:30 AM, and we were then suppose to transfer to some other bus in Casablanca that would go to Fez. The buses in Morocco do not go straight to the destination, either, but stop at many small places like every 20 minutes along the way. When we finally arrived, sleep-deprived to Casablanca, we at first didn’t realize the destination. They do not tell you on the bus which destination is which so we had to keep asking around.
Eating Tagine in Essaouira with Samir and Mounir
We realized at the last minute, when the bus driver was nearly preparing to drive away that we were in Casablanca. So, Liz and I, freaking out, rushed hastily off the bus and showed the bus driver our ticket to get our luggage out from underneath the bus. The bus driver looked super confused after seeing that we were suppose to go to Fez. Then, another really grouchy worker came over, looked at our tickets, then shook his head and put our luggage back on the bus. He said that we needed to get off at Rabat instead to transfer. So, Liz and I walked back down the aisle of the bus past the other passengers, all of whom were looking super annoyed with the delay. We were stared at as we hurried back to our seats.
"Stop" in Arabic.
After the bus began driving again, the worker came back up the aisle and then attempted to get Liz and I to pay again. We both refused – the entire reason we had to take that bus in the first place was by mistake of the other bus that hadn’t come to Essaouira. We had been told that the new tickets were suppose to cover the entire trip to Fez. It was definitely a very hectic and unorganized trip. Finally, when we reached Rabat, we got off the bus and met a really nice guy who knew a bit of English and was trying to help us figure everything out. Eventually, the bus driver called the station in Essaouira and realized that we were telling the truth and stopped trying to make us pay again for the trip to Rabat in exchange for retuning our luggage.
Moroccan tea....delicious!
The guy that we met then said that he was also going to Fez, so we said that we would just follow him. Although we did end up having to pay for another bus, but this point we were just happy to have found a bus that actually goes to Fez. And the grumpy worker from the last bus continued to harass us for money, even after the driver had called the bus station in Essaouira, but the nice guy stood up for us and made the worker leave us alone.
Our apartment on Christmas...traditional moroccan couches 
We got on the bus to Fez – the journey was suppose to last only 2 and half hours, however, due to multiple unnecessary and weird 20 minute stops and an odd bus driver, the journey ended up taking SIX hours. When we finally arrived in Fez at 11:45 (after a total of like 13 and half hours on the bus that night), we got off the bus to get our luggage. As I was bending down for backpack barely one foot away from the bus, the bus driver started driving the bus away. He forgot, however, that the luggage door was still open. As he began driving away and I was bending down, the luggage door almost ended up hitting me. Luckily, a guy close it shoved the door shut in time. However, in America, a customer could have easily sued for something like that. The bus system is definitely much different in Morocco.
The cool way to do laundry....
At around 1 PM, we met up with the owner of the apartment that we were renting out in Fez for Christmas. He was very nice and showed us around the apartment, which was fabulous! It was definitely the nicest thing that we will end up staying in all year while backpacking. It had two large, traditional Moroccan couches, two bedrooms, a kitchen, and a bath room.
After setting our bags down, we went for a walk down the street outside our apartment and came across an adorable stray kitty that was outside in the rain. Of course, Liz and I both have the biggest heart for animals. After barely 20 seconds of indecision we were conspiring ways in which we could sneak the cat into our apartment for Christmas. We looked down the street to make sure that the apartment security guard wasn’t watching and put the cat into Liz’s bag. The cat was still pretty small, having only probably passed kitten stage a short time ago.
The newest addition to our traveling family....!
After only having the cat for 2 days, we realized that there was no way that we could put such a sweet cat back on the streets after leaving our apartment. The cat was starving and would literally just snuggle up in the blankets against us, sitting on the couch. After researching a bit on Christmas day how feasible it is to transport a pet from Morocco to America, we realized that the easiest option would be finding the cat a loving and safe home before we left Morocco.
Our Christmas Tree this year....
Christmas day turned out to be pretty good while in Morocco. Liz and I went out in the morning to buy pasta, chocolate, and some other food. We then spent the day in the apartment. Liz and I both ended up each handwashing our laundry. We had been too cheap to spend an extra $1.50 to buy detergent for the washing machine and just decided that we would handwash our clothes. That definitely takes more time that is given credit – it was hard to believe that that was always how laundry was done before the invention of the washing machine. That ended up taking a good majority of the afternoon. There are no driers really in Morocco, however, so we had to put our clothes up to “dry” on the clothesline. It was so cold and damp out that they didn’t dry at all. The next day, we had to fold all our wet clothes and put them in plastic bags into our backpacks, which definitely added a good 7 to 8 pounds to the weight of our backpacks.
Chilling on Christmas with Precious....this was the only spot we stood a chance at getting WIFI in the apartment.
After finishing up laundry on Christmas day, Liz and I then flipped through some of the TV stations in search of some Christmas movies. We did end up finding Merry Madagascar and Miracle on 34st Street and were able to watch about the last 20 minutes of each one. Otherwise, we played some Christmas music that we downloaded and ended up singing Christmas carols to ourselves, including a wonderful chorus of Carol of the Bells. That one was a big fail. Neither of us have extraordinary singing voices.
Liz cooking pasta on Christmas!
We also made a questionable pasta meal for dinner. Liz and I are not good cooks so it was a new experience. The first pot was too small and we tried to put too much pasta in the pan which made it very hard to stir, so a lot of it stuck to the bottom. That was fun cleaning later. But the meal turned out to be okay and we even lighted about 12 candles on the dinner table in the form of a Christmas tree. During dinner, we also placed Precious, the cat, onto the chair beside us with her bowl of milk. The cat definitely made Christmas complete. Overall, it was an enjoyable Christmas and I will never forget it. Liz and I didn’t do gifts since we are both going to go broke from the gap year, so it was a good experience having a Christmas without presents. I am planning on doing Christmas in July, however, to make up for the lack of Christmas movies and music.
The next day, we got up early to clean the apartment (which we managed to trash in a matter of 2 days) and got the cat ready for travel. We put the cat back into Liz’s bag – we refused to let it back onto the streets. We even had given it a bath the night before which had turned out to be a very funny and painful experience. The owner never discovered that we had snuck a cat into the apartment.
After checking out of the apartment, we took a taxi to a place called “Café Clock” in the medina where we were planning on meeting the guy that we are couchsurfing with in Fez. It turned out to be a really nice café and there were many tourists there. The worker even offered to hold our large backpacks in some storage closet so we didn’t have to drag them into the café. We found a nice spot to sit down near another group of Americans. They were very nice and asked us where we were from and about our gap year. They were the founders of an American school in Fez. It was a school where they worked to prepare Moroccan students to go to universities in the US and Europe. At this point, Precious was still in Liz’s bag curled up and sleeping – she was seriously the most well-behaved cat I have ever seen. While we were talking about Precious, the lady overheard us and got really excited. She came over to look at Precious and thought she was so cute. There was also a couple at the table (they had moved to Fez in August to work at the school) who had actually been praying to find a good cat – their old one had just passed away.
Precious in Liz's bag....the owner of the apartment never noticed!
They checked Precious a bit to see if she looked healthy and talked it over, before saying that they would like to keep Precious. Liz and I were so happy – it was too much of a hassle for us to keep a cat while traveling in Morocco (although the couchsurfing guy had said it was fine to keep it at his place) and we really wanted to find a nice home for it. The couple who worked at the school were so nice and we could tell that they had big hearts. So, although we now really miss Precious, she is in good hands and the couple said that they will keep us updated by email. We are planning on meeting up with them at some point during the next few days to get Liz’s bag back.
After giving Precious to the couple, we next met with the couchsurfer that was hosting us during the next few days in Fez. He was very nice and we had a good conversation at Café Clock and learned a bit more about Morocco, as well as some more Arabic. At this point, I am highly considering studying Arabic in college – it is a really different and interesting language, and I have a small obsession lately with North Africa and the Middle East so I think it would be cool. I also learned a bit more about the Muslim religion and customs here in Morocco which was very interesting.
Mosque in Fez!
This week we just plan on exploring the Medina here in Fez and looking into some other things to check out. There is also a mosque here that tourists are allowed into which will be fun to go to. It is supposed to be very beautiful inside, and I have never been in a mosque before. On the 29th, Liz and I will be leaving for Marrakech, another really popular city in Morocco. We are excited to spend New Year’s there
I hope everyone had a fantastic Christmas wherever you were!
God Bless
Time for Africa!
22 Dec 2010 1 Comment
Morocco
Hey everyone! Everything has been going great – Liz and I left Spain on December 13 for Morocco. My last two weeks in Spain consisted mostly of traveling to Seville (great college town – we met so many students studying abroad there!), Cuenca (well-known for its hanging houses), packing, forming travel plans, and taking care of getting a new passport and credit cards. I also now know where I will be attending college next year – I will be a part of the Brown University Class of 2015! Brown was my dream school, so I am very excited for college life next fall.
Since my purse was stolen a few weeks ago in Madrid, I spent the following week struggling to get new credit cards sent to my house, finding a new cheap camera off of ebay, and figuring where to have all my replacements sent. As I was leaving Madrid in a week, I didn’t have time to have anything sent to my host family’s address (aside from my emergency credit card) and since I will be doing constant travel throughout the next 5 and half months, I will have no address. It was even more disheartening when I learned that it was not safe to send or receive mail anywhere in Africa. My dad, however, came up with the genius idea to send a package to WAVA in London (the organization I applied through to do the Spain program) and pick it up there before flying out to Uganda. So, I emailed WAVA and they offered to keep my package secure before coming to pick it up – they have been a great organization! I am excited to have a camera again next January….and credit cards! And I just went to the US Embassy today in Casablanca and applied for my full validity passport as I wouldn’t have been able to travel back to Europe or Israel next spring since my passport would expire in July (you need 6 months validity on your passport to enter some countries). All in all, this has been a good life lesson and in no way has made my gap year experience any less fulfilling.
Last weekend, I had sooooo much packing to do. I underestimated how much of a challenge it would be figuring out what to pack in one backpack for 6 months and how to pack it. After making many sacrifices with clothing items and other random things, I had finally finished packing my backpack to live out of for the next 6 months. Next, I had to fit all my remaining things in my larger piece of luggage which I think weighed close to 80 pounds (legit!) by the time I was finished. My host family is allowing me to keep my other luggage at their place until I return at the end of next May to pick it up and fly back to America. I will have to do some MAJOR repacking before the airport to make both pieces of luggage under 50 pounds.
Casablanca!
After saying good-bye to my host family, I met Liz at Barajas airport (I know that airport SO well now!) and we compared the weight of our backpacks. Simply carrying mine on my back during the walk and metro ride had be inwardly thinking about the things that I would throw away during the next 6 months to make it lighter……we both definitely over-packed!
Upon arriving in Morocco, Liz and I realized how difficult it would be with the language barrier. The official language in Morocco is Classic Arabic, with the next two unofficial languages being Berber and French. After searching for someone who spoke Spanish or English, Liz and I were directed to an ATM where we were able to withdraw some MAD (Moroccan Dirhams). The exchange rate is finally in our favor here in Morocco! 500 dirham was around 55 USD!
Liz and I next found a train to take to the station nearest to Casablanca. The journey on the train was simply amazing – Morocco is just so different! When we arrived at the station, we thankfully set our backpacks down and got something to drink. Because of the language barrier, I have had to resort to drawing a picture of what I want a few times already….definitely good practice for my non-existent talent in art!
Moroccan dirhams currency
Next, Liz and I got a taxi (so cheap in Morocco!) to take to a certain mosque where we were supposed to meet the guy off couchsurfing that we were to stay with for the week, Yassine. It almost felt luxurious to take a cab – Liz and I are so used to doing the cheapest thing available for transportation: walking. And with our 30 pound backpacks, that option didn’t sound so appealing.
When arrived at the Mosque about an hour before we supposed to meet Yassine at 7:30 so we decided to take a short walk up the street. We did stop at a market at one point to get a can of pepsi. It only cost 3 dirhams….which is $.30! I am definitely very fond of the exchange rate after multiplying everything in Spain by 1.35 to get the USD equivalent.
At 7:30 PM, Yassine picked us up. He is so welcoming and hospitable, I can’t even describe it! It has been a fantastic experience staying with him this. After a few quick introductions and a small tour of his apartment, Yassine went to pick up another couchsurfer (Erica) who was also planning on staying for one night. Erica was from Washington, USA. When Yassine left for kickboxing practice, Liz, Erica, and I spent the next few hours getting to know each other and talking about the places we have all traveled to this year. Erica was able to give us some tips on things to do and see when we travel to Marrakech, Morocco!
Huge mosque in Casablanca
When Yassine returned that night, he told his he was planning to take us out for a drive that night to show us around Casablanca and bring us to see the giant Mosque at night. Beforehand, he allowed us to use his computer to check fb and email while he got ready. At that point it was 11:30ish PM and there was still one thing that I was wanting to check that night: my early decision for Brown University….which has been my first choice school ever since I first researched it during the fall of my senior year. Totally expecting deferral, I logged onto my account and, singing along to Shakira (music always helps lessen the tension), I opened my decision online and nearly screamed when I was the word “congratulations!” I was totally expecting deferral again, so this was absolutely amazing – Brown is my dream school. So, after sending in the commitment card, I will be attending Brown University next fall with the rest of the Class of 2015! I am so excited for college…..everything really worked out in the end! Now, I am just having a hard time tearing myself away from the Brown website and forums – I have been doing so much research about campus life, etc.
Anyway….back to Casablanca. Yassine took Liz, Erica, and I to see the mosque – it is super massive and looks amazing at night! It is one of the only ones that allows tourists and non-muslims inside to tour it. After driving by the mosque, Yassine took us down one of his favorite streets in Casablanca which was right alongside the ocean and had many bars and restaurants. When we stopped for dinner, I ordered a very Moroccan hotdog – very different from an American one. The hot dog was sliced up inside a bread wrap and mixed with corn, green peppers, and cheese. It was delicious! Later that week in Casablanca, I had the opportunity to try many other types of Moroccan food. I definitely love the food here! It is the culture in Morocco to eat with your hands and buy a lot of food in a group and just share with everyone. A very traditional food here (Tagine…sp?) normally consists of a type of meat or mixture of potatos, peas, etc in a large pan and bread.
Later that week in Casablanca, I had a great time exploring the city with Liz and going to the beach. However, we did end up spending a lot of time at a really cute café called “Americana” that was right across from the US Embassy. Liz has been working on college applications, and I have been spending a lot of time at the embassy attempting to get a new replacement passport as I just have a temporary one right now since my purse was stolen a few weeks back. I hate my new passport picture….but it isn’t a huge deal.
Petit taxi in Casablanca!
Another thing very different in Morocco is the driving – I would be TERRIFIED to drive in Casablanca. No one really pays attention to the road rules and really just drives wherever and however they want. It’s even worse than Chicago traffic. Also, cars do not really care about cross walks which are practically nonexistent in Casablanca as it is. There were plenty of times that Liz and I would sprint across the road as it never seemed like the cars would slow down.
I have found Moroccan people to be absolutely fantastic – I have made some great friends and met some of the nicest people that I know. It was definitely a bit infuriating how some people back home and even strangers in Spain cautioned Liz and I not to travel to Morocco simply because it is a Muslim country. In America, particularly after 9/11, “Muslim” is commonly closely associated with words like “terrorist” and “violence” and “fundamentalist.” We received so many “warnings” and, thus far from experience, not one has proven to be true. Again, I am thankful that Liz and I are both stubborn (or we like to call it “determined”) to do what we want and not be swayed by what others would have preferred for us. Traveling to Morocco has been a great life lesson about the dangers of holding stereotypes against certain groups of people simply based on their religion. It is impossible to judge an entire group of people just because of a few extremists and American Muslims have long suffered discrimination in the US because of this. Everyone that I have encountered in Morocco and of the Muslim religion has been very willing to help and extremely welcoming and open-minded. At one point, I had been looking for a specific photo shop to get a passport picture and I had gotten lost. Again, it has been super inconvenient not bringing phones. However, I asked one guy for directions back to a café and when he did not know how to get there, he asked some other locals in French for me and ended up calling one of his friends that spoke English and could explain to me how to get to the café. The guy even ended up driving me there to ensure that I found it. I have been having a very positive experience in Morocco and I am so glad that I had the opportunity to come here.
Traditional Moroccan Tagine!
Aside from the great people in Morocco, I have had a wonderful time experiencing the Moroccan culture. Yassine was a fantastic host and took Liz and I out several times. One night, we went to a really cool Spanish bar called the “Cantina” and had dinner and then danced for a bit. He also took us a few times to a very traditional Shisha bar (more commonly known as hookah in America) – these are very popular in Morocco and a part of the culture. We have also been learning quite a bit of Arabic and French phrases which has been fun – I am gaining a passion for learning different languages!
Liz and I left Casablanca last Sunday and have since been in Essaouira, Morocco which is a very small and quaint Moroccan city on the coast. The people are just as amazing and our current couchsurfing hosts (Moonir and Samir) have been very hospitable and welcoming. Essaouira is not nearly as modernized as Casablanca was so it has a very African feel to it. It is famous for the “old medina” which is in the downtown part of Essaouira and has many small restaurants, cafes, and independent shops. It is a somewhat touristy area. I am very glad that Liz and I are couchsurfing here as it has enabled us to stray away from the touristy areas and get a legit feel for the actual way of life and culture in the city. The people who live here really seem to enjoy it’s small town feel and couldn’t imagine living in a larger city like Casablanca or Marrakech. The weather hasn’t exactly been too great while we have been here, however, which has prevented beach time. It has been very windy and rainy. The toilets here are also super different. Most in Essaouira are very Moroccan and consist of a single hole in the ground. There is also no flusher for these toilets; there is normally a faucet with a bucket and after filling the bucket up, you pour it down the toilet hole. I was fascinated by it when I first used one!
One of many Moroccan shops in the "old Medina" of Essaouira!
Tomorrow, Liz and I will be leaving for Fez which is more in the central part of Morocco. We are very excited to spend Christmas here! We rented out a large Moroccan apartment in the city for Christmas Eve night that has a kitchen, three bedrooms, a massive living room, and even laundry facilities. Liz and I have been washing our clothes with shampoo in the shower so a laundry machine will be super nice! The apartment is for 6 people – we couldn’t find a smaller one, however, it is only 60 euros for a night! So the price is very good. Liz and I are excited to attempt cooking a nice Christmas dinner and bake some cookies! We also met a few people from England at Yassine’s while we were in Casablanca who are all currently living in Fez. We invited them over to the apartment for Christmas Eve so we may be spending Christmas with the them as well! It will definitely be a Christmas to remember! Holidays this year have been very memorable and interesting – it has been very fun and interesting experiencing holidays away from home!
Feliz Navidad
