“Are you happy here?”

“Yes of course I’m happy. Aren’t you happy living in America? I am happy because this is my home, where I belong.” The response of a woman who had lived in the Moroccan mountainside of a poor village for 40 years regarding her happiness is the moment that I fully understood. Understood what it meant to be happy, what it meant to be a Moroccan. The past five days of my life have opened my eyes to a new life, a new sliver of the world.  My IES program took our group to Morocco for 5 days, and I got to experience and see things I never thought I would experience in my actual life. Probably the most profound aspect of my trip was learning about the Muslim culture; my stereotypes were shattered and I was welcomed into this foreign country with hospitality and an unexpected, genuine kindness. I felt surprisingly comfortable, and ultimately I could see and feel the love that flourishes from this country.

However, the first day of our trip we actually didn’t cross the border into Africa. The first day we went to Gibraltar, which is a British territory. The people of Gibraltar literally spoke “spanglish” and it was neat to hear the people a mixture of English and Spanish, some with a British accent. Gibraltar is the smallest territory/country I have ever been to, and it pretty much is a big mountain.  I learned at that one point this rock was UNDER the ocean! That’s crazy to me, because this rock was a legit mountain now! We went on a bus tour that drove us around to see all the main sights of Gibraltar, like the point where we can see Africa and Europe in the distance, which was beautiful! It was so cool to be able to see both continents at once! I wonder if there is anywhere else in the world that one can do that. Then we went to St. Michael’s cave, which had many stalagmites and stalactites, and a cool theater that hosts small concerts. My favorite stop on the bus tour was the dwelling of the wild monkeys! We were driving along the curvy mountainside road and all of a sudden there are probably about 50 monkeys just walking on the edge of the street, in the street, on the mountain, and on cars! As we drove closer, a mother monkey and her baby walked by, and a monkey pounced on the windshield of our car, Rise of the Planet of the Apes style, which produced a sufficient amount of shrieks from all the girls on my bus. We were able to get out of the bus and walk around and take pictures of the monkeys, and one actually walked onto my shoulders! It just sat there for a while playing with my hair, and he actually felt pretty cozy just straight chilling on my shoulders. Eventually he got off and climbed back onto the bus. That was a very exciting moment for me because I love animals and it was so cool to have a wild monkey on my shoulders! Later that night, we went for a hike up to the top of the rock of Gibraltar! It took us about 2.5 hours to do the whole thing, and it was one of the hardest hikes I’ve ever done because it was extremely steep and my ankle was pretty sore. But getting to the top was worth it! We arrived at the top right as the sun was setting, and the whole sky looked like a watercolor painting, with splashes of neon pink, lavender, and periwinkle. Below, the city twinkled and beyond I could see Spain and Africa. The view was very magical. When we finally got back down to civilization, we went to a traditional British pub for dinner. I tried a pie called Banoffee pie, which is a mixture of banana and toffee, and that is now one of my top 5 favorite desserts. A very sweet way to end an amazing day.

The next day we finally arrived in Africa! We took a ferry across the straight of Gibraltar from Taifa, Spain to Tanger, Morocco. We got to walk around Tanger for about an hour, and I definitely experienced some culture shock in the very beginning. I felt like an alien to all of the locals; everyone was staring at us because we were clearly different. There were barely any women on the streets, and I didn’t know how to act. There was a good amount of litter and stray cats. We walked through a market and it was very different than I expected. Kiosks lined a straight hallway, that sold olives, vegetables, chickens with their heads cut off, fish, fruit, nuts, anything. There were actually a lot of olive stands. The condition of the market was on the bad sad, with stagnant puddles, a stench that made me wrinkle my nose, and many flies. I wasn’t allowed to take many pictures because many Moroccans don’t like to have their pictures taken. After our walking tour of downtown Tanger, we went to an NGO that benefited women. We learned that women go here to learn how to read and write, and to learn some basic skills, like how to sew or cook. We talked for an hour with two local Moroccan students who explained to us a lot about their culture, dating, and religion. We ate couscous and drank mint tea. It was very interesting to learn that the Moroccan kids like to do the same thing as American kids! I felt so much more comfortable talking to these students because I realized that people around the world really aren’t that different.

I have so much more to write but not enough time so I will finish my blog when I can!! 

Location: Gibraltar

I can not believe that time is flyyyyyyyying by so quickly! I am right in the midst of all of my midterms and I have been extremely busy, but I am still trying to appreciate all of the beauty of where I am living. I have a really exciting new few weeks to look forward to: I am going to paris tomorrow for the weekend and then next thursday I leave for Morocco until Monday! I can’t believe I will be in 3 different countries and 2 different continents within the span on a week! That is something I can’t say very often! I am sooo excited!

Location: granada

On Friday night I experienced a new understanding of the Spanish culture. My program took us on a weekend trip to Ronda and Seville. Ronda is about 2 hours away and Seville was about another 2 hours from there. The night we got to Seville, our program took us to an authentic Flamenco performance. It was one of the incredible artistic performances I have ever viewed. I had no preconceived notions of Flamenco, and honestly thought that it was a partner dance. I was extremely wrong. 

                  The room was dimly lit, with high ceilings and pillars touching the sky. Vines crawled up the pillars and a rather small wooden stage was centered in the room. A sense of mystery lingered in the room as I waited for what was to come. Then two men entered the room and brought 2 chairs on the wooden stage and sat down.  One man carried a guitar with him and the other was empty handed. The man with the guitar started tuning the guitar, an unspoken signal for the room to go quiet. His fingers spontaneously strummed the guitar like a daddy long leg crawling along its web, creating a melody so unpredictable that everyone was entranced. He didn’t just strum the guitar; his individual fingers picked each string and created a rhythm that sounded like stereotypical Spanish guitar music but at the same time was completely original and authentic. A few minutes into the guitar playing, the man sitting next to him started singing in a tone so powerful, everyone was extremely surprised by what came out of his mouth. His eyes were closed, and you could tell the effort he was putting into his singing by the squinting of his eyes and the movement of his hands. It looked like he was about to cry every second from the amount of emotion he put into his singing. The tone of his voice reminded me of what I would think of when I think of traditional Middle Eastern of Indian music.  I wondered how someone came to know that they embodied this talent. His voice came from deep down inside of him, in a place that I doubt most people ever dare to venture with their voice. It was the most vulnerable and expressive song I’ve ever heard anyone sing.  The music was a sponge, absorbing and entrancing us, and no one noticed the elegant woman in red waltz in. She was dressed in a skin tight crimson dress that was form fitting all the way down to her ankles, where the dress transformed into endless ruffles. Her hair was slicked back into a snug bun, with embellished barrettes decorated her head. There was no smile on her face, rather a look of intrigue and caution, but also of ferocity and intensity. She glided onto the wooden stage and didn’t just dance; her dance moves seemed to attack the stage. The woman’s feet fiercely stamped the stage, she whipped her ruffles from side to side, and her fingers artfully curled around themselves, like a harpist strumming her instrument, as she elegantly moved them around her body. She pounced from corner to corner as if she was a tiger on the prowl. Her dance told a story of love and passion and downfall and triumph. The room resonated with emotion and tension, and everyone was awestruck by this novel way of telling a story.

                  From this performance I feel as if I came to a better understanding of the Spanish culture, but mostly the Spanish people. The Spanish people are fierce, passionate, and fiery. They are blunt and not afraid of life. Rather, they seem to understand the primary beauties of life, like love and music. Things that come to mind when one thinks of Spain are Flamenco, soccer, bull fighting, and food. All of these things are implanted deep down in the roots of the culture. They were ingrained into the culture with effort from tradition, love, and family. Yet even though these traditions are old, they still make the Spanish people who they are today. There is always a story and always something new to learn. So much history and so much pride lies in this society, and it was something so new that it took me to actually see this Flamenco performance to come to this realization. I have definitely come to a new appreciation of the Spanish culture, and I am excited to keep trying new things so that my understanding of this culture will grow even more.

Location: Seville, Spain

Yesterday six friends and I decided to go to the beach. This was one of the most spontaneous and relaxing days of my life! We woke up at 7:30 am and got a taxi around 8 am to take us to Granada’s bus station. We had all asked our host moms what the best beach to visit was, and most told us of La Playa Nerja. So when we got to the bus station we had intentions of buying tickets to Nerja. But unfortunately, all tickets to Nerja were sold out for the day! So we asked the man at the ticket booth what other beaches there are, and we ended up booking a ticket to a beach called Salobrena. It was a lot closer (an hour away versus 2 hours) and someone had heard good things about it, so we decided to go for it! I was proud of myself for using my Spanish to speak to the cashier and figure out our plans for the day. So then we had 2 hours to kill, so we went down to the cafeteria of the bus station to wait and rest. We had all been out last night until about 4 am, so we didn’t have much sleep. We went to a club called Camboria that is located in the caves of Granada! (I’ll post another entry about the nightlife of Granada at another time; that deserves a whole entry of its own!)

Eventually 11 o’clock came around and we boarded the bus to Salobrena! As the bus passed through the mountains on the way to the beach, I realized how spontaneous the day really was. We had barely heard anything about Salobrena; we didn’t really know where we were going, what there was to do there, or where the beach was! The bus let us off on the corner of a street and drove away. We had to ask locals how to get to the beach! I felt so independent and adventurous in this moment. We had gone out on a limb and took a chance. Gratefully, our risk paid off! As we followed the directions of the locals, we entered into a quaint beach town with the backdrop of mountains scattered with white houses. The streets were lined with palm trees, colorful flowers, and cute restaurants. It was a very tranquil and calm day in Salobrena, but that is exactly what we needed. After our busy schedules during the week and the pandemonium of city life, we all craved a peaceful retreat.

We set camp on the rocky sand and took in the sights. A large boulder jutted off the side of the beach, making our little area seem like a private cove. People were jumping off the cliffs into the translucent seawater and climbing the cliffs of the gargantuan rock. It was a very picturesque scene and I felt completely at ease. We all took naps under the scorching sun and intermittently cooled off in the chilly water. The sand was very different here than sand in the US. It was very rocky, and more of a charcoal gray color. It was so hot to the touch that the bottoms of my feet actually got burned from the heat of the sand!

We spotted these small paddle boats off shore that had slides on them so we decided to check them out! They were cheaper than we expected: 2 euros each for an hour out at sea! We paddled the boat out and each took turns sliding down the slide in the water! It was so incredibly fun, we all took numerous turns on the slide. We all jumped in and swam in the deep Mediterranean; we were so far out that the water was very deep, but it was also extremely clear so that we could see the bottom way below us, the ripples in the sand and everything! I am usually scared of deep water but I didn’t think about my fear and embraced this opportunity to swim in the Mediterranean ocean with great friends!

After our impulsive and spur-of-the-moment trip, I feel so much more excited and ready to take on Granada. Yesterday proved that I should take more chances and I have control of my own fate. We made yesterday happen and we had a blast! I don’t know what the rest of my abroad experience will bring me, but I know that I am ready to do anything! Someone told me before I left that I should never say “no” to trying anything new wile I’m abroad. This small piece of advice really help true today in my trip to Salobrena. “Never say no” may just be my new motto while I’m in Spain! Pues, dos besos xox hasta luego!

Location: Salobrena, Spain

This past Saturday my program hiked along the coast of the Cabo de Gato beach in southern Spain. Most people thought that the hike was going to be an easy stroll along the beach, but we were wrong! We scaled the steep and rocky mountains that were along the coast. We probably walked up hill for about an hour straight! It literally was an up-hill battle! I like to exercise frequently so I thought that I could handle the hike, but I have never walked for so many hours straight, especially up hill. The blazing sun beating down on my back didn’t help either. My friend from Penn State and I stopped at one mountain top to take a picture of us throwing the 4 Diamonds sign for THON in the air! We really missed Penn State in that moment but it was nice to have each other there to talk about our favorite place! After about 6 miles we ran into a herd of goats on the tip of one mountain. Seeing these snow white goats lifted my spirits for some reason – they probably distracted me from my hunger pangs and fatigue. I felt like they were something I would see in a movie, not real life! I love animals, and just seeing the cute babies made me feel better. After the first 7 miles we finally stopped on the beach to eat lunch, around 2:30 pm. We were rushed to eat, and to start hiking again, this time through some dessert terrain and on very narrow paths along the edge of some cliffs. Finally after about another 3 miles we were able to take an extended break to swim in the Mediterranean Sea! Even though the hike was difficult, being able to swim in the Sea was an awesome reward. The sea was as clear and warm as bath water. My legs and joints were very sore, and floating in the tranquil water helped to relax my body. The beach was surrounded by the cliffs that we were walking on, and seeing them from down below also created an interesting view. I could see that over the years the water has eroded the rock, creating unique, beautiful formations. No wonder so many people flock to Spanish beaches! Not to mention nude people… Basically everyone on the beach was naked, which was very strange to me because I had never experienced anything like that before. But it didn’t bother me, I just did my own thing.

Location: Granada, Spain

My first few days in Spain have been a whirlwind of chaos and excitement! I didn’t realize that my actual journey to arrive in Spain would be the hardest part so far! I had 2 layovers and each layover was only an hour. I should have realized that one hour layovers are probably not the best idea when traveling internationally for the first time in foreign airports! My first layover was in London, and when I landed, a lady who worked at the airport was waiting for me at the gate and literally rushed me to my next gate for the next flight because I only had 15 minutes to catch the flight! Due to the short layovers, my luggage was never transferred to my next flight, so I didn’t receive it until the following day. I had to borrow clothes from my friends in the program, and I was also extremely jet-lagged. We slept for hours the first night we arrived. We flew into a beach town called Malaga because Malaga has a larger airport than Granada. The minute we arrived we walked with our program to an open air restaurant located right on the beach, over-looking the sparkling aqua agua of the Mediterranean. Our first meal consisted of calamari, salad, and grilled chicken and french-fries. I was not exactly thrilled with the french fries, but I guess the people of Spain wanted to make us Americans feel at home!

            After resting the night and going through some brief orientations the next day, we finally set off to Granada, the city that will be my home for the next 3 months. The drive along the highway was not like the drive on 322 to Penn State; desert mountains sprinkled with olive trees hugged the winding highway. It was depressing to see that a river we drove by was dried up due to the droughts in the south of Spain. As we pulled into the valley of Granada, the Sierra Nevada mountains came into view and added to our amazement. The high rising buildings and the exotic city layout intrigued me as I peered out the bus window. Before I knew it, our bus pulled up to the side of the street to let us off to meet our host family. I was a little nervous to meet my host mom, but the moment I saw her I felt comforted. My host mom, Delia, is interesting, sweet, cool, and down to earth. She was dressed in a cute, flowy dress with wedges the first time I met her. The vibe she emanates is one of such confidence and passion for life and for her city. Her hippie-ish, carefree style is very stereotypical of Granada. We walked down the coble stone streets and ended up in Plaza Bibrambla, her home. Her house is the absolute most awesome house I have ever had the pleasure to visit. She lives on the third floor of an apartment that looks out onto the middle of the plaza, with the view of a fountain and various flower kiosks and restaurants. Her apartment is shaped in an “L” and although it is not very spacious, it is the perfect size for her. I am still getting used living away from home but I already feel as if this is a home away from home. Delia is very welcoming and  lets us be independent in her home. My roommate, Natalie, and I are allowed to prepare our own breakfast in the morning, and we have our own bathroom. I was having some problems with wifi and with money when I first arrived, and Delia helped me get figure out all my problems. I am so lucky to have her as a host mom, and I can’t wait to get to know her more! 

Location: Plaza Bib-Rambla, Granada, Spain