This first latest post will be about my trip to Gibraltar
and Morocco with IES from March 16th through 20th. Wow!
Almost a month ago, now. Time has been racing here, I guess. Alright. To begin…
Friday, March 16th
6:45am: Wake up. Get ready. Triple and quadruple check that I didn’t forget anything. Eat breakfast.
8:45am: Meet the bus at los Járdines del Triunfo. Travel to Linea, Spain
12:30pm: Arrive at the hotel in Linea (just a 20 minute-ish walk from GIBRALTAR). Eat lunch (on the beach—rocky but beautiful and perfect for a picnic prepared by Maria Carmen).
3:00pm: Walk to Gibraltar for a guided tour: A famous view (we could see the continent of Africa!), a cave (stalactites, stalagmites, a stage inside), monkeys (scary…) and all with the commentary of our guide/bus driver Robert while ascending the Rock of Gibraltar
5:00pm: Explore some shops in Gibraltar during a little bit of free time.
6:00pm: Hike up the Rock of Gibraltar to see the sunset. Okay, truthfully, I hiked part of the way and then, being the lazy being that I am, decided to stop with a couple of other exhausted girls to watch the sunset, I think about two-thirds of the way up the Rock of Gibraltar. This was a beautiful view and all very romantic, until we stood up to find that we had decided to sit in bird poop. Awesome. Still amazing, though.
8:00pm: Eat dinner at The Clipper in Gibraltar. At a British pub, fish and chips for me? No. Grilled cheese and tomato with a side of sautéed mushrooms and a ginger beer. Yes, please.
9:30pm: Walk back to the hotel in Linea and rest up for MOROCCO on Saturday!
6:45am: Wake up. Get ready. Triple and quadruple check that I didn’t forget anything. Eat breakfast.
8:45am: Meet the bus at los Járdines del Triunfo. Travel to Linea, Spain
12:30pm: Arrive at the hotel in Linea (just a 20 minute-ish walk from GIBRALTAR). Eat lunch (on the beach—rocky but beautiful and perfect for a picnic prepared by Maria Carmen).
3:00pm: Walk to Gibraltar for a guided tour: A famous view (we could see the continent of Africa!), a cave (stalactites, stalagmites, a stage inside), monkeys (scary…) and all with the commentary of our guide/bus driver Robert while ascending the Rock of Gibraltar
5:00pm: Explore some shops in Gibraltar during a little bit of free time.
6:00pm: Hike up the Rock of Gibraltar to see the sunset. Okay, truthfully, I hiked part of the way and then, being the lazy being that I am, decided to stop with a couple of other exhausted girls to watch the sunset, I think about two-thirds of the way up the Rock of Gibraltar. This was a beautiful view and all very romantic, until we stood up to find that we had decided to sit in bird poop. Awesome. Still amazing, though.
8:00pm: Eat dinner at The Clipper in Gibraltar. At a British pub, fish and chips for me? No. Grilled cheese and tomato with a side of sautéed mushrooms and a ginger beer. Yes, please.
9:30pm: Walk back to the hotel in Linea and rest up for MOROCCO on Saturday!
Saturday, March 17th
6:00am: Wake up, shower, pack, etc.
7:00am: Breakfast at the hotel. Lots of cheese (why do I always remember food so well but hardly anything else?) and some fresh orange juice. Yum!
7:30am: Board the bus to meet the ferry in Tarifa, Spain
8:30am: Meet our group for Morocco and our travel guide and IES staff guide
9:00am: Board the ferry to cross the Strait of Gibraltar from Tarifa, Spain to Tangier, Morocco
*Here, I am switching from actual hours to general times of day since upon arriving in Morocco, we were henceforth on “Morocco time,” which is even more laid back than Spanish time, apparently. To explicate, in Spain, if you say, “Let’s meet at 9pm,” expect the Spaniard you’re meeting to arrive around 9:05, 9:10…or…sometime within the half hour? In Morocco, “Let’s meet at 10am” could be translated any number of ways, probably requiring at least an hour of flexibility. Okay so…
After arriving in Tangier, Morocco:
Morning:
-Talk with Moroccan students in Tangier (studying translation)—they asked questions, we asked questions, everyone learned at least a little bit, I believe. Mostly discussing politics and the recent laws passed in Morocco giving more rights to women.
-Tour of “Darna” (which translates to “Our House”): A place for women of Tangier to go to learn marketable skills as well as literacy.
-Tea and lunch at Darna—again, with the food, but…Moroccan tea is minty and amazingly sweet and our lunch was a chicken tangine (I don’t actually know how to spell that and it’s also kind of hard to describe), basically baked chicken with a sweet sauce of raisins or dates or something. Weird but yummy.
Afternoon:
-Travel to Assilah, Morocco by bus (aka: 15 passenger van). But wait!
-CAMEL RIDES!!! So the bus just kind of pulled over in the middle of nowhere and we were all a little confused until our tour guide Rachael explained that we were stopping for camel rides. Did I ride a camel? Yes. Did I cry? Yes. Am I glad I rode the terrifying camel? Yes. Was the camel’s baby happy when I finally got off his mother? Yes.
–Brief interruption to introduce you to our tour guide, Rachael, since I just realized I never did that. Rachael originally went to Morocco with the Peace Corps for two years, but then she met a Moroccan man to whom she is now married. So…she’s still living in Morocco, but they (Rachael and her husband) will hopefully be moving to the U.S. sometime in the near-ish future. She is fluent in Moroccan Arabic and was, in my opinion, an interesting tour guide who offered a very unique perspective on Moroccan life. Now back to Saturday afternoon…
-Arrive in Assilah.
-Walk through the Medina (city center) for about an hour.
-Avoid a creepy Moroccan who was adamant about selling us some paintings…and possibly some illegal drugs.
-Travel to Rabat
Night:
-Meet our host families in Rabat (who we would be staying with for two nights and one day)
-Walk through the Medina of Rabat with our host brother Fehd (Caitlin [the other IES student who stayed in the homestay with me] were so tired but really enjoyed the walk through the city and markets—and we were extremely shocked by how wonderful Fehd’s English was. For example, he used colloquial terms like “chilling.” Wow, I hope my Spanish will be that good someday)
-Dinner with host family. Some sort of thin noodle, rice-like, with chicken. And bread. And we used spoons. It was delicious! And we ate out of a community dish, as is common in Morocco.
*Note: My homestay had Western toilets AND toilet paper! And even internet, actually. I was pleasantly surprised.
6:00am: Wake up, shower, pack, etc.
7:00am: Breakfast at the hotel. Lots of cheese (why do I always remember food so well but hardly anything else?) and some fresh orange juice. Yum!
7:30am: Board the bus to meet the ferry in Tarifa, Spain
8:30am: Meet our group for Morocco and our travel guide and IES staff guide
9:00am: Board the ferry to cross the Strait of Gibraltar from Tarifa, Spain to Tangier, Morocco
*Here, I am switching from actual hours to general times of day since upon arriving in Morocco, we were henceforth on “Morocco time,” which is even more laid back than Spanish time, apparently. To explicate, in Spain, if you say, “Let’s meet at 9pm,” expect the Spaniard you’re meeting to arrive around 9:05, 9:10…or…sometime within the half hour? In Morocco, “Let’s meet at 10am” could be translated any number of ways, probably requiring at least an hour of flexibility. Okay so…
After arriving in Tangier, Morocco:
Morning:
-Talk with Moroccan students in Tangier (studying translation)—they asked questions, we asked questions, everyone learned at least a little bit, I believe. Mostly discussing politics and the recent laws passed in Morocco giving more rights to women.
-Tour of “Darna” (which translates to “Our House”): A place for women of Tangier to go to learn marketable skills as well as literacy.
-Tea and lunch at Darna—again, with the food, but…Moroccan tea is minty and amazingly sweet and our lunch was a chicken tangine (I don’t actually know how to spell that and it’s also kind of hard to describe), basically baked chicken with a sweet sauce of raisins or dates or something. Weird but yummy.
Afternoon:
-Travel to Assilah, Morocco by bus (aka: 15 passenger van). But wait!
-CAMEL RIDES!!! So the bus just kind of pulled over in the middle of nowhere and we were all a little confused until our tour guide Rachael explained that we were stopping for camel rides. Did I ride a camel? Yes. Did I cry? Yes. Am I glad I rode the terrifying camel? Yes. Was the camel’s baby happy when I finally got off his mother? Yes.
–Brief interruption to introduce you to our tour guide, Rachael, since I just realized I never did that. Rachael originally went to Morocco with the Peace Corps for two years, but then she met a Moroccan man to whom she is now married. So…she’s still living in Morocco, but they (Rachael and her husband) will hopefully be moving to the U.S. sometime in the near-ish future. She is fluent in Moroccan Arabic and was, in my opinion, an interesting tour guide who offered a very unique perspective on Moroccan life. Now back to Saturday afternoon…
-Arrive in Assilah.
-Walk through the Medina (city center) for about an hour.
-Avoid a creepy Moroccan who was adamant about selling us some paintings…and possibly some illegal drugs.
-Travel to Rabat
Night:
-Meet our host families in Rabat (who we would be staying with for two nights and one day)
-Walk through the Medina of Rabat with our host brother Fehd (Caitlin [the other IES student who stayed in the homestay with me] were so tired but really enjoyed the walk through the city and markets—and we were extremely shocked by how wonderful Fehd’s English was. For example, he used colloquial terms like “chilling.” Wow, I hope my Spanish will be that good someday)
-Dinner with host family. Some sort of thin noodle, rice-like, with chicken. And bread. And we used spoons. It was delicious! And we ate out of a community dish, as is common in Morocco.
*Note: My homestay had Western toilets AND toilet paper! And even internet, actually. I was pleasantly surprised.
Sunday, March 18th—Rabat!
Morning:
-Eat breakfast at the homestay: Yummy toast-bread stuff (flaky, but kind of dense also. Hard to describe, but amazing) with orange marmalade, butter, and cheese. Oh, yeah, and Moroccan TEA of course! (Oh, needless to say, Mom, I don’t think the Moroccan diet would work for you. You can remove “Living in Morocco” from your to-do list. ;-) )
-Drive to Sale (the neighboring city to Rabat)—view of the slums from the tour bus (IES student: “Are we getting out?” Moroccan student: …nervous laughter…”No.”)
-Visit to NGO in Sale (I don’t remember what NGO stands for, but it is basically an organization that tries to improve the way of life for youth in the slums. First, “youth” is any age before marriage, really. Second, they have activities and soccer games and classes and stuff to keep the kids busy and entertained. Kind of like Boys and Girls Club, actually.)
-Talk with Moroccan students at NGO—again, politics was a big part of the discussion
-Walk through a market in Sale: crazy! I don’t think I could shop there daily. I narrowly missed seeing a chicken get beheaded. Wow! Interesting, though.
-Visit to the Mausoleum of Hassan II (a former king of Morocco) and la Mezquita Mayor (main mosque, never completed…but it would have been CRAZY HUGE had it been completed. Even incomplete, it was pretty amazing to see)
-Visit to the ruins of the Chellah-Roman ruins. Lots of storks. Beautiful gardens.
Afternoon:
-Lunch with our host families: We ate using spoons again (I was really scared of trying to eat with my hands, if I haven’t communicated that so far). Koos koos! Chicken, I think. And vegetables. And YUMMY! Also, they had buttermilk to drink with it as well as some other type of milk for Caitlin and I in case the buttermilk was too strong, which it was. So…I somehow ended up drinking almost the entire half gallon of this milk-yogurt hybrid since Caitlin couldn’t finish hers and I didn’t want it to be wasted and then my host mom added MORE to my glass and…well…to be continued in the next bullet point.
-Walk through the Kasbah, along the beach, and through the market of the Medina with Moroccan students in small groups. Okay. So…to continue. WAY TOO MUCH DAIRY IN ONE MEAL. Luckily, Rachael had Tums. Unfortunately, I have no idea what the Kasbah is—it’s just listed on the itinerary, so I assume I saw it sometime during my stomach-ache-stupor. Halfway through the walk, though, I felt infinitely better. The beach was beautiful and the Moroccan students wrote our names in Arabic in the sand. The market was crazy and interesting—so many vendors. And then we stopped for Moroccan tea at “Le Gran Terrace”—one of our group ordered avocado juice, also, which was weird.
Night:
-Run to host homes to grab stuff for the Hammam (Arabic baths)
-Hammam. Wow. So…this was pretty much our only option for a shower between leaving the hotel in Linea on Saturday morning and arriving at the hostel on Monday night. Was I terrified of going into a room full of naked women while also naked? Yes. Did I do it? Like. A. Rock. Star. Okay, maybe not like a rock star. But I did it. And I didn’t even cry. AND, bonus, my hair looked really awesome on Monday, if I do say so myself. It was actually pretty cool, but I think I like Western showers better. Privacy, at least.
-Henna: Mine looked pretty freaking cool. The artist who did our group’s henna was super fast and intricate and…I really enjoyed it. I will upload a picture someday. I hope. (I know…I’ve said that before…)
-Dinner with host family: using….our hands. Yeah. Like Moroccans. It was some sort of tomato soup like substance with meatballs. So we used bread and our hands to eat. By hands, I guess I should say hand, since the left one is considered unclean. But…Caitlin and I were successful. And it was again a delicious meal.
Morning:
-Eat breakfast at the homestay: Yummy toast-bread stuff (flaky, but kind of dense also. Hard to describe, but amazing) with orange marmalade, butter, and cheese. Oh, yeah, and Moroccan TEA of course! (Oh, needless to say, Mom, I don’t think the Moroccan diet would work for you. You can remove “Living in Morocco” from your to-do list. ;-) )
-Drive to Sale (the neighboring city to Rabat)—view of the slums from the tour bus (IES student: “Are we getting out?” Moroccan student: …nervous laughter…”No.”)
-Visit to NGO in Sale (I don’t remember what NGO stands for, but it is basically an organization that tries to improve the way of life for youth in the slums. First, “youth” is any age before marriage, really. Second, they have activities and soccer games and classes and stuff to keep the kids busy and entertained. Kind of like Boys and Girls Club, actually.)
-Talk with Moroccan students at NGO—again, politics was a big part of the discussion
-Walk through a market in Sale: crazy! I don’t think I could shop there daily. I narrowly missed seeing a chicken get beheaded. Wow! Interesting, though.
-Visit to the Mausoleum of Hassan II (a former king of Morocco) and la Mezquita Mayor (main mosque, never completed…but it would have been CRAZY HUGE had it been completed. Even incomplete, it was pretty amazing to see)
-Visit to the ruins of the Chellah-Roman ruins. Lots of storks. Beautiful gardens.
Afternoon:
-Lunch with our host families: We ate using spoons again (I was really scared of trying to eat with my hands, if I haven’t communicated that so far). Koos koos! Chicken, I think. And vegetables. And YUMMY! Also, they had buttermilk to drink with it as well as some other type of milk for Caitlin and I in case the buttermilk was too strong, which it was. So…I somehow ended up drinking almost the entire half gallon of this milk-yogurt hybrid since Caitlin couldn’t finish hers and I didn’t want it to be wasted and then my host mom added MORE to my glass and…well…to be continued in the next bullet point.
-Walk through the Kasbah, along the beach, and through the market of the Medina with Moroccan students in small groups. Okay. So…to continue. WAY TOO MUCH DAIRY IN ONE MEAL. Luckily, Rachael had Tums. Unfortunately, I have no idea what the Kasbah is—it’s just listed on the itinerary, so I assume I saw it sometime during my stomach-ache-stupor. Halfway through the walk, though, I felt infinitely better. The beach was beautiful and the Moroccan students wrote our names in Arabic in the sand. The market was crazy and interesting—so many vendors. And then we stopped for Moroccan tea at “Le Gran Terrace”—one of our group ordered avocado juice, also, which was weird.
Night:
-Run to host homes to grab stuff for the Hammam (Arabic baths)
-Hammam. Wow. So…this was pretty much our only option for a shower between leaving the hotel in Linea on Saturday morning and arriving at the hostel on Monday night. Was I terrified of going into a room full of naked women while also naked? Yes. Did I do it? Like. A. Rock. Star. Okay, maybe not like a rock star. But I did it. And I didn’t even cry. AND, bonus, my hair looked really awesome on Monday, if I do say so myself. It was actually pretty cool, but I think I like Western showers better. Privacy, at least.
-Henna: Mine looked pretty freaking cool. The artist who did our group’s henna was super fast and intricate and…I really enjoyed it. I will upload a picture someday. I hope. (I know…I’ve said that before…)
-Dinner with host family: using….our hands. Yeah. Like Moroccans. It was some sort of tomato soup like substance with meatballs. So we used bread and our hands to eat. By hands, I guess I should say hand, since the left one is considered unclean. But…Caitlin and I were successful. And it was again a delicious meal.
Monday, March 19th
Morning:
-Breakfast at homestay—the same awesome toast stuff and marmalade and cheese and tea
-Adios to the host family: We actually didn’t see our host dad or brother to say bye. Sad. But we said bye to our host mom and gave her lots of chocolate as a thank you.
-Travel through the Rif Mountains to meet a rural Moroccan family for discussion and food
Afternoon:
-Lunch in a pueblo at a home with a rural family: Veggies for an appetizer, and tuna, and bread and then vegetable koos koos for lunch. Yum!
-Question and answer session with the family (to get a different perspective of Moroccan life)—much thanks to our translator Abs (That’s not his full name, but he gave us a nickname because we were struggling to pronounce his actual name). The discussion was somewhat heated and awkward, but very enlightening—and I imagine incredibly uncomfortable for Abs, which I will explain in my overall reflections.
-Walk/hike to a BEAUTIFUL view of a valley and river near the house. SO PRETTY! Maybe one of my very favorite parts of the trip.
-Travel to Chefchaouen (mountain town) for our last night in Morocco
Night:
-Explore/shop in the markets of Chefchaouen. I much prefer set prices to bartering, by the way.
-Dinner at a restaurant (I can’t remember the name)—I tried SO MANY THINGS thanks to some genius girls I was able to travel with. We each ordered a different appetizer and main (but the same desserts) in order to experience more Moroccan foods. YUM!
-Impromptu game of “Never Have I Ever” in the hostel in Chefchaouen and finally some much needed sleep
-Breakfast at homestay—the same awesome toast stuff and marmalade and cheese and tea
-Adios to the host family: We actually didn’t see our host dad or brother to say bye. Sad. But we said bye to our host mom and gave her lots of chocolate as a thank you.
-Travel through the Rif Mountains to meet a rural Moroccan family for discussion and food
Afternoon:
-Lunch in a pueblo at a home with a rural family: Veggies for an appetizer, and tuna, and bread and then vegetable koos koos for lunch. Yum!
-Question and answer session with the family (to get a different perspective of Moroccan life)—much thanks to our translator Abs (That’s not his full name, but he gave us a nickname because we were struggling to pronounce his actual name). The discussion was somewhat heated and awkward, but very enlightening—and I imagine incredibly uncomfortable for Abs, which I will explain in my overall reflections.
-Walk/hike to a BEAUTIFUL view of a valley and river near the house. SO PRETTY! Maybe one of my very favorite parts of the trip.
-Travel to Chefchaouen (mountain town) for our last night in Morocco
Night:
-Explore/shop in the markets of Chefchaouen. I much prefer set prices to bartering, by the way.
-Dinner at a restaurant (I can’t remember the name)—I tried SO MANY THINGS thanks to some genius girls I was able to travel with. We each ordered a different appetizer and main (but the same desserts) in order to experience more Moroccan foods. YUM!
-Impromptu game of “Never Have I Ever” in the hostel in Chefchaouen and finally some much needed sleep
Tuesday, March 20th
Morning:
-Optional hike up to the Spanish mosque in Chefchaouen. Such a beautiful view of the city! And a beautiful day for a walk, too.
-Breakfast at a restaurant in the Plaza Mayor of Chefchaouen-more toasty things and tea. So much food. And so delicious!
-Travel to Ceuta to meet the ferry to take us back to the mainland of Spain
-Ferry across the Strait of Gibraltar from Ceuta, Spain (on the continent of Africa) to Algeciras, Spain (on the Iberian Peninsula)
-Adios to Rachael, our tour guide
Afternoon:
-Reunion with the other groups from IES and a bus ride back to Granada, “Home, Sweet Home.”
What a trip! WOW! First, I really liked the way the trip was planned. A lot of trips taken with IES are a little more “touristy” in that we see important sights or monuments. It makes sense—a lot of the sights are related to the subject matter for various classes. Morocco, however, was a little different. We saw some monuments, but most of all, we met people and talked with them. It was really beautiful. That being said, I found the opinions of liberty in Morocco to be very interesting. Many of the students expressed contentment with the state of Morocco politically, socially, etc. They don’t feel oppressed and feel that they have freedom of expression. But I think their definition of freedom is different from that of, say, and American student. Also, the drastic difference between city life and rural life was amazing to me. In the city, I was shocked by how many women were not covered and how many couples were holding hands or being affectionate. I really didn’t expect Rabat to be so…modern. But in the pueblo, I felt that a lot of the recent changes hadn’t really taken effect. The women still have so few rights! Which brings me to the discussion of Abs and…the discussion. How awkward it must have been for him! Basically, there was a group of 13 American students (male and female), our two guides, our translator, and the family: one man and three women (and children, but they were outside playing so…) Many of the questions that were asked were very controversial and would have been so even in a setting with only women present or only men. I think many of the answers we received might have been different had the discussion been structured differently. In fact, many times, the husband would answer a question and the women would be on the verge of contradicting him. So interesting! Also, this reflection is so scatter-brained, but a final point before I have to move on to the next update…or homework…haha. The men of Morocco. Wow. The men we met through IES and the official trip were nice and helpful, at least the ones I met. But the men in the towns and cities made me very uncomfortable. The cat calls were just…scary. The men would switch to English, which somehow felt so personal. And sometimes, they would even follow the person they were addressing, which is terrifying, by the way. That is really the only negative memory I have of the trip, though, so I will stop complaining. The trip was so fun and I learned and experienced so much!!!
Okay…to start working on my Semana Santa update and eventually a general Granada update…so… talk to you soon!
PEACE!
(And please disregard crazy typos…I was typing crazy fast…) :D
Morning:
-Optional hike up to the Spanish mosque in Chefchaouen. Such a beautiful view of the city! And a beautiful day for a walk, too.
-Breakfast at a restaurant in the Plaza Mayor of Chefchaouen-more toasty things and tea. So much food. And so delicious!
-Travel to Ceuta to meet the ferry to take us back to the mainland of Spain
-Ferry across the Strait of Gibraltar from Ceuta, Spain (on the continent of Africa) to Algeciras, Spain (on the Iberian Peninsula)
-Adios to Rachael, our tour guide
Afternoon:
-Reunion with the other groups from IES and a bus ride back to Granada, “Home, Sweet Home.”
What a trip! WOW! First, I really liked the way the trip was planned. A lot of trips taken with IES are a little more “touristy” in that we see important sights or monuments. It makes sense—a lot of the sights are related to the subject matter for various classes. Morocco, however, was a little different. We saw some monuments, but most of all, we met people and talked with them. It was really beautiful. That being said, I found the opinions of liberty in Morocco to be very interesting. Many of the students expressed contentment with the state of Morocco politically, socially, etc. They don’t feel oppressed and feel that they have freedom of expression. But I think their definition of freedom is different from that of, say, and American student. Also, the drastic difference between city life and rural life was amazing to me. In the city, I was shocked by how many women were not covered and how many couples were holding hands or being affectionate. I really didn’t expect Rabat to be so…modern. But in the pueblo, I felt that a lot of the recent changes hadn’t really taken effect. The women still have so few rights! Which brings me to the discussion of Abs and…the discussion. How awkward it must have been for him! Basically, there was a group of 13 American students (male and female), our two guides, our translator, and the family: one man and three women (and children, but they were outside playing so…) Many of the questions that were asked were very controversial and would have been so even in a setting with only women present or only men. I think many of the answers we received might have been different had the discussion been structured differently. In fact, many times, the husband would answer a question and the women would be on the verge of contradicting him. So interesting! Also, this reflection is so scatter-brained, but a final point before I have to move on to the next update…or homework…haha. The men of Morocco. Wow. The men we met through IES and the official trip were nice and helpful, at least the ones I met. But the men in the towns and cities made me very uncomfortable. The cat calls were just…scary. The men would switch to English, which somehow felt so personal. And sometimes, they would even follow the person they were addressing, which is terrifying, by the way. That is really the only negative memory I have of the trip, though, so I will stop complaining. The trip was so fun and I learned and experienced so much!!!
Okay…to start working on my Semana Santa update and eventually a general Granada update…so… talk to you soon!
PEACE!
(And please disregard crazy typos…I was typing crazy fast…) :D
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