It all started a long time ago in a far away land... About last Friday a block away from my house. We met there and boarded the bus to start our long weekend in Morocco. I was really excited but in a way I wasn't really wanting to go. I just wanted to go to Germany which I leave tomorrow for. But nonetheless I was pretty excited. So we go on the bus and headed out. It was about a 4 hour bus ride to Tarifa where we would board the boat. We got there at night around 9 ish. So we get checked in and I am in a room with 3 other people. I was with my friends Kate, Lauren, and Destiny. There were four single beds which was nice so we didn't have to snuggle, even though that would have been nice cause our room was pretty cold. So funny story... We just walk in and the natural thing is to take off your shoes. So I do and ohhh lordy.... do they SMELL. They were pungent and it was awful. So awful that they made me wash my feet and put deodorant on them. It was worse than my old roomies Aprils feet... Almost.

So we were hanging out in our room cause we didn't want to go out and do anything. I opened our closet and found that it was oddly shaped inside and was huge.Then some people joined us because some of their friends went out and took the key and they couldn't get into their room so the were in our room until midnight. Then we went to bed and the next morning we got up at 7 since we had to meet at 8. So the next morning I got up to shower after Destiny and I got in and the water was pretty warm but that didn't last. I showered in record time cause the water didn't last very long and it quickly got cold. 

So after we all got ready we met with our tour guide Allen to walk down to the dock since it wasn't very far. We get there and our big group gets split up into 3 smaller groups of 13 ish. We then went inside to go through security since it was a international trip. We went through and I got my very second stamp in my passport!! (the first doesn't count cause it went on my visa and it looks like it came with it) But I was excited. 

So we then got on the boat and we got our passport stamped again!! I was pretty excited about that. So we got settled down and the boat ride wasn't that bad cause many of you may know that I do get motion sickness but going there wasn't bad. 

So our little group loads up into a bus and starts our journey to learning, self development, and personal growth. We drive a little ways and then get out and walk around. We walk through a open air market. The very first part we walk through was the fish section. Oh man did this stink. It was WAY worse than my feet. It was kinda sketch cause people were yelling, talking, bargaining, and trying to get you to buy their stuff. But we stop at one stall to buy stuff for the snack bag. But we stopped right in the middle of a place that stunk and there were head less chickens everywhere. It was awful. 

After we get snack bag full we go to DARNA which is a women's center that teaches women how to sew and they have classes to teach them how to read and write. It was really cool cause they made the rugs that are woven and they use the big machines and do it by hand. They also have new machines that they use to make other things. It was really cool to see how they made the big area rugs.

They took us on a tour of their place and we went up to the roof. We could see a ton. It was a really nice day and we could see pretty far even though there was some fog.

So we start to go back down stairs. And of course it had been sprinkling and so shoes are wet and they have tile floor... I think we know where this is going... Being the awesome person that I am I am the one to slip and slide down several stairs. I landed right on the edge of a step with my butt. Ohh man did that hurt. I thought I cracked my butt bone. And of course everyone stared. But I played it cool cause I didn't want to make a big deal out of it but it hurt quite a bit. So of course we went back to the room to eat and of course we had to sit down. Ohh was I uncomfortable. But then we got food and I was fine. We were served some sort of soup with beans and I wasn't a huge fan but the bread was awesome. The bread in Spain is very dry and hard. The bread in Morocco was soft and very tasty. So after we ate we left went to a small town names Asilah. But on the way we made a quick stop.

We stopped to ride camels!!! It was awesome. They smelled pretty bad but it was really fun. They have funny legs so when they stand they go butt first then the front and its pretty jerky and I almost fell off when it was standing and sitting. But other than that it was really cool.

Then we stopped at Asilah. It is a small town/village. Almost all the buildings are painted white and every year they have artists come in and paint murals on the white walls. There were walls all around the city because it was a fort for a long time. It was really quite and clean because most of the people that have buildings in the area we were in live in Spain or France and use these as vacation/weekend homes. 

We finally get to Rabat where we will be staying for the next two days. We were split up into even smaller groups to get a host family. I was a little nervous about this since I didn't want to offend anyone or do anything wrong. But I was glad I had friends with me so we had each others backs. So we get there and tea is very big in Morocco and so they served us tea and biscuity things. I wasn't a huge fan of the tea so I would try to drink it but ended up giving mine to either Kate or Raquel. I'm pretty sure that we got away with it because she never said anything. So this kind of became a kind of game, try and figure out how to switch glasses with out anyone noticing. 

This was the room we slept in because of the big couches and it was really comfortable. We each got a wall and our own couch. At first I sat down and thought it was pretty hard and didn't think it would be very comfy but it was and I don't know if it was cause I was so tired or what but slept like I always do; very good.

That night we spent the whole time with our "family" and talked because the daughter and the mom spoke fairly good English and they were trying, I emphasize trying, to teach us Arabic. They tried and failed. I can say thanks, no thanks, bless you, and knife. So not to bad for one weekend. I had so much fun with them because they would laugh at the way we pronounced things and Kate tried to say "I only eat vegetables" instead said "I only eat shit."  So that was funny. We then settle down and made our beds and slept.

Well this will be my last post for quite a while cause we won't have WiFi in Africa, I know how weird?? But I shall debrief you all upon my return.  Yesterday I never got around to making one so this is a two-for-one kind of deal.  Yesterday was pretty boring/same old thing. Today was a little more exciting cause we went shopping this morning and I bought stuff which was nice.  I then went to class and had a 15 minute intro to Arabic. We were supposed to learn several key words and/or phrases in Arabic for Morocco.  I don't know them but have no fear! I wrote them down. I don't understand Arabic, obviously it just looks like you handed a monkey a pen and let it go wild. But I shall not judge too much. I feel like there was something I was going to say but I don't remember it... 
On a side note I have made several more observations here; 
1) all of the light switches are outside the room
2) the cars here stink (the exhaust)
3) basically everyone here smokes; I feel like I'm going to come back with lung cancer or emphysema.
4) when things are plugged in the buzz
5) even being on the 5th floor the floors are still very cold
6) my bed isn't long enough for me
7) people just walk out in front of cars and hope the cars stop
8) almost everyone has a dog 
9) the majority of these dogs wear a coat
10) there is no ring tone when you call someone
11) pigeons aren't scared of you
12) cobble stone hurts even through tennis shoes
13) cobble stone is slippery when wet
14) no, I haven't fallen, yet
15) the bakeries rock!
16 ) I swear my señora is trying to send me into a food coma


Welp that about covers it for now.  But if anyone has questions I am open to them cause I usually type until I get bored then call it quits so I do read comments if anyone feels so inclined to leave a question... 

Well things are getting kind of exciting here cause we leave for Morocco on Friday. But Morocco is making me kind of nervous. First of cause we are going to yet another continent, not just country but continent.  But from what I know from the time we leave on Friday until we get back on Tuesday we only get one shower. One. Shower. Um EWWW!!! And they are giving a "dress code" like no cleavage or tights which is ok since I was just going to wear jeans and t-shirts the whole time but for some reason it makes me nervous.  And its like Mexico, don't drink the water, don't do anything, they even said don't eat the fruit. So knowing me, I'm going to forget and eat something or turn the water on to brush my teeth and then I'm going to get sick, again. But I am not going to get sick again. I won't allow it. I'm also excited cause we get back next Tuesday right? The next day we fly to Germany to spend the next 5 day there! I'm stoked. We are also planning a day trip to Austria in there somewhere. So the next week and a half will be jam packed and busy. I am really looking forward to both trips. 

Well today very little was done... don't really have a reason why but oh well. But I am quite comfortable with my surrounding and such now.  I have no problem getting around and such.  For some reason today I had some of the best food since I got here. For lunch I had some sort of soup with I think bacon in it?? Not sure but then there was meatballs that were awesome and some fried potatoes. Then for dinner I had some sort of pasta but it all just tasted so good! Which is good. But I think I am in one of those moods where I am super tired and everything is good and everything is funny cause I was cracking up in class. 

Ok so picture this:

I was sitting at the dinner table. I had just finished my pasta and decided to eat a clementine so I pick one out of the bowl and start to peel it. Oh MY GOODNESS it was seriously the hardest thing I had to do in my life.  I could not get that peel off for the life of me! I sat there for like 5 minutes just trying to get the frickin peel off! That poor orange... I had never seen an orange more mutilated... I  would compare it to getting run over on the road. It looked so bad.  Seriously it looked like zombie tried to peel it. I was so ashamed at this... I was glad that I was eating alone so nobody had to witness that. BUT in my defense that peel was NOT coming off unless you were REALLY dedicated, which of course I am, so I ended up getting it off and eating it even though it looked terrible. Not really sure what this had to do with anything I just thought I would share this since I was still upset by my epic failure. Like seriously, who does that?? What did I do to Mother Nature to piss her off that much?? Nothing. Absolutely Nothing. Urgg.... It just makes me mad to think about it still. I'm pretty sure it would have been more successful to just cut the whole thing in half and eat out the middle part. Yeah so... Not sure if anyone has noticed but I am really bad at ending these things so for future reference most of these will just end. No conclusion, no summary, no nothing. Just stop. Unless... I could end with a quote... a funny picture... A cat picture... Something inspirational... Nah I think I'll go for the cat picture so... Here is some random pictures that make me happy so enjoy! (I'm putting up several to make up for the days I missed)

Well yesterday we went to church for the first time here and I just have to say that all of these churches look much cooler and prettier than any any of the ones I have seen before. I'm quite sure this is why more people go to church here and in the United States. Just saying that if you could see these churches you would go just to look around. 

This church was HUGE!!! It was so detailed. I loved going to this church cause I could just look around at everything and since the mass was obviously in Spanish it was a bit harder to understand and the microphone made it basically impossible to understand cause it echoed a lot. But it was really beautiful. I highly recommend even if your not Catholic to attend this church. 

So yesterday we went to the Alhambra.  For those of you who don't know what that is, it is basically a giant castle. This is where we began our tour.

We then started down a path that lead us to the actual building. They handed us a box with a string on it that we had to hang around our necks.  They then handed us ear pieces so we could attach it to our ear and listen to our guide without having to be right next to him since it was pretty loud there. There could not be a more perfect James Bond thing.  We were in a old castle.  With secret service like ear pieces the only thing we were missing were the Martinis.  We came in through a gate a ways away, so when arrived to the first part which was part of their defense system with the high walls and towers. I could literally see where I was staying because there is a big monastery right in front of my building so I found that and I found my house! Then we went inside the main building.

This isn't going to be very detailed because I don't know the names of the building we were in or what they were, I was more looking than listening while we were there, but you can look at the pretty pictures which I'm sure is what most people do anyway, or at least what I would do. But I did try and listen but it was all in Spanish and I was more interested in taking pictures. So ya... This place was really cool and for being as old as it is (I think it was built a really long time about like the 1950's... just kidding I think it was in the 900's). But everything was so detailed it was crazy. And in this one room there was the border with Arabic and it was supposed to be head high so they could read it easy... but it only came up to between my elbow and shoulder.  They people were REALLY short, it was about the right height for Grandma, if she could read Arabic. But overall I really liked the Alhambra and when you pronounce it the h is silent its not the Al-HAM-bra its the    Al-AM-bra, just an F.Y.I.

****WARNING**** THIS COULD BE KINDA GRAPHIC SO BE WARNED THAT THIS WON'T BE VERY PLEASANT  

              Reader discretion is advised.

If you have a weak stomach I wouldn't read this.

So before we got here we were told to be careful because the food and water will be different and we will get what is known as "travelers diarrhea." So when I got here I was expecting to have it right away. I felt great and didn't have any problems until Wednesday. Ohh man……. It all started Wednesday afternoon. I had a sandwich with chorizo which is something similar to pepperoni.  And it tasted good and didn't think anything of it.  But then during class that afternoon my stomach started to hurt but I didn't think that much of it. Then we went back to the hotel to look at flight because we can use their WiFi. There is started to get worse. I did go to the bathroom and had my first experience with travelers diarrhea…

Now you must be thinking that, "that wasn't that bad" but the story doesn't end there.

So I go home and my señora asks if I want something to eat and I tell her no, I don't because I didn't feel very good.  So I sit on the couch in the living room watching tv and my stomach is rolling. It finally get so bad and I get that "I'm about to throw up" feeling so I go to the bathroom and I barely get the door closed and I throw up but I didn't totally make it in the toilet. There is some on the back and the floor and the side of the tub (the bathroom is very small and there isn't much room). 

It came up so fast it came out my nose!!! WHAT!! I didn't know this was or should be possible!! And it BURNS!! This was probably the worst part of the whole thing cause its not like you can gargle some water and call it good.  I blew my nose several times before I felt any kind of better(BTW its really REALLY gross to blow out vomit from your nose(and of course you have to look at it you just have to see what came out)).

So I throw up about 3 times and I get it all cleaned up and I brush my teeth and go get a glass of water. I then go back to the couch and sit there for a while and I finally decide I should go to bed. So I lay down and my stomach still hurts and I get that feeling again so I go to the bathroom and close the door and I throw up but I threw up with such force it forces other things to come out other places… So I sit on the toilet but I still feel like I'm going to throw up and I couldn't stand up so I throw up in the sink whilst sitting on the toilet. I finally run out of stuff to throw up but I am sitting there dry heaving and oh that hurts! Finally I feel some what better so I go back to bed and go to sleep (after I talk with mom and make sure its ok that it came out my nose). So I wake up the next morning and I really don't feel that much better so I don't eat anything for breakfast. Then I go to school and I'm stilling feeling the same. So I have a break and I go home and I don't eat anything for lunch but I had talked with some friends and we were going to meet at the Burger King before class and just sit there. So I get there early and sit down, I remembered I had bought a bag of M&M's so I open it thinking that I don't have anything else and I was starting to feel like I was going to pass out and if I passed out alone I would get robbed cause the homeless people and beggers go into the stores and up to your table and ask for money, so I just knew I would wake up and my bag would be gone. So I eat ONE just ONE M&M and I don't feel good. I get up to try and find the bathroom but I can't find one so I go outside to find a trash can. Luck was with me because there was one right outside the door and I literally get to it and throw up what was in my stomach cause I had been drinking a lot of water to try and calm my stomach so that all came up and I stand there dry heaving for a while and that was a work out. Seriously, I bet I have almost a 6-pack by now. But that ends so I go back inside and sit down and then my friends come in and they get in line and I stay at the table cause I didn't want anything.  They return and I feel better so I decide I should try and get something bland like some plain ice cream… I know this probably wasn't the best thing but it was the only thing that sounded good. So I get some and I got some Sprite as well. Then I sit down and slowly eat and drink. It tastes good so I eat most of the ice cream and drink the Sprite. I feel pretty good.  We go to class and it stays down(throughout the whole class I kept planning my escape route if I had to throw up again). But I didn't need to cause I kept it down and felt OK.  That night we went for tapas and I order and Fanta and didn't have any of the tapas.  Then I get back home and didn't eat any more. So this morning I didn't have to be anywhere until 1 so I slept in til 10:30!!! I was really excited since I had been getting up at 7:30. So I feel pretty good so I have a piece of bread with some jelly and its stays down and I feel much better. And by now I feel much better so you don't have to worry. 

I don't even know where to begin… Today we took a tour through Albaycin which is one of the oldest and riches part of Granada.  It was literally at the top of a mountain.  Like straight up.  You might be thinking of / but it was more like l.  My feet hate me right now.  Even though I thought I was going to die, I do think the view was worth it. 

So we started off at a plaza of the nice building then we moved down the street and found the "river" which does not look like a river but more like a creek. But Spain is experiencing a drought so to them this is a river.  Then we went to an old Muslim bath house. Then we started our ascent to the top of the mountain.  We stopped 3 times going up the mountain.  You can see the different stops we made.  Then we started going down when we got this view of Granada.  

Well today was the second day and I'm still getting used to the city but I haven't gotten lost going to or coming from school! But today I made my first real purchase of… an umbrella.  It has rained for last couple days so I thought it would be a good idea to do this.  Then I also bought a watch cause they don't have many clocks here.  

I forgot to put this up yesterday so here it is. This is like taking a step back in time.  For those of you who didn't know, phones used to flip open, they weren't always open for you.  This is like taking a step back to the early 2000's.  This is almost an antique, a brand new antique but nonetheless.  

Tomorrow we will go on another tour of a different part of the city so I hope it doesn't rain tomorrow but I bet it will some. 

Well today was the first day of classes/meetings.  I woke up at 7:30! I know, it kinda sucked, but my señora fixed me a breakfast of toast and orange juice which was awesome cause my stomach hadn't woken up yet. Then since its my first day she walked me to school! I felt like I was back in kindergarten. So we make it to school and I go inside to wait with everyone.  Then Veronica, the person in charge of not losing one of us, gave A LOT of information, like I don't know if I remember even half of it.  But that soon ended and we take a tour of the place, its pretty small there are about 14 or so classrooms in just one building.  After that some of us went to look for umbrellas because it was raining and we had a WALKING tour that afternoon.  So we found some and bought some then we returned and ate our sack lunches that our señoras prepared for us. I had a ham and cheese sandwich and a mandarin orange. After we ate it was time to leave for the tour. We walked and we walked and we walked for ever!! We saw a lot of historical sites and it was all really cool but it was a very long walk and it was worse cause of the rain but I believe it was worth it in the end.

After the tour we came back at took some level test to see where we place. That was very long and the room was super cold!! But I feel like I did ok but that probably means I did horrible… oh well this isn't the test that determines what classes we take that test is next week. So the test we went on the hunt for phones. We found a place that had exactly what we want but there was only one phone!! So that sucked, but Destiny and I walked around and looked a couple different places but then we found the one we were looking for in a different store so it was all good.  I then had to look for a place to buy shampoo and conditioner since I didn't bring any with me.  We also found that which was awesome.  Then I went home and I had some sort of soup and chicken for supper. It was good but it had lots of hard boiled eggs in it so I picked around the eggs but the chicken was really good. So all in all it was a pretty successful day.