what stands out

When I got home, everybody had many questions for me about my trip. Most of the questions revolved around food, Spanish men, and camels. Everybody always asks "what was your favorite part" or "what was the most memorable part." This question can often be stereotypically answered by saying I loved riding a camel on the African coast. Or the most memorable thing being standing on the walls of the Alcazar looking across at the Cathedral and the Giralda all lit up at night. But after a conversation I had with a member of the Merrimack community yesterday, I want to be able to answer the question "What stands out the most about the trip?" My answer to that comes after a little thought and reflection. At Merrimack I studied Psychology and Sociology and accepted a fellowship position to work with the Greater Lawrence Community Partnership for Children starting in July. So my passion is working with kids.

What stands out for me the most about this trip was the children we were able to meet and spend time with. We spent a day with the program Hope for Sale, and the kids were just so happy to have us around. We spent a solid 45 minutes at one point just taking pictures with all of the kids who were from 5- 16 years old. It was just so awesome to see that we made their day by just hanging out, singing songs with them, and taking a few pictures.

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Later on in the week, we went up to a mountain villiage to see how differently their lives were as opposed to city life. And we basically added 13 more people to their family. Immediately, they welcomed us in to their home. A few different families from the villiage were there and there were about 6 or 8 kids around. None of them spoke English, but I got to sit in the living room and play hand- clap games and laugh with them. The kids thought it was so funny to climb on me like a jungle gym and their laughs when we tickled them could absolutely lighten up your day. We spent the day there and then the older 2 girls took us on a hike up more of the mountain side. Of course all of the kids came along, and at least 3 or 4 of us had a child hanging on for a piggy back the entire way. We walked and walked and finally came across the most beautiful view. (below is me, and my piggy back passenger- to the right- with the amazing view of the mountains behind me)

What stands out to me the most about this trip were the kids that we got to touch the lives of. Granted we only spent a view hours with them but it was so humbling for them to be so happy to spend time with us laughing and playing games and running around. Our Moroccan Exchange leader, Katie, said to us as we were driving away from the mountain town that it was so much more important what we did with the kids, rather than bring them gifts and toys. We were able to spend quality time with them and then when we left we were able to collect up some money and donate it to the community program in that village to help the kids learn and stay active. Our presence, instead of presents, is what really counted. At the end of the day, these kids really touched our lives as well. We had traveled thousands of miles and seen the biggest, most intricate sights that Spain and Morocco had to offer us. But what stands out to us the most are these little balls of energy that opened their arms to us and found their way into our hearts.

the places you go, the people you meet

As a class at Merrimack, we were just 10 strangers. We didn't speak much to each other or to answer our professor for that matter. But through this trip we all learned so much about ourselves through getting to know each other that by the time we were on our way home, we were planning reunion dinners at my apartment and laughing and constantly joking with each other. Throughout this trip we met so many people of so many walks of life. We met guys that went to Rabat University and had so much to say about the government and their love (or dislike) for the King. The guys in the picture above spent the morning talking with us about diversity and really got us all to thinking how we can be sheltered even in our college community at Merrimack. We talked a lot about the diversity push on our campus and about how some members of our group would never ever speak to one another if it was not for this trip. It was amazing to talk to these guys and amongst ourselves to address issues with introducing yourself to the other and opening your mind to other cultures.

Another amazingly unique experience we had was to stay with home-stay families in Rabat, Morocco in Africa. The region of Morocco is predominantly Muslim in faith and speak mainly French and Arabic. Our opportunity was to stay with a genuinely Moroccan family who had one English- speaking student around our age. This gave us the chance to live as they do in a day-to-day setting. We ate home- made meals with them and toured the Medina with the kids. It was such a positive experience for all of us. We talked for the rest of the trip how we would never complain about air conditioning, shower water temperature, or clothing ever again. Above, Ana and Yara with their house- mother.

peas in a pod

Our group spent 2 of the most culturally shocking weeks of our lives together. We rode camels, we got lost almost everyday, we lived in Moroccan homes. We had an opportunity to reflect back on the trip on our last night in Morocco and we got to discussing how far we had come as a group ourselves. We joked that back in the classroom at Merrimack, we all sat seperately and didn't talk to each other at all. We discussed the stereotypes that we developed of each other, say nothing about the cultures we were about to indulge in in Andalucia. But this trip really taught all of us how you cannot judge a book by its cover. So much of my learning about cultures on this trip came from within the group. I learned about different religions, different eating habits, and different country origins. It was an amazing turn around to see how close our group got over the span of 2 days. All of the sudden we were all laughing and joking and really acting like we had known each other for years.

food

While on our Convivencia trip, one of the things that moved our days along was food being literally shoved in our face. One big difference about the Spanish and Moroccan cultures is that they eat. They eat a lot. They continue to keep eating until all the food is gone. In Spain, we had a lot of "tapas" which are famous Spanish appetizers if you will. Most of our meals in Spain were a course of 4 or 5 different tapas that just kept coming. So then when we thought we were all done and stuffed from our meals, they would bring us out dessert. Silly us- thinking we would lose weight on this trip. While in Spain we got to eat some incredible dishes. We had sardines, shark, croquettas (which are essentially little tatter tots with mashed potato and a meat), octopus, cheeses, mushrooms, and we discovered a love for olive oil. Spain is famous for its olive oil. They use it to cook everything and eat it with everything. Every meal, there were loaves and loaves of bread and by the time we discovered the olive oil, we stopped asking for butter for our bread. The olive oil was delicious.

In Morocco, things work a little differently with food. Lunch is the biggest meal of the day. They do not use plates or forks. Their culture believes that food is a blessing from God and that the last thing it should touch is your hand, not a fork or a plate. Also, you must eat with your right hand. Another amazing thing is their mint tea. Literally, you could not go anywhere with out getting mint tea offered to you. And you better drink it! We ate so many new things in Morocco as well. We had cous cous which is a dish with little pastas and chicken, potato, and various vegetables...

We also had a very unique experience to do something that would turn most people into veggetarians (one member of our group does claim to be a veggetarian now after trying this). One lunch we got to have a camel burger. Yes, I know.. I just wrote about riding camels down the African coast and how mine's name was Suzana. However, this was a cultural experience. And you have to try everything. I will precede this by saying that the camel burger was my least favorite dishes in everything we tried in 2 weeks. But most of us did try it...

This was a Moroccan salad, that was served as a first course. It had a sampling of different little dishes. Many people enjoyed this at a couple different meals. My favorite dish (I think of the whole trip) was something that we got offered most of the meals. This Moroccan soup was a combination of tomato soup and minestrone soup. I thought it was so delicious. We obviously had bread to eat it with (and a spoon, not our right hands) and it was just so authentic and made you really feel the culture. It also made me so full that I barely had room for my meal.

on the road again

Here we are, crossing borders and making our way back home. We finally arrived back in Sevilla (which we consider our home now) and got back into our hotel Don Pedro (which we consider a palace now). We got to take the ferry back across from Northern Africa to Spain and rode passed the rock of Gibralter which is actually owned by the English. We will be dominated by traveling for the next few days. But we are all starting to miss home (and our mommas.) This has been an amazing experience for all of us and we have learned so much about our own culture by experiencing ¨the other¨ but we are truly blessed to be shipping off to Boston soon. Ohh, Boston you´re my home...

¨Blessing in a blue passport¨

Today we crossed over the Moroccan border into Spanish territory. The city of Ceuta is a Spanish town that is actually still in Northern Africa. So this is where we got out of our little bus and we got to physically walk across the border from Africa to Spain. We see this scene depicted in many movies and documentaries but experiencing it brought the true meaning to a whole new level. We, as Americans, got to just waltz right passed the backed up line of Moroccans who were very restless. We had the right to go freely across the border and leave the country. Many people take for granted our ability as Americans to so freely travel about the world as we please. It became very real for us on our last night in Morocco that we are blessed with the opportunity to leave these conditions of filth and colonialism. But these people simply do not have the right to leave their country. They are stuck in their proverbial grind of 3rd world country living. Just because we are blessed with a blue passport from the United States of America, we have the human right to travel and to experience different cultures for small emersion periods. These people unfortunately don´t have that ability or get that choice.

humble

On our next day, we took a journey into the mountains of Morocco. The city and the mountain people here are so vastly different that it was only right to see how each way of life was. They speak different languages and they have a completely different manner that they go about their days. We went to a humble town and visited a house where we made lunch and sat and ate and talked with the family. They discussed with us how education is a non-factor for so many of these women. There were girls 18, 24, 32 who stayed in the house all day long. One of them had never taken any schooling and another had only 3 years. It was so eye opening for us as an all- female class to see that we take our education for granted so much in America.

We got to come to a 3rd world country, sit in these people´s living room, prepare and eat lunch with them, sing songs from their culture and ours, play with their children, hike through the mountains, and see an incredible view. All of this with such humble people. Going thru this experience in the mountain town really taught us to reflect on the fact that grace and dignity have no boundaries. NO matter how humble a background you have, people will always be graceful in their daily lives and will live with dignity and class. This is a true border crossing for many of us.

fez

Today we toured thru the old medina in Fez. It has over 9,000 streets and is was so intricate in the pathways we had to take to find the things we were looking for. We ended up in some very awesome places of worship and very awesome places of commercialism. Once down a few winding pathways, we found ourselves walk out into a fabric factory. The men were pushing out hand- made pabric of all types and sizes. There were rugs and scarves of wool, cotton, and silk. They were so gorgeous and authentic. A very neat place for us to end up because it was not touristy at all. Next we found ourselves going up a tiny stairway, thru 4 backrooms, across another hallway and ended up out on a balcony. As we looked down we saw the most amazing site:

We were at the leather tannery of the city of Fez. This is where men soak the leather in the different colored dyes for months at a time to get the rich, authentic colors. The smell was so outstanding that they had to give us each a branch of mint leaf to hold under our noses. Definitely a cool site considering when we researched this area of Northern Africa, we found many pictures of this site. Seeing all of these sites for the real thing, up close and personal is just another aspect of this trip that is indescribable by words.

Hope for Sale

One of the most inspiring things we have done so far down here was volunteer for an organization called Hope for Sale. Sale is the 2nd biggest cities in Morocco and is one of the most poverty- stricken and drug- ridden cities in Africa. We joined up with this association to help out for the day. We painted a mural on a hospital wall. We cleaned up trash off the streets. And we also cut grass at a local park. All of the local community members and children were working right along side us. It was amazing to see how our presence really inspired these kids to care about their own community and want to make a difference. It really made our trip worth it.

touring Rabat

We spent 3 nights with our home- stay families. We toured around and also had many conversations with university students just like ourselves. Our conversations were very humorous, but also deeply meaningful and insightful. It was a very unique experience to learn about other cultures and their opinions on marriage, politics, and fun. Our home-stay families fed us amazing Moroccan dishes and helped us dress up in Moroccan attire (just for pictures- not to wear out ha). We went to a hammam and we shopped and got to see the city lit up at night. There is a 9 day long music festival that we came into. The night we arrived: Shakira was in town... go figure. We weren't allowed to go but still, gave us something to talk with all of the locals about.
Oh I also wanted to mention for everybody's entertainment that the first event that happened when we entered Morocco was that my suitcase broke. And when I say broke, I mean the bottom completely ripped and I had to carry my 47.5 lbs bag on my shoulder down into the Medina where our homes were... (not winning)

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(Mom- dont worry, I haggled with the locals for a sweet new suitcase for only 250 dh which is $29.41 U.S. dollars. You would be proud. It is sweet. It has 3 wheels. And about 17 compartments. Peaks is jealous)

camel...

After we left Tangier, we were driving to our next destination and Katy (our Moroccan exchange leader) woke us all up as we were parking near a beach. Suddenly we looked around and all realized that there were camels waiting for us. What a great surprise! We all got to ride camels on the African coast. How many people can say that they have had this experience before? I certainly will tell my grandchildren about this. And anybody else that I talk to for that matter. ha

My camel's name was Suzana. I loved her. She was clearly the most graceful of the group.

morocco

So today we traveled on a ferry across the Strait of Gibralter to Africa... wait what? Sounds surreal to say. We entered Morocco this morning and here we are walking around in Africa. After a hectic landing and finding our bus, we found our way up to DARNA which is a center for women. It is a government association that provides classes and education for women in language, computer skills, resume writing, and sewing. It allows them the opportunity to gain skills that will help them get their own job. We sat down and had lunch with 3 Moroccan girls (2 students and 1 teacher) who told us all about what it was like to live and learn and be a woman in a masculine- dominated, 3rd world country. The coversation was enlightening and opened our eyes. We ate our first Moroccan dish, cous cous, and everybody really loved it. This first encounter of ours really broke down some stereotypes about government and women's rights in this country. As we move forward, a lot of conversations like these will take place to help us learn what life really is like over here for students just like us.

flamenco

Tonight we did the most typical spanish thing you can do... we climbed up into the mountains and went to a flamenco dancing show in the caves of Granada. The dancers were so good and so authentic. We had such a great time. The dancing is so fast- paced and the men were just as good as the women!

grenada

today we went to the Alhambra with our guide Carmen. The Alhambra was originally a Muslim structure but was taken over by King Ferdinand and Queen Isabela. It is huge and has many rooms and gardens. It has 4 main towers and it took us quite a long time to see everything. My favorite part was when we left the towers to go into the Gardens and could look back across and see the Alhambra as a whole. Over 2 million people visit the Alhambra every year.

(As I am sitting here in the internet cafe, my camera died. So- you will get to see pictures soon. Lo siento)

Hasta luego amigos

nightlife

while in Grenada, we had a night on our own to ḧit the town."We met up with Casey, a 2009 graduate of Merrimack working in Grenada and she showed us all of the good places to eat and drink and enjoy ourselves. We went to the bar and went to a Spanish discoteca. Needless to say we had a great time. Tomorrow we have a looong day ahead of us: seeing the Alhambra, the old town, dinner at bar Kiki and a Flamenco show!

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The Alhambra was beautiful! It was so gorgeous in all of its rooms and its 4 different palaces and the garden was just so pretty.

The views from the gardens were the best ones because we could look back on the Alhambra after touring around it. You don't really get to appreciate how big and dominating a structure is until you can look at it from afar. Later on that night we got an opportunity to see the Alhambra from a mountain across the way. The view is incredible. You can even see the snow- capped mountains in the background.

la Mesquita

Today we visited the city of Cordoba. We met our new tour guide Luis and saw the enormous structure from across the river. Cordoba was a fortified city for 2000 years meaning it was surrounded by walls. It is has the famous structure with the red and white arches. La Mesquita was enormous. It is a famous entity in the country of Spain because of the contradicting religious places of worship. It was originally a mosque and then a Catholic king built a giant chapel in the middle of it. As you are standing in one spot you can see the Christian and Muslim places of worship all in one picture.