Last night, half of my luggage & I arrived safely home at the Pittsburgh International Airport. Hopefully, my other suitcase is soon to follow. Thanks to everyone who has followed my blog this semester; I hope you have enjoyed reading about my adventures abroad.
Nos vemos, Le <3.
20 December 2008
08 December 2008
Viaje a Marruecos
This week, I took advantage of a day off to participate in Discover Sevilla's 5-day trip to Morocco. I don't even know where to start this article; this is one of the most incredible things I've ever done. Since I'm almost at a loss for words, I'm going to skip even trying to provide historical context & get straight to the play-by-play.
On Thursday, we left on our trusty Rosabus at 5:15 A.M. By 9:00, we had reached the southern city of Tarifa & boarded a ferry to cross to Tangiers, Morocco. We continued on our bus adventure, which our DS guide David advised us to measure in memories instead of time, to Rabat. We lunched in the political & administrative capital then had a short walking tour of the city. After our tour, we continued in the bus to Fes, where we checked into our hotel, had dinner & got some rest.
Day 1 photos here.
Friday began our desert adventure. We checked out of the hotel early & spent most of our day on the road again. I couldn't believe the range of landscapes we passed: snow-capped mountains (there was a snowball fight during one rest break), rocky desert & mountains, & finally, after dark, the sandy desert of the Sahara. At the desert hotel in Merzouga, we traded in our buses for rugged 4x4s & began the bumpy drive across the desert. A little over an hour later, we changed modes of transportation again, this time to camels. For anyone that has never been on a camel, it's a scary experience. Unlike a horse, which just stands there while you climb up, the camel has to agree to sit down so you can clambor up onto it. If the camel doesn't happen to be inclined to do that, it creates an interesting impasse between the animal & the handler. Of course, that's what happened to me, but after a bit of convincing, I was part of the caravan crossing the desert by moonlight.
When we arrived at the oasis, which is called Erg Chebbi, we were greated by Berbers with Moroccan green tea. They played music & danced for us, & we selected our mattress beds in the tents circling the oasis. Then we had dinner, which was transported from the hotel. After dinner, a group of classmates & I decided to climb the huge dune behind the oasis. According to Wikipedia, the maximum height of the dune is almost 500 feet, but I'm not sure of the exact height that night. The face was so steep that I ended up crawling most of the way, & of course, when I thought I reached the top, I realized that the top half of the dune had just been hidden from view. When I finally reached the top, I was amazed by how many stars we could see. I've always heard about it, but you don't actually realize until you can look up at the sky without seeing any other lights around you. I stayed at the peak as long as I could stand the cold, but I finally climbed back down & went to sleep. I wish I could have slept outside, but it was only 40º or so, & even inside the tent, I was freezing.
Day 2 photos here.
Saturday, I woke up at 6:11 to tackle the dune again before sunrise. Seeing the path in front of me made the climb easier but also more daunting. By the time I reached the summit, a group of students were already there. The sunrise was incredible; I hadn't realized the night before how red the sand was or how expanisve the desert is. After the majesty of the sunrise, another of the guides brought out a snowboard (God bless whoever hiked up that sand dune carrying it!), & some people tried to either carve or sled down the dune. We made sand angels, took tons of photos, tackled one another into the sand, then unwillingly made the descent back to camp.
Before we had even had breakfast, we then tackled our second challenge of the day: the journey back to the desert hotel. We reunited with the camels, & this time I got a laid-back guy I named Andrew. Instead of transfering back to the 4x4s, we stayed on the camels the entire way back to the desert hotel, almost 2 hours. I hadn't realized how deep we had traveled into the desert, & it was amazing to be surrounded by sand for so long. After a while, though, everyone started getting sore, especially the guys; camels don't come equipped with a saddle the way a horse does. Finally, we reached the desert hotel.
After a nap & a shower, we took a quick tour of the town of Merzouga. We saw wells & the little plots of land for the Berber families & the irrigation system they use to water their land. All the time, little boys were running behind us with necklaces strung across their hands, asking us to buy one: "Ten Dirham, only one Euro!" We passed the rundown streets & houses & headed to a carpet emporeum. The vendors explained the materials used for each type of carpet then laid out a few samples. Then we were free to browse the rest of the merchandise. Anyone interested in purchasing was whisked off to another room to negotiate price. After all the purchases were made, we walked back to the desert hotel, pausing to enjoy the sunset & to play in the sand one last time.
Day 3 photos here & here.
Sunday, we woke up early again (a pattern I noticed in this trip) & got into the 4x4s to drive to Fes. Again, we were in the bus almost the entire day, measuring our time in memories & by how many movies we had watched so far that day. We stopped at an overlook to check out a valley with tens of thousands of palm trees in it. Then the usual routine of dinner, shower & sleep.
Day 4 photos here.
Monday marked the final day of our Moroccan adventure. We took a walking tour through the medina in Fes, which is where all the shops are located. Like the calles estrechas of Sevilla, the streets in the medina were really narrow. There was a ton of foot traffic plus the occasional cart, horse or mule carrying goods to the various shops. It was like stepping back in time. The medina is composed of some 9400 streets, so I was careful to stick close to our guide. We first visited a fabric shop, where they showed us blankets & scarves made of cotton, wool & silk. Next, we saw another carpet shop, where they laid out various patterns & sized. Our third stop was a pharmacy, which sells spices, teas & herbal beauty products. Here, the owner held up various items, described them to us, passed them around for us to sample, then let us shop. Finally, we visited the oldest leather store in Morocco, where they took us to the roof for an aerial view of the dyeing area before the shopping began. After the 4 stops, those who still had spending money were free to shop on their own for a half-hour before we boarded the bus again. From Fes, we drove back to Tangier, boarded another ferry, disembarked at Tarifa & drove to Sevilla, arriving here around 1:30 A.M.
Day 5 photos here.
I don't know what to say to summarize this trip. The food was amazing; the people were friendly. I never imagined that I would visit any part of Africa during my semester abroad, & I certainly never invisioned myself sleeping outdoors in a desert oasis of the Sahara. What I experienced this weekend is absolutely incredible, & I think that's the best means I have to describe it.
Nos vemos, Le <3.
On Thursday, we left on our trusty Rosabus at 5:15 A.M. By 9:00, we had reached the southern city of Tarifa & boarded a ferry to cross to Tangiers, Morocco. We continued on our bus adventure, which our DS guide David advised us to measure in memories instead of time, to Rabat. We lunched in the political & administrative capital then had a short walking tour of the city. After our tour, we continued in the bus to Fes, where we checked into our hotel, had dinner & got some rest.
Day 1 photos here.
Friday began our desert adventure. We checked out of the hotel early & spent most of our day on the road again. I couldn't believe the range of landscapes we passed: snow-capped mountains (there was a snowball fight during one rest break), rocky desert & mountains, & finally, after dark, the sandy desert of the Sahara. At the desert hotel in Merzouga, we traded in our buses for rugged 4x4s & began the bumpy drive across the desert. A little over an hour later, we changed modes of transportation again, this time to camels. For anyone that has never been on a camel, it's a scary experience. Unlike a horse, which just stands there while you climb up, the camel has to agree to sit down so you can clambor up onto it. If the camel doesn't happen to be inclined to do that, it creates an interesting impasse between the animal & the handler. Of course, that's what happened to me, but after a bit of convincing, I was part of the caravan crossing the desert by moonlight.
When we arrived at the oasis, which is called Erg Chebbi, we were greated by Berbers with Moroccan green tea. They played music & danced for us, & we selected our mattress beds in the tents circling the oasis. Then we had dinner, which was transported from the hotel. After dinner, a group of classmates & I decided to climb the huge dune behind the oasis. According to Wikipedia, the maximum height of the dune is almost 500 feet, but I'm not sure of the exact height that night. The face was so steep that I ended up crawling most of the way, & of course, when I thought I reached the top, I realized that the top half of the dune had just been hidden from view. When I finally reached the top, I was amazed by how many stars we could see. I've always heard about it, but you don't actually realize until you can look up at the sky without seeing any other lights around you. I stayed at the peak as long as I could stand the cold, but I finally climbed back down & went to sleep. I wish I could have slept outside, but it was only 40º or so, & even inside the tent, I was freezing.
Day 2 photos here.
Saturday, I woke up at 6:11 to tackle the dune again before sunrise. Seeing the path in front of me made the climb easier but also more daunting. By the time I reached the summit, a group of students were already there. The sunrise was incredible; I hadn't realized the night before how red the sand was or how expanisve the desert is. After the majesty of the sunrise, another of the guides brought out a snowboard (God bless whoever hiked up that sand dune carrying it!), & some people tried to either carve or sled down the dune. We made sand angels, took tons of photos, tackled one another into the sand, then unwillingly made the descent back to camp.
Before we had even had breakfast, we then tackled our second challenge of the day: the journey back to the desert hotel. We reunited with the camels, & this time I got a laid-back guy I named Andrew. Instead of transfering back to the 4x4s, we stayed on the camels the entire way back to the desert hotel, almost 2 hours. I hadn't realized how deep we had traveled into the desert, & it was amazing to be surrounded by sand for so long. After a while, though, everyone started getting sore, especially the guys; camels don't come equipped with a saddle the way a horse does. Finally, we reached the desert hotel.
After a nap & a shower, we took a quick tour of the town of Merzouga. We saw wells & the little plots of land for the Berber families & the irrigation system they use to water their land. All the time, little boys were running behind us with necklaces strung across their hands, asking us to buy one: "Ten Dirham, only one Euro!" We passed the rundown streets & houses & headed to a carpet emporeum. The vendors explained the materials used for each type of carpet then laid out a few samples. Then we were free to browse the rest of the merchandise. Anyone interested in purchasing was whisked off to another room to negotiate price. After all the purchases were made, we walked back to the desert hotel, pausing to enjoy the sunset & to play in the sand one last time.
Day 3 photos here & here.
Sunday, we woke up early again (a pattern I noticed in this trip) & got into the 4x4s to drive to Fes. Again, we were in the bus almost the entire day, measuring our time in memories & by how many movies we had watched so far that day. We stopped at an overlook to check out a valley with tens of thousands of palm trees in it. Then the usual routine of dinner, shower & sleep.
Day 4 photos here.
Monday marked the final day of our Moroccan adventure. We took a walking tour through the medina in Fes, which is where all the shops are located. Like the calles estrechas of Sevilla, the streets in the medina were really narrow. There was a ton of foot traffic plus the occasional cart, horse or mule carrying goods to the various shops. It was like stepping back in time. The medina is composed of some 9400 streets, so I was careful to stick close to our guide. We first visited a fabric shop, where they showed us blankets & scarves made of cotton, wool & silk. Next, we saw another carpet shop, where they laid out various patterns & sized. Our third stop was a pharmacy, which sells spices, teas & herbal beauty products. Here, the owner held up various items, described them to us, passed them around for us to sample, then let us shop. Finally, we visited the oldest leather store in Morocco, where they took us to the roof for an aerial view of the dyeing area before the shopping began. After the 4 stops, those who still had spending money were free to shop on their own for a half-hour before we boarded the bus again. From Fes, we drove back to Tangier, boarded another ferry, disembarked at Tarifa & drove to Sevilla, arriving here around 1:30 A.M.
Day 5 photos here.
I don't know what to say to summarize this trip. The food was amazing; the people were friendly. I never imagined that I would visit any part of Africa during my semester abroad, & I certainly never invisioned myself sleeping outdoors in a desert oasis of the Sahara. What I experienced this weekend is absolutely incredible, & I think that's the best means I have to describe it.
Nos vemos, Le <3.
01 December 2008
Feria del Belén
Last week, as I was on my nightly jog, I encountered a huge construction project in the Plaza de San Francisco in front of the ayuntamiento. At the time, it was just another obstacle (in addition to pedestrians, bicis, motos, tranvías, taxis & giant recycling bins) to avoid. But this weekend, I finally got the opportunity to go back & see what all the fuss was about.
Wow. Turns out, the temporary buildings are housing the 15th Feria del Belén de Sevilla. Directly translated, it's the "Fair of Bethlehem," but "belén" also refers to a nativity display, which is what is currently for sale in the plaza. Many homes in the States feature a nativity display as part of their Christmas decoration, but this goes above & beyond anything I've ever seen in the states. The intricate figures were mostly handcrafted by Andalucían artisans, & the displays are far more comprehensive than the traditional 8-10 piece set. (Fun fact: the first nativity was created by Saint Francis, whose Spanish name is San Francisco, for whom the plaza hosting the fair is named.)
From what I've read, Sevillianos put out their belén on December 8, which coincides with the celebration of the Immaculate Conception, & leave it up until February 2. Baby Jesus isn't added until Christmas Eve, & the 3 wisemen don't make their appearance until January 6. Instead of buying everything at once, they add to their displays every year. (If you've ever seen a miniature train village display, I think that's a fair comparison.)
The basic 5-piece set (Mary, Joseph, Jesus, a donkey & an ox) is called el misterio. The stable is called el portal. The add-ons, for lack of a better word, range from los tres reyes (the 3 wisemen) on camel & on foot, el ángel, los pastores y las ovejas (shepherds & sheep) gathered around a fire, to a collection of other assorted townspeople. Spanish tradition also includes the caganer, Catalán for "crapper." This poor figurine, who is hidden in the back somewhere, is carved with his pants pulled down, mid-poop. According to Wikipedia, he is "a reflection of Catalán irreverence & scatological humor" & is frequently depicted in town displays as whichever politican happens to be unpopular that season.
Walking through the Feria, even I, grinch that I am, was struck by the Christmas spirit. The belenes were intricate & beautiful, many including working lights or running water. I love the idea of a family building their belén, visiting the Feria each Christmas season to add to their display. I wish I could bring home the entire Feria, as I was fascinated by the range of the figures -- miniscule to giant, traditional to modern -- to share.
Since that clearly isn't an option, photos here.
Nos vemos, Le <3.
Wow. Turns out, the temporary buildings are housing the 15th Feria del Belén de Sevilla. Directly translated, it's the "Fair of Bethlehem," but "belén" also refers to a nativity display, which is what is currently for sale in the plaza. Many homes in the States feature a nativity display as part of their Christmas decoration, but this goes above & beyond anything I've ever seen in the states. The intricate figures were mostly handcrafted by Andalucían artisans, & the displays are far more comprehensive than the traditional 8-10 piece set. (Fun fact: the first nativity was created by Saint Francis, whose Spanish name is San Francisco, for whom the plaza hosting the fair is named.)
From what I've read, Sevillianos put out their belén on December 8, which coincides with the celebration of the Immaculate Conception, & leave it up until February 2. Baby Jesus isn't added until Christmas Eve, & the 3 wisemen don't make their appearance until January 6. Instead of buying everything at once, they add to their displays every year. (If you've ever seen a miniature train village display, I think that's a fair comparison.)
The basic 5-piece set (Mary, Joseph, Jesus, a donkey & an ox) is called el misterio. The stable is called el portal. The add-ons, for lack of a better word, range from los tres reyes (the 3 wisemen) on camel & on foot, el ángel, los pastores y las ovejas (shepherds & sheep) gathered around a fire, to a collection of other assorted townspeople. Spanish tradition also includes the caganer, Catalán for "crapper." This poor figurine, who is hidden in the back somewhere, is carved with his pants pulled down, mid-poop. According to Wikipedia, he is "a reflection of Catalán irreverence & scatological humor" & is frequently depicted in town displays as whichever politican happens to be unpopular that season.
Walking through the Feria, even I, grinch that I am, was struck by the Christmas spirit. The belenes were intricate & beautiful, many including working lights or running water. I love the idea of a family building their belén, visiting the Feria each Christmas season to add to their display. I wish I could bring home the entire Feria, as I was fascinated by the range of the figures -- miniscule to giant, traditional to modern -- to share.
Since that clearly isn't an option, photos here.
Nos vemos, Le <3.
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