Wrapping up...

So here I go, continuing to compile the journal entries I wrote randomly in different notebooks…Sorry, none of this has been reread or edited! Just wanted to get it in one place before I forget it all :)

Bday party!

So Leigh, Cristina and our other friend Encarni (in English class with Cristina) all had a birthday around the same time. Laigh and I wanted to do something and we wanted to have a birthday cake for Leigh anyway so I ended up ordering one with all their names on it (all chocolate, for Leigh) Leigh, little miss art major, crafted three birthday hats and we met them at a bar. We surprised them with the hats and cake. Encarni and Cristina ar so much fun, they were excited and put the hats on right away (Cristina even walked up to the bar to order with hers on!) Then, because we couldn’t eat food we brought in the bar, after a drink and a few tapas we went to find a place to eat the cake. We decided beside the third biggest cathedral in the world would be a good place! :) So we chose a bench in the plaza right behind “la cathedral” and lit the candles and sang right there! The cake was delicious and we had a lot of fun.

Granada

We had a weekend trip to Granada that was included with my program. It was pretty cool, and it had quite an interesting start. We got there and had some free time to eat our bocadillos (sandwiches, Spanish style) from home. A few friends and I ate in a park and then were just goofing around dancing Sevillanas and stuff. Then one of my friends told us to all stand by the lampposts and take a picture. I stood by the first on and then looked back and everyone else was climbing up the lamp posts. So I decide to do the same. Now I was wearing my favorite, most comfortable pair of jeans, which are basically threadbare at the point. So hiking my leg in the air was not a good idea. The pants ripped in a not good place! And unfortunately, we were just there for the weekend so that was the only pair of jeans I brought! They held up just long enough for us to run to Corte Ingles, which praise the Lord was open even though everything else was closed for siesta, because we only had like 30 minutes until we needed to meet up with our group (and meanwhile the hole was getting worse!) My friends helped run around the store and fin dpants for me to try on. We finally found a pair that fit pretty well and they were all like “Yeah, yeah those are super cute, let’s go!!” So I bought them (paid a bit more than I would’ve liked but had no choice) and then we literally ran back to the hotel to meet our group.

The rest of the trip was ok, the Alhambra was cool but it was freezing cold and ugly out so it wasn’t ideal. I really loved the old Moorish part of town. It is up a hill, with winding narrow streets and an amazing view of the Alhambra and the city. It was super windy when we were out there but it was still really neat.

Hanging out with Cristina….

One day Cristina invited me to go to the beach with her, her boyfriend and some of his friends from work. It was really fun and really different, because I was the only American! So some times it was embarrassing when I couldn’t understand stuff or didn’t know what was going on. But I never had much problem when they addressed me, I normally could understand and answer. We all piled in his friend’s little car, five of us, and got stuck in traffic…me and Cristina reviewed Spanish vocabulary :) When we got there we went to meet their friend at his condo, oh and they were also all much older than me…funny…we had some tapas and then went to the beach…hung out there for a while…I started eating my bocadillo from Magdalena, and they were like what are you doing? It’s too early for lunch! (it was after 2 at least) And the guy who drove us up there had already made everyone sandwiches, including me, which was really nice. So I ate some of both. We didn’t swim, I didn’t want to and cristina didn’t either, so we just laid out and then took a walk on the beach. Afterward we went to see their friend’s new apartment that he just bought, and then went out to eat. They told me it was all food from “the pueblo”, because we were kinda out in the country. So they said the food was all natural and better. It was kinda a joke though because whenever something new would be brought out they would be like look Laura, this is bread from the pueblo!! Or whatever it was… I ate so much. The were all so nice because they paid for it and made sure I tried everything. Kinda looked at me weird when I didn’t actually drink the shot they had gotten for everyone, but they didn’t give me a hard time. We were tired on the way back, but still sang to some music in the car :)

Then, Cristina and Encarni invited Leigh and I to go to the Feria in Jerez (another city close by) with them. It was so fun! First we went to Cadiz, a city a little past Jerez on the beach where Cristina is from. Leigh and I took the train and met them and Cristina’s aunt and cousins and we toured around the city—went to the cathedral and saw Christina’s university and the beach…it was beautiful. Then that night we went to the Feria! I actually might have liked it better than the one in Seville because all the casetas were public, you could go in any of them, and they were all decorated differently. So we walked around and went in a few. We tried some of Jerez’s famous wine (too sweet for me) and danced Sevillanas. There was this guy who was like this professional dancer, very serious, seemed interested in Cristina. We made fun of her because when he left he had to come up to her and tell her “Nos vamos” (we’re leaving) in a very serious way…so then we all copied his intense dancing style after he was gone. It was funny. You’d kinda have to be there I guess.

At about 3 am Cristina’s cousin was still going strong but Leigh and I were getting tired, so we left. Encarni had invited us to stay at a cabin with her friend who lived outside the city (Cristina didn’t have enough room for the both of us) so we went with her. Really super random…ended up in a little cabin in the middle of the Spanish countryside…now keep in mind, Encarni is basically a hippie… so we were there with her and her boyfriend and their friend (who had a mullet, though that’s not as uncommon in Spain) and we just kinda hung out the next day because the weather wasn’t really good enough to go to the beach. They cooked us a delicious lunch…then the guys smoked something questionable…but ya know, what can you do? They were very hospitable.

Then Cristina came and picked us up and took us back to Seville!

A few weeks later my friend from high school, Amber, came to stay in Seville for a few days before we traveled together. She stayed with me and my host mom. She was kinda shocked at the amount of food Magdalena tried to make her eat. During this time there was also a traditional pilgrimage to the “Rosario” I think she was called, she is a very famous virgin Mary and everyone travels with carts and horses and traditional dress and music to see her. A group from every church is sent to see it and it is quite an ordeal. Amber got to see some of it with me and then another night I was really tired and busy so Magdalena took Amber to see the processions coming back into Seville and basically dragged her all around the city speaking really fast so Amber with her limited Spanish knowledge was clueless. It was funny :)

The last night was fun, we had a party at CC-CS and I had to tell Cristina bye…almost cried…she gave me some earrings from a ceramics place we had visited together and a book with a really nice note in it… After we left the party a group of us Americans went and had churros and chocolate for the last time at the churros stand, stepped into a local bar for a little bit, and then walked around town one last time and took lots of crazy pictures, like at the river, the cathedral, and in front of the bullring. It was a really fun but virtually sleepless night. And Amber and I were off to Madrid the next day! I have all of the stories of our 2-week gallivant around Spain and some of Europe written in another notebook. If you want to hear about it let me know because I don’t think I will get around to typing it!

So, as far as I know, this is it. Spain was the time of my life, the Lord blessed me beyond measure. I would give anything to be back there!

Portugal

Yes, that’s right, I went to Portugal the next day with another school trip! Okay so funny story. For some reason I though we were meeting at Torre del Oro, right near my house. We had met there for other things before (although never for big trips like this). I got there when I was supposed to at 8:45am but I waited and waited and I wasn’t seeing anyone or even the bus. I finally called my friend Christa who was going to be my roommate and was like, “Donde estas?” I will never forget how my heart sank at her response: “En el autobus!” she said. I was like “Oh my gosh where were we supposed to meet??” She told me “Avenida del Cid” and said it would be too long to get there walking at this point; I would have to take a taxi. I was so scared, I had never flagged down a taxi myself before, but I had no choice! I hiked my bags up on my shoulders and walked out to the curb, praying desperately for one to show up soon! God was very merciful and brought one along within the minute. I got in and told him “Avenida del Cid.” He was like “Ok…but where on Avenida del Cid??” (in Spanish). I was like “I don’t know I just need to meet a bus there! I’m looking for a bus…” hehe! I finally pulled out my itinerary they gave us (that I had not felt the need to pay much attention to) and lo and behold there was a map with an arrow at the specific spot we were supposed to meet and that very street name in bold letters. (WHY do I have to be so stupid sometimes?? I even knew the place, I just hadn’t recognized the name, but it is where we had met for the Morocco trip!) So then I told him exactly where I needed to be and so needless to say I got there just in time and had quite the adventure in the process. I got on the bus and our trip leader, Leri, was like “Torre del Oro, huh?” because Christa had told him I was on my way. I was like “yeah…” hehe. But I wasn’t the very last person because another girl had slept in and had to catch a taxi as well and got there just in time, so I didn’t feel quite as bad!

So anyway, the trip was along the southern coast of Portugal to the different beaches and such. I had actually tried to cancel going after thinking about it because I was afraid that I shouldn’t have spent the money and I realized that I didn’t really even like the beach that much. (They wouldn’t let me cancel though.) Well I found out the reason I didn’t think I liked the beach: I hadn’t been to beaches like this! They were gorgeous, God knew that I needed the rest. That was the most relaxing trip I went on the whole semester! All we did was go to the beach. Different beaches most of the time, but all beautiful. It was kinda windy and cold was the only thing, but most of the time still nice enough to at least lie out and read a book…which is basically what we did for the whole time! And on the bus God helped me not to get bus sick (which was better since it was not stuffed full of 50 other people this time, I think that we had less than 20 people!) so I could get stuff done, like write out all the previous entries about Semana Santa and Feria on paper before I forgot all the details. It was nice to feel a little productive! And then I studied a little for an upcoming test as I laid out (or I read Redeeming Love which was nice and relaxing!) Christa is just as nerdy as I am so we sat and did homework a couple times. I know y’all are rolling your eyes but I needed the time to get caught up for the coming week and then have some time to rest as well so it was perfect.

And it really was beautiful. There were lots of rocky cliffs at most of the beaches that sometimes jutted out or just dropped off into a soft orangey sand sinking into the blue ocean. The beautiful blue sky was the icing on the cake! One of my favorite parts was when we went to Cabo San Vicente in Sagres. This was the place that they thought was the edge of the earth—the end of the world—before Columbus’ time. We could tell why! It was like a rocky piece of land jutting into the ocean, creating rock walls accenting a sheer drop into the water far below. It was like the world just ended…it was cut off right there. We walked out to the edge to wait because we had driven out there especially to see the sunset! Aside from singing, “It’s the end of the world as we know it…” one girl who I know is a Christian said “This would be a perfect place for a worship service!” So we all started joking around singing “Lord I Lift Your Name on High” and stuff. But then in all seriousness she was like, “It really does remind me of how God is sooo big and I am sooo small.” And as the sun set, I hoped that the others there could feel that amazing truth as much as I did.

Overall, Portugal was pretty cool :)

!La Feria de Sevilla!

The next week was Feria! This is another week-long celebration the second week after Easter. Many cities/towns in Spain have ferias (fairs) but Seville’s is the most famous. The feria is a fair where everyone dresses up in traditional flamenco dresses, rides in horse-drawn carriages, and spends most of the time in casetas. In the fairground (which is right near where I lived!) there are more than 200 of these colorful little booth/tent things set up called casetas. They have tables and chairs and room to dance and usually a bar in the back. Some are small, belonging to the families or a group of friends; some are big, belonging to companies or other groups. Most all of these were private so we couldn’t go in. There were other public ones though, like those belonging to the town hall or political parties that anyone could go into. Basically everyone just goes in these things and eats, drinks (Spaniards always eat and drink at the same time, so they don’t normally get drunk!), and dances all night! These people sure know how to enjoy themselves. Even the rain didn’t stop a lot of them from getting out.

So on Sunday night we saw the “Alumbrao,” where they turn on all the lights of the portada (the entranceway) and the whole place at midnight. It was really cool! Unfortunately, we still had classes though through Wednesday so we didn’t go back Monday or Tuesday but it was raining anyway. (It was funny because it rained some that week and Semana Santa but the week in between the two was beautiful weather!) On Wednesday afternoon I was planning to go back to school and turn in some homework and use the internet but I ended up dropping everything because my host brother, Jose Manuel, and his girlfriend, Isabel, came home and invited me to go with them to Feria! (In case you are worried, my teacher had said it was okay if I had to turn in my homework late! hehe) I was really excited because he had already told me he had gotten a ticket for me to go to his company’s caseta at some point and I felt really lucky because most students don’t have the opportunity to go into private casetas (which are supposedly better than the other ones). I was kinda nervous though because I was going by myself with them and didn’t know what to expect. It ended up being a lot of fun! During the afternoon we just sat and had tapas and drank rebujitos (little cups of manzanilla, the wine they drink at feria, and 7-up or Sprite). We were with one of Jose Manuel’s professors and coworkers, then some other friends joined. It was kinda boring at first because when they got in their own conversations I couldn’t hear well enough to follow because there was loud music. I was also distracted by watching the people around us dancing and socializing, especially the girls in their flamenco dresses with all their jewelry and hair all done, everything was so pretty and bright and colorful! I did talk some, mostly to Isabel. When they addressed me I could normally understand them fine. It was funny though because as we sat there they kept refilling the rebujitos and I kept having to say no or I just wouldn’t drink it. I’m not really sure how much is too much for me and I can see how it would be easy to lose count of those little cups! By the end of the night they finally just ordered me a coke J

Anyway, after everyone had drunk a bit they were in the mood for dancing. Some other guys that they knew came up and they all tried to convince me to dance Sevillanas (traditional dance done with a partner during feria) because I was in a Sevillanas class at my school. Jose Manuel got me to dance with him and then I danced with this other guy who didn’t really know what he was doing. It was probably some of the worst dancing I had ever done because I was so nervous being watched by all these random Spanish guys I barely knew! On top of that, I was only used to dancing with other girls in our Sevillanas class (there was only one guy in my class) and the natives do it all their own style which is totally different, and I was still in the process of learning it to begin with! It was funny though and they didn’t care. I danced with Isabel later and this other girl named Maria Jose and they helped me a lot and it was really fun. I was really glad I knew the dance! Later we got up and went to the dance floor and just danced however. Even though I didn’t know any of the songs like they did I still had fun dancing. They introduced me to a random Spanish guy who actually apparently lives in Miami now; he asked me something about Hillary and Obama and I said I supported neither and he just couldn’t believe it. He was like, “You are too young to be a Republican!” He later said that even though I am a Republican I still have to dance, lol. I met this guy from Belgium too, who was really nice, and then a girl from England, too. But we ended up having to leave kind of early—1:00am—very early for Spaniards! I later found out (Magdalena had happen to found out from Jose Manuel about a week later and told me lol) that one of the guys that we had been with us the whole night who had been like a friend of a friend of Jose Manuel had been hitting on Isabel so that’s why they wanted to leave. That guy was pretty drunk and all over the place; apparently his girlfriend (who was there as well) made him call later and apologize to Jose Manuel because he didn’t remember doing any of it. I was pretty clueless about the whole situation at the time though. On the whole I had a great time, and I was super happy to have a little bit of a genuine Spanish experience!!

The next night I went to Feria with Leigh. We rode one of the amusement par rides and then got a bocadillo in a public caseta. Then we walked around some more and ate chocolate covered apples. We eventually ran into another group from our school and there were some others who were in the class so we all danced and had a lot of fun. It was so nice to dance with guys that actually danced the same way I had learned! We tried to change it up and do some different stuff we saw the natives doing…weren’t very successful but it was really fun nonetheless. Then I walked home with Leigh at about 1:30am and packed to leave for Portugal the next day!

Random Funness

The next weekend Emma, Joanne’s roommate from Mercer, came to visit. She was studying at Oxford for the semester. Since my roommate had gone she ended up staying with me. She barely spoke a word of Spanish, so Joanne and I had fun translating for her and Magdalena, it made us feel like we could actually speak Spanish! [Side note: NO, I am not fluent yet, so please don’t ask me if I am! :( It would probably take a good year and not being around Americans so much to get to that point.] It was funny though because I would hear Magdalena say something like, “Have you slept well?” while Emma passed through the living room and she would be clueless so I would yell the translation from my room and Magdalena would always laugh. It was cool to have a little Mercer reunion!

The next weekend a couple girls and I went with my intercambio, Cristina, her boyfriend, and another girl from her English class, Encarni, to this festival. It was funny because it was basically like a hippie festival. It was cool though…there were a lot of little booths with homemade stuff and all natural food, which I’m always a fan of! We also went to this massage thing (was actually their idea to go, I am too ticklish for most massages!) which ended up being a massage class. Let’s just say it was very interesting! (And by interesting I mean a new experience that I hope to never repeat! Hehe If you really wanna know you can ask….) All in all it was super fun just to hang out with Spanish friends! :)

That Saturday three other girls and me took a day trip to the nearby town of Ronda. It is a beautiful little community seated right on top of a breathtaking gorge. The pictures don’t do it justice but here are some anyway:

We hiked down to the bottom of the gorge and were able to see it from below as well! We also found this deserted building (above is the areal view of it) and went down in it’s basement, it was like in suspense movies or something hehe. We packed a lot in so it was an exhausting but fun day!

Semana Santa

So after Morocco I came back to an entirely different Sevilla: it was Semana Santa (Holy Week), the week of Easter. It scared me a little at first to see the “Nazarenes” (members of the “brotherhood” of each church, see photo) walking by in their outfits when I got off the bus that night.

After resting a few days (I was exhausted) I ventured out to experience one of the biggest holy week celebrations in the world—second only to Rome! Seville was flooded with people who crowded the streets to watch the “pasos” (floats of statues of Mary or scenes of Jesus during the Easter story) parade by, along with the Nazarenes and penitents, and often a band as well. Each paso made its way from its own chapel to the big cathedral and then back. You can also walk down and see them on display before they are taken out of the church. Magdalena took me to see a few in Triana (our neighborhood) which was cool. She is so funny—she and her sister love Semana Santa and they were watching everything on TV like all week. I went out with some friends to see the parades on Thursday and Friday night. On Thursday night the most famous pasos make their routes through most of the night and morning. I went out late but I didn’t last all night!

I have to say seeing the pasos in person was much different than seeing them on TV. Magdalena told me that with all the music and people and smell of incense it is very different and very emotional. She was totally right. One of the first ones I saw was of Jesus being taken off the cross after His death and it was actually a silent one. The crowd was hushed and the Nazarenes walked slowly by with candles. I liked it; was a sobering and poignant reminder of what He did for us.

However, it seemed to me that people were almost more emotional about seeing the pasos of the Virgin Mary…or Marys I should say. I think each church has their own Mary paso and Jesus paso…but the Mary always comes last in the parade. They are all different Virgins…the one of Triana is “la Esperanza de Triana” (The Hope of Triana). There is the Macarena, “La O”, and many others. I have seen people cry when they see the paso, sing prayers to it out loud… Magdalena told me to touch the float when it went by and say a prayer. She told me that people form an attachment to “their” Virgin—they step into the church and say a prayer to it on the way to the grocery store or wherever. This just blew my mind. Praying to Mary already doesn’t make sense to me, much less a specific statue of Mary. Don’t get me wrong, I don’t mean to offend anyone or disrespect the culture… I can see how if you grew up doing that a strong emotional attachment could easily be formed. And they are beautiful statues. But it was more disheartening than I can say to see people in a Christian denomination not only praying to Mary, but praying and worshipping a specific statue of Mary. It looks too much like idolatry to me…to go pray to a statue instead of Jesus who died so that they could come straight to Him. So that was frustrating and saddening for me.

I also wish there was more focus on the resurrection. There is only one paso on Easter Sunday of the resurrection. I do think it is good that the Catholic Church focuses on the crucifixion—one thing I think the protestant church may not do enough. The extent of His sacrifice shows us how much He loves us! But I want people to see that His death was not to bring guilt, but freedom from sin and a relationship with Him! That truth was not evident to me through Semana Santa. It seemed like the week focused more on feeling guilty because of His death and doing penance. The penitents were people who walked, covered up like the nazerenes (just without the pointy hat), carrying crosses the whole route (hours and hours—a whole day or night). Some did it barefoot. I think most were people with a prayer they wanted God to answer and felt like they needed to do this to earn it I suppose. Then there were the costeleros—the men (and sometimes boys) who carried the pasos. It rested on the back of their neck right above their shoulders. The paso is so heavy that by the end of their one or two hour shift they would often be bleeding. When we saw it on TV Magdalena would point out their wounds with pride. Although I admire their devotion, it made me sad that they feel like they need to do all this…for a statue, or to get God to answer their prayer…He offers His love freely, we don’t need to feel like we have to torture ourselves to earn it!

Anyway, despite all that, Semana Santa was a really neat experience. It was crazy to see Sevilla so full of people! I love the picture to the right. See the crowd?? The paso is in the distance. That is right in front of a bridge I crossed everyday. And it was cool to celebrate Easter like that—with reminders of it at every corner, literally! But I have to say that I was overjoyed to be encouraged by those who believe like I do on Easter Sunday. (Although I also love hanging out with people who have different beliefs as well!) I was with Mary Alice and some American girls interning with her. We had a picnic and church service in a park with three missionary families there (two that I worked with when I came before!) We sang familiar praise songs (in English), listened to one of the missionaries, Dave, speak, and had an Easter egg hunt for the kids…which was great because I was sad about missing watching my siblings do that. It was a wonderful day!

Morocco Chapter 6 -- The End!

The next day after driving a while as always we arrived at the market, where we were free like birds in the sky! It was fun to bargain with the guys—that’s how you buy things there. None of the prices are set you have to bargain with them (in English, Spanish, French…whatever language you choose). If you are tough you can get some pretty good prices. I bargained a few things down and got some souvenirs for people. It was fun because a couple times I was like “no I can’t pay that much” and wouldn’t go any higher and was about to walk away when they would give in or make a better compromise.

We went to a pretty nice place at lunch (I think they were trying to sort of make up for our little 6 hour delay earlier) where we had another performance. There was this lady and some guys that danced and then this other guy who balanced a tray of candles on the top of his head and danced around without letting it fall. It made me nervous but was really cool. The food was strange but amazingly good! The main course was this round kind of crispy thing that was made up of some tortilla like bread and with very flavorful chicken inside. But on top was powdered sugar and cinnamon I think…sweet stuff. It was bizarre but surprisingly very good!! Then we started the long trip back…by bus, ferry, and bus again. Overall it was a long and exhausting trip, but very exciting and eye-opening, one I hope I’ll never forget!

Morocco Chapter 5

The next morning I did indeed wake up at 4:45 I think it was…and we all huddled in the cold waiting until it was time to get on our camels. Although it was freezing, I was glad I was awake in the darkness when all the electricity was still off…I didn’t know so many stars existed in the sky! It was absolutely incredible, a fingerprint of God that I hadn’t seen quite in that way before! And while we’re on the subject, the sand dunes inspired the same awe in me—they were another wonder of creation that left me speechless as I saw them for the first time. They amazed me in the same way mountains do. But it was weird because it was like that same grandeur of mountains—the height and impressiveness—but with something completely different. Made of a deep orange sand and lacking any trees or vegetation, they loomed against the solid blue sky as if confident in their simple but matchless splendor.

But I digress. So we woke up early and hopped on some camels, and I got my own this time! It was fun and I must say, much much more comfortable when you have the camel to yourself! Although it did still made me nervous going up and down those little dunes, as well as the standing up and sitting down of course. We went to one really big dune and got off the camels and climbed up to the very top ourselves, and just sat and waited. The sun rising over the Sahara was quite a sight!

After breakfast we rode the camels back to the land rovers and headed out. Needless to say, we had some even worse problems getting through the sand this time. We and everyone else kept getting stuck and having to get out and help each other get unstuck. At one point, our car and this other car got really really stuck. So we got out and were trying over and over again to push the cars out of the sand. Finally our vehicle got loose and so he just drove off. We were like “Hmm…wonder where he went…ok…” The other one was still there though and we were all standing there watching all these Moroccan guys try really hard to get the other 4x4 out. Eventually another driver came back for us, and all of us from both of the two stuck vehicles (there were about 8 of us I think, 6 students and Esther and Michael) piled into this one 4x4. It was probably the craziest ride of my life! The guy had to drive really fast, I guess it was so we wouldn’t get stuck in the sinking sand again…so we were all squished in there like on a ride at Six Flags, everyone being jerked and flung around as he sped over all the little dunes. I was really honestly scared because half the time it felt like the car was going to flip over! Meanwhile, I’m pretty sure petite little Esther was sitting on the window sill hanging out like the always did! Hehe it was funny. Luckily we didn’t die—we made it out of the dunes to where everyone else (yes, fortunately our driver, too!) was waiting for us. They were just chillin, some of them were dancing to some music they had turned up real loud in one of the cars.

We went back to the nice hotel for lunch…and somewhere in there we went to another place where they tried to sell us rugs again…then we rode the bus through the mountains and stopped at several look-outs, like one over an oasis which was really cool. We kept driving through the mountains and a lot of the countryside. A lot of the time our guide, Muhammad, would talk to us and explain things; he would do it in Spanish and English. He would say funny things in his broken English. He would always say “might” for things that we were obviously going to do, “we might go to Fez, then we might eat at the hotel, then we might have a tour…” When he told us we would get free time to shop at a market the next day he said, “Each is free to buy what he wants, free like birds in the sky.” Hehe. At one point we were driving by farmland and little homes and communities way out in the country and he told us about how hard life is there. They are very very poor and do not have almost any doctors or medicines available to them due to the location. It made me sad and want to do something to help! Muhammad explained to us the role of women in the country as opposed to that of the changing urbane environment. In the country it is still very traditional, where the husband has total control over her and she has no rights at all. I don’t think he remembered he was talking to a bus almost full of American girls when he explained that a man wants a wife from the country because she will be submissive and she is uneducated so she doesn’t know any better, she can just basically live to meet all his needs. It was about the last straw when he told us why he would want to marry a fat woman: “If I get married to a fat woman in wintertime she gives me warmth and in summer time she gives me a good shadow.” Hehe it was funny…but at the same time sad to see how women really are very oppressed there under traditions of Islam and the culture. They need missionaries there to show them what freedom and worth they have in Christ! Although that would be one tough mission field…

That last night we slept at a different hotel that wasn’t nearly as nice as the one before. We had a little musical performance at dinner though, so that was fun.

Morocco Chapter 4

Hello everyone! I have been home safe and sound in the States for about a week and a half now, and have come to find out that apparently there are still a faithful few that are reading this and want to hear the end of the story! (If you haven’t been keeping up with it that’s totally ok, I would’ve had time either!) I will continue on then and try to type up everything through the end of my travels (and the end is quite a story I must say!) Starting where I left off in Morocco…

As you may remember we had a long drive throughout the night before. Well that was to get to the nice hotel from which we would go ride camels and spend the night in the desert the next night. (Get excited!) So we woke up the next morning and had an excellent buffet breakfast at the hotel and then all jumped in Land Rovers to head for the desert! But first, I had to drop my sunglasses on the ground in the hotel parking lot and not realize it until we were driving away, because when would be a better time to lose sunglasses then right before the only time in my life I am going to the SAHARA DESERT?? Hehe. So that was sad. But it actually ended up not being too bad, I managed okay without them! So we are all in these 4x4’s driven by Moroccan men. I was in a car with two of my friends in the back seat with me, Catherine and Elena, and another student named Mark was up front. He spoke some French so he would switch between that and Spanish and English when talking to our driver. Did I mention they speak 5 million languages there?? Our driver was somewhat quiet but friendly. We went through town, and it was weird for me actually seeing a few women dressed in the full-out burqas (a traditional Islamic dress) – only showing their eyes. First stop was this fossil place where of course they tried to sell us stuff again. It was actually pretty cool though, there was tons of stuff (even whole bathroom sinks!) made of what seemed like a polished stone with real fossils in it! I spent a couple euros on a few little pendants myself. Then we hopped back in the cars and headed for the desert!

At this point we were just driving on the rocky, flat part at first and it was really fun. There were like 12 vehicles all racing across the terrain in whatever path they chose, being that the road had kind of ended. We had the windows down and the music up…our driver actually had some CD’s with some American oldies, which was bizarre to listen to driving across the Moroccan desert, but super fun! We stopped at a few places with views across a lake and the dunes in the background which were really pretty. We randomly stopped at a little village as well, where we crowed into this room and were given Moroccan tea as we watched these men dance and sing and play different instruments. One of them was a little boy who was really cute! The performance was good, very loud, and by the end they had everyone get up and start dancing around with them! It was really fun. This is when I finally started feeling like I was really in Africa; these guys looked more African, everyone else looked more Arabian or Middle Eastern.

We passed several tiny little communities like that…just groups of little nondescript buildings and houses that blend in with the tan expanse of nothingness in the background. These people are very poor, it was very sobering. Some of us were talking about it at dinner that night, how we just come in and stare at these people and gawk at how they live their lives, like they are on display, as we enjoy our tour that never really deprived us of any of the luxuries we were used to, which they live every day without. But on the other hand, I don’t think we should feel guilty for coming, because tourism is an incredible economic help to these people. We decided that it’s only good if you do it with the right perspective though…if you let yourself be changed by the experience and share it with others and help them if you can and don’t just go back to your normal life and forget that there are others living that way. I hope I don’t.

We stopped at another hotel for a buffet lunch and then relaxed for a little while and listened to our drivers play instruments and sing. Then it was back in the Land Rovers and into the dunes. That stuff is harder to drive on than you think! We actually had to get out of the car at one point and help push another vehicle that had gotten stuck in the dunes, and then had to do the same for ours! Well first we had to dig some of the sand away from in front of the tires, then everyone got behind to push, girls and guys alike! It was funny.

Our car ended up being the last to get to the camels so we jumped out and ran over there and were rushed to our individual camels. (They were actually a type of camel called a dromedary, dromedario in Spanish, which only has one hump so that’s what they called them but I will probable just say camel because it’s easier.) Before I knew it I was put on the same camel with my friend Catherine, and the camel was standing up, which was a very scary process that we were not warned about! I guess they just get up on their hind legs first so you are like hanging on for dear life facing the ground for a few seconds…at first I thought it had already stood up all the way and the saddle-thing was falling off or something so I was like yelling for help! Lol. But then it stood up all the way and we were horizontal so that was good hehe. At that point I was kinda glad to be with a friend so I wasn’t all by myself my first time on a camel like that!

We rode the camels up some pretty steep sand dunes and then got off and ran up to the very top of a sand dune…like a ridge of dunes I guess. You had to run though because if not you would sink in the sand! It was a workout hehe. The sunset was beautiful though; I couldn’t believe I was watching it on top of a Saharan sand dune! When it was over Catherine and I hopped back on the camel and she graciously let me have front seat this time. I regretted it the moment my lovely little dromedary started walking down that dune. It was a steep hill and so I was falling forward with this mettle part of the saddle digging into my thighs, which was being made worse because of course Catherine had to reach around me to hold on to the handle bar too, which pushed me more forward, making me really feel like I was gonna fall off, not to mention even more painful! On top of that everyone was making fun of us squished on top of the same camel, it was only us and two other girls that had to share, everyone else had their own! Definitely an experience. hehe

We then rode our camels to the camp where we would spend the night in the desert, which was basically a little hotel made out of tents! Hehe so we weren’t exactly roughing it. We all slept in little tents with mattresses in them and ate at basically a little restaurant they had set up. There were candles for the feel, but some electric lights as well as toilets! All the tents and carpets and candles made for a very pretty little place, like something out of Aladdin or something! (Actually the whole time in Morocco felt very Aladdinish lol). That night was quite relaxing – we had some tea again, some lamb for dinner, and some more African entertainment from those guys. I was pretty tired so I went to bed early…bundled up as much as I could and I actually slept pretty well, just woke up a little when I got cold.

I had a hard time getting up though when my roommate, Christa, woke me up at 4:45am. I didn’t want to sleep in though because we were going for another camel ride to see the sunrise! Stay tuned!! :)

Small digression...

Hi everyone! I hate interrupting the Morocco saga (if anyone still has interest...it's been so long!) because the best is yet to come, but I have noooo time to write! Especially since I don't want to write about it without all the interesting and funny details.

So I decided to update really fast to tell you that I am still alive! I have been super busy enjoying life here and traveling a little more...I went to Ronda, experienced feria here in Sevilla, went to the beach in Portugal, and we had a trip with the school to Granada last weekend. I've actually hastily written about most of that on paper so one day (aka, possibly not until this summer...sorry!) I will write about it on here so I can have it typed out for myself if nothing else lol.

But just wanted to let everyone know that I am doing well! One reason I am busy is I have an 8-10 page research paper due soon that I need to prioritize...which is hard because I would much rather hang out with my intercambio, talk with my host mom or watch Spanish tv with her, go to Biblestudy, or get a coffee with a friend lol. So we'll see how that goes! hehe I know I will get it done but I am a little nervous becuase I have never written something that long in Spanish!

I hope everyone is doing well, thank you for all the prayers and support!

Morocco Chapter 3

So the next day the original plan was to get straight back on the bus and drive to our next destination which was 7 hours away (supposedly we were going to tour Fes on our way back). But the powers that be decided that traveling all day was a little much so we were going to spend some time in Fes that morning. (As you will see, it’s a good thing we got some sort of touristy activity in!) So we did the tour of the city. We saw some golden doors to the king’s residence there and had our pictures taken with the guards, who very graciously tolerant of us. Then we walked around more of the city. It was bigger of course and much more urban than Chefchaouen, but it still had just as much poverty. It was really interesting though to walk around those very narrow roads in between tan walls (not blue here!) and interrupted by little holes in which people made a living with shops selling one specific type of thing. They were seriously like little closets, most of the time it looked like the person had to climb over the counter to stand in it. They sold everything…shoes (some looked like they had been worn), flowers, bread, nuts and spices, cleaning supplies, clothes…we even saw one of the enclaves filled to the brim with stacks of dusty cassette tapes. A lot of the time there were a lot of the same thing being sold on the same street…I heard that the people didn’t really care about trying to compete though; they were just concerned with trying to make enough to eat that day.

It wasn’t always pleasant though. We poked our head in this place where they had like a million sheep hides they were gathering cotton from. Walking into it was definitely a very smelly, strange experience.

We soon found out that we would be taken to a lot of touristy places where they would try to sell us something in the end. They were still pretty interesting though and they didn’t normally pressure us to buy something unless we started bargaining, in which case you could be stuck! One place was where they made things out of leather. The main store overlooked the area where they dyed everything. We could see all these big holes with dye and men working down below, so that was pretty cool. We took pictures and one young guy working saw all us girls (there were actually only 4 guys on the trip total!) and started flexing his muscles and doing pushups across the hole for the camera. It was funny!

There was also a weaving place where they had a lot of traditional clothes and scarves used for turbans. They would put them on our heads for us like they wear them so that was fun. Then we went to a place with like a million beautiful, hand-woven, very expensive rugs. It was cool to see them and drink the tea that they gave us. We also got to go up on the roof there, which had a good view, and see some ladies actually doing the weaving!

I think that’s about all we did in Fes. So after that it was off to Erfoud for lunch. We still supposedly had a 7 hour drive ahead of us which was going to put us there even later than the normal late lunch we have in Spain. Or so we thought. We started driving and at about 12:30 or so (I think we were less than an hour outside of Fes) the bus started letting out a lot of smoke. So we had to pull over to the side of the road. Apparently, the bus was having some grave problems and going even like 15 minutes to the next city would not be a good idea. So we were stranded….in the African wilderness. We had to jump out of our burning bus and face lions—luckily the elephants gave us refuge and there were a few trees we could climb during the stampede. Hehe just kidding. (Totally had you going right??) No it was interesting because it didn’t really feel like we were in Africa. We hadn’t really seen any jungle or even the Sahara yet and all the people looked more Arabic than African. So fortunately for us we weren’t driving through they jungle, although we did see a turtle and some sheep. It was just some countryside with a small mountain and a little house with a donkey across the road. We did all get out and hang out in the grassy area by the bus. Some of us practiced our Sevillanas (traditional Seville dances kind of like flamenco), others read or played games. Ester called back to Spain and had people contacting the agency to get another bus. They said they would have one on the way and there within 40 minutes. That did not happen. Upon calling back, they told us it had left already and they could not communicate with it but it should only be like ten minutes. We heard this same line over and over again, seeing as we were there for about six hours. Yup, 6 hours. Apparently in Morocco it is more important to tell people what they want to hear to try to keep them happy rather than tell the truth. God is good though, there were trees and bushes nearby providing for good restrooms (if we had driven a couple miles more there would have been nothing!), and some mentioned that that was actually preferable to the ceramic holes. We did get hungry but luckily most of us had snacks with us. Some people started getting frustrated with the situation but overall everyone was pretty relaxed and just enjoyed hanging out—understanding that this is a third-world country and we can’t expect it to be the same. So finally at 5 something the first little van came (they didn’t have another bus the same size so they had to do a van and a bus). There was much rejoicing. Eventually people decided to go on and fit as many as possible in that on head to the next town for lunch. The rest of us waited for the other bus. Not to long later, after having watched other charter buses drive by all afternoon, ours finally arrived! There was much more rejoicing! So we got to a hotel in the next town and ate a much anticipated “lunch” at around 6:30pm. Phew.

After that we were going to take the same bus and van to Erfoud, but to no avail. Somehow it wasn’t licensed to go that far or something. So we sat at the hotel and Michael, Ester, and Muhammad took our orders for beer, wine, and mint tea while they figured out what to do. Hehe it was funny when they offered the second round and we knew they were just trying to keep us happy for as long as possible!

After thinking we were going to have to stay in a hotel there or back in Fes that night they finally found a way to take three vans and said that if we were willing to drive really late we could go on and go to Erfoud and not loose so much time in the Sahara the next day. We voted yes and piled into these van-bus things. We ended up having to sit in them without moving for a while though because it turns out that one of the drivers didn’t have his license and had to go get it. At that point we weren’t surprised. I think it was close to 11pm when we finally left.

Although I can’t tell you how happy I was to finally be moving, I have to say that driving that late at night in the middle of who knows where in Morocco was a little scary for me. It was so dark and we had gone a different route than the other two vans and we were just winding through mountains in the middle of no where in the middle of the night in Africa—not the safest place in the world. Ester was in our van though and it was all fine of course. Luckily someone let me have some of their Dramamine and I slept a little. We stopped for one bathroom stop (one of those rest stops we saw a lot of there with pork in the form of a full skinned pig hanging right in front of you) and a lady was standing in front of the restrooms. She let some people go in but when she realized how many of us there were she started yelling at Muhammed. He argued back but ended up angrily giving her money out of his own wallet so we could use her holes in the floor. Crazy.

We finally got to the hotel at 4:30 in the morning. And of course this was the nicest hotel we would be in during the whole trip! We only got to enjoy a few precious hours of sleep in those amazing beds. It was just really pretty and spacious and had a pool shaped like Africa!

Anyway, so that was that day. What an adventure! Hehe. Sorry I don’t have pictures this time, I am at the center and I don’t have my laptop with me but I wanted to go on and post this. Until next time!

Morocco Chapter Two

So I woke up that morning after not actually sleeping, changed clothes, and ran to meet Joanne. God is good, because I was amazingly awake! I definitely slept some that morning on the bus though. This was a trip with my program so all 50 of us were on a bus together with two leaders from our center – an administrator named Ester and an English teacher named Michael. They were both really nice and a lot of fun. We drove an hour or so to Gibraltar and then took a ferry across the Mediterranean. I felt slightly seasick on the ferry but I could barely keep my eyes open so luckily I slept some. We got on a bus when we landed at Ceuta, a Spanish city. I think that was when Mohammed, our Moroccan guide, joined us. Then we drove to cross the border into Morocco. It was all strict – we couldn’t take pictures or anything and then we had to wait for like 30 or 45 minutes to for a girl in our group to get a visa. She was born in the Congo so she was surprised she had to have a visa to return to her own continent! During that time we had our first experience with a Moroccan bathroom – a ceramic hole in the ground. It definitely takes talent to use! Fortunately not all of the bathrooms were like that; we always had toilets in the hotels. Anyway, luckily we finally made it across the border.

Then we drove more… The Moroccan countryside is gorgeous – the mountains were breathtaking to me. I loved looking out the window in the bus while we winded through the tan peaks spotted with green towering above us. (Sorry, about the flowery writing…you will just have to bear with me because it’s the best way to really paint the picture!) But it wasn’t that perfect because the roads that my eyes loved the most were also the ones that the rest of my body hated the most. Going around those curves in a charter bus (especially when I sat in the back) is enough to make almost anyone feel carsick!

So we finally got to this little town tucked away in the mountains called Chefchaouen to have lunch. It seriously looked like it was from a movie or something! It was almost completely surrounded by mountains bigger than I have ever seen. Like all other Moroccan towns we went to, it had windy narrow streets and lots of teeny tiny venders along the street selling food and all kinds of other random things. Almost all of the buildings in Chefchaouen were painted with different shades of an aqua blue – apparently it keeps it cool without reflecting the sun like white would. It made for pretty scenery as well! We ate lunch at a restaurant there and I liked it a lot. We always ate well on the trip, normally the meals were around three courses and very yummy! That first lunch was similar to a lot of the others: we started out with bread (which we had refilled throughout the whole meal) and some cold vegetable salad thing and then they brought out this huge clay thing with something that was like a pot roast except Moroccan-style – with saffron I think and different flavors. We ended with a plate of fruit and the Moroccan staple, mint tea. It’s always served hot in a little glass and made with green tea, mint, and lots of sugar. Sounds simple but I don’t know if I can ever replicate the delicious taste! They drink it ALL the time there; we normally had it multiple times a day! So we ate and walked around the town. It was like going back in time, there were woman washing their clothes in the river. I felt bad though because some other people and I tried to take picture of their little wash houses on the river in just trying to get the whole scene but they would yell at us not to take pictures. We realized that it was like we were treating them as a spectacle, which of course is the last thing we want to do. It was a weird situation…to be in awe of these people just because they are so different from me…but at the same time to remember they are still people just like me. I would hate to have people walk by gawking at me every day and trying to take pictures.

Then we drove to Fes, where we would sleep for the night. That was what we did for probably more than 50% of the time: rode in a bus! Everything was just really far apart. Fes was pretty cool, it was decorated with lights strung across the streets and other things because the king had just visited. There were pictures of him everywhere – apparently he is more modern than his dad was. His wife is actually a public figure, no one ever saw his mom like that. Anyway, we got there in time for dinner (a really good coconut cookie, tomato and garbanzo bean soup, roast again, and yummy orange juice fruit mix) and going to bed, which was much anticipated!

So that was the first day. Sorry for all the details, I just like to write them if I have time because like I said this is to explain to my family and for me to remember, too! If I were you I wouldn’t have time to read any of this so no one feel obligated hehe.

Besos!

Morocco Chapter 1

Alright, I am actually going to start with the day before I left. This was my roommate, Becky’s last full day here, so she was trying to do everything she hadn’t had a chance to do in the last three months hehe. So we were busy but we had a lot of fun! We got ice cream that morning and rode in paddle boats with some other girls on the Guadalquivir River. Although a work out for the thighs it was gloriously beautiful (the weather was perfect) and relaxing at the same time. That night we had a party at the center (my school) and my intercambio came so it was cool to talk to her and her classmates. Then a lot of us went and got churros and chocolate (delicious!) and hung out by the river for a little while. Becky was determined to have me taste her favorite beer (Guinness) so we went with two other girls to a bar. I took a sip of her beer and wasn’t a fan…but we had fun hanging out while she finished it and laughing when the bar tender gave her a big Saint Patrick’s Day hat. Then we decided to go home, and since it was like 2 in the morning we didn’t want the other too girls to walk alone. But they lived in too different opposite directions, and meanwhile I had to be at the bus to leave for Morocco at 5:45 am. So we walked both of them like halfway home and by the time we got back it was like 3am, and I still had to finish packing! I had to say bye to Becky that night too…which was really weird because neither of us were actually leaving…I was walking to the bathroom to take a shower and she was going to bed. It was very sad though nonetheless…God is so good because we got along great and it felt like we had known each other for way more than two months! I miss her very much!! So between packing and talking to Becky and then saying bye to Becky and then showering it wasn’t until like 4:30 that I got in bed. After all that I was wide awake and didn’t exactly sleep at all during the 30 minutes I laid there! Then it was up again to meet Joanne and a couple other girls at like 5:15 to walk to where the bus would be.

Well geez I didn’t even get to the actually Morocco part! Just increasing your anticipation :) But I have to go home now because it’s Magdalena’s sister’s birthday today and she made some type of dessert so I am going to go have that with them.

Oh PS I read my other entry from the other day and I had to edit a typo so just to clarify it should have been "Isabel's roommate's boyfriend" not girlfriend lol if anyone even remembered that... I think I am going to follow my mom's advice and start making time to read through these things before I post them! hehe

I am going to Morrocco this weekend!! My school has organized the trip. I am kind of nervous about it, but really excited! I will return on Tuesday night so I can enjoy the rest of Semana Santa here. I probably won't have the internet the whole week, so I hope everyone is doing well and I will try to update in a little over a week!

So picking up where I left off again, when I got home from Barcelona it was like 10 am and I was exhausted and unshowered. Magdalena (my host mom) was here waiting for me. She excitedly told me that we were going to her pueblo that day as she gave me breakfast. I tried to tell her that I would be okay with staying here and resting and she could just go but she would not take no for an answer. I’m sure she could never imagine leaving me here alone without nine course meals and she said she wanted me to see her pueblo (home town…looks more like a little village). So she said I could rest and shower in her house in the pueblo so “Venga!” and I changed clothes, washed my face and brushed my teeth and we were off. We met her sister, Cipri, who lives two floors below and went out to wait on the corner by the car garage. I knew we were waiting for some guy but I wasn’t really sure what was going on. Then a car drives up with a middle aged man and an older woman who apparently was his mom. He parks his car and we all get in Cipri’s old voltswagon – I am in the back between Magdalena and the mother (to this day I still don’t know their names…they probably told me but I was so out of it…). We drove for about 45 minutes or so maybe…I don’t really know because I literally could not keep my eyes open and Magdalena had me lean on her shoulder and sleep. The time I was awake was kinda funny though, I wish I had more energy to understand all the conversation. It was just funny to listen to their non-stop chatter and bickering back and forth about which highway to take and what not.

Anyway, so we finally arrived. Her pueblo is beautiful! Right out her door down the street is a beautiful view of green pastures and mountains in the distance. She has a really nice house there, and it’s extremely spacious, especially compared to her small apartment here. Sure enough, after the house tour she took me upstairs and made a bed for me to sleep. It was like queen size and it was basically the most comfortable bed I’ve ever slept in! I slept for four hours until she woke me up for lunch. We went out to eat where yet again I understood almost nothing but the food was good. I had some type of meat…I asked what the plate was called to try to figure it out and she said it was called “Iberian Secret” which helped a lot hehe. (I later found out it was pork.) Then we walked up a hill to a castle, which happened to be right behind her house of course. The building was closed but we still walked up the hill to see the view which really was amazing. I love all those little white houses with the green and moutains in the background. She told me she grew up there…I told her I couldn’t imagine that, it was like something out of a storybook! She found that amusing J Then I went with her to visit some neighbors, and didn’t understand most of the conversation again, but they were all really nice.

We returned here that night at the same time as her son Jose Manuel and his girlfriend, Isabel, and cousin, Pedro. They were going out for “cervezas” (beers…they do it all the time here) and invited me. I was exhausted and didn’t want beer but I said yes because it was the first time they had asked me and I didn’t want it to be the last. So I went with them to this little tapas bar on the corner right by our apartment building and we met up with Isabel’s roommate and her boyfriend. We all got drinks and they ordered tapas to share (luckily Pedro was the only one who actually got a cerveza, so I didn’t fill silly with my fanta!) Needless to say, although I understood them when they addressed me directly, most of the time I had no idea what was going on because they spoke so fast and with their accent and it was impossible… It probably didn’t help that I was going on a four hour nap and no shower. I didn’t feel like I could even say anything…I felt like I didn’t have enough vocabulary to even spit out one sentence. So overall it was kinda a discouraging night. But I talked to Mary Alice about it and she was like, you have to have lots and lots of those nights to have one good one. It was good to have someone who could relate!

I went to a church service in a church here in Triana (the neighborhood/area of Seville I live in) that was held by a study abroad program here for Christian colleges. It was really good! It was mostly in English but some of the songs were in Spanish. It was the encouragement I needed. We sang the worship song “For you are good…” (not sure if that’s the title or not) which we used to sing all the time in my youth group during high school. I hadn’t heard it in a while so I was suddenly transported back to the old sanctuary in our church and it was a precious give from Him! As much as I love it here I definitely miss things from home so it is always nice to have a taste of it here when I can J

On Friday morning I met with Mary Alice for coffee. It was wonderful! She very graciously let me vent all my frustrations to her…language problems, and just the frustration of sometimes feeling like alone here in the way I think and what I believe. God is very good though because as much as I tried to vent in an email home (which does help, mom and everyone I appreciate your responses more than you know!) but it is totally not the same as having a real live person there who can sympathize and nod her head and respond before I’ve even finished speaking. So that was really good…she said I encouraged her too because she has had the same experiences. And by the way she told me that she is working with other Christian organizations here like Campus Crusade and InterVarsity so apparently there are more protestant Christians here than I thought! You can be praying for her and what God is doing here!

This weekend I went to the island Palma de Mallorca with my roommate Becky and our friend Rebecca. It was a short trip but it’s Becky and Rebecca’s last weekend because their school is on trimesters and so I really wanted to spend it with them! And Becky’s friend from Madrid, Marta, was going to be there so I decided to go. It was really fun! Marta was there (taking courses for her job as a flight attendant) and her cousin, Sylvia, was visiting too. The first day we rented a car because things on the island are pretty spread out. So all five of us were stuffed in this little European car bumping around because the stick shift didn’t always work right. It was so fun! On Saturday we saw these amazing caves and then ate by this beautiful little cove place. We stayed in a hostel that night, which was interesting because they had decided that the best plan would be to just try to fit three of us in a room for two. So we pushed the beds together and me Becky and Rebecca all sleep on them in the opposite direction. I just woke up a few times when the crack got really under my hips which was a problem because the other two were sleeping like rocks when I tried to push the beds back together. It worked though!

The next day we walked by the water to the cathedral, which was beautiful, and then Becky and Rebecca played in the sand and collected shells (I was opposed to getting sand and water in my shoes). Then we climbed up 500 steps (Becky counted) with Sylvia (Marta had to study) to a castle. Sylvia even did it in heels! The castle wasn’t super impressive but the view was incredible! It was fun to be with Sylvia too because she didn’t speak much English so we got a lot of practice. We ate near the beach again that night for dinner. It was a really good weekend and I am glad I spent it with her!

Well, I have a lot to do this week so I am gonna run…I apologize for typos and what not because I don’t have time to read this before I post it today…although I might try to come back and put pictures in if I can. Hope everyone is well!