extremadura

Our last overnight trip with API is officially over...a scary thought. I had an awesome time this weekend traveling throughout Extremadura, Spain (a region on the west coast).

We started out in Mérida to visit the Roman ruins.

 Roman Amphitheater

 amphitheater

 Roman theater

Roman something

Our next stop was Trujillo, where we visited the Palacio de Santa Marta:

 On Saturday, we hiked from Canamero to Guadalupe...10 miles

 1,000 yr old tree, where we stopped to eat some bocadillos

 we could finally see Guadalupe after about 5 1/2 hours

Hospedería del Monasterio (where we got to stay the night!!)

inside the monastery

medieval market right outside our hotel! so fun!

i had the most amazing grilled corn on the cob here, but sadly i don't have a pic so you'll just have to imagine.

i wish i had gotten around to a post about gibraltar (one of my FAVORITE trips) but i put plenty of pics on fb!

next stop: lagos, portugal with the wonderful mollie siddens!

mrt



ESTOY BIEN!!!!

Story of the week: I may or may not have been hit by a car yesterday (meaning I was).

So I was on my sevici bike, minding my own business when I was suddenly hit by an oncoming car from the left and pushed into the street to the right (don't worry it's alot funnier then it seems).

To explain further, there's a spot along the bike lane (which runs directly next to the street) where there's a parking lot. Generally there's not alot of traffic here and they always have to stop for bicicylists and to turn into the street before crossing the bike lane. I was riding along with the street to my right and the parking lot to my left when I saw a car heading toward the bike lane in front of me. I assumed he would stop, like they all do, so I kept going. When I realized he was looking opposite direction the direction I was coming from I started yelling, "HEEEEY," howeverr he didn't hear me. Since he was going to hit me in .05 seconds I ninja kicked/stomped the hood of his car as hard as I could with my left foot as we collided, (when he realized he hit something he hit the breaks instantly) then I somehow managed to swing my legs over the handlebars to the other side and jump off while my bike crashed down and all my stuff fell into the street.

Luckily, this is a funny story (although it could not be if I didn't have speedlightning reflexes and ninja legs) and apparently I instantly screamed, "ESTOY BIEN!" (im good) way too loud as everyone ran to see if I was okay (my roommate was biking behind me the whole time). The driver was freaking out a little but after my constant declaration that I was alright (not even a scratch my friends) I was able to hop back on and pedal off.

Although there was no harm done, I think I'd like to check getting hit by a car off my list permanently.

still alive,
mrt

Marruecos Marruecos Marruecos!!!

Be prepared for a super long (seriously it never ends) post because I have SOO much to tell about Moracco! I just got back today from a four day stay in the city of Marrakech in Moracco (which is in AFRICA!) This trip was truthfully nothing like I was expecting.

To begin, in Moracco, they speak only Arabic and French. Oh, haha, funny, I've been studying Spanish? So although I can decently communicate in two different languages, neither are used in Morraco. BUT, what was so amazing was the vendors in the markets! These aren't educated people, yet they speak practically every language you can think of. As I would walk by the stands they would test out every language they thought I would know until I responded to one. I had fun with that, because I would only respond in Spanish (I always said "no, gracias") as I walked by the stands and they shoved things in my face. They assumed I was American, then when I didn't speak English they would shout out all these different countries trying to guess where I was from (I generally got Spain, Italy, and Buenos Aires? not sure where the last one came from...).

I found I was a pretty good bargainer compared to the rest of the students, who seemed to all get gypped from the vendors who would jack the prices for about 500% more then they were worth. I actually had alot of fun with it and walked away feeling like I got a good deal on everything I bought. There was one little old man (like 5 ft tall and around 70) who I bargained with to bring a price down to 30 durham from the original 50 durham. He had been joking with me the whole time and when I asked for the change he wandered into the back half of his stand then just stared at me. When I realized he was waiting to see if I would come after the change or just leave it (50 durham is only 5 euros) I wandered to the back where he handed me my 20 then motioned me to come closer. He whispered in my ear, "for the whole store, you give me 200 durham and your passport." I'm still not %100 sure what his plan was with my passport (maybe the 200 durham was to get him to the airport), but the thought of him going back to the states as a 20 yr old girl and me staying as a Moroccan vendor was pretty funny.

the CLEAN part of the market

The market itself was one hell of an experience. It was the first time I had seen this type of lifestyle in person. The first woman I saw wearing a full burka was quite a shock and made me extremely thankful. The beggars in the streets also upset alot of people; your not always prepared to see people in such bad condition (especially with children...). There were a few girls in our group that just couldn't handle market. On top of the beggars, the vendors were EXTREMELY aggresive. The very first shop I went into ended in me and my friend running out while the man shouted at us to never come back... We quickly realized it was better to used Spanish with them and pretend like we had nothing to do with America. There was plenty of rude phrases I won't post shouted at us when we ignored their stands and walked by speaking English. It made me thankful to have dark hair and atleast pass for something else.

Because none of us felt safe going out at night, we all finally went to bed before 11pm! It definately helped for the longs days we had. On Saturday, we woke up early for a tour of the city. We saw the graveyard which had all the of tombs of the royalty of Moracco in Tumbas Saadies:

Then after we went to the Palacio Bahia:

courtyard

awesome ceiling

After our tour, we grabbed lunch and it was finally time for the CAMEL RIDES! This was one of my favorite parts of the trip. The camels were way bigger then I had imagined (with the saddle your like twice as high as you would be on a horse) and had minds of their own! Mine was named Julie, so obviously I sang "Julie, Do Ya Love Me?" by the great Bobby Sherman to soothe her. She loved it.

Me on my lovely camel, Julie

My legs were (and still are) so unbelievably sore from that 2 1/2 hour ride. The only thing was, we went through a pretty run down neighborhood. I thought we would take some scenic route, but instead it was past run down homes, with little kids running along side us trying to sell us things. It's pretty uncomfortable to take a camel ride for fun through a town of people (who are obviously sturggling) glaring at you from their windows. Anyways, mid-camel ride we got to stop and have the famous Morrocan mint tea:

On Sunday we went hiking! Originally, we knew to expect a decent hike due to the last time we went hiking with Kepa, but we were still unprepared for this one. First we drove for about an hour into the mountains to see what a typical home there was like. MADE ME SO THANKFUL! check out the pics below:

part of the kitchen

and the other part...

the view makes up for it!!!

francesca, tracy, and i on the deck

Afterwards we headed to a somewhat touristy area that had alot of different restaurants and of course, vendors. Everywhere.

an incredibly sturdy bridge

one of the many restaurants

Once we started climbing, we realized this wasn't your everyday hike, this was full on scaling the mountain type of hike and it was SOO FUN!

yeah, seriously, scaling the mountain

kepa pulling up reluctant hikers

amazing view!!

I'm now so blogged out. That's all I can think of for now, but I know I'm leaving so much out still! Moracco was definately a once in a lifetime experience (so I took a MILLION pics) so I'm glad I have this to show as much as I can! Sorry this one was so long...thanks for reading if you made it this far!

mrt

Probabobablamente.

Hola a todos,
Things have been incredibly busy here in Spain and are only getting busier! I only have on free weekend of the semester left, the rest I'll be traveling (Lagos, Morroco, Ireland, England, Paris, Berlin, Amsterdam!), so I hope it doens't go by too fast!

Alot of random things have happened, and no one likes to hear the actual important stuff, like school (which isn't actually real here) cause it's boring so I'll just stick w/ a few funny/interesting things that have happened.

Cadiz Carnaval was alot of fun! There were thousands of people in the most incredible costumes all of the streets. I'm glad I went to see what it was like, but I think I would need some time before I tried that on again, but dressing up was fun!!

Hahahaha! My fav pic of the night

The other day in class, (my 6 person history class) one of my friends was having some slight difficulties with her Spanish and answered our Prof. with "probabobablamente." Of course I was so bored after two hours of that class I laughed for a solid 10 minutes. We had also all tied our scarves on our heads in turbans in preparation for our trip to Morroco this weekend, which just added to the humor. Our Prof. loves us.

My friend Amit introduced us to one of his local friends the other day. He said "Hola, soy Alejandro. Como la canción," which means, "Hi, I'm Alejandro, like the song." I was glad to see the influence of Gags has been spread far and wide. Alejandro asked Amit how his weekend was and Amit said, "Amazamente." After he walked away Alejandro was like, "Yeah, that's not a word." Hahaha, we're all working on it.

My roommate and I were walking down the street the other night on the way to meet some friends when this guy aproached us and asked if we were Americans. We looked at each other and were both hesitant, because when someone asks that they don't generally have good intentions. Molly finally said yes and he asked her to talk to someone on his phone. Turns out, he's dating an American girl that's studying here and couldn't understand what she was saying on the phone. Molly helped them both out so they could find each other. At first I thought he just couldnt understand because of the phone, but no. He speaks no English and she speaks no Spanish...I guess they won't have communication issues since they just can't communicate at all!

I learned the hard way that fuzzy socks are NOT the proper attire to pack when you have to air dry your clothes. THEY DON"T DRY.

Anyways, I have to start packing! We're leaving for Morroco (AFRICAA WAKA WAKA) tommorow morning and I'm so excited. Other students have said it's the best trip they've been on.

So excitedd!

mrt

mental isolation

According to the graph that API so nicely supplied all students with, we are all going through the "mental isolation" phase of studying abroad. I thought that was a load of bull, but now I definately see it. At this point, everyone is generally pretty sick of one another, stressed over making tavel plans, and ready to kill their roommate. Yeah the graph was right. It's weird now that we're all pretty used to the city and the lifestyle, but we only have about 2 1/2 months left.

Besides awkward adjustment periods, I've been trying hard to tie down my travel plans during our two weeks off. The first week I've booked a flight to England and back, and I plan on travel around the country for the entire week. The second week off, I'm working on a trip to Prague, Paris, and Amsterdam that's definately going to be pricey. And last but not least, a friend is going to Ireland for a weekend and asked if I wanted to go. Umm, OF COURSE! Only problem is, I seriously have no more money. I greatly underestimated the amount traveling would cost and I'll be lucky to have 2 dimes to rub together after Prague, Amsterdam, and Paris. I'm hoping to pout to my (IRISH: HINT HINT) Padre for that one.

Other then that, everything's been going well. The familia here is still great. Delek (the two year old) got an eraser stuck up his nose today so he had to go to the hospital. His mom tried to use my roommate's tweezers to get it out and she was so grossed out I bet she'll buy new ones. Bahaha it's just boogers. Delek also threw my hairbrush out the window of our 8th floor apartment. I wasn't happy. I also watch Mickey Mouse Club with him daily and have finally learned all my shapes in Spanish.

I've got to go find a costume for the Carnaval in Cadiz!

mrt

jam packed weekend

I just got back from a VERY eventful weekend and I don't know where to start!

We left on Wednesday night for the Canary Islands off the coast of Africa, and luckily everything worked out flight wise. Although there's been some minor tension between some of the girls that were going, everyone was excited and in a good mood, so I had high hopes for the weekend. The issues began once we got there. Apparently, the south part of the island was the place to go, but we booked a hostel in the North. This started the stirring of tense emotions between chicas, which slowly increased over the trip.

Since we arrived at our Hostel so late (our flight left Sevilla at 9 pm) we went straight to bed our first night. The next morning, my roommate and I got up early to check out the beach (which ended up being a great beach although the other girls I was with were convinced we would only have fun if we switched to a hostel in the south...too complicated) and found this INCREDIBLE little cafe. I ate there every morning and had gelato after lunch every day. Be jealous of the following pic:

nutella crepes and cafe con leche...food from the GODS

One of the most shocking things about the Canary Islands was that yes....it was also a partially nude beach. When you think of a nude beach you generally picture beautiful naked people walking around...WRONG. Didn't matter the shape or size, the women in Spain let it alllllll hang out. It bothered the other girls but hey, I say more power to ya!

Me, my roommate Molly, and another girl named Nora, took a ferry to another island in the Grand Canaries on Saturday and it was BEAUTIFUL! We had to take a cab to this beautiful beach call Taganana (it had black sand...soo weird), but the cab ride of TERRIFYING! I thought it was scary driving through the mountains to Sky Top Orchard, but I had no idea. We flew up hair pin turns in this little cab and I swear I've never been closer to being in a Mario Kart game then that. THEN, when I figured it couldnt get scarier, we had to take a bus back! The bus had twice as many people as it was supposed to hold and I swear I felt my stomach drop at every turn. Luckily, we made it there and back and got to enjoy this lovely beach in between!

That night, after we returned to Las Palmas (the islands where our hostel was), we didn't realize it was their annual Carnaval! Carnaval in Spain is like Halloween on steroids except it for adults and starts at midnight and goes straight throught to the next day. The costumes are INSANITY. These people must spend hundreds on them and they go all out! We're going to Cadiz next weekend for their annual carnaval and now I can't wait! I have to find a costume before Saturday!

 Carnaval costume contest

a group of local girls decided it wasn't okay that i didn't have a costume and made me wear this mask the rest of the night to make up for it

We got back into Sevilla around midnight on Sunday...which of course was right when the Oscars were starting here! Luckily I found another girl whose as much as a movie addict as I am and together we are rediculous. There's a jazz club here that has "Oscar night" where you dress up and go to the club at midnight to watch the show, and whoever gets the most categories right wins a fake Oscar. The second we heard about it we were sold! We both ran home from the airport, changed and headed to the club for our favorite night of the year! Sadly, we got second place (14 right and the winner got 15....she had the foreign films over us), but it was so fun. By the time I got home it was 6 am but so worth it!

I've spent most of today catching up on sleep because its a national holiday and no school! I also met my intercambio (which is basically someone you get assigned with to literally just speak to each other to learn Spanish or English)! It was a little akward but I felt good because we spoke in Spanish more then in English. 

Can't wait for Carnaval in Cadiz this weekend! I'm sure I'll have alot to write about that one!

mrt

¿Dónde vives?

Well, I had my first experience with the doctor yesterday due to my week of hacking up a lung (my body is literally rejecting the idea of living in sevilla). I just assumed it would pass until my madre finally grabbed me Monday morning and said I had to go to the doctor so the rest of the apartment could sleep at night. Fair enough. So I dragged my roommate, Molly, along with me so we could muddle through whatever Spanish we had to deal with. When we go to the Clinica de Santa Isabel, it ended up looking more like a hospital to me then a clinic. I went up to the first counter and shrugged/si'ed my way through the first conversation to general medicine area. This is where the trouble began: 1. The girl at the counter looked at me like I was 8 (I'll never judge someone whose trying to speak English again, no matter what you say, you just sounds dumb). 2. When she asked me, "¿Dónde vives?" I didn't know my own address which added to her perception of my intelligence. Anyways, she was just plain rude and had no patience with me and Molly, and the line behind us just made us more nervous, tongue-tied, and stressed out. Anyways, I managed to get a number and get in like (for 2 hours) before I was able to see the doctor. Thinking the doctor would at least speak a little English (alot of people here do) I went only to find WRONG, just Spanish. Anyways she was extremely patient with us and she quickly gave me a percription (luckily I had a massive coughing attack in front of her to prove my sickness) and I was on my way. When I had to deal with the people back at the front desk, they were once again extremely rude, acting like I was an idiot. When I asked for my credit card back, they told me they had already given it to me, then after arguing awhile they realized it was on the counter...HAAAHAHAHAHAAA! I won and got my much needed drugs, so all together it was a success.

just a small supply of spanish drugs me and my roomie have been taking since our arrival in sevilla



I went to La Bachillera, which is a somewhat rough neighborhood north of where I live here in Sevilla (where mainly Gypsys live) to teach little kids English. Their class room is empty with only a chalk board, desks, and plastic lawn chairs...made me pretty thankful for the schools at home. I was surprised by how much I liked it! I never thought of myself as the teaching type, but I worked with one little girl for about an hour and a half and might sign up to teach the adult classes too now. I like to stay busy so I want to look into more volunteering here if I can. It's also so so great to practice Spanish (plus the little kids don't make me nervous).

I'm going to the Canary Islands tommorow! I can't wait! I definately underestimated the price of traveling though, between a place to stay, flights, bus rides, taxis, things to do, and food it's so so so expensive! i hope i can make the money i have stretch out for the semester. We're currently planning a trip to Italy/Greece during one week off and Ireland/Scotland during another.

see ya after the trip!

mrt