MOROCCO!!

Long awaited Morocco post! (apologies for how long it is. :p)

I decided to make my life easier I would go through a tour group for this trip. Some of the other auxiliares went to Lagos, Portugal with a group called DiscoverSevilla and absolutely loved it, so when they announced a trip to Morocco I signed up right away. It was an all inclusive 5 day excursion for only 399 Euros! Awesome deal! The only extra expenses were for shopping (which I did my fair share of) and drinks. Since the group is based out of Sevilla I had to take the train there from Almeria, which means I had to miss school. I decided to take the early train to have some free time in Sevilla, I left Almeria at 9am and got to Sevilla at 4:30, but since Sevilla is literally the most confusing city and even though the hostel I was staying at is a straight shot from the train station I still got lost. Haha. But when I finally got settled I had just enough time to go to the Plaza de España, one of the most beautiful sights in Sevilla, and something my parents and I didn't get to see when they were here. After that I headed back to the hostel to meet up with some other auxiliares staying at the same hostel who were also going on the trip. We had a really good final Spanish meal before venturing into the world of Moroccan food.

Last Spanish dish for a week. :)

Plaza de España

The actual Moroccan part of the trip started crazy early (3am) Saturday morning. Since so many of us were in the 10 bed hostel room (with 1 bathroom) we had to wake up super early so we could meet the bus at 4:30am. By the time we got all the luggage and everyone situated in the bus we left Sevilla at 5am for our 2 and a half hour drive to Tarifa. Once we got there we got our passports stamped and got on the ferry to go through the Straight of Gibraltar. The ferry advertises that it is only 35 minutes, but it took a very shakey/not even a little bit fun hour to get there. Needless to say, everyone felt A LOT better when we were back on land in Tangiers. Getting off the boat was funny because I am pretty sure everyone said at least once: “Guys! We're in Africa!” After that we got our passports stamped again and headed for the banks outside to convert money which took FOREVER.

We finally left the port and headed for Rabat after everyone was finished, we ate lunch at this nice restaurant by the beach. The staff prepared a traditional meal that is usually only served at special occasions, it was a philo dough wrapped pie thing with chicken inside, which smelled like funnel cake. I had what turned out to be my staple dish of the trip, cous cous and vegetables. 

After lunch we headed into Rabat to go to the Hassan Mosque, which is two mosques, one old and one new combined into one. The old one, consisting of the columns, the tower and the wall is from the 12^th century and the new one called the Mausoleum of Mohammed V is more modern. The old one was intentionally left incomplete after the Sultan Yacoub al-Mansour died in 1199. There are speakers in the old tower that call everyone to prayer in the Mausoleum, so both parts are connected making it one Mosque.

View of the tower of the old mosque.

Columns from the old mosque, and the new mosque.

Our next stop in Rabat was the Kasbah of the Udayas. Named for the tribe that settled in Rabat in the 12^th century the Kasbah was a fortress used to protect themselves against other tribes. It was destroyed once by a tribe called the Almohads, who started rebuilding it in 1150AD adding a palace and a mosque. The project was abandoned with the death of Yacoub al-Mansour. The fortress was left unused until the 17^th century when thousands of exiled Arabs (from Spain) returned to Morocco and moved into the Kasbah. They wanted it to be like the living arrangements they had in Spain so it has very similar architecture/colors to Andalucia (hence the white and blue walls).

Inside the Kasbah

After we were done touring around Rabat we drove to Fez where we stayed for the night. We were all really REALLY glad to not be on the bus, it was definitely a long day. The next day was another really long driving day as we headed towards the Sahara desert. It was an absolutely beautiful drive. None of us knew that Morocco had such different landscapes, we went through places that looked like Ireland, places that looked like Kansas, places that looked like the Northeastern US, places that looked like the Rocky Mountains, and of course, the desert.

Outside the University

Our surprise from the guides was a stop to feed the apes.

  

We stopped at the Xaluca hotel which is this really awesome 5 star hotel in the middle of the desert. We were greeted with music, dancing and a traditional tea ceremony.

We didn't have that much time though, because we all had to put on as much clothes as possible for our night in the desert. So, once everyone was settled we put our main bags into a van so they could go to the hotel that we would spend the next day at, and we loaded up our over night bags into Land Rovers. The ride in the Land Rovers was so much fun, we started off on the road but then turned off to go the much more fun way (off roading) through the rocky desert. It was about 45 minutes in total (and in the dark) to where we met our camels to take us through the sandy desert to our “oasis.” This camel ride was only about 20 minutes so it wasn't too bad, it was scary going in the dark though, and my camel, which I named Eugene, decided that he liked to go down the dunes sideways which always made me feel like I was going to fall off.

Eugene and me. :)

  

Dinner by candlelight

I put oasis in quotations because it was not really what people would think of as an oasis. It was a bunch of tents in a circle with a bathroom tent (not even going to go into how gross that was) about 20 yards away. When we first got there we picked out a tent and then headed to the middle of the circle to hang out while the rest of the group rode their camels in. Once everyone was there we at dinner in the big tent by candlelight. It was a tight squeeze getting everyone in, but it was fun. After dinner we went outside again and sat around the bonfire and watched our Berber hosts play music and dance. Some people stayed up late and some (like me and one of my friends) went to bed early so we could get up to see the sunrise. It was a REALLY cold night. Like a lot colder than we all thought it would be. I was wearing a cami, 2 long sleeve shirts, 2 fleece jackets, a hoodie, a beanie, gloves, scarf, yoga pants, jeans and 3 pairs of socks, sleeping under 2 pretty heavy blankets and I was still shivering most of the night. And if you know me, you know that I love the cold, so just imagine what it was like for the non-Coloradans. :p

Colleen modeling our tent

One of the guides said he would wake everyone up in time for the sunrise, but no one heard him, so luckily I heard some people talking outside and decided to see what time it was. It was 6:05 and the sun was supposed to rise at 6:40 so my friend /tentmate Colleen got up and headed for a dune outside of camp. The others in the group who woke up for the sunrise attempted to go up the big dune behind the camp, but we headed out front to a smaller one and still got an incredible view. It was totally a Lion King sunrise. Haha. We got some amazing pictures while listening to the camels making some crazy noises.

After the sunrise we headed back to camp to drink some tea and get ready to leave. Once everyone was back from the big dune we got back on the camels for our 2 hour (really painful) ride to another really nice desert hotel where we spent the day relaxing. I spent a good chunk of time napping in the sun by the pool. :) After lunch most of us went on a walk with the guides to a desert town. We walked through the gardens and were able to see how they are watered. It was really interesting.

Sahara Desert farming

Water channels, which are blocked off with sand until they need them

  

When we got back we watched the sunset on the dunes and watched some kids do flips off the dunes. After that we headed back in the Land Rovers to the Xaluca hotel where we were greeted with people playing instruments on the roof! We settled in to our awesome rooms and had some free time to explore the hotel before our buffet dinner. My roommates and I were excited to have a nice warm bed to sleep in so we went to bed pretty early.

The next day we said good bye to the desert and made the long journey back to Fez. It was essentially a repeat the day going to the desert, but with different movies in the bus. :p Since it was our last actual night in Morocco there was a party in the hotel bar, we were told that there would be a belly dancer, but most of us gave up and went to bed before she arrived. My roommate, Kirstie, and I decided that watching BBC news and talking about the toilet situation in India was more fun than the party. :p

The next morning we left early to head to the Medina in Fez. The Medina is a UNESCO world heritage site and is just overwhelmingly awesome. It was founded in the 9^th century, it has the worlds oldest university, mosques, palaces, residences and lots of other things. It is all surrounded by a wall and once you get inside it really feels like a different world. The streets are really small and everyone is dressed a lot more conservatively than on the outside. There are a ton of stores where you can buy literally everything you would ever need/want. We started by going through and looking at what there was. We stopped in front of an orange vendor where our tour guide explained how trusting everyone is in the Medina. For example, if you needed some eggs or something but didn't have the money right away to pay for it, the vendor would give you what you needed knowing that you would pay when you could, but if you never ended up paying, everyone in the Medina would know and never sell to you.

We had to share the really narrow roads with donkeys, pushcarts, horses and other things.

We stopped by a public bakery and saw them making bread. We walked past so many fabric stores that I really wanted to stop in, but we were pressed for time.  

Inside the public bakery

The first place we stopped in was the leather tannery. Before we went up to the top floor to see look at everything the store owner gave us some mint to smell because leather tanning smells really bad. It's a really interesting process though, everything is all natural. The hides start in a bath of ammonia, made from pigeon poop, where they stay for over a month to make them really soft. After that they are moved into the colored baths where they stay for 2 weeks. The colors are all made from plants, green from mint, purple from lavender.... After the store owner finished explaining the process we got to shop around. I bought a pink camel leather shoulder bag for 700 Dirham (about 63 euros). After I paid for that the owner took me downstairs to look at jackets. I ended up getting a really nice brown (camel leather) one for 2000 Dirham. Crazy awesome deal I think because its all hand made. As I was walking upstairs I realized that I left my credit card in the bus. I apologized to the owner and said that I couldn't get it. I expected him to just put the jacket away but he said “oh its ok, just take it. I will come to the bus with the credit card machine.” I was blown away. Even though our guide said that they are really trusting, I had no idea that they would trust some random foreigner with a 2000 dirham jacket. Really cool.

Leather tannery

After that we headed to the spice store which was really fun! They explained some typical Moroccan spices and teas, let us smell all of them and then we bought some. I got lemon cumin, Moroccan curry, spicy pepper stuff, tea and saffron. Everything but the saffron was 20 dirhams, and the saffron was 5 grams for 100 dirhams AKA 10 euros!!! So cheap!!

We went to the scarf store next and got to see the men working the looms. Big tapestries/bed covers/table cloths take 4 days to make. I really wanted one but was running low on cash at this point so I bought a purple and silver silk scarf.

We had our last real meal in Morocco after that (more cous cous for me) and then a bit of free time. Some people got henna, some people went jewelry shopping. I use the rest of my 47 dirham to buy a present for my secret santa at school. After that we headed back to the bus for our drive to Tangers and our (thankfully) very calm ferry ride. We got back to Sevilla at about 3:15 am and all checked in to the hostel by about 3:45. I stupidly bought a train ticket for the wrong day so I had to leave at 11am to get that situation figured out, but I ended up sitting with a young girl and her father on the train so she learned how to say all the colors of her crayons in English. :p I got back to Almeria at 5:30 and relaxed after such a crazy whirlwind week. :p 

Halloween and Spainksgiving!

I have epically failed at doing a blog. :p I had a post half written about Halloween that I never finished. And considering its almost a month past that holiday I think its about time I finished it.

Everyone on the patio at my school for the costume contest.

Halloween in theory is not as big of a holiday here as it is in the US. I think its growing though because people seemed to be pretty into it. My school had a Halloween party for the kids which was a lot of fun. There was a costume contest for all the levels and lots of candy and castañas asadas (roasted chestnuts). All the kids and the teachers dressed up. 

Hard to see, but that's Antonio in the back.

Antonio was a zombie and he actually made a few kids cry because he looked so scary. From a theatrical makeup standpoint he did an amazing job making his scars. Haha (sorry, nerd moment). 

One thing I find interesting about Halloween in Spain is that everyone dresses as something scary. There were no princesses, Hannah Montanas, Justin Beibers and all that other stuff. I was one of the judges for the costume contest so I of course had to take a lot of pictures. :)

One of the teachers who was saying "scary things"
before the costume contest started. He doesn't
speak much English, so he was just saying
the names of Metallica songs.

Amaro (legit one of the cutest kids ever) was one of the winners. 

After the costume contest was over it turned into an impromptu dance party.
(Conga line of course.) :p

Decorations in the hallway. I helped color them. haha

On the non school related side I went out to Cuatro Calles with some of my friends in an attempt to go bar hopping, but as per usual in Cuatro Calles it kind of sucked. Especially on Halloween because everyone and their mother was out, so it was like trying to party in a NYC subway. :/

Now for Spanish Thanksgiving! Or Spainksgiving as I have decided to call it. :p

Lots of food!

Just some of the chefs,
we were secretly on a mission to
see how many people we could fit in the kitchen.

 Supplies are definitely limited here. So, we made do with what we could find. If you want a turkey you have to request is way in advance, so we didn't have one. Lauren and I decided that we were going to organize everything and have the dinner in our apartment.

We ended up with all of our roommates (even the unofficial boyfriends who live here....another story....) my friend from Germany, Dörte (also an auxiliar) and her friend from France, Maxime (an Erasmus student).

Everyone made something and we ended up with a very eclectic but delicious meal consisting of tortilla española (from Mamen's boyfriend and Lauren's boyfriend), Spanish Chorizo (from Mamen), mashed potatoes (from me, minus the secret ingredient which I guess doesn't exist in Spain), broccoli casserole (from Lauren), chicken in tomato sauce (from Saher), and a baked pasta dish (from Dörte), and alcohol of course courtesy of Maxime. And what Thanksgiving meal would be complete without pumpkin (or in this case, butternut squash) pie (made by Lauren). An adventure in and of itself.

 

The delicious pie, which our oven decided
needed to be burned a bit.

Spanish family around the table. :)

We ended the night by playing a few drinking games which somehow ended up turning into north versus south. Over all I think it was a great night! Even though it was not 100% traditional for our non-American friends.

PS: Get excited for my next post!!!! It will be about my Moroccan adventure.
PPS: sorry for the weird formatting, I gave up trying to fix it.

Teacher Allison

     Hola blog readers! I meant to write this post on Sunday night before week two started but I got busy doing nothing. :p Anyway, so its Tuesday night of week 2 of teaching. I just finished eating dinner (risotto, because I am a bad ass chef) with 2 out of my 3 roommates and now we are watching the Spain vs. Scotland football game. (I have learned the hard way not to even joke about calling it soccer in Europe.) Tomorrow there is no school because it is Dia de la Hispanidad, AKA Columbus Day so I am super excited to spend the day relaxing on the beach.

Sometimes I wake up and can't believe this is really my life. Fo real, I am in love with my job. IN LOVE. Seriously. I only work 12 hours a week but I am so excited to go every day. The kids I work with are awesome, they are so much fun to be around and the teachers are the same. I am unbelievably lucky to have gotten an opportunity like this. Like I said in my last post I work with 1^st and 2^nd graders and with 4 different teachers. Its really really interesting to see the different teaching styles and to see who is a better teacher (I hope none of them read this!!!!). But really, its super obvious who actually knows English and who is a better teacher.

Maria Jose, the 1^st grade teacher I work with really doesn't know English at all, honestly I am really surprised that she is one of the bilingual teachers. I have 3 classes with her and one planning hour. During her classes I sit at the desk and watch, and if the kids are doing an activity I walk around and check in with them and help if they need it. Even though its a bilingual class (which in reality means its supposed to be in English) 99% of her class is in Spanish. I am supposed to be there to help, but really I feel unused in her classes. During last weeks planning period she told me that she really needed to work on her English, so I would answer her questions in English, then she would give me the deer in headlights look so I would switch to Spanish. Unfortunately for me, my accent is really thick so she can't understand me half the time even when I speak in Spanish. I digress, so she was asking me to pronounce things for her so she could pronounce it properly for the students, but she still wasn't getting it. For example, the kids are learning about breakfast, lunch and dinner. In their book there are lists of things that people eat for the meals, she asked me how to pronounce “juice” so I said “juice” and she kept saying “yuce” and I would correct her and say it slowly and still she was saying “yuce” and instead of biscuit she says “bisquick” I told her that Bisquick is a brand, but she just wasn't getting it. I know I am probably sounding like a stereotypical American right now getting mad that she doesn't speak English very well, but really, if you are going to be a bilingual teacher you should really be able to speak both languages. Or if you can't speak it that well, let your assistant who is fluent help out a little more. I have corrected her in class before but it really doesn't do anything, so I guess in her classes I am just going to help individual students and just sit there the rest of the time. But in her defense, she is taking classes at night, so I'm sure it will get better as time goes on.

I also with with the gym teacher, named Esther, 2 times a week. She is a ton of fun, I really like working with her. She speaks English pretty well. This is the 3^rd year that this school has had the bilingual program and only the 2^nd for gym to be bilingual. So even though she speaks English pretty well I am there to help her translate and make sure that what she is telling the kids is correct. It is completely insane how much energy these kids have during her class. Those are definitely the most difficult classes I have during the week because I am used to kids being quiet and not having to yell at them as much as I have to here. We are working on a little assessment of their abilities, both athletic and their capability to follow directions. The first class I had with her I did the assessment with her, and the following class I did it by my self. I had to do the whole thing in English and I felt really bad when the kids didn't understand. One of the questions is to say a sport where there is only one participant and one where there are multiple. When I was doing the assessment by myself I tried to use the simplest English possible but the kids still would just stare at me with the look of “seriously lady I have no clue what you just said” its definitely challenging. I really have to think about what I say to them. But I am really proud of how hard they work, they try so hard to understand me, and even though I am supposed to pretend I don't speak Spanish, if they repeat what I said to them in Spanish I will tell them if they are right or not. Luckily they haven't quite figured out that since Teacher Allison understands Spanish she must be able to speak it too. :p

Javi, the 3^rd teacher I work with is like the complete opposite of Maria Jose. He studied in Ireland when he was in university so he speaks English fluently which is great for the kids. So needless to say his classes are 99% in English and only in Spanish if the kids need discipline or are just really confused. He lets me teach too which is lots of fun but scary too since the kids don't understand English super well. Right now we are working on parts of the body so they can now sing “head, shoulders, knees and toes” in English. We play a lot of games in his classes too and its really funny to see the kids get so worked up over a game of hangman. I seriously thought they were going to cry at one point! So during week 1 I just helped out where needed and did review lessons with them so they can hear things pronounced with a different accent.

Working hard....with wine of course

At the end of last week he asked me to prepare a little lesson about the US for today so I had my first attempt at teaching by myself. I spent a good chunk of time this weekend looking for worksheets and ESL lesson plans about the US. I don't think I would have a problem teaching this age at home, but here it is A LOT harder, especially when I am by myself because their English is so basic that I really have to think about how to word things so they will understand. So after a few hours of searching I found a color by number US flag that I thought would be a good activity. I had that, a flag that I colored (because I am dumb and didn't bring an actual one), my crazy big US map that I bought in Sevilla, and my books of Colorado and Kansas pictures.

I was surprisingly nervous when I got on the bus this morning and it didn't help that I got to Campohermoso late because there was so many people on the bus, so I pretty much ran to school, and while I was running I passed the guy who usually lets me in the building. I assumed that he wouldn't just leave the office unattended so I didn't ask him to go back and unlock the gate. So when I got to school I rang the buzzer a few times and was standing outside for about 10 minutes when I realized that I would just have to wait until he came back. But! I am dedicated ( :p) so I jumped the fence, and I don't think anyone saw me. Haha. Anyway, so by the time I ran into class they were doing a different activity, so I didn't end up teaching in that class.

     I had to in the following class though. So I put my huge map on the board and attempted to explain what states were. I showed them what the size of Spain would be compared to the US, showed them where I am from, where I went to school and then the parts of the flag. I put on my facebook that my first attempt was semi successful and that was because Javi was sitting at his desk translating everything I was saying for them. So yeah. But, by the end they knew how many states there are, which state and city I am from and where I went to school and the parts and meaning of the flag so mission accomplished. :) 

I could keep going for days about my life here, but this post is getting crazy long so I think I will leave it at that! :)

First days in Spain!

Prado Museum

Falafel had his own seat on the plane. 

 Ok people first blog post! Get excited. I have been in Spain for almost 2 weeks, so I guess before it gets too late I should update on what I have been up to. My Parents accompanied me here since my mom has never been to Spain and it was a good excuse for a vacation for them. We got in the morning of September 21^st and spent a very sleepy day wandering around Madrid with the highlight being the few hours we spent in the Prado Museum. We went out for dinner that night and my dad lit the menu on fire on accident. It was pretty funny. The waiter hated us though. :p

Anyway, so after that we drove down to Almeria where I live now. Its about 8 hours by car from Madrid. We passed the town I work in as we were driving and we decided to take a slight detour to check it out and try to find my school. Its a very interesting town to say the least. Its a relatively small tomato farming town and its basically completely surrounded by greenhouses. From the highway it looks like the ground is covered with snow. I't is definitely different than where I live in Colorado. Right when you are driving in there are houses that are half made of tarps and look like they are about to crumble, but the houses right next to my school are nice. Its kind of crazy the differences in such a small town. We couldn't find the school that day so we just went to Almeria and walked around. If you know me at all you know that I love cities and this one is the perfect size, you can pretty much walk everywhere and there are local buses too. The beach is also really nice, it takes up the whole southern part of the town and there are lots of cafes right on the boardwalk.

 

Sunset on the beach

 A few days after getting here I met up with my now current roommate that I met on the facebook group for Auxiliares to look for apartments. We were aiming to live right by the beach but it ended up not working out. One apartment we really liked we missed out on by 30 minutes! But we ended up finding one which is about a 10 minute walk to the beach and about 15 to the bus/train station. Its a nice size and has a big kitchen which is perfect for me. :) So I live with 3 other people; Lauren the other auxiliar, a Spanish girl and an Palistinian guy. Everyone is really nice so its working out really well. I would be totally lost without Lauren though, our landlord can't understand me and I can only understand about 85% of what he says in person and basically nothing when I talk to him on the phone, so I have to rely on her to talk to him for me, which she does with no complaints. :) (Thanks Lauren!!)

My School!!!!

After we got the apartment all settled I decided to take the bus to Campohermoso to make sure it would work as my way to get to and from work (I would be totally screwed if it didn't work). I got there at 9 when the school started and everyone was so welcoming! I met the director and the head of studies first and even though I showed up unannounced the head of studies put down what she was working on and took me to find Antonio the bilingual coordinator. He had just started a class but still gave me a little tour and introduced me to Javi, the second grade teacher/teacher I am going to work with most. I spent an hour at the school meeting people and just getting a feel for how things work. I was really nervous when I got my placement and found out that it was in such a small town, but after visiting the school I am really excited to work there. I met some of Antonio's students and was greeted very politely with a “How are you?” from one girl. It was really cute. :) So I am going to be working with 1^st and 2^nd graders 12 hours a week. 5 classes of science, 3 of art and 2 of PE plus 2 hours of planning with Javi and Maria Jose (1st grade teacher).

Rock of Gibraltar

Protest sign

Once I got all the school stuff figured out my parents and I decided to travel again. My dad really wanted to go to Gibraltar so we headed there first. We ended up staying in Algeciras since the site we used to get the hotel said there was no hotels in Gibraltar. It made for a very interesting night. Algeciras is very close to Africa and has a huge shipping port so its a really diverse town. We stayed at the hotel Vime Octavio. Which we couldn't find so my mom went to another hotel to ask for directions, there she found out that our hotel was going out of business....so when we finally got there there were protest signs posted outside saying how they didnt want the hotel to close. It was really weird. After we got settled we went down to the port to walk around and try to get a picture of the Rock of Gibraltar. It was very uncomfortable being down there. If any of you go to Algeciras don't walk by the port. I felt really unsafe there. But luckily we found a nice area a few blocks away from the port to hang out in. The next day we headed for Gibraltar. It took a long time to get in even though its just the next town over and that would be because its a different country. :) Its part of the UK so it was really strange going in and hearing English and seeing British phone booths but knowing that just down the street is Spain. The rock was really cool, we got lots of good pictures, saw Africa and hung out with some wild apes.

One of the courtyards in La Alhambra.
 Everything is symmetrical in this one.

In the Cathedral in Sevilla

The next day we headed to Sevilla. It took us about 2-3 hours to find the hotel, it was nuts. Once we found it we wandered around the town and ate at a really good restaurant where the waiter was surprised when I answered one of his questions in Spanish. Welcome to tourist country. We went to the Cathedral the next day which was fun. Its the 3^rd largest church in Europe and the largest Gothic building in Europe. Its massive. After that we went to the Real Alcazar which is an old Moorish fort and royal palace. Which is also fun place to walk around. The detail in the ceilings walls and tiles is just incredible. After convincing my parents that they couldn’t leave Spain without seeing La Alhambra we added Granada to our itinerary. We left early the next day to get there by our scheduled entrance time. La Alhambra is one of my favorite places in Spain. Its a massive Moorish/Christian fortress. There is way too much history to get into here. There are TONS of gardens as you walk around and they are beautiful. Since its so far above the town of Granada you get amazing views too. Its just a really beautiful place and anyone that comes to visit me will have to go. :p

View of Granada

After we left Granada we drove back to Almeria and hung out for a few days. My parents left for Madrid this morning so I finally got unpacked and now I am just trying to get everything settled for my first day of class tomorrow. :)