Finally Legal!

So one of the big milestones in an American's undergraduate college-aged life is turning 21 years old. As almost everyone knows, we are considered adults at age 18 and can do basically every legal thing except drink alcohol, which happens when we turn 21. It is normally a big going up and ordering your first drink the day you turn 21 and have your ID checked and prove that you can in fact purchase the drink. Well, that was going to have to wait until July when I get home. Nonetheless I was in Madrid on my birthday and was going to make the best of my second consecutive birthday abroad (last year I was in London).

I went to work that morning and didn't expect anything special to happen, I only knew of one person that knew it was my birthday (my boss that I went to Aranjuez with on Sunday. His nephew was asking me questions and one of them was when my birthday was. So that's how he found out). Most people don't know this but birthday's are not a big thing for me. Growing up birthdays were a time to spend with family, I had birthday parties and they were all great. But for me, my birthday was really celebrated when I went to see family in Ohio every summer and spend time with them. So for me, the celebration was going to happen when I went home.

Anyways, I went to work like any other day and no one mentioned anything about it and I was perfectly content with it. One of my bosses and I had a meeting while everyone else went to get coffee (I wasn't too happy at first because I really wanted to get coffee but my boss told me we would be joining them soon). We talked a little and he then wished me a happy birthday (just when I thought he had forgotten). I didn't think anything about us having a meeting while people went to get coffee until we were about to head into the cafe and my boss asked me "Are you ready?" I sat down even more confused with what he had said and then someone got cake but took it back (confusion kept growing). Then she brought the cake back with a candle on and they all started singing Happy Birthday (in Spanish). When I look back it was obvious something was going to happen. They got me a book about hiking trails around the mountains in Madrid (they didn't know about my asthma :/) but I really appreciated the gift and they all signed a card my other boss made.

After a fun celebration at work I went back to my place to talk to some family via my mom via Skype. Most of my family does not have Internet so I called my mom via Skype who called some of my family, mainly my grandma who is one of the most important people in my life and who I haven't been able to talk to much since I have been in Spain. It was great to spend a few hours talking to family and it made me more excited to be able to call them when I get home.

For dinner I met up with a few friends from home and we went out for dinner and some drinks afterwards. It was great to celebrate with some friends especially since I do not know many people in Madrid.

So was my birthday a typical "American 21st birthday?" No, but it was definitely a great day and I honestly would not have changed many things about it if I could. Second of many birthdays to come celebrated outside the US :)

Una Semana de Primeras

Primer Día a Cibercorresponsales:
Depués de un fin de semana muy ajetreado, uno que no tuve mucho tiempo para explorar mi barrio o relajarme, fui a mi primer día de mi práctica con Cibercorresponsales. Supe que esta experiencia iba a ser muy difícil porque todo iba a hacer en español, una idoma que había estudiando por dos y medio años. Está cambió de sentimiento a un hecho en los primeros minutos de mi primer día. Yo encontraba todo la gente en la oficina (2 quien son mi jefes) y depués mis jefes y yo ibámos en otro salón para hablar sobre Cibercorresponsales y que me querían hacer y que yo quería hacer durante los ocho semanas. El hecho que no había dormido casí nada el noche pasado y no había hablado o esuchado español por más de una semana, entiendé más de medio que ellos me dijieron. Y ellos entendieron y me dijieron que cada día era mejor y podría entender más.

Depués de nuestro conversación tomamos un café con la otra gente de la oficina. Ellos me dijieron que esta es una cosa normal, casí cada día ellos toman un café (una cosa que entendé perfectamente y encantó- café de leche cada día, perfecto para mi :)

Primer Días de Clases de Español:
Cuatro horas depués de yo había llegado a la oficina fui a AIL Madrid, la escuela que estaba tomando clases de español durante los noches. Estoy tomando dos clases, una clases que es fácil para mi pero bien para repasar cosas cada lunes y miércoles, y otra cada martes y jueves que es un poco difícil para mi y es bien para conocer más gramática para entender la gente a mi trabajo más.

En general me gustan las clases y pienso que las fueren bien para practicar y mejor mi español y las son solamente por una hora y media lunes-jueves.

Los Premios de ATR:
Jueves no asistí a clase porque había los premios de ATR, un premio para las organizaciones y gente de  periodismo y Cibercorresponsales (donde estoy trabajando) ganó un premio y la gente de mi trabajo me invitó al espectáculo. Me gustó porque pude hablar con la gente de mi trabajo y conocí ellos más y también pude encontrar otra gente y practicar mi español (todo el mundo era muy agradable y paciente con mi español y me ayudó).

Después de los premios yo, un de mi jefe, cuatro de su amigas y su hermana cenamos a un restaurante cerca de los premios. Pude hablar y conocer la hermana de mi jefe, ella estuvo en Madrid por unas semanas y hablamos sobres planes en el futuro para explorar Madrid juntos y sábado nos encontrábamos y tomábamos un tour de medio parte de Madrid :)

Aranjuez:
Uno de mis jefes es de Aranjuez, una ciudad que es 45 minutos sur de Madrid y el domingo de mi primera semana de trabajo fui a Aranjuez para explorar la ciudad con él, su novia, y su sobrino. Nos encontramos al estación de tren en Aranjuez y después fuimos al Palacio Real de Aranjuez. Una cosa interesante para mi fue a veces nosotros hablamos en inglés y a veces en español. Lo fue interesante porque nunca había hablado a mi jefe en inglés, no supe que el pudo hablar bien inglés y él, su novia, y su sobrino pudieron. Después del palacio y los jardines del palacio íbamos a un parque y almorzábamos cerca del parque (no pudimos comer en el parque). Paseábamos por el parque y después de unas horas volvíamos al estación del tren porque era un poco tarde y necesité regresar a Madrid.

Al final, esta día era perfecta para terminar mi primer semana completa en Madrid :)

A Week of Firsts

After a much more than anticipated busy weekend I woke up Monday morning, exhausted but excited to start my first day of work. My biggest worry about the entire day, well my entire internship, was my Spanish. This entire internship was going to be in a language that I have only studied for 2.5 years and I had the biggest, and one of the scariest, feelings that it was going to be a huge challenge. Unfortunately, this feeling was quickly reassured. I got to the office on time (huge surprise for me, I woke up late and did not really know where I was going) and met everyone in the office (there are 8 people, two of which are my bosses). I headed into one of the meeting rooms with my bosses to talk and do basic orientation things. Between my lack of sleep and the fact that I had not listened nor spoke Spanish for over a week I had a really hard time understanding the overall conversation with what they were both saying. I kept apologizing for my lack of Spanish and they said it was perfectly fine and that things would get better soon. For the rest of the day I got situated and the various accounts set up and started to talk to everyone in the office. We also went out for coffee which was something that they informed me was going to happen almost every day and of course I was excited about that (café con leche every day, yeah I can definitely get used to that).

Once I was done with work I went to the school that I was going to take Spanish classes at night to sign up and get things taken care of there. For the past few weeks I had been emailing someone about the classes and luckily she was there so it didn't take much time to get my schedule sorted out. Then I headed back to my place to relax before I went back for my first class later that night. Mondays and Wednesdays I am taking a class that is below the level I tested in just as a review and with languages you can never study the basics too much. Tuesdays and Thursdays I will be taking a class that is a little bit more challenging for me so that I can get ahead and improve my Spanish faster. I really enjoyed both classes and both teachers are great.

The rest of the week was a lot of adjusting and getting used to being in Madrid and getting to know my new surroundings. Thursday night (ended up skipping class) I went to the ATR awards show which recognizes achievements in the journalism field. Cibercorresponsales, the place I work at, won an award and they invited me along. The night was a lot of fun and after the awards one of my bosses and myself along with a few of her friends and her sister went to eat dinner. It was a lot of fun and it was nice to get to know my boss a little bit better. Also her sister was going to be in Madrid for a few weeks and we made plans to get together and explore the city a little bit.

Almost the entire day Friday I spent relaxing, besides walking around a little bit outside. Saturday morning I met up with my boss' sister and we took a free walking tour of the city, well half of the city. It was nice to explore the city a little bit and it was great to explore with her.

Sunday I went to a town that is about a 45-minute train ride south of Madrid called Aranjuez. My other boss is from that city and he invited me down for the day. I took the train, which is so easy and convenient to use (keep in mind I am from Los Angeles where the public transportation is either non-existent of mediocre at best) and was met by my boss and his girlfriend and his nephew. They were all so nice and excited to explore the city with me for the day. Also, they all spoke English really well (his nephew was learning it in school and was great for only learning it for a little bit) and it was so weird to hear my boss speak English because we set rules from the start that we would only communicate in Spanish, unless I got extremely beyond confused, so hearing him speak in English was weird.

We walked around the royal palace and the gardens around it for a few hours and I really enjoyed talking to all three of them, especially my boss' girlfriend. We kept switching back and forth between English and Spanish and it was just a lot of fun to talk to her and all three in general. We got sandwiches for lunch and ate outside a park (we weren't allowed to eat inside of it) and then spent a couple hours walking around the park. By the time we were done it was starting to get kind of late and my boss' nephew had to finish homework and I needed to start heading back. They dropped me off at the train station and then headed back to Madrid. It was such a great day-trip and I really enjoyed getting to know my boss because we were going to spend the next 7 weeks together so it's nice to know something about the people you are working with.

With that, my first week in Madrid had come to an end.

The Start to a New Adventure

Hey everyone!!

What started out as a semester in Sevilla has turned into 6-months in Spain. My life has changed so much since I left my home at 4am January 15th, 2013. I have already discovered so much and have had an amazing door opened for me. My blog title has changed because my journey did not end when the semester ended, I ended a chapter in my life but immediately started a new one.

So a lot has happened since I last posted something. Before I get into the details of what all has happened the past 6 weeks I am going to explain why there is a post in Spanish (there will be more). As a way to improve my writing and hopefully become familiar enough with phrases and grammar that I can incorporate it into speaking I have decided to write my post in Spanish and English. This is something that I plan on continuing when I return to the U.S. but I will most likely only be writing in Spanish when I return, this upcoming semester is going to be the busiest and hardest semester of my entire undergraduate career and I am not going to be able to write a post in both Spanish and English and I will be writing enough in English with my classes.

Another important reason why I am writing my posts in Spanish is because I have made some really great friends since I have been in Spain and they want to read my posts and know what I am up to and some of them don't know English.

Okay, so let's get on with what has happened. Since a lot of time has passed I am going to break things down into a few posts. This one is just a general idea and introduction.

After my adventure in Sevilla ended my parents met up with me for about two weeks of traveling around Spain and London. The first few days were spent in Sevilla and it was really interesting to see the city that I called home through the eyes of a foreigner. I quickly grew to appreciate the Sevilla that I knew and discovered how much of the city I had truly discovered. There were times that I felt like I didn't really know the city like a local, I only knew it as a tourist, but after showing my parents around I quickly discovered that in my short time in Sevilla I had discovered the true essence of the city, something that is impossible for a person visiting for a few days or even a week to do. One of the things that I was looking forward to the most about my parents coming to Spain was that I was going to be able to show off what I had learned, mainly the speaking aspect. Unfortunately I started getting sick a few days before they came and by their second day in Sevilla I couldn't speak.

We spent three days in Sevilla and then headed to Granada for three days. I still was unable to talk when we left Sevilla (it was extremely frustrating) but I was getting a little bit better. Granada was great and I really enjoyed going back (I went with my program the first part of April) but it is definitely a place that I do not need to go back to again (once is great and a second time was good but there is no need to go back a third). While we were there my parents and I took a day trip to Cordoba and I enjoyed going to there again especially since the weather was perfect unlike when I went with my program and it was raining and cold and overall miserable the entire time we were there. Also by the time we went to Cordoba I was able to speak a little bit.

Three days after arriving in Granada we headed to what would be my new home for two months this summer, Madrid. By this point I was able to speak perfectly fine, yep right when I get to a city where someone can get around with English I am able to speak. So I wasn't able to show off my Spanish skills to my parents as I wanted to. Our time in Madrid was overall really nice, besides it being extremely cold, which we weren't prepared for. We got to see most of the touristy things in Madrid and we also got to explore some of the surrounding areas of Madrid. We spent the morning of one day visiting El Escorial and some other place that I can't remember right now and then spent that afternoon in Toledo.

After about 10 days of traveling around Spain with my parents we headed to a place that I called home for two months last summer and my favorite city in the entire world- London. This also marked the first time since I left the U.S. that I would be entering an English speaking country. And yes it was extremely weird!! My trip to London was a vacation but my main objective was to look at some universities for graduate schools. Unfortunately there were not many that had organized tours so my mom and I just walked around the campuses by ourselves. However, one did have a tour and I was glad that I was able to do something that was organized especially since I had not started to visit universities for graduate schools prior to this.

Before I knew it the five days had come and gone and I was heading to the airport to head to Madrid. Little did I know on the drive there that I did in fact have two more days in London, which was not want I wanted. My plan was to get to Madrid on Friday, which left two full days to relax and get somewhat settled down before I started my first day of work. Yeah, that didn't happen; there was a problem at the airport and my flight was canceled so I ended up heading to Madrid on Sunday. I did not have a lot of time to get settled in before I went to work the following day but I tried to make the best of it. I was spending two months in Madrid, I would like someone to find something about that to complain about because I can't :)

Una Nueva Adventura

¡Hola!

No he escrito por mucho tiempo. Por lo tanto, esto post será un poco largo y hará posts diferente, uno por cada tema por los primeros por que pienso que es más fácil para leer. También esto blog será muy diferente, será totalmente en español y está por dos razones. la primera es porque tengo gente y amigas de España que no saben ingles y querrían saber que estoy haciendo y la segunda es pienso un buena idea para practicar escribiendo en español. Pues, voy a escribir en inglés antes de español pero será solamente para mi aventura en Madrid, el resto del tiempo antes será en español solamente (pienso que, no estoy seguro completamente de esto)

Pues, donde empezar... Voy a hablar un poco sobre quien soy y mi aventura antes de esta. Soy un estudiante de los Estados Unidos quien estudié por un semestre en Sevilla, España. Mi tiempo era increíble y nunca lo olvidé, mi experiencia cambió mi vida y me dio confianza que nunca pensé que tendría. Durante mi tiempo en Sevilla, estudié español solamente, mi carrera en EE.UU es una mezcla de negocios y ciencia políticas. He estudiado español por dos y media años y por eso mi español no es bueno (voy a tener muchos errores de gramática pero es parte de la experiencia de aprendizaje).

Después de mi experiencia en Sevilla, supe que mi tiempo en España no se hizo y quise empezar otra experiencia en España. Solicité por una práctica y tuve la suerte de conseguir uno. Pues, voy a vivir in Madrid por ocho semanas!!!

Sin embargo, antes de empecé esta aventura, viajé con mis padres por dos semanas :) Viajamos por una semana en España y otra en Londres. Mis padres me encontraron en Sevilla y pasamos tres días en Sevilla. Después fuimos a Granada por tres días y Madrid por tres días también. Me gustó esta parte del viaje con mis padres porque pude hablar un poco en español (los dos de mis padres no saben nada español) pero durante esta parte había estado enferma y no pude hablar mucho en general.

Después de nueve días en España, fuimos a Londres por una semana. El verano pasado estudié y trabajé en Londres y este año pude volver con mis padres! Los dos semanas fue muy divertidas y me gusta que pude pasar tiempo con mis padres.

Mi plan originalmente fue viajar a Madrid viernes, por eso tendría dos días completas para conocer la ciudad y relajar un poco antes de empezaría mi trabajo. Pero, a veces cosas no hace el mismo tipo que piensas hacería. Había una problema al aeropuerto y no pude ir al Madrid, fui a Madrid domingo. Para mí, no estuve contenta con esto. No fue porque no me gusta Londres (me encanta Londres y querría estudiar y vivir en Londres antes de termino mi carrera en Indiana) pero por eso tuve menos de un día antes de mi primer día de mi trabajo.

Pues, depués de dos días más en Londres, finalmente llegue a Madrid.

The Ending of An Incredible and Life-Changing Chapter

114 days ago I left my home in a suburb of Los Angeles, California to embark on an incredible and definitely life-changing journey on the other side of the world.

113 days ago I took the most nerve-wracking taxi ride I have ever taken to meet a family I had never met, in a city I had never been to, in a country I had only spent 5 days in before.

The first few days seemed like a dream to me. Everything was so foreign to me, something I expected, but I knew that it was going to change. I knew that I would find my way to the CIEE Study Center without getting lost and be able to make it back to my place with relative ease. Soon all of the talking around me would make somewhat sense instead of just sound like a buzzing noise that I could in no way comprehend. This I expected, but I couldn't have expected what really happened to me.

113 days ago I entered a city that felt as foreign to me as any city could. Tomorrow I leave a city I call home. A city that I fell as comfortable walking through as any city that I have lived in before, if anything more than any other city. I can listen in on conversations and understand the basic idea of what they are talking about. When someone asks me a question I no longer stare at them blankly with no clue what they are saying. I can hold a conversation with a native pretty well, they know I am not a native speaker but I can keep a conversation going with them.

113 days ago I met complete strangers who would soon become my family here. They helped me through the tough times I faced here and made the good times better. They supported me like I was a part of their family and taught me as much as they could about the culture here. My first day I remember pretty well. Eating lunch with my host mom and her son-in-law, barely understanding anything they said and what I did understand I responded in phrases no longer than 5-words. Tonight I just had my last meal with them and was able to understand everything they said and respond with semi-complex thoughts. They have helped me and pushed me to get where I am and I know that living with a family, even though it had it's challenges, was completely worth it and the right thing for me to do. They are people I will never forget and hope to keep in touch with for many years to come.

112 days ago I met three amazing women, two of my professors and my program director. I introduced myself with my broken Spanish and just thought that I had met three people who were going to teach me Spanish. They taught me that and so much more. They pushed me to get over my fear of speaking in front of people, my biggest fear in life and something I have never been able to overcome. Growing up I had a hearing problem and soon got behind on speaking. After years of speech therapy and being made fun of, I have overcome that fear and gained a new-found confidence that I never thought I could have. I never would have guessed that 112 days ago that I would overcome a fear I have had for most of my life.

The past 113 days have been some of the hardest of my life but I would never trade it for the world. I got to travel around Andalusia and discover cities I had never heard of before- from Carmona to Osuna to Aracena to Ceuta and the many more I got to visit. I got to travel to Lisbon, Portugal and Germany and France and take a once in a life time camel ride in the Sahara Desert.

Throughout all of my travels my best memories are by far in Sevilla. From finding random cafes and gelato places to studying at one of the most amazing universities in the world. The third largest cathedral in the world became something that I grew to expect to see. Walking the cobblestone streets soon felt as natural as any road in America. For the past 113 days I have gotten to live in one of the most unique and amazing cities in the world and see it from the eyes of a local not a tourists. The cafe I frequently went to started to recognize my face, I was no longer just a tourist to them. I started to dress like the locals and soon was able to blend in as much as I could and not be mistaken for a tourist all the time. I had a routine and got used to my life here. Today, May 9th, seemed like a long way away but next thing I knew I was studying for finals and saying my final good-byes. I wrote 16 blog posts in the process and now I am sitting in my room in Sevilla writing my final one for this journey.

However, my time in España isn't over yet and I am so fortunate that is not coming to an end right now. After about two weeks of traveling with my parents around España and London (so excited to go back after spending two months there last summer), I will head to Madrid for 8 weeks and intern and take Spanish classes. I am so excited to have this opportunity and am looking forward to what it has in store for me.

As I finish packing my bags and am reminded of all of the amazing experiences I have had I know that I will never forget this experience. The final words of this chapter of my life are being written as I write this but who said you can't go back a re-read a chapter. Just because it is over doesn't mean you will forget it and never revisit the memories.

"You may leave a place for the last time but the experience will never leave you."

¡Adios!

Relaxing and Ronda

Wow, where has the time gone! I can't believe that in less than one week this amazing chapter in my life will be coming to a close.

For my last full week in Sevilla I only had two days of classes. Wednesday was their version of Labor Day in the US and Thursday we had off, my program knew that by having a Wednesday off very few people would show up to class the following day and it is true.

Anyways, so that meant I had a five-day weekend. At first I was thinking about traveling a little bit and exploring another country but quickly decided not to and just stay in Sevilla. I could not think of a better way to spend my last weekend than relaxing in the city that I have called home for the past four months. Also my host sister was leaving for Switzerland to be an au pair for 6 months Friday morning and I wanted to be around to see her before she left. I am going to miss her so much, she has been so helpful and nice to me, definitely an older sister to me while I have been her and I am so grateful to have met her. Good luck to her on her next amazing adventure!

Wednesday and Thursday I spent hanging out with friends and relaxing and studying for my finals the following week (okay, I at least made an effort to start and that counts, right??) Wednesday night I went out for tapas and there is a thing here where you order five tapas but they are a surprise so I decided to try that. When I went back to my place I was talking to my host mom and found out that one of them was toro. That's right, I ate bull! Yeah, definitely got sick to my stomach after finding that out.

Bottom left=toro

As for Friday a few friends and I decided to take a day-trip to a near by town called Ronda. I had never heard of it before I came to Sevilla but a bunch of my friends had gone and it looked absolutely gorgeous! Plus it was only about 2 hours away by bus and I thought it was a perfect day-trip.

Ronda is absolutely gorgeous and it looked like it was going to be a great, nice day! Yeah, that wasn't the case for the second half of the trip. Luckily it started to pour down rain after we were done hiking and exploring some really cool areas.

Well, I have to finish studying for finals. ¡Hasta luego!

The Beginning of the End

I knew that after Feria my time in Sevilla was going to go by really fast. After our break we had one full week of classes left. I started to prepare for my final exams during this week while doing some last minute exploring. I have lived in Sevilla for over 3 months and feel like I have seen a lot but I know that there is still so much more to see. Every time I headed home during this week I purposely got lost (it's the best way to discover new places!) I got ready for a fun and busy weekend.

Saturday I went on my last day trip with CIEE to two places in the region of Cádiz. First we stopped off at a town called Pueblo Blanco and exploring it for a bit. We then headed to Puerta de Santa María, which is a beach town. I was so excited to head to the beach but the weather, which had been great and spring/summer like the two weeks prior, started to revert back to the cold and rainy weather that I have grown accustomed to in Sevilla. Luckily it didn't rain but it was definitely not beach weather. However it was warm enough to sit on the beach, which was still really nice.

Sunday I went on my last of threes mandatory trips with my program, the first was the day trip to Ceuta and the second was the weekend trip to Cordoba and Granada. This trip was to Serendismo (mountains in the region of Cádiz). We went with some Spanish students from the university and both groups got to practice our new language while hiking through a really pretty forest. The weather again wasn't ideal, it was cold but wasn't so bad when we were hiking.

We hiked to another town to eat and relax for a bit. Then we were supposed to hike back but Mother Nature did not want us to. While we were eating lunch it started to hail so we made our way to a cade to see if we could wait out the hail and make our way back. A short while later it became obvious that we were not going to be walking back. The bus ended up coming to pick us up and we headed back to Sevilla.

View from where we ate lunch (before the hail)

That night was spent finishing homework and studying for finals. Also I started to plan out my final weekend. It's hard to believe that in less than two weeks my program will be over and I will be traveling with my parents. Here's to a great and productive (can't forget about the ¨study¨ part of this experience) last days of this journey!

Feria de Sevilla

There is a week-long festival in Sevilla every April called Feria de Sevilla, which was my second week-long break. For the first part I went to Morocco (see previous post). I got back Wednesday night, which gave me the rest of the week to explore the festival.

I went out Thursday night with friends from my Morocco trip and it was a cool experience. It was cool to see all of the dresses and the area that Feria was at was very pretty with all of the lights and decorations. We mainly hung out in a public caseta (Spanish for little house). The main part of Feria consists of hundreds of casetas where most of the dancing and drinking take place. Most of these are private, with a few being open to the public, which was where we found ourselves at. After watching people dance for a while (due to our lack of Sevillano, the dance of Feria) we headed out to explore the rest of the area. The other part of Feria, besides the casetas, looked just like a county fair in America. There were rides, places to buy deep-fried and other unheathly food, and games. It was good to walk around for a while, especially with it being nice weather wise. However we didn't stay long because we were all still exhausted from out trip but I was glad that I got to experience Feria at night.

The following day, a few of my friends and I went out to explore Feria during the day. It was a great day weather wise, if anything it was too hot outside but I tried not to complain because it was one of the first days like that in Sevilla since January. Feria during the day ended up not being as fun as during the night. There weren't as many people and when we tried to get out of the sun for a little bit there wasn't any room in the public casetas. So after a while, and some ice cream, we headed back to our places.

¡Hasta luego!

Riding off into the Sunrise on a Camel

It is hard to believe that I am writing about my second week-long break. There are times that I feel like I have been here for a long time, I have my routine and see the same people, and I feel like I am home. But then there are other times like now when I can't seem to wrap my head around the fact that its mid-April and I have less than one month until this chapter in my life comes to an end. During this time it feels just like last week that I took the longest and most nerve-wracking taxi ride to meet my host family for the first time. Now I am thinking about how to spend my last weeks with them.

However, that was going to have to wait, for at least the first 6 days of my break. During my break I went on a group tour to Morocco!! I had been wanting to go to Morocco since I applied to my program in Sevilla because it is relatively close, well as close to Morocco I was going to get for a while.

Day 1:
I had no idea what to expect from this experience and knew that there were going to be a lot of surprises. However I wasn't expecting one to come so soon. I woke up extremely early, 4:30am and took a cab to the meeting point. When I got there I realized that I was the only American and the only one who natively spoke English, and to answer your question, yes this entire trip was going to be in Spanish. At least I was going to get to practice my Spanish.

I decided to go on this trip by myself, I felt adventurous and was going with a group so I was bound to meet some people to hang out with. While on the bus I started talking to someone from France who was also traveling by herself and I felt a huge sense of relief meeting someone right away.

After a 3 hour bus ride and an hour ferry ride we arrived in Tangier, Morocco and met up with our local guide that was going to be with us for the entire trip. Our first stop was Casablanca, which took about 4 hours to get to. I quickly realized that I was about to spend a lot of the next 6 days on a bus because all of the places that we were going to were very far away from one another. But I couldn't complain because Morocco is a gorgeous country and plus it's hard to complain when you are visiting such an amazing country.

Again, our first stop was Casablanca, where we stopped off for lunch and then made our way to the Mezquita. We weren't allowed to enter but were able to take pictures from the outside so we at least got to see some of it. After exploring the area for a little bit we went back on the bus and made our way to our hotel in Marrakech. And during this time we started watching the movie Casablanca, which I was extremely excited about because how many people can say that they watched Casablanca for their first time on their way out of Casablanca?!

Near where we ate lunch 

Day 2:
The morning was spent exploring some of the historical sites of Marrakech. Throughout the entire morning I couldn't believe that I was seeing everything with my own eyes, it was so definitely like nothing I have seen before. Towards the end of the morning part of our tour we stopped off at a natural medicinal store.

My local guide petting and talking to a donkey, too cute not to share.

Medicinal store

We had the afternoon to ourself, which everyone spent lounging in the sun by the pool at our hotel. It felt great, especially after the lack of sun and warm weather in Sevilla. After our free time we headed back out to explore the city some more. One of our stops was a huge open-air market, definitely nothing like any markets I have seen before! I got a picture with a snake around my neck (I didn't ask for it, a guy just put it there while the group was looking at the snakes) and after that lovely experience (sarcastic tone) I got some fresh orange juice, which made me feel so much better.

Don't let the smile deceive you, not happy here!

We then had about 30 minutes to explore the market by ourself and I of course headed to get henna. I have never had it before and what better place to get it for the first time than in Morocco!

During...

...After!

The market as we were leaving

Afterwards some of us headed back to the hotel to get ready to go to an optional dinner/show. My guide got a few of us Moroccan tea, which is my favorite type of tea ever! The show was amazing and I am so glad that I paid the extra money to go; great time with new friends, great food, and an gorgeous place, couldn't ask for a better night.

Day 3:
The long travel day that was ahead of me started out kind of early. We had about 14 hours to go, between driving and stops along the way, by the time we left the hotel in Marrakech to the arrival at our next destination. What was our next destination you may be asking. Two words: Sahara Desert.

The trip was amazingly beautiful and I was kind of glad that I wasn't able to fall asleep, even with the knowledge of another long day coming up. We stopped a few times, one was in a town that is known as the entrance to the desert and there are two movie studios there, where many films (or parts of them) have been filmed, one being The Gladiator. We just drove by it but it was cool to see.

Lunch ended up being really late but was well worth it. I am not referring to the food but rather the location.

After lunch we made our way towards our final destination. It took about 3 more hours until we stopped and grabbed our things for the night before we got into jeeps and headed to our hotel, which was located on the border of the Sahara Desert. The trip in the jeep was a lot of fun, we were in the middle of nowhere and it was completely dark outside. Also our driver ended up following the wrong jeeps and we got lost for a little bit. But hey, it was all apart of the experience.

After dinner we headed to our tents to get a few hours of sleep, and by a few I mean 2 hours.

Outside the tent. My part was only half of it.

Inside- it is really as small as it looks.

Day 4:
By 4:30am we were all in the lobby and getting ready to experience something I will never forget. We each got on a camel (it was still dark at this point) and started our journey. By the time the camel stood up I was completely awake (almost flipping over a camel wakes you up really fast!). Our ride to a sand dune was about 30 minutes in the Sahara Desert and it was incredible to look up at the sky and see all of the stars! When we got to the bottom of the sand dune we got off our camels and were then told to climb to the top, which was so much harder than I was expecting. In total we spent about 1.5 hours sitting on top of the sand dune. Unfortunately the sunrise wasn't great but it still happened and it was something I will never forget- watching the vibrant red color of the sand come to life was incredible and impossible to put into words.

We then headed back, via camel, to our hotel and I loved this camel ride because we were able to see everything around us and it was just a breath-taking experience (and I didn't almost flip over the camel when it stood up this time!). That morning was truly something that I will never forget.

After breakfast and a little bit of time to relax we headed back to our bus for the ride to our next destination: Meknes.

The trip took a little less time than coming, about 11 hours this time. On the way we drove through a huge forest (another thing I wasn't expecting to be in Morocco) and we ended up seeing some monkeys!

So beautiful!

So cute!

Before we headed to our hotel we stopped off at a few places to take photos.

Day 5:

This day was spent in the city of Fez. We were supposed to spend our last two nights there instead of in Meknes but the King decided to visit and the organization was unable to get hotel rooms. Nonetheless we still got to spend the day exploring the city. It was a great experience and I really enjoyed walking throughout all of the markets.

Color-dying fabric

That night we had free time in Meknes and after dinner a few friends and I went out to try and find a place for tea. However, the one place we were told was open was in fact closed. Our tour guide from the travel organization came with us to find it and after we found out it was closed we went with him and two of his friends to explore the city a bit (he is originally from Meknes).

Day 6:
Our final day of the trip was spent traveling from Meknes back to Tánger to take the ferry back to Spain. On our way back we stopped in a town called Chaouen and it was gorgeous! We only had about 1.5 hours there and this included getting lunch as well. In the end I got a sandwich to eat on the way back to Sevilla and I was glad that I spent most of my time exploring the city.

View of the city 

So many beautiful streets!

The rest of the day was spent traveling to the ferry terminal and then once we got to Spain, heading back to Sevilla. When we got to the terminal we said our goodbyes to our local guide and headed back to my home away from home Sevilla.

This trip was a beyond amazing experience, something that I will never forget and I am so grateful for everything that I experienced!!