Daily Dose of Morocco...a shift in perspectives

One of my favorite things about traveling is meeting all the people that come from different places and backgrounds, bringing unique life stories to the table. On our camel tour, we met an awesome man from Amsterdam (now living in Belgium) who works for the European Union. Couple things about this man (hope he doesn't mind I'm writing about him, but I imagine the chances of him stumbling upon this blog are pretty much non-existent)

-He is one of the smartest and most culturally intelligent people I have ever met
-He has traveled all over the world and has awesome stories (He has made me develop an urge to go sand surfing in Africa)
-He has an awesome job
-He had some pretty inspiring and interesting conversations with all of us

One of the conversations that stuck with me related to immigration, both in the past and present. We were talking about how immigration is such a debated topic (this stemmed from talking about gypsy immigration in Europe which I learned about in Spanish class...yea Spanish class...I know...) and how in an overall sense, people are very much against immigration. He spun it in such an interesting way that I was able to discover a new perspective. Here's the gist of what he said:

Nowadays, we have a fear for newcomers to invade our land and to put their own mark on our culture. This happens everywhere...US, Europe, etc. We are so focused on all the things that could change and ruin the status quo that we don't realize that immigration is a part of the evolution of our societies and world. Think back to the Middle Ages or even previous to that when Muslims invaded parts of Spain and other European regions. At that time, this was  the worst thing that could happen...but now looking back, it was a blessing in disguise. These people that immigrated into Europe brought incredible knowledge to Europe, such as mathematics, science and medicine, languages, etc. If it wasn't for this immigration, Europe might not have acquired these nuggets of information that sparked a wave of knowledge and social development. Had this immigration not occurred, things might have evolved very differently (and maybe in a negative manner, who knows). If we look at the present, we can see how diversity has fueled great innovation and development of knowledge across the world. We have begun to cross borders, not only physically but intellectually as well, and this has allowed societies to learn from each other and work to become more open minded and intelligent.

His idea in a nutshell was...maybe immigration is just  part of human evolution, maybe its inevitable...a part of human destiny...and for the own good of our communities and humanity in general.

I never had seen it this way. This big picture makes sense to me though...and I am going to carry forth with it and see things from that viewpoint as well to understand why history occurs the way it does.

So, thank you EU man for sharing some very interesting thoughts with us youngens. This, to me is one of the beauties of trekking the world...learning from people and gaining new perspectives on the paths that are around us and the foundation of our existence.

Oh and props to him for hanging out with 10 twenty year olds ;)

The beauty of living the unknown and unfamiliar: Marrakesh, Morocco

This previous weekend I embarked on a weekend trip with around 10 others to none other than...Marrakesh, Morocco. I'll preface the rest of this post by saying that everyone should visit Morocco once in their lives, it was and I'm sure will continue to be( for a long time) one of the best experiences of my life. My intent in studying abroad was to explore the unknown and unfamiliar; a life 100% different from what I am used to and one that would open my eyes to what the rest of the world has to offer. This experience did it. As "abroad" as Barcelona is, I am often surrounded by a bubble of tourism and the inability to fully immerse myself in the culture. It's not as easy to get a legitimate feeling for being a Spaniard when you are on study abroad program with 100 other people coming from the same place with all classes, but one, in a building that is solely for our program. This is why Morocco was a breath of fresh air. It was everything I expected and more. I met incredible people, saw landscapes and a lifestyle that contrasts my own and really got to understand a lot more about the culture of the people living in this area.

The group I traveled with was awesome, everyone was adventurous and very open to the cultural experience. In Morocco, there is no escaping the culture...their version of touristy is pretty much the option of finding a Coca-Cola, aside from that, even touristy things like the snake charmers and street vendors are an incredible experience that teach us a lot about the Moroccan culture. We ventured around Marrakesh, making our way in and out of alleys, spoke to the people and learned from their life experiences and present situation (more on this later), went on a camel tour in the Atlas mountains where we also met a Berber family (traditional people of Morocco), ate authentic food the entire time (and avoided getting sick!)...and so much more.

Fri: arrived, open-eyed to a new language, lifestyle, surroundings, etc and explored the city
Sat: camel trek into the mountains with hike to a waterfall and dinner at a restaurant with an amaaaazing view... Here it is...the white thing in the back is snowy mountains...in Africa, next to desert mountains. True story...

Sunday: explored all day and got to see the riots that started up at night! I have inside connections ;) One of the friends we made was a young man named Imad who worked at our riad (which was super nice and had awesome breakfast). He participated in the riots that Sunday morning, so we were loving hearing his story. His insights was incredible...hearing it first-hand is powerful. They don't have anything against the king, its more about the rest of the government and the poor standard of living they are faced with: no jobs, expensive to live there, etc.

We asked him if he was scared to riot...I like what he said in respect to it..."Scared, no why? I have one life and this is the present of it." I thought it was kind of moving seeing how some people have the ability to live for the moment and their happiness in that point in time, which in turn, unfolds into a better future...instead I often find myself trying to focus only on the future and controlling that...which as we all know, you really can't do. So I learned something from Imad that I will carry forth with me. 

Here's my friend Imad...

Moral of the story, there really aren't words to describe the experience, but it was awesome and I highly recommend it to people (even if its not Morocco, try going somewhere completely out of your usual comfort zone, try learning from the people and really appreciating the diversity that our world has to offer.

In the days to come I'll post Morocco-isms/funny moments we encountered by being newbs to their form of life and a blurb about a new perspective on immigration I gained from a world traveler I met on the camel tour!

Top five, all time.

We heard the prayer call five times a day! Here is the mosque.

Tea Ceremony upon arrival to riad. They drink a mint tea which is amazing! Imported from China hah.

Our room in the riad.

the inside of our room!

Snake charmers. That's the closest I ever got and I was sneaky taking the picture otherwise they run to you and put the snake on your neck until you pay.

haha

One of the palaces.

Random but I liked it. I felt artsy hah

The Big Square: Djemaa el Fna

 Us girls had a slight shopping problem here...

The food market on the Big Square at night

Breakfast! Thick tortilla type pastry with molasses!

 Berber family up in the mountains

Typical.

Making friends...

Tour de España

Quick little recap on what I have been up to for the last two weekends:

Weekend in Sevilla & Cordoba: our program took us to Sevilla, which is in Andalucia, which is southern Spain. The two cities were beautiful, meshing historic Arab influence in the infrastructure with the Spanish culture we see there today. Our program provided us with guides for the cathedrals and Jewish quarters in both cities. We also got to see a flamenco show...and let me tell you...there are no words to describe it. It was amazing-the passion and flow of the movement had us all mesmerized. I had some bomb paella & tapas and we had a blast exploring the night life in Sevilla. For all of you that eventually visit Spain: Sevilla is a must :)

Weekend in Madrid & Toledo: Last weekend, I went to Madrid with, the one and only Mel Zoerb, and spend the day/night with my friend Abby that lives in Madrid. Abby showed us around town and took us to an awesome club where we danced the night away. Bonus: they were playing music in Spanish! Just my style. Because we left for Toledo the next day, we didn't get to see much of Madrid...but we did get to see Retiro Park where we met people studying in Ireland and hung out with them as we took in the sun and watched the mass of row boats on the lake. Beautiful day! Mel and I headed to Toledo, via autobus, and met up with my friends that are studying abroad there. The rest of the stay in Toledo was amazing, its an incredibly beautiful little city with a medieval vibe that travels through the streets. Mel left Saturday, and I spontaneously decided to stay that night and leave Sunday.

My trek home was a littttle interesting...so I apparently have a little problem with abstaining from shopping, especially when I see sales (which last like two months in Spain...you can imagine why this is a problem now?). I couldn't help myself, and I bought a couple shirts on super sale and a pair of shoes. The problemo with this? You can only bring one bag (I brought my school backpack) and I arrived with it full. Oh, forgot to mention, that I randomly decided to buy a huge ceramic plate. Couldn't help myself. Sooo, Saturday night I realize I have nowhere to put all this stuff. My options were leave the plate and stuff I bought or....

layer.

So I wore like 6 shirts, leggings and jeans, a jacket, hat and scarf. Needless to say, I was roasting. My trek home was quite long, just to add to the adventure. I took a taxi to the Toledo bus station, then took the bus to Madrid (about an hourish), then flew to Girona, then took another bus to Barcelona, then walked home.

Well, at least I got my plate home :)

 Exhibit A

 Sevilla view from the bell tower

Toledo with my girls!

2 Euro 'verano tinto' (yummy wine) with free plate of tapas! Spain treats us foodies well :)

 Madrid: Retiro Park with Mel!

 Sevilla palace...really its Spain!

The bell tower...the only piece of the former mosque that they kept when they tore down the mosque to build the cathedral (Muslims were here for a period of time)

Daily Dose of España...Estoy Aquí

Estoy Aquí (I am here).

I see this on the sidewalk every morning that I walk to Spanish class. It never really meant anything to me and I always wondered what its purpose is or what the person who did it intended by it. Last week a sad event presented itself in my life and that of my family. I lost one of the most important people in my life, my Opa. At first it was a mixture of denial and anger with myself for being away and not being there with my family. I went through a mixture of emotions and am blessed to have a lot of my great friends and family supporting me through this all.

I wouldn't normally write about this in my blog, but today when I walked to class and saw the sidewalk, something hit me. Life is full of amazing people, experiences and single moments. These are what constitute the beautiful memories that we carry forth with us. At the same time, life is fragile and things that we never want or expect to experience occur. It's a part of our process to grow in our own shoes and in the world around us. Like the sidewalk says, "Estoy Aquí (I am here)," in this moment and in this place, and that's how life goes. Often times, like I did last week, I question why things happened and fail to understand that everything happens in its own time, and for a certain reason. Seeing the sidewalk reminded me that life is full of joys as well as bumps in the road, but the joys and memories we have created from relationships with people and experiences outweigh the challenging moments. It also reminded me that we can't control everything, and that sometimes we have to let life present itself in its true form because that's just what is meant to happen.

I miss my Opa dearly and think of him constantly, and even though it still pains me to know he is no longer with us in physical form, I know he will always be with me in spirit and in my memories. I was fortunate enough to be very close with him and to enjoy many wonderful moments with him. He is part of why I am who I am today. And, I thank whoever painted that saying on the sidewalk because with those two simple words I realized that we often waste away precious moments in life by being mad and upset about unexpected & challenging occurrences. Instead we should focus on living in the moment, knowing that you are there in that second  and in that place for a reason...and that everything that is important to you (including memories of those that you love) are there with you as well, in that very spot where you are standing.

Daily Dose of España...shows how little I know about world history...

This weekend we went on a program trip to Sevilla and Córdoba...more on that tmrw probably. But here's my daily dose for the weekend. I now realize how little knowledge I have in the arena of world history. Time to hit the books.


We had guides for both days...and here's a fact that I learned and had no idea about.


Andalusia (souther Spain) was invaded by the Muslims in the Middle Ages and therefore has a very heavy Muslim influence in some of the architecture that remains and in some cultural practices. 


Here's my juicy I'd like to share....some of you might know this, but pretend its a great educational discovery on my part ;)


Over 3,000 words in the Spanish language are founded on Arabic...for example, most words beginning with al- are based on Arabic.


Alfombra, almacén, etc...


I looked it up afterwards: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Arabic_influence_on_the_Spanish_language


My new POA (plan of action) is to learn a lot of random facts and become a walking encyclopedia. 


Here's another: 1,000 yrs ago, Córdoba, which now has about 300,000 inhabitants, was the largest city in Europe...

Daily Dose of España..Yahoo! :guess I gotta learn how to yodel.

Just got back from interning at Yahoo! where I work on the Direct Response Advertising team. I've alwayyyys wanted to do the "agency thing" and finally my dream came true! The atmosphere there is awesome and I'm learning a lot about search engine marketing and all that good stuff. This program is through my program and is for credit...8 hrs a week, pretty legit, I'd say.

The agency is really modern and everyone there is really tight. About 60 ppl are in the office. They have a huge "hang-out" room where they have a kitchen, coffee machines (free hot cocoa too!), foosball, a Wii, etc. I'm a fan.
 *Funny story: first day I came in, my boss introduced me to every single person. ANDDD...here everyone says hi by kissing on both cheeks. So I had to kiss 60 cheeks twice ha. I'm used to it because in Mexico you do the same thing, but it still made me laugh a little.

Here is a picture of my building which is pretty new...

PS in case you were wondering, the Agbar isn't anything special on the inside, its the office for the water company of Barcelona. I mean, yea that's important, but its no museum or anything.

Daily Dose of España...New Places, New Obsessions

Yesterday...I finally gave up on my long and weary search for Special K Fruit and Yogurt cereal in Spain. It was a tough moment but I finally realized I have to be more open minded with my cereal selection, especially because my cereal hasn't expanded globally quite yet.

So...I went to Carrefour (aka the Walmart of Spain) and pondered for a good 15 minutes as to what cereal I wanted. Went with the Carrefour Cereales Rellenos de Leche (=cereal filled with milk). I needed to be adventurous with my new selection, plus it was cheap...bonus.

Let me just say that it's my new love. It's like I reverted back to my childhood Captain Crunch obsession. Really, it's that good. I pretty much ate half the box in one sitting and plan on bringing some home to the US. Some of you will be lucky enough to try it :)

Exhibit A

I guess it really does pay off to be open minded...