What is this business about homework?

This past week was mostly characterized by sorting out classes and finally making an official list. By Wednesday, three weeks after classes actually started, I had a final list of classes. I’m taking Political Cultures of Spain at the program center and Anthropology of Contemporary Societies, History of Prehispanic America (Maya, Aztec, etc), and History of the United States all at the university. If the last one sounds like a cop out, yes it sort of is since I think it will be a lot easier to learn about something in Spanish when I have a good background in English, but I actually do think the different perspective will be interesting. Already in class one Spaniard pointed out how he thinks it is strange that the colonists decimated the Native Americans but kept the names they had given to the land – something I had never really thought about before. Also, in the readings about the colonization by the British it describes how a lot of the early British explorers and colonizers were actually pirates trying to steal from the Spanish boats – something we tend to gloss over. So maybe I am learning something new! It’s a big relief to have a final list of classes since it was getting pretty stressful as the number of classes I couldn’t take mounted. Now I just have to start thinking about actually doing homework. I can’t believe it’s the middle of October and I’m just beginning some classes – halfway through my time here and school really starts, how crazy! Another relief of the week is that I finally signed up for tennis classes – now that I know my schedule, I can sign up for a class and know it won’t interfere. I’m excited to have a regular exercise routine built into the week (other than the minimum of three miles I walk or bike to class every day) and to finally play tennis regularly again. On Thursday, Dunia ate lunch with us too (she was back for the week to pack up her stuff) and we discussed the awarding of the Nobel Peace Prize to Obama – Mati and Dunia think it was premature because he hasn’t done anything yet nor had time to since he hasn’t been in office for even a year and I would agree with them. Dunia also asked if we were Republicans or Democrats and was relieved when we said Democrats but mentioned that to Europeans, both political parties in the US seem conservative. On Friday I don’t have classes, so Maureen and I went to the Archaeological Museum. I love student discounts in Europe – it means I can go places like museums or other cultural sites repeatedly because I don’t have to pay. Anyway, the museum is fairly small but it has some interesting pieces from the Roman empire and cool glass and ceramics from different cultures. The temporary exhibit is the treasure of Carombolo, gold jewelry and decoration from the Tartessians that was discovered 3km outside of Seville. There was a lot of reading to go along with the exhibit, which we didn’t have time for but it was still interesting to see how intricately they decorated their jewelry even thousands of years ago. The reason we were in a rush at the Archaeological Museum was that the program had gotten us tickets to the symphony that night and we had to eat dinner really early to get there on time. I know, museum and symphony in one day – I’m so cultured! Well the symphony was really impressive – they played 3 different pieces and then one encore. The encore was after the second piece because there was a violin soloist who was very good – I’m pretty sure there is no such thing as standing ovations here because everyone was cheering very loudly for him and obviously impressed but no one stood up. After the symphony, a few of us decided to go to tapas because we don’t really eat out very much since we have all of our meals provided but we still want to know some different restaurants in the city. The tapas were really good, especially the stuffed zucchini and the fried eggplant with honey – mmmm. After we got ice cream – it’s seriously impossible to avoid in this city because there is a “heladeria” (ice cream store) every block and with the heat it’s hard to say no. While eating our ice cream, we wandered over to this Tex Mex bar where a lot of our other friends were watching the Phillies game. Even though I’m so sad and disappointed that the Red Sox are out, it was nice to see baseball again. I don’t think it can really be fall without some baseball playoffs! Saturday Eduardo (who came back on Friday to help Dunia with her suitcases) and Dunia were leaving for Zaragoza so we had a huge lunch with everyone. Mati really outdid herself – she tried an amazing new recipe for stuffed eggplant with strips of zucchini wrapping it like a ribbon – it looked beautiful and tasted amazing. We also had sweet potato puree, slaw with orange dressing, fritters, manchego cheese, and jamon iberico (Spain’s version of prosciutto). It was so delicious, I could have kept eating for hours but luckily I didn’t because my stomach would have exploded. After lunch I decided to explore a new neighborhood of the city, Alameda. It’s a bit younger and funkier since a lot of the Erasmus (European exchange students) live there. On the actual Alamada (a boulevard/park) there are lots of cafes/tapas bars with people sitting out on the street. There was also this house that looked kind of like a museum so I decided to go in and discovered a card game club happening on the top floor. I guess Dungeons and Dragons is an international game. I also wandered around the plaza de San Lorenzo, which is a very pretty small plaza surrounded by a church with red walls and filled with little children playing tag. I walked into this small church next to the big church of the plaza. It was very pretty and had a big statue of Jesus that evidently is fairly famous and there is space to go behind the statue and touch the back of the cross. After spending a little while sitting in the pews, I left and got a bike for the trip back. The path is really pretty because you can do a lot of it biking by the water and the sun was getting lower in the sky, so I took my time biking and enjoying the scenery. We decided to go to another movie, which turned out to be an Argentinian movie. It took me a little while to figure out that it was Argentinian but I felt better about it when I did because I was having trouble understanding and at first I though it meant I was regressing in my Spanish abilities. But it was just the Argentinian accent, which is really hard to understand after becoming accustomed to the Andalusian accent, and difficult even for Spaniards so I didn’t feel so bad. Even though I missed a lot of the dialogue, I got the gist of the plot, which was very weird and a little melodramatic. Not as good as the Spanish movie we saw a few weeks ago. On Sunday Maureen and I wanted to go the gardens of the palace to do some homework because it’s free for students and a gorgeous location but there was a long line to get in, so we went to a park instead. I can’t believe how beautiful the weather still is – it hasn’t dipped below 80 since we got here. Sometimes I miss fall and the leaves and the crisp air but mostly I can’t believe that I haven’t needed a blanket even once at night. The park was great even if not much homework was accomplished. After we went to the Feria de Naciones for one last time (it closed on Sunday) and bought this incredible goat cheese that tasted like walnuts and some fluffy bread to go with it. We also got another bottle of Sidra and figured out that the small bottles are so good because they are bubbly so it’s basically like apple champagne.

Museo Arqueológico

one of the many cool objects in the museum

little church in Alameda

perfect picnic

A Tale of Two Hamids

So this past weekend we had a “puente” (long weekend) and we decided to go to Morocco. I think I mentioned before that two of my friends, Margo and Maureen, and I tried to go on a tour, it didn’t work out, and then we tried to plan it ourselves and it was difficult so we kind of gave up.  Well despite the initial difficulties, we decided to try again to plan a trip and this time we were successful.  It was still a ton of work to plan by ourselves but we put in the effort and many facebook messages trying to get everything in order, and we successfully planned the trip ourselves.  Part of the difficulty of planning the trip was the numerous types of transportation involved. Flights were really expensive since it was so late, so we had to take a bus to Algeciras, the port town in Spain, stay overnight in a hostel there, take a ferry in the morning to Tangier, and then a train or bus from Tangier to Fez (we decided to wait on buying tickets for transportation in Morocco since we weren’t sure about timing.)  After getting a little sleep in the hostel Thursday night we woke up early to change money, eat breakfast, and get on the ferry.  Everything went smoothly and we made it on to the boat with time to spare.  The ferry was fairly smooth and had some gorgeous views – including the Rock of Gibraltar! (Though I have to admit we weren’t sure if we were seeing the Rock of Gibraltar or just some large rock until we got home and google-imaged it). After at least an extra half-hour of waiting because the port in Tangier was full and enduring the screams of an extremely adorable but cranky child, we made it to Africa! It was sort of surreal to think that I was in a different continent after such a short trip and it actually didn’t feel that different for a little while because the landscapes of northern Morocco are fairly similar to those of Andalucía. Since the ferry was late, we were rushing to get to the train station, so it was a good thing that customs only consisted of a woman with a fever scanner to make sure we didn’t have swine flu and a really dinky x-ray machine.  After that we had our first experience with bartering while trying to find a taxi that wasn’t overpriced.  We got the price down to almost what we had originally wanted and booked it to the train station.  We got there at 10:45 and the train was leaving at 11, but of course when we got there, the computer system was malfunctioning and they weren’t printing tickets.  After we waited for five minutes, the ticket vendors decided to use paper and pen instead so we bought our tickets and got on the train with five minutes to spare.  We decided to splurge on first class since it was only an extra 3 euro, and it turned out to be a great idea.  The first class compartments had assigned seats with only 6 spaces and they were very comfortable.  We ended up sitting in the same compartment as a middle-aged French gay couple.  They were really cute and we had a funny, stilted conversation in English where we discovered that they think of the show Cold Case when they hear Philadelphia. They got off the train at the second stop and waved to us from the platform (so adorable) and then we had the compartment to ourselves for a while to enjoy the scenery (lots of sheep, goats, and melons) and rest.  After about an hour we stopped in a big city and we were joined by a man who was wearing the traditional Moroccan slippers and tunic.  His name was Mohammed and he told us he was coming from a conference in Rabat about Moroccan tourism because he works in the tourism office in Fez.  We talked for a while about travel and asked him for recommendations of things to do and places to eat in Fez.  He told us about the different guides and warned us about false guides and people on the train who try to befriend you and then tell you which hotel to stay in, etc.  He also offered to get us an official government guide sent to our hotel.  Of course we were a little wary of the offer because we had heard so much about people trying to scam you in Morocco, but we saw his badge from the tourism office and agreed to have him send one because we could verify at the hotel if it was legitimate or not.  It was really interesting because at one point, it was one of the times of day for prayer, so he used a stone for the ritual washing and then started praying right in our compartment.  I felt a little strange because I didn’t want to stare but also was fascinated because it is a complex prayer ritual, but he was very nonchalant about it so it wasn’t really awkward.  As we got closer to Fez, the scenery changed to more mountains and long stretches of earth and then after what felt like a fairly short ride but was really 5 hours, we arrived in Fez.  We thanked Mohammed and said goodbye and then went to find a taxi.  This turned out to be much harder than we thought it would be because there were more people trying to find taxis than actual taxis and so we waited a while before finally finding a petit taxi to take to our hotel.  Actually, we stayed in what is called a riad, an old converted house in the medina (old section of the city) that has been turned into a very small hotel.  I think that staying in a riad instead of a hotel in the new city or hostel was the best decision of our trip.  Even though we had to splurge a little, it was worth the extra cost because it was such a beautiful and comfortable place to stay and almost a sight in and of itself.  It’s probably as close as you can get to traditional housing in Morocco without staying in a host family because people actually do live in houses like riads in the medina.  It was a comfortable haven in a stressful city where we could still feel like we were in Morocco but not be hassled. And the views from the terrace were incredible.  Although we actually had to switch riads for one night because the original riad was full, the stay in the riads was still a great experience and it was kind of cool to see two different ones and compare.  When we first arrived, we sat in the atrium and had our first glass of mint tea (which were told many times is also called “Moroccan whiskey without the alcohol.”)  The tea was heavenly – so refreshing and sweet but not overwhelmingly so and it also came with these little pastries that were like mini funnel cakes but crunchier. After relaxing in our room for a little while – a tiring hike up four narrow flights of stairs but right next to the terrace – we decided to go to the new part of town for dinner in one of the restaurants Mohammed had recommended. We found a taxi near our riad (cars can’t enter the medina because the streets are extremely narrow and it is literally a maze) and it turned out to be quite the interesting ride. First of all, there was a picture of Tupac covering the entire ceiling of the car, but unfortunately we never found out how the cabbie came to like Tupac since we couldn’t exactly communicate. Also, Moroccan drivers are ridiculous. It is best to close your eyes while riding in a taxi otherwise you might have a heart attack from how close you come to other cars and the general lack of respect of normal driving laws such as lines in the street or stop signs. We got out on what we thought was the street of the restaurant and started walking up the street to find it.  As we were walking, we noticed that all of the people sitting in restaurants on the street were men.  I think this is when it started to sink in just how different of a place we were in.  After wandering for a while, we decided to go into a hotel to ask for directions. The hotel that we chose happened to have a security guard, so we decided to try to ask him first, which did not accomplish very much.  I think talking to Mohammed on the train gave me a false sense of how much English would be spoken in Fez, since he spoke English so well.  I knew that since he worked at a tourism office, he would know more than the average Moroccan, but I didn’t realize how little everyone else would speak, which made the language barrier that much more frustrating when we ran directly into it.  Well, after realizing that hand gestures and funny faces cannot communicate everything, we went into the hotel and found a concierge that spoke English. He gave us directions and we headed toward the restaurant, but not until Maureen played paddycake with security guard on the way out!  Even though we had a hand-drawn map from the concierge, we ended up getting lost again and asking for directions once more.  Finally, mercifully, we found the restaurant (at that point I was so tired and hungry I was ready to go anywhere that had food and seating.) The restaurant was fairly empty but in no time it filled up with tourists.  We later found out that all Moroccan cuisine restaurants in Morocco are basically for tourists because most Moroccans eat that type of food everyday in their house, so if they do go out to dinner, it will be to a different ethnic cuisine.  I also found this frustrating because when you’re traveling somewhere it’s nice to feel as though you are somewhat experiencing the real regional culture, even if you know you are still being a tourist.  But because we stand out so much in Morocco and the lives of tourists and locals are so different, you know as a tourist you are being treated completely differently and it doesn’t feel like you get any sort of cultural immersion, more like you are watching a show from the outside than experiencing it from the inside. Still, the meal was very enjoyable.  We each got a three course menu and shared everything.  There was couscous, vegetable stew, different types of chopped veggie salads, delicious lentils, and a really yummy fruit cocktail with a delicious mint sauce.  I wouldn’t say the couscous was that much better than couscous at home but the meat was really good (and yes, I had lamb.)  Of course we also had mint tea to finish off the meal – so good! – and then returned to the riad to finally sleep.

Saturday morning we started off with a delicious breakfast of bubbly Naan-like bread, Moroccan pancakes, yogurt, eggs, French bread, honey, jam, and cheese.  It was quite the spread and since I don’t drink coffee in the morning, I had mint tea again! Great way to start off the day.  Then the woman from the riad told us that our guide was here – and he was exactly the guide Mohammed had told us about and was definitely an official guide – so we hadn’t been wrong to trust our instincts.  We gave Hamid, our guide, the list of places we wanted to go and started walking into the medina.  We started off in the food market – passing by some small sharks, weird bright red fruit, lots of dates and almonds, and one camel head denoting a butchery.  It was quite a sight – and the beginning of the sensory overload that is the medina – a new scent, smell, and sight greet you at every turn.  Of course, since we were with a guide we didn’t have much time to meander, which is usually my favorite thing to do in a new place, but I wasn’t too worried since I figured we would have time to go back.  Our first stop was one of the many tanneries, where we got to see the process they go through to make the leather.  The smell wasn’t as horrible as I had been expecting, since most of the guide books warn you so strongly about it. Of course after being given a little explanation of the process, we were invited to browse the merchandise.  There were so many things to see, about four floors of leather goods, that it was really overwhelming.  Also, browsing the merchandise included being followed around by the store owner who constantly asked us if we liked something and wanted to see it.  Finally we did make our decisions on what we liked and began the bartering process. Personally, I hate bartering because I find it really stressful, especially when I’m bartering for something I really want, such as a nice leather bag. I eventually got the price down to something reasonable, but still had the feeling that I was being taken advantage of, especially since Hamid inserted himself into the bartering process and kept telling us to accept the price we were given since it was so good. I think the tannery was a really bad place to start off the day because it left us tense and with a bad taste in our mouths, which is the exact opposite of the attitude you should have when faced with such a new and different situation.  From the tannery, we went to see a really old mosque and university in the medina. Since non-muslims cannot enter mosques in Morocco, it was hard to fully appreciate but a beautiful building nonetheless.  Then we went to a madrassa where they used to teach math and science and saw some more intricate plaster carving and mosaics.  Then Hamid took us to the carpet co-op, where we had another presentation from the owner and then were shown a fraction of the hundreds of carpets stored in the building.  I wasn’t planning on buying a carpet while in Morocco, but there certainly were some beautiful designs, and Margo and Maureen were seriously considering buying one so we looked at a lot of rugs. Two of the rug workers rolled out a rug and we would say whether we like it or not – it must be very tiring for the workers to do that all day.  After  narrowing down the selection, we were taken on a tour of the rest of the building while the owner gave his presentation to the next group.  You can tell this all so perfectly orchestrated so that we are given a tour right after seeing all the rugs so that we have time to think and get really attached to one.  Despite again having the feeling of being somewhat deceived, it was still interesting to see the demonstration of how the rugs are made that they have on the top floor. Also, while we were standing on the roof, the call to prayer sounded and we could hear many different muezzins calling from different minarets, which was a really cool way to experience the call to prayer.  When we got down, the bartering began, but the rugs were really expensive and out of our price range, so we left empty handed.  After that, we were ready for lunch and Hamid dropped us off at a restaurant without even asking us if it was the type of place we wanted or anything.  It was also pretty obvious that again he was taking us to his friend’s place since he told us the waiters would call him when we were done.  Even though it was a touristy restaurant, we were starting to realize that there were no other alternatives and could at least appreciate the beauty of the design of the building.  The food turned out to be pretty good too – the bread was the best of the weekend in my opinion – and we were entertained by one of the tables nearby us filled with a group of teenagers who were really awkward.  After lunch Hamid took us to another rug place that he claimed had really good prices and quality and we went through a similar routine as the last place.  This rug place, however, had rugs of distinctly lower quality and aesthetic merit, so we were much quicker to leave and didn’t even find out the prices.  As we left the store, the shopkeeper poked his head out and Hamid asked him something to which he shook his head.  It was pretty obvious to us that Hamid had been hoping for a commission on our purchase even without this little exchange but that just cemented our frustration with him and we told him no more shopping for the day.  We could tell he didn’t particularly like hearing that and we realized later that Mohammed had possibly told Hamid that we would spend a lot since we had talked with Mohammed about traveling and told him we were staying at a nice riad, which made us seem like way higher rollers than we are.  Still, Hamid took us out of the medina to see some more of the sights on our list as we had asked, but first we had to find a method of transportation.  He told us we should rent a van since we were going to different places and it would be cheaper, so we did.  It turned out the seating in the van was three benches in the back that were not attached to anything, meaning that with crazy Moroccan drivers we ended up flying all over the place.  We visited the royal palace, Jewish quarter, and the blue gates, but since Hamid had basically given up on us at that point we got very little historical information on the places and had to specifically ask to get out of the car in the Jewish quarter instead of just driving through and “seeing” out of the tiny windows of the van.  The one really cool part of this whirlwind tour was when we were at the blue gates, there was a jazz band playing and a huge group of people surrounding them and cheering.  Finally we returned to the riad, where we couldn’t wait to say goodbye to Hamid, get our stuff, and head to the next riad.  Even though we were exhausted by the time we got to the next riad, we of course had to accept the mint tea they offered – still delicious – before climbing the stairs to our room.  This riad was also gorgeous, although trying a little to hard to be authentic with its rack of traditional tunics in one corner of the atrium and a mini display of guitar, poufs, and other items in another corner.  Again, we were right near the terrace, so after showering and resting for a bit, I decided to check out the view of the sunset from up there. It was the perfect way to de-stress after a day where my jaw was clenched and my heart was pounding for the majority of the time.  For dinner, we decided to head back to the new part of town to try another recommendation for dinner. This time, we took the taxi all the way to the restaurant to avoid confusion. The food was really good at this restaurant too – meatballs in tomato sauce that looked a little weird when it was served but turned out to be delicious and other yummy items.  We had planned on doing a little people watching on the main street after dinner, but by the time we left the restaurant (10pm) the streets were almost empty and we just got in a taxi and went back to the riad instead.  We asked for tea on the terrace, about the only thing we could communicate to the man at the riad, and then climbed up to enjoy the view and wait. The stars were really beautiful in Fez – a little bit less light pollution than in other cities and mountains in the distance – and we thoroughly enjoyed our tea.

Sunday we decided we still wanted a guide for the medina just because we needed someone to help get us places and especially get us out, but also decided we would try to be more assertive with this guide so as not to have the same experience as the day before.  After a very starchy, but still yummy breakfast, we tried to communicate to the man at the riad that we wanted a guide. We didn’t get very far so he ended up calling someone who spoke English and had us talk to the that person.  We told the person we wanted a guide and were told one would arrive in 15 minutes, but after we hung up we realized we needed a place to put our luggage but couldn’t communicate that either.  Again we talked to the mysterious phone translator, but there didn’t seem to be a luggage room in the riad, so we decided we would just put our stuff in the first riad (where we would be staying again that night) when the guide arrived. Looking back it was a ridiculous and funny situation but at the time it was another annoying encounter with the language barrie. Since it was in a hotel, where you usually expect English to be spoken, and not just on the street, it was particularly frustrating. Eventually our guide did arrive and we put our stuff in the other riad before heading out. Oh and of course, our guide was again named Hamid! We started off at the blue gates and worked our way into the medina.  First Hamid took us to a Berber spice and herb shop where we were given yet another presentation.  We did get some tea there since it smelled incredible but after leaving explained to Hamid that we would prefer fewer presentations and just needed him to lead the way.  Eventually we made it to our destination – a marketplace of ceramics.  Finally, we got to explore on our own while Hamid 2 sat and waited. It felt so nice to be able to go at my own pace, exploring and deciding what was worth bartering over.  I think that was on of the biggest frustrations of the weekend – not feeling like we had the ability to be independent. With the language barrier, the lack of knowledge of cultural practices, the fact that we were three girls, and the labyrinthian medina, we didn’t feel like we could just go out and explore by ourselves, which for me is one of the best parts of traveling and being a tourist.  Generally, I don’t like having a guide, so to feel forced to have a guide that you know is trying to take advantage of you and help you spend your money at every turn was very very difficult for me. Which is why I was actually happy when Hamid 2 basically uninvited himself as our guide. After I was done shopping for ceramics, I went to sit with Hamid 2 and wait for Margo and Maureen and as I sat down, he said that we could stay in the medina by ourselves if we wanted because we weren’t far from our riad – evidently he too had realized we weren’t going to be cooperative customers and got fed up.  After discussing it with Margo and Maureen, we decided we would have him take us back to the riad to deposit our ceramics and then we would ditch Hamid 2 and try the medina on our own.  It was a little bit scarier being in there without a guide because it is very easy to get lost and you know the second that you stop to figure out where you are, about ten Moroccans will come up to you trying to “help” you find your way but way more fun for me.  When we first got back in, we went to a restaurant called Café Clock. It’s not traditional Moroccan but more international and owned by an Australian who hasn’t left Fez in two years, but it was really fun and we didn’t mind at all that we were yet again in tourist central. It was great to hear someone who spoke English as a native language and the restaurant was a really funky house with weird decorations and really friendly waitstaff. The food was good too – I split a cheese and grilled eggplant sandwich and a chicken red pepper sandwich with Margo.  We ordered milkshakes for dessert which were very literal (just frothy milk and flavoring instead of the usual ice cream) but the almond one was to die for, especially with some of the chocolate one mixed in. After we headed towards Seffarine square, a squre filled with workers making copper items.  It was so cool to see people actually at work – that was one of the best things about the medina in general – not a lot has changed in it over the years so there are really still artisans making their craft in the same shop where they sell it.  After that we successfully wandered our way out of the medina and back to the riad.  We decided to have dinner at the riad for the last night since it’s the closest to authentic we could get without actually eating in someone’s house.  It was a great idea since the food was really good and also, unfortunately Maureen got pretty sick right before dinner, so it was good to be close to our room. Margo and I got to eat out on the terrace and enjoy the best food of the weekend, including a really interesting orange flower and carrot soup for dessert.  Then we had our last pot of Moroccan mint tea and admired the view before getting to sleep early in preparation for our early alarm.  Monday we miraculously made all of our connections for transportation and arrived home safe, exhausted, and with stomachs a little worse for the wear (eventually all of us could not avoid the stomach bug).

All in all, it was an incredible experience and I am very happy I went. Yes, it was incredibly frustrating at times and on Saturday I was about ready to collapse after a day of so much stress and activity, but it was also really unique opportunity and a peek into a completely different world than my own. Even though it was probably more difficult because we were the first people from our program to go and didn’t go with a group, I think it’s good we went didn’t go with a group because I hate big group tours and good we went early because it will definitely give me a sense of perspective for the rest of my trips and life in general. It’s one thing to talk about cultural relativism in my anthropology class and know that you should look at each culture from its own perpective rather than in comparison to your own, but it’s completely different to actually put that into practice.  At times I got really frustrated with the fact that everyone was hassling us and that the infrastructure wasn’t set up for tourism almost at all but I did try to keep in mind that this culture is very different from ours and that sometimes things that seem wrong to me are normal here.  Even though Spain is of course different from the United States, in comparison with Morocco, it is very very similar and so it was important and worthwhile to see a country so dissimilar and learn that there are many parts of the world where things operate so differently.   Of course I would have liked to felt more immersed in the culture rather than just strictly see the artificial world constructed for tourists, but even that aspect contributed to the overall learning experience.  Morocco wasn’t what I expected and it was not relaxing (not that I was expecting that) but was worth even the times when I thought I was going to die in a Moroccan taxi or was disappointed with Hamid (1 and 2) because it gave me a better perspective on cultural differences and finally put into practice a little of what I’m learning as a cultural anthropology major. It was definitely a valuable experience and one I certainly won’t forget.

Photos of Morocco

ferry from algeciras to tangier

rock of gibraltar

train from tangier to fez

riad ghita atrium

medina

the tanneries

more medina

 

madrassa

mosque

rugs and more rugs

medina

jazz festival

synagogue

sunset

riad ibn khaldoun

nuts, dates, etc in the medina

ceramic marketplace in the medina (and Hamid 2 on his phone sitting by the tree)

Seffarine Square

train back to tangier

They really do wear flamenco dresses here

So Monday was Yom Kippur and also the first day of classes at the university. I decided I would at least try to fast since I didn’t do anything for Rosh Hashanah. Luckily, classes in the History and Geography department, where most of the classes that I was looking at are, were postponed until Wednesday, so I only had one class. Normally on Yom Kippur I go to temple and then sit inside for the rest of the day complaining about how hungry I am, but I decided I should try to maintain a normal schedule here. I went into the center and tried to get started on a paper we had coming up so that I wouldn’t be in the house for lunch and go crazy. Even though I didn’t make much progress on the essay, I think it was good to move around a bit and keep busy. I ended taking a break from my procrastination to wander around because I was starting to hear my stomach rumbling and found some new cute streets and lots and lots of delicious looking restaurants (but maybe I shouldn’t judge when I’m starving…) Then I went to my the only class of the day and even more luck, the professor wasn’t there! I went home and watched a movie for a few hours until dinner finally arrived. Mati had left me some of the pasta from lunch so I had a pretty big dinner (nothing like a normal breaking of the fast but still good) and looking back, it was not too bad of a fast. I can’t believe I actually lasted until 8:30 and wasn’t completely dying. Anyway, now is as good a time as any to explain the ridiculous process that is choosing classes here. So first of all we only found out the schedule of the classes a week before classes started so I frantically arranged a list of classes I was interested in and fit into a cohesive schedule (without classes on Friday of course!) Then comes the actually difficult part. Exams here don’t take place until January, when we’re already back at school in Penn, so we have to ask the professor if we can take an early exam or do something different to supplement the time we miss and still be evaluated so we can get a grade and receive credit. Doesn’t sound so bad until you visit 6 classes and 3 of the professors tell you that you can’t move up the exam (of course the three classes I was most interested in). Suffice it to say that a week later (which is really sort of jumping ahead in time in terms of this blog but with the time differences going on time is so messed up anyway that I don’t care) I found out that another class I was counting on won’t work. So I don’t know which classes I’m taking but I have to figure it out soon since it’s almost week three of classes.

sunset on the river

On Tuesday, two of my friends and I went to a travel agency because we wanted to go to Morocco and thought it would be easier with a tour, but unfortunately the tour was all full. After that deflating news, we tried to plan a trip by ourselves, but it was a little difficult since we had lost all of our excitement and energy. After that I ran into a few other friends on the way home and went with them because one of them was going to get her nose pierced. Unfortunately the piercing guy wasn’t there, but we ended up getting roasted chestnuts from a street vendor, which I had never had before and were really yummy, so it wasn’t a loss at all. After dinner that night we ended up talking to Dunia, our host sister, and Belen, Mati and Luiqui’s granddaughter who is 17 so it would be weird to call her niece but I guess that’s how we would be “related.” It was really fun and interesting to talk to them – I found out that people actually wear flamenco dresses during Feria, the huge spring festival here, and we saw pictures of Dunia wearing hers, which was really pretty and flattering on her. We also talked with Belen a little bit about music and movies she likes (she loves Twilight and only likes Harry Potter hmmmm…) which was fun to hear. A lot of the pop culture here seems to be imported from the US – in all of the bars and clubs you always hear American music and there are more American movies dubbed into Spanish than actual Spanish movies in the theaters. Wednesday I had my first English lesson with the daughter of the program director here. She’s four and really cute, but it’s pretty challenging to teach her since there isn’t a lot of guidance (she has a book but it’s kind of useless) and she’s so young that she’s not very good at remembering the words even 30 seconds after she says them. So I’m trying to come up with more fun/interesting ways to teach her but if anyone has suggestions let me know! Friday Dunia left for Zaragoza where she is going to live with her husband. She’ll be back in a few weeks to get all of her stuff but we still had a nice lunch all together, which was fun since she has been working a ton this past month and we haven’t gotten to talk to her much. After lunch I went to the tennis center to try to sign up for lessons. It was a 35 minute bus ride to the sports complex and then I waited in the information room for twenty minutes before finally talking to someone who told me I could just go in and do a try-out to assess my level (which I had already known so I waited for no reason). There was only one teacher on the courts and he was teaching a lesson, so I waited for a break and went up to ask him if I could do a try-out with him. First he asked me if I could come back on Monday, but when I told him I could wait, he said he could help me in 15 minutes. Finally I actually did the try-out, which lasted all of two minutes, and he told me my level. Then I went back to the information room and waited again and then told the woman my level. She said there was no such level and made me go back to the teacher and have him write it down (I guess I heard wrong). I felt pretty stupid going back and admitting I had heard wrong but I did and he was nice about it. Then I finally went back and straight in to the woman who told me there was only one spot left in one class at a time when I might have class at the university. Since I couldn’t be sure that I was free at that time, I decided to wait to sign up even though that means my spot might be taken. Even though it was two hours spent to play tennis for two minutes and make basically no progress in signing up for lessons, I feel like it’s just one of those things that has to happen when you’re studying abroad so I wasn’t too upset about it. That night we decided to go to this “Feria de Naciones” (Fair of Nations) that is being held in a park near our house. It turned out to be really fun because there were tons of people walking around and all of these stalls from different countries. We tried a bottle of Sidra, this type of hard apple cider from Asturias, a region in the north of Spain, and watched a ridiculous dance group perform on the stage at the front of the fair. Oh and we also “learned” a dance from this ridiculous group to a song they play all the time here – so I’m sure I’ll break out in the routine next time I hear the song.

Saturday we had a day trip with the program to Ronda, a small city two hours away from Seville. Ronda is absolutely gorgeous – surrounded by mountains and sitting on a plateau that is split in two by a gorge called the Tajo. It was also spectacular weather on Saturday – sun shining, really blue sky, and not too hot. Perfect for walking around – which we certainly did plenty of. We started our trip with a walking tour of the city with a funny guide who was wearing some designer sunglasses and carrying some sort of clutch. He kept telling us to follow the sombrero – his big cowboy hat. We started at the gorge and the “new bridge” (it’s over 200 years old but the newest of the three bridges in Ronda) and then walked through the old part of Ronda and saw the main plaza and church. Then we stopped at the house that is now open to the public and has incredible views of the surrounding mountains. After taking about a thousand pictures, we went to the Plaza de Toros and the guide told us some history of bullfighting and other interesting facts. The plaza in Ronda is very old and has the largest diameter of any bullfighting ring, although not a very large capacity for spectators. Even though it is the oldest plaza de toros, it is actually only used once a year because bullfights are so expensive and Ronda is a small town. We got to see where they keep the bulls before the fight and then we ended our tour and went to lunch. A couple of us went to a restaurant the guide had suggested, which was really good and cheap and then we went to walk down towards the valley and some of the old bridges in the city. But of course we stopped at a bakery first to get some delicious cookies for the bus home. We wandered down for a while and found the Roman and Arab bridges. Then we slowly ascended and found some more amazing views before returning to the bus station to go home. Even though Ronda didn’t have as many touristy sites as other places we’ve been to, it was nice to be able to just wander and look at the scenery – a perfect day trip.

mountains surrounding Ronda

Tajo in Ronda

old bridges in Ronda

On Sunday, Maureen and I went to a novillada – basically a minor league bullfight. We had wanted to go to a corrida (the real bullfights) but the only one left was during a weekend we would be traveling so we decided to go to the novillada to get a feel for what a bullfight is like. Novilladas have the same format as corridas, just toreros (bullfighters) with less experience. Since it was a novillada, the stadium wasn’t full and there were lots of tourists, but still a fair number of Spaniards as well. The bullfight was really interesting – I would even go so far as to say I enjoyed it. At first, I had some trouble with the gore, and of course I don’t like to see anything die, let alone an animal so large, but once I got over that part, I started to appreciate it for the artistic merit and the talent that it takes to be a torero. I’m not saying that I fully support the killing of an animal for sport, but there really is a lot more to bullfighting than just killing the bull. The torero has to go through a lot of different steps to tame the bull and demonstrate his control. The bull is so close to the torero it is pretty scary to watch, but most of the time they seem to have it under control. I say most of the time because with the second bull, one of the bullfighters was charged by the bull and went flying in the air. He was okay and managed to get up and finish, but it was pretty crazy. The last bull actually ended up catching the torero with its horns and he was carried out of the ring and another torero finished for him. That’s one of the reasons the bullfight was so interesting – every bull brings something new and you really have no idea what is coming next. Even though I didn’t understand fully what was going on, I could tell there was a specific way the toreros had to move and things they had to get the bull to do because sometimes the crowd would start cheering “olé” if the torero was doing really well. Also, after the first bull, the Spaniards took out white handkerchiefs and started waving them in the air, but only after the first one because the torero had done so well. There was something grotesquely beautiful about the spectacle that made it impossible to look away. I usually can’t stand to watch medical shows and I hate shows like Fear Factor that have gore just for the sake of gore but the format was so complex and the movements so intricate that the fight was much more than blood. It really is a question of honor for the toreros because they only attack the bull from the front, where there is an even playing field. At times, it was almost like ballet because of the intricate steps and graceful motions of the torero. Although not all Spaniards support bullfights (Mati wasn’t particularly enthralled when she heard we went), around 30% of Spaniards regularly attend corridas, so I’m very happy that I got to see a cultural tradition that is still important to many Spaniards and is also so different from anything you would see in the US.  Forgot to mention that on Sunday night it was the Real Madrid - Sevilla soccer game, which is a pretty big match so we went to find a bar where they were playing the game.  We ended up at an ice cream store/bar where we stood and watched the game with lots of Sevillanos. It was so fun because everyone was really into the game - when Sevilla scored a goal everyone started singing a song for the team.  It was also great because when some people left, we got to sit down so we ordered a brownie sundae which turned out to be way better than TGIFridays and actually at a Spanish restaurant so it's not such a guilty pleasure. Oh and Sevilla won! Hopefully that's a good sign for their prospects in the Champion's Cup.

toreros and their helpers entering the ring

 

Lisbon!

So most of this post will be dedicated to my weekend trip to Lisbon, but let me just say first that fried bread is the most delicious thing in the world and I’m pretty sure that it would be the one thing I would eat for the rest of my life if I had to. But only Mati’s fried bread since I’m sure all the others would not compare.  Anyway, back to Lisbon! Approximately two hours before we left for Lisbon, one of the program staff told us that Portugal is an hour behind Spain, something I hadn’t even thought to check out.  So with that information, some pages ripped from my guidebook, and a delicious lunch made by Mati in our stomachs, Maureen and I boarded the bus to Lisbon.  Maybe it had something to do with the time difference, but the bus was about 9 hours – 2 hours longer than we had originally thought.  Other than the fact that it was cutting into our short time in Lisbon, the ride wasn’t actually so bad.  I had plenty of reading to do – classes finally started at the center last week so I had my first two classes of Political Cultures of Spain.  Also the views from the bus were pretty spectacular once we got closer to the coast and into Portugal – the greenery and mountains were a nice change from the flat, dry land outside of Seville. We passed through some really cute towns near the ocean and then ended up stopping at a rest stop around 8.  At first I was kind of disappointed that we would be at a rest stop for sunset, but when the sun actually went down I was really happy that we were stopped and could enjoy the sunset instead of driving and not really being able to see it.  The sky turned really pink and orange and it was probably the best sunset I’ve seen while on this trip. Then we got back on the bus for what I thought would be another hour.  Oh how wrong I was. It was dark by then so when an hour later we arrived in this spot that I thought was right outside Lisbon, I got really excited that we had arrived. Two hours later, we actually arrived at the first bus station in Lisbon. Even though it wasn’t the stop we had planned to get off at, we were so anxious to get out of the bus that we decided to just get off right then. The bus station turned out to be architecturally interesting and the metro station below was even prettier.  There were two big, colorful mosaics on the walls and the floors were tiled instead of the usual gray concrete. When we got out of the metro, we spent a good 10 minutes staring at a map of the area trying to find the street with our hostel. Finally we gave up and decided to ask directions and actually understood the answers in Portuguese.  Well, we thought we did.  After walking a few blocks, we realized we were still completely lost and went into a hotel to ask for directions again. This time the guy gave us a map, which was essential since the hostel was on a tiny street and there were almost no indications it was there from the street, so we needed the map to know where we were.  Finally we arrived at the hostel, which was very nice and clean, and opened our sandwiches that Mati had given us that afternoon.  After wolfing the sandwiches, we decided to go explore for a little and walked down toward a huge archway we had passed on our way.  It was beautiful but there weren’t many people out in that neighborhood, so we decided pretty quickly to return to our hostel to rest up for a full Friday.

view from the bus

sunset at the rest stop

bus station

We were awoken Friday morning by some loud travelers entering our room. At first I was angry because I wanted to sleep a little more and didn’t understand why anyone would be entering the hostel at 8 in the morning, but the human alarm clocks turned out to be our friends Margo, Taylor, and Chrissy who had taken the night bus from Seville and just arrived in Lisbon.  We had planned on meeting them at the hostel that night since we weren’t sure if our paths would cross during the day, but luckily they were able to check in to the hostel early and we could spend the whole day together.  After a delicious breakfast of cereal and toast (I think cereal is one of the food items I miss most here), we left to find the important tourist sites near our hostel.  A two minute walk away from our hostel, we found a very pretty church.  We didn’t actually catch the name and because people were praying, we could only visit the crypt.  About 50 steps away from that church, we came across a cathedral, which turned out to be the Se Cathedral, one of the items on our list of places to see.  The Se dates from the 12^th century and in the back there is an excavation with ruins from B.C.  I liked that this cathedral was impressive for its history rather than its interior design because it was a change from all of the other cathedrals we have seen to find ruins and decaying walls.  After the Se, we walked in what we thought was the direction of the Castle de Sao Jorge, our next stop, but instead was the direction of the water.  It was a nice little detour because we saw some more buildings covered in tiles and the ocean closer up, although you can’t go right down to the water because Lisbon is a port town not a beach town.  Once we realized our mistake, we headed back in the direction of the castle and found it pretty easily – everything in Lisbon is fairly close since it’s not a very big city, especially for a capital.  It’s more charming than most capitals because even though it is fairly cosmopolitan with much more diversity than you see in Seville, it has an almost vintage feel if that’s possible for a city. It reminded me a little of San Francisco because it has old trolleys as a legitimate form a public transportation and a bridge that looks a lot like the Golden Gate bridge and lots of hills, but Lisbon still feels European with it’s painted cobblestone sidewalks and streets and old buildings everywhere.  The castle had a gorgeous view of the ocean and the huge statue of Jesus across the harbor.  Mostly all that is left of the building is ramparts but the towers had some more nice views of the city if you could make it up the insanely steep and narrow staircases. After passing by about 5 peacocks on our way out of the castle grounds, we headed back toward the area of the hostel to find lunch. We ended up at a restaurant that was fairly crowded and seemed to have lots of Portuguese people, so we felt like we had found somewhere local and good quality.  Our waiter happened to also be the bartender even though we were at the table farthest from the bar, so he decided to check on us once every 15 minutes.  We made the mistake of saying we weren’t ready to order when he first came by and paid dearly – our lunch lasted almost two hours because we waited so long to order and then finally get our food.  We ordered cod with chickpeas and potatoes since it is supposed to be a specialty in Lisbon and I also got seafood chowder, another popular dish.  The seafood chowder was really good, but the cod seemed a little overcooked and way oversalted. Oh well, you can’t win with every meal and I’m starting to realize how spoiled I am by Mati’s cooking. Every restaurant I eat in after having her food just seems mediocre in comparison.  After finally escaping from the restaurant, we went to a nearby plaza to catch the tram to Belém, a suburb 15 minutes outside of Lisbon.  I was very impressed with the public transportation in Lisbon – there are trolleys, buses, and a metro that all seem very clean and efficient. 

When we arrived in Belém, we headed to the Monastery Dos Jerónimos, one of the many UNESCO World Heritage sites I’ve been visiting over the past month.  I can see why the monastery was granted “world heritage” status because it is truly one of the most beautiful buildings I have ever seen – such intricate carving on the exterior and gorgeous arches and more carved pillars inside.  All of the decorations were so intricate, I don’t want to think about how much time it must have taken to complete.  We spent a while just staring at the incredible courtyard before heading across the street to the Monument of Discoveries. It’s a huge white stone structure that commemorates some of the major Portuguese explorerers of the New World.  It was pretty impressive in size, but I really enjoyed just sitting next to the monument and looking out on the ocean as cute sailboats floated by.  Then we walked over to the Tower of Belém, an adorable stone watchtower by the ocean that seriously looks like it came out of a movie.  Not sure which movie, but maybe after seeing the pictures someone can tell me.  We walked up and had yet another spectacular view of the ocean and bridge – I sometimes get numb to seeing another amazing cathedral or old building but I almost never get tired of a beautiful landscape, which is definitely a good thing for this semester.  We decided to head back – after a long day of hill climbing our feet needed a break – but first stopped at a bakery to get some Portuguese pastries.  I got some flaky pastry filled with possibly an apple-flavored cream, but whatever it was filled with was absolutely delicious. When we got back to the hostel, everyone else decided they wanted to siesta but I wanted to shop/explore more. Even though most of the shops were closed (which was weird because in Seville they don’t close until 9 or 10 and it was only 7:30), I still had a lot of fun wandering by myself for a little bit. I explored a neighborhood we hadn’t visited yet and saw the elevator that Lisboans used to take to get to the Barrio Alto (tall neighborhood) but now is just a tourist attraction that affords yet another view of the city. I also passed by and entered for a second A Brasiliera, a famous café that early 20^th century Portuguese literati frequented.  Outside of the café there were lots of people sitting at the tables or on benches and listening to two street performers who were very good. It was a really fun atmosphere and I stayed for a little while to listen and take some pictures of the streets at sunset.  Then I returned and it was time to find some dinner.  We went to another big street that leads from one of the main plazas to the water and found a restaurant with outside seating.  Even though street vendors come up to your able every five minutes, it’s still really fun to sit outside and enjoy the nice weather while it is here. Again the food wasn’t spectacular, but it was good enough and Portuguese wine is really good and cheap, so that was a fun accompaniment to dinner. After dinner we wandered for a little while around the area, but soon a stupor set in from all of the walking of the day and we went back to the hostel.  When we got back, we realized that we would have roommates for the night, who showed up twenty minutes after we returned.  They were three nice Poles who spoke English well, so we chatted for a little while.  When my friend asked what they thought of when they thought of America, one responded with George Washington and Woody Allen.  I guess they watch of lot of Annie Hall in Poland! 

Monastery Dos Jeronimos

Tower of Belém

street near A Brasiliera

Saturday began with another great breakfast including a cake made by one of the hostel staff the night before (we smelled it baking in the oven).  Then we headed out to find a famous flea market held behind a church.  We wandered for a while in the small streets surrounding the church and finally Margo asked an elderly woman who was standing on her balcony for directions.  We not only understood the Portuguese this time but also followed the directions to the correct place.  The flea market turned out to be exactly what I was looking for and the opposite of El Rastro in Madrid – it had lots of old quirky stuff, lots of it junk, but some of it really interesting watches, jewelry, or even comic books in Portuguese.  We wandered around for a while but eventually realized we could probably spend the whole day in the market since the stalls never seemed to end, so we set our own time limit.  We found a restaurant with a view of the water and sat down for a quick lunch.  This was the first restaurant in Portugal or Spain, for that matter, where we didn’t have to wait half an hour just to get the waiter’s attention.  I had melon and prosciutto (it was a little heavy on the melon and light on the prosciutto) and a yummy tomato soup.  Then we made a quick pit stop at the hostel to get directions to the train station (it was on our way) and headed to the train station to get return tickets to Seville and tickets to Sintra, a town 40 minutes outside of Lisbon that we had heard was worth a visit.  After getting our return tickets and feeling a sense of relief that we did have a way to get home, we got on the train to Sintra.  After a little confusion because we had to switch trains, we made it.  Let me say now, I am in love with Sintra. It is an adorable little town in the mountains with small streets, cute little shops, and lots of green.  It reminded me a little of traveling through Provence last summer with my parents because of the incredible scenery and tiny village feel.  As soon as we walked into the town center, I wished we could stay longer (we only had two hours because we had to get back in time for fado reservations.) Since we were in a rush we quickly walked toward our destination, Quinta da Regaleira, a palace with a huge estate.  We had to wait in line for about 15 minutes to get in because the woman at the entrance was being very very slow.  At the moment when I was about to explode with impatience, we finally got to the front of the line and got.  Maureen had a sudden burst of energy right as we walked in and decided it would be a good idea to run up the mountain because she really wanted to get to the top.  The rest of us decided to follow suit, for reasons I still don’t know, and we quickly ascended.  After a little while of running, we lost steam and stopped at one of the sites of the grounds, the Initiation Well. I’m not sure why it’s called that (we didn’t have much time for reading) but maybe they made people run up the stairs of the well or just threw them in the middle and let them struggle out?  There were a lot more sites, such as an aquarium and a chapel, that we unfortunately didn’t get to see because of time.  We didn’t exactly reach the top either because at some point we realized we would have to walk back down, which would take a while too. But we did get some amazing views of the surrounding mountains and stopped into the palace for a quick peek.  On the way back, Taylor, Chrissy, and I stopped in some ceramic places, since Portugal is evidently supposed to have really good ceramics. Sintra definitely had the best stores we had seen – with shelves and shelves of plates, bowls, and little knick knacks.  Since my mother told me to get her some Portuguese ceramic - and I always listen to my mother! – I hurriedly bought a few dishes before running to the train station and making it just in time for the train back to Lisbon. Once we got back to the city, we had a little time to buy sandwiches for the bus the next day and then had to get ready for dinner/fado.  Fado is a combination of singing and narrative poetry that tells a sad or nostalgic story.  We tried to go to one on Friday night but they were booked, so some other girls from our program who happened to also be in Lisbon made reservations for Saturday night.  Five minutes before the fado was supposed to start they texted us to let us know that it was actually pretty expensive because there was a minimum of 20 euro and everything on the menu was pricey.  We decided that even though we wanted to see fado, we didn’t want to spend that much so we went to the restaurant right next to our hotel that had fado too, which the Poles had actually recommended to us Friday night. Luckily we could get in even though we didn’t have a reservation.  We were a little far from the stage, but most important is hearing the music, which was really cool.  The singers were all very impressive – you could see the effort that it took for them to sing with such force and emotion.  Also, the audience was really into it and at one point a lot people joined in on a song and the whole restaurant was filled with music.  The food was also probably the best meal I had in Lisbon – rice with duck, chorizo, and some delicious spices and a green bean soup.  It was so fun and interesting to hear the songs and we stayed for almost three hours at dinner – thankfully not because of bad service but because we wanted to!  It was a great end to an incredible trip to Lisbon, which I felt particularly good about because it was the first trip I planned by myself and it went very smoothly.  Hopefully that means good things for the trips to come!

Sintra

more Sintra