peluca=wig

Morocco!

Friday: Woke up at 3:45 and got on the bus to head to the ferry. It was a 2.5 hour bus ride and I slept almost the whole way. We had to wait an hour or so for the ferry and then I slept on that too until I woke up feeling sick. We exchanged money to dirhem and got on a bus to Rabat. They watched Forest Gump, but I was knocked out from the Dramamine and slept all the way till the break. I met Kalee and Tim from Platteville and Kelsey from Stout and Robby from South Carolina at the rest stop. We got back on the bus and stopped in Rabat for lunch. Cole and I sat with 5 girls from UNC. They were nice and funny at times. The girls said that I have a strong accent. We had this special food that was fried dough with chicken inside and cinnamon and sugar on top. It was really good. After lunch, we had a tour of Rabat, which is the political capital of Morocco. I liked seeing the ocean and people surfing. Seeing the Muslim cemetery broke my heart though. It almost put me into tears everyone time we saw one. All the coffins are above ground and facing east. It's so sad. In the US, when I see a cemetery that never comes to mind, but with theirs it's obvious that they don't have a relationship with Jesus. It's so incredibly sad. After lunch, we got back on the bus and headed to Fez, the real capital of Morocco. I read a bit and slept most of the way. We were on the bus A LOT! We had dinner at the hotel and sat with two girls who were studying in Cordoba. One had been there the whole year and the other studied in Ireland first semester and went home for Christmas break. I had fun meeting so many new people.


Saturday: We had breakfast in the hotel and checked out of the hotel and got on the bus. We watched The Office and Family Guy. I liked watching The Office but not Family Guy. I felt a little sick and wanted a break. One girl was sick and puking in the front of the bus every 15 min. or so. I felt really bad for her. We watched I Love You Man after the stop until lunch. We stopped at a Kasbah in Midelt for lunch. Cole and I sat with people from TCU. They all had Texan accents..hehe. One girl asked if Cole and I were brother and sister...pah! A Moroccan man came in singing and playing these instruments during lunch.. After lunch, we played a game with Toba, one of the leaders from Discover Sevilla, and he made us all fall on the ground and laughed. It was a pretty good trick. We got back on the bus and watched The Hangover, but I slept because I didn't want to watch it. After the stop, we watched more of The Office until we stopped at a hotel to get into the 4x4 Jeeps to take into the desert. Cole and I rode with the girls from Cordoba and two girls from CEA that we never met before. It was fun to go off-roading but after 1.5 hours of bumps, I was ready to get out. They drove us into the desert to get on our camels! We rode the camels for 30 min to the desert oasis. It was so cool to ride them through the sand dunes. It reminded me of Aladdin..haha. Once we got to the desert oasis, we had dinner with the berbers. They played music for us after dinner and then Cole and I climbed part of the big dune to look at the stars. It was really cool to see so many stars. God is in conrtol of so much from the expanse of the stars to the endless grains of sand and all of our lives. It was incredible to see! We pulled our mattresses out from under the tents and slept under the stars. It got quite cold but still a neat experience.


Sunday: The berbers woke us up with their drums and we climbed the large sand dune to watch the sunrise. It was really beautiful and so cool! Cole and I got sand from the dessert and put it in our water bottles to take home and got on our camels to ride back to the hotel. We ended up on a line with Kelsey, Kalee, Tim, Robby, and Molly. Meeting these people and Alexis too was incredible! Seriously, possibly the best thing. I mean the desert and stars and camels and tours and all that I saw was really amazing and so unique and cool but I love people and these people are great. I loved spending time with them and getting to know them. They are so fun and kind. I really really loved getting to know them. So we had breakfast at the hotel after our 2.5hr camel ride. I talked to a berber man on the ride and he was saying how he never leaves his town. It made me realize to an even greater extent how blessed I am. God has given me so incredibly much! I mean I was in Africa and he's never left the dessert. What a blessing to even travel within Wisconsin! How easily I took that for granted. Since I was last in line, I spent a lot of the time on my camel realizing the blessings and talking to God. It was neat. After breakfast, we took quick showers and headed to the pool. I was so excited there was a pool!! We got to soak up the sun for 3 hours or so and I even went swimming with our new friends. The water was pretty cold and green but it was so hot. We had lunch and then got a tour of a desert village. We saw their water system and how the women go to the well and pour water into their jugs each day. They had houses built of straw and mud and other materials and when it rains hard, their houses collapse and they have to build them all over again. They had an oven that made bread for the village. I don't know where they get their other food from. They showed us their rugs that they make and different things that are original to Morocco that people could buy. It was eye-opening to see how they live. We are so privileged to just get water from the faucet and have all that we do. Even coming back to Sevilla and not having to use bottled water to drink and brush my teeth is incredible. After the tour, I took a little nap in the room and then Cole and I went out to the desert to see the sunset. We missed the whole group going out there but caught the end of it. We came back to the pool and talked with Kelsey and Tim and the others joined. Then we had dinner and listened to the berber men play drums. Some people danced but most didn't because there were a lot of teens from Casablanca there that were dancing. Cole went to bed early and Kelsey and I went outside to star gaze. We had really good conversation and saw shooting stars!
Ok..I'm going to make this a little more brief now. I've written too much and the desert was the best part anyway!

Monday: We took the Jeeps back to the hotel where we first were dropped off and hung out by the pool for awhile until lunch. It was so hot that I sat in the shade by the pool. I got to tell Molly and Alexis more about my internship and how I hope God uses it, which was neat. Molly wants the link for World Team so that's really cool! She said she'd be interested in an internship. After lunch, we got back on the bus and headed to Fez. We stopped at the largest Oasis in the Sahara to take pictures but it was over 7 hours in the bus. We arrived around 10pm and had dinner and went to bed.

Tuesday: We had a tour of Fez. We went to see the Royal Palace and then headed to the old Medina. We got a tour of the tannery, which smelt awful but was really neat to see. It was like a whole different community with all the dyes and working men and drying skins. Then we got a visit of the pharmacy where they showed us different spices and lotions and things for the body. I bought a couple gifts for people there. Then we had lunch and after went to a rug place and then a scarf place. After those tours, we got free time in the medina to barter with people for gifts. We went back to the hotel and had dinner. After dinner, we had a little party with Discover Sevilla people. It was a girl's 21st so everyone got free beer or a soda. It was my first Fanta here..haha. They also got birthday cake for her. It was nice. I miss real birthday cake though, like with Mrs. LeClaire’s frosting..mmm. They had live music for us too and also brought in a belly dancer. They first had Toba come in and belly dance and then brought the real girl in. Once she left, they began the talent show where anybody could perform if they wanted to. This one girl rapped and beat boxed and was so good and another girl did step dancing. The other ones aren't really worth talking about. .haha. The girl who rapped won.

Wednesday: We checked out of our hotel and went to Assilah where we had our picnic lunches and free time. We sat by the ocean for awhile and Cole and I went and bought gifts in the Medina. We rode the bus to the ferry, took the ferry across, and took the bus back to Sevilla. I got home around 3:30am and crashed.

FERIA!!!!!! (I LOVE Feria!)

Thursday: I woke up feeling really groggy and gross but went for a run. I was craving a run after not being able to for a week. I came home and showered and then Concha came home and was like get ready, let's go, we're going to my caseta for lunch, hurry up. So I quickly changed and went with her and Pablo and Kelsey (my roommate). I met her sister and niece and her child. Her family is very beautiful. We had lunch in her caseta. Nacho came and had lunch with us too. It was a really neat experience. Most of the casetas are private so you can't get in unless you know someone. I'm so blessed to have a senora who has one and took me there. It was way cool to be a part of. After dinner, I met up with Cole and our friends that we made in Morocco. It was fun to see them again and hang out. I love that our friendships didn't end in Morocco!

Friday : I went to Concha's friends house to try on her flamenco dresses! One of them ended up fitting me and she sewed the hole in it. I played with her granddaugher while I waited. She was so sweet and had the cutest laugh. Concha's friend was so nice to me. She gave me so much and helped me a ton with everything. She said if I ever wanted to come back to Sevilla and Concha couldn't have me at her house, then I could stay at her place. What?! This was honestly the 2nd time I spent time with this woman. Why do I keep getting offers to stay here? They are so welcoming and open. Is it because I'm an American? I don't understand. I don't have her phone number or email or anything to contact her after I leave, but still, she offered. It's crazy to me how easily she offered it to me. I mean I know Concha says nice things about me, but still I hardly know this woman. wow! They are all so open and welcoming.
Kelsey (my roommate) and I went to Feria around 5pm and met up with her friends from Sevilla. We went into 4 of their casetas and enjoying rebujito, apple wine and sprite mix, and dancing. I hadn’t really learned sevillana yet but could dance a little bit. Around 2am, we met up with Nacho and his friends. We went to one of their casetas and danced sevillana and rumba. His friends and Kelsey taught me the steps. It was really really fun! Kelsey and I got pretty tired but Nacho said sitting was forbidden so we danced a lot. We left their caseta around 5am and called it a night. It was one of the best nights I’ve had here. Feria is such a cool tradition! I was trying to soak it all up while I could as it was a once-in-a-lifetime experience. Soo neat! I’m so thankful for all that God has given me and allowed me to experience. Wearing the dress and hanging out with Kelsey’s friends and Nacho and learning to dance, was great.

I can’t really explain Feria very well. It’s something that you have to experience to really understand and appreciate. My best try atdescribing it quickly is that Feria is their fair that begins at Midnight on Monday night and lasts until Sunday night when they have fireworks. They have hundreds of tents (casetas) where families pay for them together. Most of them are private and you need to know someone to get in, but there are a few public tents. The public tents don’t compare or give you the real feel of a private caseta though. Each caseta is different from the next. Each one is a different size and has its own decorations and food and style and people. They play sevillana music and people dance all night long. There is also a section with rides and games that would be more like our fair. The streets are lined with lights and filled with people. It’s incredible! Everyone dresses up nice and most women wear a flamenco dress. I love seeing everyone dress up and all the men with their suits on. It’s really cool, and I wish that everyone could experience it.

I was able to meet up with my friends from Morocco again last night. We rode the ferris wheel and danced a little bit in the public casetas. I’m heading back today to enjoy the last bit of it that I can. I LOVE it!