Photos from Morocco!

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Morocco

I promise I have not abandoned my blog! October has been a busy month, between classes, work and travel it has been hard to squeeze in some time to recap. And yes, I did say work,  I was lucky enough to have found a job teaching private English classes through a business here in Seville! So far I teach one private class per week, I get to create my own curriculum and essentially teach whatever the student wants to learn. My current student is working on improving her converstional English, which is a blast, because one of the best ways to learn conversation skills is through games. I'm hoping to get some more classes to teach once my own class schedule calms down a bit.
This past weekend I visited Morocco with a student tour group, we made it to Chefchaouen, Tetuan and Tangier, it was without a doubt  an amazing experience! Chefchaouen was ruled by Spain up until 1956 so almost everyone speaks Spanish and Arabic; our tour guide, Tojo, spoke 9 languages! Tojo is barely five feet tall and wore traditional Moroccan robes with a Fez, (small hat with a tassel on top) and sounded exactly like yoda when he spoke. When we asked him how old he was, he told us he had no idea, and felt it was best to not know your age, that way you can be whatever age you want. In Chefchaouen, everything is painted blue and white as a cooling and heating system, they also believe it brings them closer to God. Since the city was founded in 1471 the streets are only made for walking, or riding your donkey so small tunnels and archways are very common and often difficult to navigate with 80 toursits! In the city center, the streets are full of merchants selling anything from fish and live chickens, to jewelry and shoes.
In Tetuan we visited a natural pharmacy where we learned about all the spices and herbs used to cure common ailments. I got my very own neck massage with Eucalyptus oils and purchased some amazing curry and Moroccan mint tea! In Morocco, whenever you arrive at an event or someone's house, they typically offer you a sweet mint tea and after tasting some that the hotel gave us I had to get some! Unfotuntately venturing around in Tetuan without a guide was not an option, so immediately after the pharmacy presentation we were wisked away to our next destination in Tangier.
Tangier was beautiful, we rode camels, and enjoyed a typical Moroccan dinner with several different persormances! The dinner was held in this beautiful tent and we watched traditional Moroccan dance, which included belly dancing and acrobatics, as well as a balancing act with a tray full of lit candles! The next day we went to the markets of Tangier to get a taste of the city. Unfortunately, I managed to get separated from our group, right at the time that we were suposed to leave. Panic stricken, I started running to where I thought the group was, but I couldn't find anyone. As I rounded a corner, a local man stopped me and very nicely said, 'don't worry, they are right up that way, and don't run or you will hurt yourself!' I was so relieved, sometimes sticking out like a tourist has its benefits! I kept walking quickly fearing I was about to spend the next month in Morocco, when three more people assured me that my group was very close, and once again 'don't run! They will wait for you!' Grateful for the reassurace, I finally found the group and made it back to Sevilla safe and sound.
This week I will be catching up on homework and studying in preparation for a long Halloween weekend in Paris! So many adventures and so little time!

ewdo

This past week I have learned so much, including the fact that a bottle of wine for .70 euro (about $1) is definitely not worth it, certainly drinkable but not enjoyable! My host mom, Sarah, told me after the fact that you should spend at least 2 euro, definitely a learning experience. I also learned that Spaniards LOVE the band ewdo, everyone has been talking about the ewdo concert and how exciting it that ewdo is in Sevilla. I just assumed they were talking about a popular European band until I learned that ewdo translates to U2, or in Spanish “oo dos“ but in Andalusia, no one pronounces the final syllable so it sounds like ewdo, and here I was sure I had learned about a great new band! The good news is that my Spanish is improving, unfortunately that means that my Spanish friends talk to me much faster and with more slang. Now that I have finally grasped Spanish I have a whole new dialect to learn! I am so thankful for my friends here in Spain because I have learned the most just talking with them. It can be very intimidating be the only non native in a group of friends, but it is so helpful. All of my friends here have been so patient and understanding, most of them don't speak any english which makes me feel better when they don't quite understand me! To add to my language learning, I began classes at the University of Seville this week! I am taking two education classes, cultural anthropology and a grammar class. The education classes are my favorite so far because they are small classes of about 20 students, and everyone but me is Spanish so I get a lot of conversation practice. My other two classes are a mix of European students and Spanish students.

This afternoon my hermanita, Talía, who is just barely 3 years old, insisted that I paint her toe nails because she is going to a birthday party after siesta. It was quite a process, but I was so proud of myself for painting all her nails without any major disaster until she decided to stick her entire foot in her mouth, wet nail polish and all! I guess it's the bonding that counts :)