Yes I have been to four continents.

This weekend I went to MOROCCO! What a wonderful experience on so many levels. Learned some arabic, ate some cuscus, bought some spices, rode a camel, woke up to the call to prayer. Cultural immersion at its best. Now I can officially say I have been to four continents (even if we really only saw the northern-most tip of Morocco, which happens to be the northern-most tip of Africa, but hey it still counts).

The trip was broken up into three days. First on Friday before heading to Morocco we spent a few hours in Gibraltar, the southern-most point of Spain which is actually a British territory. It was quite a strange mix of British and Spanish restaurants, currencies, and languages. Because we didn't want to pay for the extra tour in Gibralter, Natalie and I walked around with two other students on the trip (one guy from Germany and one girl from Italy). We quickly became close friends with them and they were so nice. They are studying in Sevilla, like most of the other students on the trip. After us four became friends we also got to know another girl from Sweden and another boy from the United States. Us 6 stuck together the entire trip and Natalie and I are going back to Sevilla to visit them during our break later in October!

Friday night we arrived in Morocco, but only in time for dinner and a short walk outside the hotel. It greatly surprised us to see that the only people outside at night were men. Women are expected to stay inside and rarely ever go out for food or drinks at night. It was quite the culture shock. It was also interesting through out the rest of the trip to see how much the women there cover up. This is definitely something we are not used to.

Saturday was most definitely the best day in terms of cultural immersion. In the morning we went to a small beautiful town called Chefchaouen. I was excited that there were not many other tourists because we were able to truly experience a local place. The people there appeared very friendly and excited to see us visiting their town. The houses were all touching one another and the streets were narrow. Occasionally we would walk by a door and see a family hanging out inside their house. It seemed that a community feel was more important than individual privacy. All of the houses were beautifully painted in blue (apparently blue keeps the mosquitos away and blue is also the official color of Chefchaouen). I honestly can see myself living in this town because it was just so beautiful and relaxing! We also had the opportunity to visit a cooperative where they make tapestry and scarves. I of course had to buy a scarf. After that we explored a little and saw some markets. They are all about bargaining in Morocco. Even the little boys we found on the street and asked to take a picture with us charged us one euro for the photo... I guess they start them off young.

We spent Saturday afternoon in the city of Tetuan. First we ate a traditional Moroccan lunch followed by mint tea (our new favorite drink!) This city was a lot bigger yet all of the streets were small and narrow just like in Chefchaouen. In most of the streets you couldn't fit a car so the majority of the citizens appeared to be walking everywhere. There were plenty of shops with a variety of things from food to electronics to clothing (Everything was of lesser value than what we are used to; many items they were selling looked used). It makes sense that they would have numerous small shops because people cannot drive through the streets and go long distances to shop. Again there was a feeling of community. Often we would see young people playing soccer in the streets or old men playing chess outside of their doorway.

Saturday night we ate a dinner which included cuscus while watching moroccan performers. The highlight of the show was the bellydancer who called up our friend from the US to perform with her. That night we went out to the club in the hotel for a little bit and ended up swimming in the pool before going to bed.

Sunday morning we woke up before our alarm to someone singing/chanting very loudly outside. We realized it was the morning call to prayer. Again, another huge culture shock. People there don't even need alarm clocks because the call to prayer is so loud. It was also impressive to see how dedicated they are to their religion.

Sunday we had to leave to go back to Sevilla. I spent the night there with my friend Mary who is studying there for the semester. Now I'm back in Spain and exhausted from the trip. But it was definitely worthwhile and I can't believe how much I was able to see in a matter of 3 days.