Thanksgiving in Morocco

After coming home from Prague on Sunday, I knew that I had only a few days to relax before I was off to Marrakech, Morocco for Thanksgiving bright and early on Wednesday morning. I had homework to do, clothes to pack, and sleep to catch up on but I managed :] I also was overly stressed by the thought of having to fly so shortly after I just came home. I like a few days of relaxation before I have to start thinking about making it through another flight. But it’s always worth it for me. Anyways! Let’s get to Morocco.

We arrived in Morocco around 10 AM their time (11 AM back in Rome), and we had Simo and Hanane there to greet us (they were our travel leaders, along with a very bubbly boy named Abdul). They immediately took us to our Riad, which is a traditional Moroccan home turned hotel, and we all fell in love with it! It had so much color and personality to it, and the owner was a very sweet old woman that spoke broken English to us all weekend and gave us kisses everytime she saw us. It helped that she had a huge supply of clementines waiting for us everytime we came home. After having tea with everybody and talking about orientation at the Riad, we were already off to lunch at a traditional Moroccan restaurant. If you know me, you know that I have a horrible stomach…I’m constantly worried about what I put in my belly. So eating Moroccan food was an experience for me. And I’ll pride myself on the fact that I did not get sick once! So I was a happy camper. The food was amazing, we had couscous all weekend as well as tagine, which is basically meats and veggies with lots of spices. It was so yummy, I asked them for a recipe and now I’ll be making tagine all the time. After our first lunch, we went to a spice store that had lots of natural oils, spices like saffron, and wonderful smells. We probably spent a few hours in there, and I managed to buy: mint tea, lemon tea, argan oil to rub all over my body, body wash, 8 different spices including saffron, and a natural perfume. After the spices we went back to the Riad to drop all of our things off and we were on our way to the Hammam Spa, which was probably the most liberating thing I’ve done in my life…and I would be willing to go back. We get to the spa, and I immediately see a large group of naked women/girls of all ages in these incredibly hot and steamy rooms with buckets of water, scrubbing themselves down. I then knew what I was in for, lol. A woman came up to us, and told all of us (Tori, Tessa, Tia, Carolyn, and me) to get naked and bring our oils into the spa….so we did. All of us were very much naked, waiting to see what would happen next. We had to put all the body oils on ourselves, and then we waiting in line to be scrubbed down by a very nice old woman, who was overly friendly with my body parts, but got a lot of work done, and I came out with very soft, beautiful skin. All, in all I’d say it was an enjoyable/awkward experience, but I’m glad we did that. After the spa we were off to dinner to eat more Moroccan food, and we had an early night and slept because we were all exhausted.

The following day (Thursday!) was thanksgiving! We had breakfast in the morning, and we were off to have a tour of the city. Our first stop was a small museum that gave us an idea of the Moroccan history and culture. It was short and sweet. But we were ready to see Morocco! Not be in a museum…We then made our way to the main square in the Old City, and we were greeted by snake charmers and cute little monkeys that found their way onto our shoulders and managed to eat some of my hair :] It was very cute, and I now need a monkey. After we walked into the New City and went to the world famous Marjolle Gardens (I can’t spell, as usual) and I’m too lazy to check the proper spelling. The gardens were full of color and they were beautiful. After the gardens, we got to take a horse carriage back to the old city, and got to see all the wonderful sites of the city. After the carriage ride, we made our way to a Moroccan family’s house, and they made us tea and lunch! Of course it was couscous with lamb and veggies (so gooood) and then we had henna done by one of the family members. The family was so sweet making us lunch and doing so much for us, and even teaching us how to properly make the tea that we bought the day before. We then went shopping for just a few hours in the souks, which are nothing like the souks I am familiar with. I’ve been to souks in both Nigeria and the Middle East, but these were different. I figured they would be similar because Morocco is such a strong mixed culture of Africa and the Middle East, but I was pleasantly surprised to find otherwise! After shopping, we went to a hookah bar, had some Moroccan beer (of course I didn’t because beer is one thing my stomach will never learn to like). But I enjoyed lotsss of hookah, and then we made it back home to sleep  :]

Friday was another busy busy busy busy day! We had breakfast at the Riad, then took a bus out to the Berber countryside where we were greeted by camels :] Lots of camels. Carolyn and I shared a camel, which really wasn’t too bad. Granted we were both slipping off the whole time, but everyone always complains about how uncomfortable a camel ride is…my butt came out just fine afterwards. After camel rides, we went to a local berber family’s house and we had tea on their rooftop which overlooked the beautiful Moroccan mountains/countryside. They played music for us, and we just all laughed/danced/giggled for a little while. After tea, we went to a work site where women make the argan oils. We had another sampling of all the oils, and then some of us bought some to support the women, and we were off to have lunch at a berber restaurant. Once again we had good music and great food! We then went out in the rain (I was not pleased about this just because I hate the rain, and every place I’ve gone to it’s RAINED!!! Ugh), but we trucked through it and hiked up the mountain to see a beautiful waterfall. Unfortunately, I wasn’t wearing appropriate hiking boots, I had on leather boots, which are very unsafe to wear when climbing up slippery rocks. So I moved at a veryyyyyyy slow pace lol. But I made it with no broken bones and only a few slips. After the hike we went to a carpet store, spent a good long while in there (I didn’t get any carpets because they were too expensive and I couldn’t find one that really stuck out to me…it was sad) But I had a blast nonetheless. I lovedddd looking at all the carpets, I could spend days in a carpet store just picking through all of them. After the carpet store we took a bus ride home, had some free time…where of course we went shopping. And then we went to another hookah bar, and had some drinks. It was an all over good day :]

Saturday was our last full day :[ ! We woke up early, took a 3 hour drive to a surrounding city called the “wind city”, and were once again greeted by the rain. Yesssss (sarcasm). We had lunch at a little stand that had possibly the freshest fish I have ever eaten in my life, and it was really good! I don’t normally eat fish, but this fish changed my eating habits forever. I will now be a fish eater…you can quote me on that later Christine when I say I don’t want any…hehe. We had a short tour of the small city, and got to enjoy the beautiful beach :] We then made the longgg drive back, had more free time for more shopping (over the days I purchased: a Moroccan shirt, tea pot with cups, 2 necklaces, a bracelet, and a ring) all very beautiful of course. The rest of the group went out to a casino and had more drinks, but I can’t afford to be gambling away my parent’s money that they so graciously give to me for these experiences lol. So I stayed in with the other group, and talked with Simo, Abdul, and Hanane for a while..then I slept  :] I had a blast staying in though because they taught me how to make tagine, and I just got to chat with them for a little while.

Leaving was very sad and hard :[ because everybody felt like family! But we were off at 7 AM to make it back to Rome. I was so sad to leave, and I really want to go back one day. They have a program for 2 weeks where you volunteer and teach English with the same tour leaders, I might possibly see if I could do that one summer. We will see :] But that was my wonderful Moroccan thanksgiving experience :] and It has easily been my favorite trip so far just because of the cultural experience I had.

This week I’m very busy with papers and projects so don’t expect to hear from me soon! And then I’m off on my last and final trip of my time here to Paris for 3 days. Then I will remain in Rome until the 18^th! Then I’m off to Saudi to see my Daddy. I have such a busy December ahead of me, but I’m very ready for it :]

On another note: Rome stores and streets are starting to put up Christmas lights and it’s making me sooooo antsy for Christmas to come! I love Christmas season, and everything about it. I am praying that it snows in Paris. That would be such an unbelievable experience, and I want to see it! I have yet to see beautiful white blankets of snow, and I want it. I can’t get everything, but I’ll be hopeful :]

Until then, I’ll enjoy all the Christmas lights in Rome, and thing about how I get to come home and Christmas will be so soon. <3

p.s. I have so much to be thankful for. I love my family and friends.

Ciao,

Kate

From Milan and on!

I know, I know...I haven't updated my blog since the beginning of the month! And I'm soo sorry for that, but who reads this anyways? Besides Claudia, of course.

I don't exactly remember perfectly what I've done since Milan, but I'll try my best.

The following weekend I stayed in Rome and explored for a few days! The first day Claudia, Catherine, and I went to the Roman Forums, Imperial Forums, and the Wedding Cake. Claudia gave us lots of historical facts and silly little tidbits of information. Catherine and I then went to the Vatican Museums to see the Sistine Chapel. I had already been once before, but I knew I needed to go again because after learning some artistic knowledge from my Renaissance class, I thought maybe I could appreciate it a little better. :] After the Sistine Chapel (it was our first stop, just so we knew we didn't miss it) we accidently went down the wrong pathway and ended up completely skipping half of the exhibits because we went out an exit and ended up at St. Peter's. Oops? Guess I'll have to go back again for a third time.
The following day Claudia, Savannah, and I went on a "walk" that one of the travel books told us to do because we wanted to see some new sights. Welllll, the map was a little sketchy, and we ended up lost, so we gave up after a while. But! We saw the pyramid, the Caracalla Baths, some random churches, a protestant cemetery, cat sanctuary, anddd I'm fairly positive that's it. So, all in all, we had a pretty productive day nonetheless.

The next week was a veryyy busy week for me. I had registration to worry about, a cooking class, and then traveling to pack for! Luckily registration went very smoothly, and I have my recipes for the cooking class. Can't wait to use them again :]
Friday, I went to Assisi with Catherine on a paid JCU trip. We had a tour guide show us around the Basilica of San Francesco, Basilica of Santa Chiara, and the main center square. After the tour we got a free yummy lunch with the group, and we were off to shop and explore the city :] I managed to get 3 of my friends gifts in Assisi, which was a major relief for me. On a side note: it was FREEZING in Assisi, not prepared for that. It was an adorable small town though, and I definitely wouldn't mind going back because they had beautifulllllllllllllll ceramics there. Unfortunately they didn't take my discover card, or else momma would've gotten some ceramics for christmas! hahaha.
After a day in Assisi, it was time to get ready for Brussels, Belgium in the morning! Claudia, Catherine and I were up and ready to go around.....8? I think. I don't remember. We were in Brussels by noon, and were exploring the city by around 4. Thanks to a very long bus ride from the airport to the city, then finding out hostel. Where we got extremely side tracked due to a packed metro, and I unfortunately got separated from them....it was horrible. I watched the doors close with them on the platform side, and me on the inside...so I went to Saint Catherine, the final stop for us to get to our hostel, but they didn't think I knew to go there...so I waited for about an hour. hahah. We finally found each other...
Brussels was such a quirky city! We stayed in the city center, and explored the square the first night just because we were sooo exhausted from the traveling. But there was enough to see in that area that it didn't even matter. We also saw Mannequin Pis! A famous LITTLE statue of a boy peeing. Cute. The following morning we went to a comic book museum, saw some famous churches, and other sights, which I can't name off the top of my head because they are either French or Flemish, and I don't particularly speak either of those languages very well.. More so flemish than french lol.
But I fell in love with Brussels very quickly. Just the Architecture, the people, and of course the WAFFLES. and fries...we had waffles everyday, as well as fries. I didn't complain. Especially since it was raining (of course) and freezing the whole time we were there. I could justify a nice warm waffle from belgium. mmmm <3


Now that I covered that weekend, time to move on to the next...I had a relaxing school week in Rome. I got familiar with the studio for pictures in photography class, and I picked my topic for the final project. Cemeteries! Which I really don't like at all, and would rather stay away from them. But my professor enjoyed my pictures taken from the cemetery here in Rome, so I decided to continue on with that.


I left for Prague on Thursday with Liat :] and luckily Prague is fresh in my mind since it's only Monday morning...so I think I'll have a lot to say about it.
We took a bus to another bus, and then we arrived at the airport. Witnessed a very unhappy family get denied onto another flight. At that point I really wished I was bilingual and could understand what that poor girl was crying about...security got involved. and that's that.
We arrived in prague around...6:30ish? Jonathan picked us up from the airport, and took us through the wholeee route on getting from the airport to our hostel, which of course included: a bus, the metro, then a tram. mmm wonderful :] He then took us out to dinner at a restaurant he enjoyed, and I triedddddd some Czech beer, really I did. I just didn't enjoy it that much....I need to get a taste for beer I guess. So I had some wine instead at another little pub he took us too, which has a block of wood in it that serves for some very silly, and dangerous game? Basically, once you get drunk you can ask for some hammer and nails, and hammer the nails into the block of wood for fun. odd. No one did it that night, so we didn't get to witness it lol.
The following morning Liat and I were up and ready to CONQUER Prague. Which we did. We took the tram to a cute church (nameste miru? i can't spell) but our hostel, then walked from there. Our first stop was the national museum and the wenceslas square. The museum architecture was pretty gotchic, which I loved! All of Prague felt very gothic, and dark...it was beautiful. I need to go back and experience it some more.
Breakfast was at the Bohemia Bagel in prague :] I neeeeded that bagel, it was wonderful. We then jumped onto the free tour with New Europe and saw all the major sights: Old Town Square, Astronomical Clock, Charles Bridge, Old New Synagogue, Jewish Cemetery, Spanish Synagogue, New Town (Wenceslas Square again), the Metronome, some hotel were communist officials used to stay (brothel included), an opera house where Mozart played!, the Black Madonna house, Powder tower, Municipal Court, anddd possibly something else. I'm not sure lol.
After the tour, Liat and I continued on our sights and went back to the Prague Castle, and Carles bridge! We stopped and got some hot chocolate with cake as a little snack :] then to the John Lennon wall...basically a wall of graffiti with John Lennon on it. haha. Then we went up to the castle, which really isn't even a castle. It's just a cathedral with a wall around it...which constitutes for a castle...so I hear. By that point, we were ready to just relax because it was dark outside, so we unsuccesfully went souvenir shopping. We just kinda walked around an area we really liked by the Black Madonna House, and window shopped. We then met up with Jonathan for dinner, and he took us to his favorite restaurant :]! (On a side note: Jonathan was extremely accommodating all weekend, if he comes to Rome I owe him, or even whenever he returns to Texas...) Liat managed to get her flavored beer at some other pub afterwards, which she continued to rave about allllllllllll weekend haha ( Love you, lee lee).
We went home fairly early because the next day was going to be another long one.
We woke up and were out of the hostel by 8 o'clock to get to our bus to Terezin that left at 9:30. Terezin was a concentration camp, so it proved to be a trying morning for the both of us. I was aware of the Holocaust and what happened then, but I wasn't really ready for what I was going to see at Terezin. It was an experienced I felt I needed to have though... Terezin has an interesting story behind it though. They referred to the camp as a "work camp", and used the sight for a propaganda video that Hitler used to show how "well" the prisoners were treated on these camps. Yet, thousands of people were actualy executed or died on the site. hmmm. I won't get into detail about Terezin just because it was a really personal experience for Liat and I, and I'd rather just leave it off of this blog.
After Terezin, we went back needed some bohemia bagel in hopes of lifting our spirits a little bit. We then went to the TV Tower (another famous sight in Prague). I loveddd the TV tower...it has babies crawling all over it! Not real ones of course, just silly little fake ones. It's very odd, but Prague. We also saw a church by the TV Tower that Jonathan was raving about the night before because it has pretty cool architecture to it. It seemed like it should've been built in the 70's but was actually built in the...30's? I think.
After those few sights, we went to the mall for a bit just to warm up, and wander for about an hour...hot chocolate included.
thennnn we were back outside to souvenir shop. I got those little russian dolls (I don't remember the correct name for them) but you put the smaller one in the bigger one, etc...I had been eyeing them all weekend. and yes I know...they are Russian! But goodness, the Czechs have such a messy culture. It's not just one... I figured I could get away with it.
andd finally Jonathan made us dinner at his apartment. Tex Mex...such a thoughtful boy. salsa and guac included.
Liat and I were not ready to leave prague yesterday, but we had to...and the flight home was very bumpy...which I feel I should tell you about...I was a nervous wreck the entire flight back...making liat hold my hand, and I was physically shaking because there was so much turbulence...I'm such a silly girl. but flying makes me nervous, beyond nervous....I was miserable and ready to get home.


I made it though. Yup.


and I came home to such a busy apartment!! Savannah's boyfriend is visiting and he stopped by to say hello and was going to get dinner with Savannah, and Catherine's friend Emily (she calls her Burg) also came around dinner time to pick Liat and I up. We grabbed dinner at one of our favorite restaurants...Called Nico...or PizzaSteak, or something along that line.
and not to forget (although I haven't met them yet) Claudia's whole family is in town, Uncles included. It must be Thanksgiving :]

Milano for Halloweenie

As usual, too much as happened since my last post that I could very well possibly not remember a lot of it. Hmmm.
I had a rather relaxing week (I finally managed to send out my letters! so if you got one fairly recently, you are a lucky person)
Thursday night, I went out with a few friends in Trastevere. We got drinks and french fries, yummy. Catherine was a brat (on a side note, I saw this with the greatest amount of love) that night, and refused gelato because she only wanted a beer to "tap off her night" as I recall :P ... She didn't get her beer, and she managed to use the streets as her public bathroom again. What's new? Lol. Catherine will hate me for posting this, but goodness she makes a night so interesting!
Friday morning a few of us went and enjoyed an "American" meal at the Hard Rock Cafe. Which I'm happy we went to because it's been much too long since we've been somewhere that had the atmosphere like a typical American restaurant. It made me a little homesick though because whenever I travel with my family we always go to the Hard Rock, and I wanted my parents to be there with me! But, unfortunately, they weren't. We then spent the rest of our day just shopping and walking around the streets of Rome. It was a calm day, and a much needed one.
Saturday, we went up to Janiculum Hill in Roma! I was fascinated by this place. It's the second tallest hill in Roma, and has a church built where St. Peter was said to be cruicified. The Hill itself is said to be a battle field from a revolutionary Roman and French war of some kind, I couldn't exactly tell you...does it seem like I'm getting this information off of Wikipedia? Hmm, I am. Anyways.
Everyday at noon, a cannon is fired from the hill in the direction of the Tiber river (I knew this off the top of my head). We went to witness this, which was absolutely amazing, and terrifying. My ears were rining, and my pictures came out blurry from my jumping once I heard the sound of the cannon fire. Hah.
We wandered to the Jewish Ghetto and had a fabulous lunch (fried rice balls!! yummy, and pasta amatricana) The rest of my day was rather lazy, but I'm not complaining. But wait!
I almost forgot, we had a very crazy cooking/baking party in my kitchen. Where we made cookies and cinnamon rolls from scratch :] They came out fairly well, but I think the best part of it was actually making the stuff. haha. It was a blast.

Sunday morning was Halloweeenie, and Catherine, Savannah, and I left bright and early for Milan.
The flight was easy (and thank goodness for that because we all know how i feel about flying!), now when we arrive in the airport, we catch the bus to the central station, and from there we were within walking distance to the hotel. Nowwwww, I had a moment and was extremely frustrated because I couldn't find the street where the hotel was, because it was 1) raining, 2) i was hungry, 3) i'm a lady, and occasionally we have our days of....hormonal imbalances. But we managed to find it with some help, and I immediately got some breakfast, and I was ready to start the day.
With the rain, we took the metro EVERYWHERE but it was very convenient so it wasn't too bad :]
Catherine made the "executive decision" (so she calls it :P) to head over to the church where the Last Supper by Leonardo da Vinci is said to be. Unfortunately, we couldn't view it because you had to have a reservation, and it was a 2 week wait! Awful! We were a little discouraged, but we were off to our next stop: Castello Sforzesco, which is a castle that is now a rather large museum. It includes art from pretty much every major era, and sculptures, and furniture...etc. Catherine, Savannah, and I were most amused by the furniture room, because it displayed furniture from as late as the 2000's...hmm, what made it so special? We honestly had no idea, and it didn't fit the "Renaissance" them the rest of the museum had at all. hahah. The plain wooden chair was the most amusing to me.
After the Castello, which is also connected to Parc Sempione (which we very briefly walked into, but with the rain, it was less than enjoyable), we decided it was time for lunch. We went to the nearest pizzeria, and loveddd it :] Although it was a little pricey! Oh well.
After lunch we were off to the next museum: Piancoteca di Brera, which is one of the most famous museums that Milan has to offer. Couldn't tell you all that I saw, but I promise it was a lot and my feet hurt terribly after the walk throughout the museum. By the time we had finished that it was only 5:20 pm! We were all shocked, and had no idea what to do next. So I said we should go check out Salvador Dali!! Because I reallyyy wanted to go, but I wasn't sure if we'd have time. So we raced over to the Dali exhibit in the Palazzo Reale, but of course when we get there the line is almost 3 hours long! Which made no sense to me because the museum said it closed at 7:30, but oh well! So we decided not to wait, and we walked probably a few hundred feet in a different direction and found ourselves facing the side of the Duomo! Which was a pleasant surprise and a beautiful sight to see. So we hung around the Duomo for a bit, snapped some pictures, and then went into the Galleria Vittorio Emanuele II, which is the oldest and most famous shopping center in Milan. It was breathtaking, and we even enjoyed a woman playing the piano in the center of the shopping mall.
We grabbed some dinner at a lovely restaurant right by the duomo, which included for me a spaghetti, and tiramisu that I shared with Catherine. We sat and talked for a few hours, and had a very lovely waiter that kept finding amusement out of frightening us or just acting silly. He made me want to return just so I could see what other antics he had up his sleeve.
After a long day, that consisted of rain, rain, rain, rain (I am not lying when I say the rain NEVER stopped...it was a continuous rain...a cold rain...very sad), we immediately went to our hostel, and fell asleep :]
The first stop of Monday was the Duomo! We got there at perfect timing and had no wait to ride the elevator up the roof. It was an unbelievable view, and I cannot even describe how beautiful the Duomo architecture is...it's magical and dark. I love it. We spent quite some time up there, then made our way into the Cathedral where we caught some of the All Saint's Day mass! It was incredibly moving, and almost brought me to tears. I loved the sound of church music throughout the heavy walls. It filled me with such an odd emotion, but it was wonderful.
After our Duomo experience, we grabbed lunch at a lovely restaurant (as usual), did a little bit of shopping in the area and then made our way to the Palazzo Reale to finally see the Salvador Dali exhibit! So the night before we asked a nice man that worked there what time we should arrive tomorrow to avoid long lines. Now, it opened at 2:30 PM on monday, so he said 2 PM... hmmm, he was terribly wrong. I should've known and had a feeling, but we had so much other stuff to do that I figured whatever. So we get there at 2 PM, and the line is already a few hours long, and we made our way into the museum by 4 PM, after standing 2 hours in the rain...lovely. On a side note: a very nice Italian woman asked if she could possibly squeeze into line with us because she had a train to catch and she was all alone, so we figured...okay let's just let this one woman in, and it'll be fine. Which it turned out to be! She was such a sweet personable lady, and even bought our 8 euro tickets for the exhibit!!! So she ended up spending too much money on us, but at least she offered considered we let her cut about 3 hours worth of waiting. She was really wanting to see Dali! So having to wait, but then getting a free ticket into the exhibit made for a good day all in all.
After Dali, we raced back to the hotel, picked up our stuff, and made our way to the airport. Where after waiting and waiting for our plane to get a gate number we realize it has been delayed THREE hours...until 11:20 PM.. lol. We were not happy campers. Especially since I only brought so much of my motion sickness medicine with me, and I had already taken it for the original flight time, and then I had to take it again! Lol, it's pathetic I know, but I cannot survive without my dramamine. So we ate dinner, and I read a horrible magazine that cost me 4 euro (not the 2.10 euro that they advertised on the magazine, because apparently it's "UK price" not "Italian price").....Catherine and I giggled the whole time as we read the magazine called "Company"...and it was just a waste of my money, besides getting some laughs out of it. So we finally made it home at around 2 AM, and we were all exhausted and ready for bed.
Now to get back to reality, and study for my exam that I have tomorrow. eek.

Ciao,
Kate