Morocco, AFRICA

I went to Morocco, Africa this past weekend (3/22-24/12) with my program, CIEE. We were there for 2 nights, 3 days and traveled to 3 different cities: Tetuán, Tánger, and Chaouen.

Before I start the break down of what we did every day, I just want to say that I was not expecting Morocco to be how it was. When I think of Africa, I think of Africans and safaris, not the "Middle East" but since Morocco is so far north, it is Arabic and not "my idea" of Africa. I didn't know this until we got there but I still loved it! It was such an amazing opportunity to experience another culture.

We took a fairy from Spain to Africa and passed through the “frontera” where they stamped our passports…finally I got a stamp on my passport; every other time I have traveled I haven't gotten a stamp. But we went immediately to an Artesian workshop school where we saw students and teachers making intricate wooden and metal designs and sowing crafts. We then went to exchange our money into dirhams and I kept a couple of dirhams left over so I will always have money from Africa! About 10 dirham = 1euro. We got lunch after this and I was so scared to eat because a. if you know me at all, you know I don’t like trying new and exotic foods and b. I really didn’t want to end up in the bathroom the entire trip because my stomach couldn’t handle something I ate so I was very careful at every meal! After lunch, we went on a long tour through Tetuán and saw the outside markets where they just have fish and meat and eggs and everything sitting out in the boiling sun…it’s like nothing needs to be refrigerated over here in Europe! Above is a picture of the fish just chilling at the market. At the end of a very long day of traveling and walking, we went back to the hotel and Lauren and I passed out at 10PM. Oh, there is also a time difference in Morocco, so a lot of people got all ready and were down to eat breakfast an hour early but after Lauren and I talked about it for 20 minutes (haha, it took us a while), we figured out the time change and woke up on time!

Luckily we didn’t wake up any earlier than we had to because this next day in Tánger was a really long but awesome day! It was by far my favorite day! We first visited a Coca-Cola factory (as our company visit for the trip) and it was literally awesome to see the process!  Coke is to me as tea or coffee is to you so I was so excited this was the company we were visiting. We had to wear these white gowns and shower caps when we went into the factory so we made sure to get lots of pictures sporting our new outfits. Then we went and visited the caves of Hércules. The hole looking out into the water is said to look like Africa…I can see it (pictured above). And then we went down to the ocean and took lots of pics. On the left is me jumping on one of the rocks by the ocean. I never fail to almost break a leg or stop having fun! We then got to ride CAMELS!!! This is what I was most looking forward to and I was so happy when we actually got to do it. After the fact, someone brought up how scared they were on the camel and at that point it just dawned on me that it def was not the safest thing! But while on the camel that didn’t even cross my mind and this can be seen by me with my arms up in every pic…I wasn’t even holding on! I am the one on the farthest left...the only one with 2 arms up :) We ate lunch by the ocean and had this chicken, honey dish…I actually really liked it and this was my favorite meal while there! Then we went and visited the Tánger business school and met some Moroccan students. They showed us around their school and it was quite boring…until we went into the game room and I kicked some Moroccan guys butt in ping-pong! Thanks mom and dad for the ping-pong table in the basement! We then had free time and went shopping. Lauren and I bought Betis jerseys (they are one of the soccer teams in Sevilla)) and loved bargaining with the Moroccans. We then went back to our hotel and passed out once again.

On our final day in Africa, we went to Chaouen. It is a city in the mountains and has traditional blue houses and streets. It was absolutely gorgeous! Clouds were literally passing through us... I don’t think I have ever been that high up and our bus driver almost killed us about 10 times on the way up the mountain and down because he was driving crazily and there was nothing stopping us from falling right off the road! But after a few scares, we made it up and down in one piece! We didn’t have as much time in this city as the other days but we took a lot of pictures and explored. There was a gorgeous waterfall/river we stumbled upon and I felt like we were in the jungle for a second. We ate lunch there and then headed back to the border and took the fairy. It was super windy on the way back so I got really sea sick on the boat. And after 7 hours of traveling, we made it back safely to Sevilla on Saturday night.

It was truly amazing to see something as different as Morocco, Africa. I want to return to Africa in the future…and next time, for a SAFARI!

I am going to London on Thursday to visit Liz and see my roommates, Kristie and Emily, who are visiting from the U.S. and then John gets to Sevilla on Sunday! Such an awesome weekend ahead :)

Córdoba y Más de Sevilla

This past weekend I stayed in Sevilla and took a day trip on Saturday to Córdoba with my program. We visited the Mezquita there and it was gorgeous! All of the columns had the same red stripes. Here is a picture of me in the Mezquita!

We then toured the gardens there and found a cute café outside and had drinks and ice cream. It was a really relaxing day! Saturday was also St. Patty’s Day so when we got back we went to this huge tent party in a park. There wasn’t any green beer but at least we found somewhere that was celebrating St. Patty’s Day (it isn’t nearly as big here)! Then we went to Tex Mex, an American Bar close to the Cathedral, and were able to catch the 2^nd half of the Madison basketball game!! We saw them win and make it to the Sweet 16 so that was awesome! Still so happy to be a Badger, even here in Spain. And I was finally able to eat some mozzarella sticks, which I have been craving for some reason since I left. It was such a fun and chill night out in Sevilla!

On Sunday, I went to the park with my intercambio Jose and we spoke in Spanish for a full hour and English for a full hour. I can see my Spanish improving each time we hangout and I am really excited about this! We also got into a spiritual conversation and I could see God at work. I am praying God would continue to use me here in Spain!

We got our exams back today from our midterms and I did a lot better than I had expected. I am much less stressed about school now so that is a huge blessing!

Some other random, interesting things in Sevilla: Tuesday the 13th here is equivalent to our Friday the 13th so when it was Tuesday, the 13th a couple weeks ago our señora made a joke about it being eerie and Lauren and I didn't understand the reference until we learned this! And another random thing is that I never used to like game shows but after watching the same game show every night during dinner, I am starting to become a fan! I think I could win some Euros on this show, even in Spanish because we watch it so much!

I am off to Morocco tomorrow until Saturday night. Africa will be the 4^th continent I've been able to travel to so I am getting really pumped! I will be blogging about my experience there sometime next week! :)

xoxo, Rebekah

Paris!

I went to Paris March 8-11, the weekend right before my midterms! And even though I didn't have as much time as I would have liked to study for my exams, it was worth it because Paris is one of my favorite cities so far!

I traveled to Paris with Lauren and we met Liz there in the hostel! We stayed in a hostel a little bit out of the city but it was right by a Metro station so it was a great location! In Paris, you take the Metro everywhere and it was really easy to use! It reminded me a lot of the subway system in NY. As soon as we got checked in, we went to this cute Crepes place by our hostel. It may have been a little bit overpriced but everything in Paris was so much more expensive than what we are used to here in Sevilla and the crepes were really good! Then we met up with one of Lauren's friends who is studying abroad in Paris, Bailey, and she took us to the Louve, where we saw the Mona Lisa, The Wedding Feast, the Napoleon Apartments, Venus de Milo and much more! Everyone said that when they saw the Mona Lisa they were really disappointed because it was really small, but I was not disappointed at all...I thought it was absolutely incredible!

Then we went to a cute cafe called Angelina for their famous hot chocolate. It was extremely rich and was 7 Euros for one cup! I couldn't even finish the whole cup but it was really good! For dinner, we went to a very French restaurant by Bailey's apartment and I ate a Madame, which was bread, cheese, eggs, and ham with french fries and a salad. It was delicious!

The next day, we signed up for a 4 hour free walking tour through the city! Before this long adventure, we got sandwiches and took them down by the river and had a little picnic. They were very good and it was a good change to have meat on the sandwich, unlike here where it's basically all bread and maybe one slice of turkey or ham. The tour was awesome! We saw so many sites, including the Locks Bridge, Notre Dame, Latin Quarter, Pont Neuf, Palais Royal, Eiffel Tower, the Louvre, Tuileries Gardens, Napoleon's Tomb, Arc de Triomphe, and a couple more stops along the way. I loved the Locks Bridge because it was something I had always wanted to see and it was so cool being there! Here is a picture of me on the bridge.  On the tour, we found out that there were orange stickers on some of the windows of the Louvre and these were the windows that could be broken into if there every was a fire. This was definitely my favorite random fact of the day :)

Later in the day we went to Galeries Lafayette and did some shopping and Lauren's friend Carly who is studying abroad in London but was also in Paris at the time came and met up with us! We ate at a cute pizzeria for dinner. The waiters loved us and made us pizza in the shape of a heart! They also brought out a life size pepper shaker! After dinner, we went to the Eiffel Tower to see it when it was lit up (it sparkles for the first 5 minutes of every hour after 6PM)...and little did we know, we were on the same train as the LaBrasca's! They were also going to the Eiffel Tower and we were able to go there and experience it with them, loving life! This was such a blessing :)

The next day, our final day in Paris, we went to the Eiffel Tower again (to see it in daylight) and climbed and took the elevator to the top! It was gorgeous to see the city and be on top of the Eiffel Tower, which is the #1 most visited tourist destination! I got goosebumps every time I saw it, just feeling so blessed to be there and experiencing it!

Then we took the Metro to St. Michael’s Fountain and got sandwiches again from a different restaurant and went to a bakery and I got an apple dessert. We also got chocolate crepes…so many sweets in one day but France is known for their bakery items and crepes! We then went to Paul’s (Liz’s favorite café in London) and Liz got coffee and we waited for Bailey and Carly to meet up with us. Once they met up with us, we went into Notre Dame and saw some of our friends from our program in Sevilla. We talked with them outside for a little bit and then we went uptown and saw Moulin Rouge (Red Windmill) and that was really cool! Then we went to the top of this hill that overlooked the entire city and there was live music and this guy doing crazy soccer tricks on a platform. On the right is a picture of Liz and I with the soccer guy! Everyone was just chilling and hanging out with their friends! This reminded me of Summerfest and got me really excited for the summer! We then went back to Bailey’s apartment and made dinner there…cheaper and healthier J Then we headed back to the hostel and got to bed because we had to be up at 6:30AM the next day to catch our flight home to Sevilla! It was definitely a successful trip to Paris and I am so blessed to have friends like Lauren and Liz to share that with!

The Future...

Just wanted to share something else God has been teaching me :)

God has really been speaking to me about surrendering everything I am to Him. When I was in Uruguay last summer on a mission trip with Campus Crusade, this is what God taught me the most and He has really been putting it on my heart again just in these last few weeks. I want to live my life centered around God and spreading His good news, however that looks in His plan. I've been able to really look at my future from an outside perspective while I am here in Spain and am traveling and this has been really cool. Once I get back from Europe, I have one more year that's planned, then it's my open future...filled with so many possibilities and opportunities. Where will God take me? I want to be fully surrendered to be ready for His plan. I really need to trust God with my day-to-day activities and life. He is the only thing that goes beyond death- the only thing worth living for.

xoxo, Rebekah

Granada!

We went to Granada for 2 days with our program and it was so nice because they organized everything. I stayed in the hotel with Alyssa and Lauren and it was such a refreshing night away. The food in the hotel was buffet style and it was awesome! I was so excited to actually be able to pick what I was going to eat for my meals for a couple of days! Granada was the first city that I've been to that I thought, wow I could have studied here too because the people were so nice and the city would be a great place to live.

The first day we went to the Alhambra (the largest attraction in Granada). It was in the mountains and was just gorgeous...beautiful old buildings and awesome scenery. I can't get over how much detail went into every ceiling, floor, wall, patio, garden, etc...it was incredible! My sunglasses broke when we were entering one of the buildings so I had to buy new ones that day! After the Alhambra, we went shopping at these small souvenir shops...they had scarves, hand-painted dishes and lots of random stuff. I bought lots of gifts and I may have stopped in the Long Champ store and bought a purse for myself on the way back to the hotel. I wasn't expecting to buy it on this trip but they were a good price so I just had to. I couldn't decide between navy blue and black but after 30 minutes in the store and 6 of my girlfriends opinions, I went with the black. I experienced post purchase dissonance and immediately skyped my mom when we got back to the hotel. Luckily she said she would have went with the black...I instantly felt better. A mom's opinion is the only opinion that counts :) We then went and got tapas (appetizers) and in Granada it is customary to order a drink and get a free tapa with it so we got 3 rounds of drinks and 3 tapas for only 6E each...such a steal or as my dad would say, sticking it to the man! Then a lot of people went out but it was already 12:30 by the time we got back from tapas, so Alyssa and I called it a night and hopped in bed!

The next day we walked through a pueblo of Granada and saw all of the unique and gorgeous buildings. We learned that the streets were built so close together to provide shade to the people because of how hot it gets in the summer and that the streets are really confusing to provide protection because only the people who live there know how to navigate the pueblo. Then we stood on a hill and had a great view of the Alhambra and while we were taking pictures, I noticed a girl wearing a love life band! I got so excited and ran over to her and asked her how she knew Holly. She explained that she was roommates with Ashley Stewart at Boston College and she had hung out with Holly in the summer. It was such an inspiration to spot another love life bracelet in Spain. Holly touched so many lives and it was such a blessing to have this encouragement to keep loving life! After this beautiful moment, we went to the Real Capilla de Granada and saw where Isabel and Ferdinand were buried. They were buried in Granada because this was the last city they had to conquer and did conquer in 1492. You can pretty much call me a history buff now! It was surprisingly really cool to see this because of how much influence they had in history. 

I love CIEE trips! And the next one is to Morocco so I am getting even more excited for that! But Lauren, Liz and I are going to Paris this weekend so be sure to keep your eyes open for a blog post coming up next week about that :) I have midterms next week Wednesday and Thursday (I know, I haven't talked about school at all so you probably forgot I was "studying" abroad but the reality of that will hit next week). Until then, we're going to Paris!

xoxo, Rebekah

I am so weak

I hear the Savior say,

“Thy strength indeed is small;
Child of weakness, watch and pray,
Find in Me thine all in all.”

The week after coming home from Italy, I was at Encuentro (the weekly Christian meeting I go to) singing the song above when I realized how small and weak I am. While being in Sevilla, I have been trying to be so strong and independent because I am truly on my own. But God really spoke to me that no matter where I am or no matter how far I am from the people I love and rely on, He is always with me and He is all I need and He will never be far away. I don’t know why I’ve been trying to live here in Sevilla by myself and do life on my own…but I just have to learn how to rely on God wherever I am and in whatever situation I am in. This was just such an encouragement to me. I don’t need to try or pretend to be strong when I am weak. I can find and will only find all of me in Him. 

Just wanted to share one aspect of how God has been working in and through me while I have been here!

xoxo, Rebekah

Italia!

I went to Italy last weekend with Kristen, Lauren and Yessica. Kristen and Lauren are two of my really good friends here and we didn't really know Yessica going into the trip but got to know her and it ended up being awesome! Here goes my longest and most expensive trip of the semester...

We were in Rome for two days, Florence for one day, Monterosso for one day and Pisa for one day. In Rome, day one, we went to the Colosseum and saw the Ruins, Trevi Fountain, Pantheon and the Spanish Steps. My favorite was the Trevi Fountain because of how gorgeous and romantic it was, followed by the Colosseum. Day two, we went to the Vatican City and Sistine Chapel. We got tours of the Colosseum, Ruins, Vatican City and the Sistine Chapel. It was extremely helpful having a guide tell us the history and explain to us what we were looking at. We also climbed to the top (551 stairs) of St. Peter's Basilica. We manage to climb to the top of the tallest building in every city we go to and get the best view of the city--great for sightseeing and the muscles in my legs :) We got lunch with Kelly and Emily after our climb to the top of St. Peter's Basilica and it was so great to see them! I always love seeing familiar faces :) On the Spanish steps, we met some Spanish boys...what a coincidence! They were really nice and it was great to practice our Spanish since we had been speaking English all weekend. We hung out with them for a little while then went and got dinner. The pizza and pasta we got while we were in Italy, and especially Rome, was incredible. Italian food is my favorite and I loved experiencing it as authentic as it gets. I looked forward to every meal in Italy...although my stomach did not because of all the carbs!  While in Rome, we stayed in the cutest bed and breakfast...so much more comfortable than a hostel and cheaper than a hotel. I felt very comfortable there and it was really close to everything in the city.

We then went to Florence! When we got to our bed and breakfast in Florence it was nighttime and we were all starving because we hadn't eaten dinner. The restaurants around our bed and breakfast were closing (because they are not on Sevilla eating schedules--11 or 12PM for dinner) so we ended up at McDonald's! I haven't been to a McDonald's since I have been in Europe but I do have to say the chicken nugget kids meal tasted pretty good. It was definitely more expensive than in the States though. The next day we were all pretty tired because of our two 12 hour days in Rome and it was raining and a bit gloomy, but we stood in line for two hours and went to the Galleria degli Uffizi. Even though none of us are big into art, it was really cool to see The Birth of Venus and Primavera by Botticelli, works by Leonardo da Vinci and Michelangelo. I also really liked a painting that was called an Open Book. It reminded me of keeping an open mind, especially when traveling to all these different countries in Europe and experiencing all these different cultures. It was a great perspective to keep in mind while I am here. We also got lots of great pics by the Duomo, Florence's cathedral. We then went shopping and met up with Andrea for dinner!! I got to see her apartment after dinner and we were able to catch up. It is amazing how it feels like we've lost no time when we're together because we have been so close since 7th grade. I am truly blessed to have Andrea as apart of my life and it was such a blessing to see her while in Europe!

Then we went to Monterosso and this is where it gets a bit crazy. Lauren and I were told from former study abroad students that Monterosso was one of the prettiest places they visited and of course we bought our train tickets to go there! It is their off season (February = winter) and it was a ghost town! We couldn't even find our hotel when we got there and when we tried to ask people if they knew where it was, all we could understand was something about a landslide! An hour and a half later we found our hotel. We only booked the hotel for 2 people because the price doubled for 4 people and was way out of our price range. Since there was no one in Monterosso, they let us all stay there for the original price! Even though it was a ghost town, it was gorgeous and I'm really glad we went there! We went on a little hike through the mountains and sat outside on the beach for the day. Then at night we went to the cutest little restaurant right on the water. And...this restaurant had wifi which I got very excited about because we didn't get wifi anywhere else in Monterosso...I'm not even sure they had a signal anywhere. But the password wasn't working in the restaurant so I had to wait until I got back to Sevilla to get the Internet..false alarm! When we were coming home from dinner, we got locked out of our hotel. Luckily the lady answered her phone after a while and let us in...otherwise it would have been a cold night on the beach for us.

We left the next morning and headed to Pisa! I loved seeing the Leaning Tower of Pisa. We got some great pics pretending to hold the tower up. I couldn't believe how much it was actually leaning. And then we got McDonald's salads for lunch (una vez más) and headed to the airport to go back to Sevilla. After every time being away, I always love coming back to Sevilla. And I think this is how I know how much I love living and studying abroad here :)

xoxo, Rebekah