Blogging from Africa

Recently events in my life include: anti-climatic 21st birthday, 4 day trip to Morocco, and (not) going to class.

Words I would use to describe my first trip to an arab country: colorful, sexist, Muslim, inequality, and wet.

The people who I went with pictured from left to right: Jen(California), Diego(Spain), Charline(France), and me (California). I know you must be thinking about how international I've become, and on top of that we spoke solely in Spanish the whole trip.

To get there, we drove Diego's ride(Pictured) to Algeciras in Spain, and then took an hour long ferry ride to Tangers, Morocco.

We spent a night in Tangers(an ugly port city) where Moroccans constantly tried to sell us any of the following: money, hash, rugs, tea, and food.

Then we took a taxi to Alciras(a small beach town) and stayed at some random Moroccan guys house that was right on the water. here's a picture from the balcony.

and then his wife cooked us Couscous for dinner.
After being in Morocco for 2 days, I realized that every surface was wet from the humidity including: the floor, the walls, the bathrooms, the beds, the windows, and anything else that was left out.

Graffiti in Alciras. While in Morocco I walked, ate, slept, and blogged in my poofy down jacket.

The next day, we took a bus back to Tangers, and then another bus to Chaouen(a small mountain town) which was supposed to be a three hour bus ride, but ended up being about 6 hours. But alas we arrived and got a room in a hostel/hotel which I would describe as semi-janky. But I guess that was to be expected at a price of about 5 dollars a night. Here's a view from the hotel balcony.

My feet pictured with stairs in our hostel.

Here are some women cleaning their clothes at the local river.

What is out of place in this picture?

Shot of a typical street in Chaouen lined with shops and such.

Door shown to scale.

More stuff to sell to the unsuspecting tourist.

While shopping, I used my bargaining skills that I honed a year ago in southeast Asia. I got this rug for about 40 dollars, but It's so nice I feel bad stepping on it and am trying to decide whether I should hang it as a tapestry or just use it as a rug. Suggestions?

Roof top bar on our last night in Morocco. Enjoying the view while sipping on tea.

Group of Moroccan men colluding in a scheme to rip off the tourists.

We drank lots of tea, which is a mix of fresh mints leaves and a lot of sugar unless you specify otherwise.

Couscous was a staple in my Moroccan dining experience.

Enjoying the view minus me.
Moroccan woman sharpening a sharp instrument.

Us, obstructing the view of Chaouen.

Dulces Arabes or Arab sweets, I probably ate about 20 of these in a matter of 3 days.

The end... of my time in Morocco.

In other news, I turned 21 yesterday. It turned out to be not so very different from a typical day of my life in Spain. Some highlights: Pippa and Emilee made me a birthday music video, my roommates gave me a cake, my friend Jen bought me a Doner Kebab, and my other friend Ben bought me a beer. Other than that I watched the latest episode of Gossip Girl, went to one of my 4 classes, drank a greyhound, ate a spanish tortilla, talked to various people from home via Skype, and listened to the Carpenters, Belle and Sebastian, Burt Bacharach, and David Bowie. If you were wondering how I look at age 21 or what I wore on my birthday here is a brief synopsis.

Two Days in Paris

Recently, I've been overcome with a desire to forgo school in lieu of traveling. But, being the good student that I am, I try to find the balance in between.

Last weekend, my friend and I went to Paris for a total of 2 days. Our flight left early Friday morning in a neighboring city, so we ended up spending the night before sleeping in the airport.
Here is a creation we made during our overnight stay at the airport.

Arriving in Paris half-awake, we proceeded to see the sights including the following: The Eiffel Tower, The Louvre, The Pompidou center, Montmartre, Sacré Couer, Notre Dame, the Arc de Triomphe, the Champs-Elysées, and some others.

A night at the Louvre.

Notre Dame
Here are some crafty people putting on their own exhibit at the Modern Art Museum, the French were not amused, and the artists ended up being kicked out after they put on a g-rated porn show.

It wouldn't be Paris without a slew of accordionists.
Some band in Montmartre
Some stuff I dined on during my time in Paris

Croissants and pains au chocolat.
Nutella and banana crèpe.
Quiche de trois fromages.
Organic prepackaged salad

After being in Paris for all of 48 hours, I decided it lives up to it's name, and that I want to live there sometime in the near future. How many of you will visit me?


Here are some things I've cooked lately.

Butternut Squash soup.
Pear chocolate tart.
I'm officially a legal alien of Spain.
Next on my list of places to travel. Morocco? Portugal? Berlin? Amsterdam? Stockholm? Copenhagen? all of the above? recommendations?

Blogging and Baking

In the last week the weather has taken a turn for the worse, and as a result I've resorted to sleeping, baking, cooking, and watching movies to get me through the day.

After visiting 3 stores looking for baking soda/baking powder, I came to the realization that the Spanish are not known for their baking and furthermore, do not cater to those who wish to experiment in the art. But alas, I was not to be bested, and found a small can of baking powder.

After my scaveneger hunt for baking goods, I made a batch of cookies, a frangelico tart, and some banana bread, in no particular order. Due to the exceptional taste and presentation of these items, I was only able to photograph a half eaten loaf of banana bread before they were devoured.

In order to further my immersion of the Spanish culture, I made my first Spanish tortilla, which got the green light from both of my Spanish roommates.
Some people have been asking for pictures of my house/condo/apartment, so in order to appease them here are some not so well shot photos.

Here is my "house" from the outside, it is 3 stories tall, with an empty private underground garage. By definition it is a condo, but to the Spanish it is considered a house.

This is the living/dining room which is located on the ground level.

This is where the magic happens.
My room, currently devoid of anything but paint on the walls. I've been going to "flee markets" looking for things to hang, but the Spanish idea of a flea market is a place with Wal-mart quality clothing and fruit, so for now my walls must sulk in their undeserved solitude.

My bathroom. The shower is small and water always seems to escape through the sides and wet my bathroom floor. Our house has a bathroom in every one of the 4 rooms, and a communal one on the ground floor, so between the 3 of us, we have 5 bathrooms.
and no Spanish bathroom is without a bidet
To my delight, the sun decided to shine on Granada for the first time in over a week, so I took a stroll and snapped this shot of the snow capped mountains.

El Fin

Still Alive and Blogging

Life has been hectic and all, you know dealing with the economic crisis and watching Sarah Palin embarrass herself on live television, but alas I have made it back to the computer to do what I love most, talk about myself.

Last weekend I decided to pack my bags and have a reunion with my one true love, Barcelona

I, being an expert on the city, was by default the tour guide, and made sure we saw the sights and lived the life in the city that sometime sleeps.

Here I am trying to play the part of American tourist at Park Güell
Art with a practical use, Gaudí was such a genius
From left to right, three Canadians, a French man, and 4 Californians
The French man and I got in many a dispute over who was the tour guide of the group

We were jumping with joy after seeing the magic fountain show in Montjuïc
Then, the next day we continued our tour of Gaudí's works
Casa Milà

The Sagrada Familía was closed by the time we got there, but who really wants to pay 10$ to go into an unfinished church?Then on our final night, we wandered to Barceloneta beach and were astounded to find that there was a full moon.

And in our final hours in Barcelona we saw "Vicky Christina Barcelona," which left us leaving Barcelona with a feeling of admiration and fulfillment.