Adios amigas :(

Final NYU dinner at a super nice restaurant

So here it is, my last blog before I head south with my dad and step-mom. It's totally unbelievable to me that four months have gone by. As you can tell by these blogs, it has been quite an adventure. I was trying to think about all of the things I love about Madrid, and I've decided the thing I love the most is it's taught me something truly important: the art of relaxation. It has been quite some time since I've felt this relaxed, upbeat, happy, etc. Perhaps it's the "no pasa nada" attitude, or maybe it's the fact that it rains approximately never. Who knows? Whatever is it, I love it. Honestly, and I've said this before, this semester has been like rehab for me. In fact, this semester is the first semester in which I've been so sad it's coming to an end.

Joan's last day in Madrid--Casa de Campo (a park)--el palacio in the background 

For old time's sake

Normally, I'm dying for the semester to come to a close and practically welcome finals because it means I'll be going home soon. But not this time. Nope. This time I really cried when my friends left for their respective homes back in the U.S. Which brings me to what I wanted to say next in this blog. There's certainly something to be said for being in such a small program and being able to have a personal experience in which you can really get to know the other students. I've made better friends in this one semester than I've made in the last two years being in New York. That's not to say I don't love New York. Don't worry New York, I'll be back soon. But when I go back, I'll have some amazing friends who I shared this unforgettable experience with in Madrid.

And of course, I have to mention the best roommate ever. Before coming to Madrid I had resigned myself to the fact that I would just have to deal with a psycho roommate. But then I got so lucky as to be placed with Joan. I had no idea after having dinner with Joan once in New York that we'd become such good friends. I can't imagine going through this experience without you, Joan! All of our crazy apartment stories (including, of course, the toilet paper) just would not have been the same with someone else. I am sooo excited to see you again when I get back to the City. Thanks for making this semester one in a million :)! 

As for next semester, well, I decided to live with a different señora. She's divorced and has three daughters (ages 17, 13--I think--and 5).  I'll of course keep you all updated on my new homestay experience--this time without a roommate--I knew it just wouldn't be the same without anyone else, so why even roll the dice? Well, I think that's all for now. Oh, and a few lasts comments. First, a special shout out to Ashley Maxwell because the poor girl is stuck in London until Tuesday and all she wated to do was get home for the holidays :(. Everyone cross your fingers she makes it home safe and sound. Also, thanks so Joan for letting me use your computer while your in Sweden and my computer is already at the new apartment. And, I would never forget... a big thanks to everyone for reading my blog! It makes me so happy when I get comments and feedback and to know that people are enjoying reading about my crazy adventures, so thanks! Until next year...

Un abrazo,

Megan

Love written in the stars hahaha 

Oranges? Paella? Must be...Valencia!

Sorry about this, but this week I interspersed pictures from Madrid with pictures from Valencia, but I tried to clarify with the captions. Anyway, I suppose I'll start with the Madrid Christmas festivities. Basically, last weekend, because my friend Ashley is obsessed with Christmas (just kidding Ashley, I wanted to go too, of course :)), we trekked out into the cold (I'll admit I was wearing long-underwear under my jeans) to see the Madrid Christmas lights. As you can see from the pictures, they were beautiful, even if it was cold. 

Joan and Me + Valencia 

Valencia Market

Okay, so now onto Valencia!!! I love Valencia! I love the paella, I love the oranges, I love the market of artisans (notice the beautiful abanico in the foto).  Going there was super easy. The seats on the bus were more comfortable than seats on a plane! The trip is only four hours and we took a stop halfway at a nice rest area.

Oranges!!!

As for the hostel--so Joan booked her bed after the three of us and there are only rooms of four. We assumed because she got the last bed in a four person room she'd be with us because she only booked it a few days after us. Well, you know what happens when you assume. Needless to say, Joan was not the person in our room, which meant that poor Joan was stuck in a room with three other strangers the first night and we were stuck with......ready for it...a 60 year old Canadian man!

Valenciano--yet another dialect of Spain who knew?

Kids must have so much fun on this playground, right?

That's right. We walk into the room after walking around Valencia and who do we see sleeping in one of the beds? A 60 year old Canadian man. How did we know he was Canadian? Suffice it to say I did some investigating (aka looked at a luggage tag on his bookbag...maybe a bit intrusive, but I like to know who I'm sleeping in the same room with...). Anyway, Ashley, Helen, and I were like schoolgirls giggling forever. We just couldn't stop!! And you know what? The man did not wake up!! Honestly, he kept snoring away!!! We were sooo confused. I mean, it was like the man could have slept through a nuclear bomb. We didn't know how he was doing it. Then, in the morning, I get out of the bathroom (in a towel, whoops) and the man is sitting on the bed and asks if he can use the bathroom. I say yes, he goes to the bathroom, and what do I see on the bed...hearing aids!! The poor man is hard of hearing. What the hell are the odds of that?

Me and Joan + Science Museum 

That day we went to the Science museum which had some neat exhibits--on about Star Trek and another about chromosomes with some cool interactive features. I highly recommend this museum for kids--the architecture will amaze the parents and the exhibits will be enjoyable to the parents and the kids.

But now onto my favorite part...the aquarium. If you happen to find yourself traveling in Spain, I don't care what part you could be all the way up in Barcelona--make your way to Valencia just for the aquarium alone. It.Is.Amazing. Firstly, It.Is.Huge. Secondly...they have amazing tunnels where fish swim over you (okay, I know they have this in other aquariums, but these are awesome, yes I said these, there's more than one!) Plus, there are baby belugas! Come on, how adorable are baby belugas?! There's also this really strange fish called a sunfish I believe. We had no idea what it was. At first I was convinced it was a turtle. I was mistaken. 

Star Trek anyone?

Omg 70 degrees. Dude it's December. Not sure what this is, but I know I like it 

Ashley and Helen Aren't they cute?

The next day we walked around the artisan market again looking for some gifties. Then we went into the cathedral and climbed up the tower. Easier said than done. Those stairs were quite the feat. But, it was totally worth it. The view from the tower is incredible. We had way too much fun literally jumping around the top of the tower :). Oh, and the inside of the cathedral is beautiful too, of course.

Jellies!

WHAT IS IT?!

Fishies 

Pre-Trip antics :)

Just a word about the "metro" in Valencia. It is actually part metro part light rail. After trekking from out hostel in search of the Mediterranean (btw sorry Helen we never actually got to the beach beach, but rather just saw a view of some yachts in what I believe was in inlet...hard to tell when it's pitch-black out) we realized it was getting late and we should try to make our way back to the center for some dinner. After finally finding the metro, we get on, only to realize after a few seconds that the conductor had gotten out! And, yes, we were still IN the metro. Suddenly nervous that we would have to live the rest of our lives in the metro car, we asked the conductor what was going on. Turns out, he was just switching ends of the metro because it was the last stop and the metro was going to start going the other direction. We didn't feel stupid at all....  

Pre-Trip lights in Madrid 

Plaza Mayor at around 12:00 AM/as if it were 9:30 pm in the US...

Me and Joan at the top of the tower of the cathedral in Valencia

It's cold in Madrid ah!

And, as my last trip, I'm glad it was to another city in Spain. I have had the most incredible time this semester. I cannot thank my parents enough for being so supportive of my spending a semester abroad. The things I have been able to do and see are truly priceless. Above all, however, I have made some of the best friends. What I realized about being in Valencia is that it wasn't just Valencia. It was the people who were in Valencia with me. The trip would not have been the same without the best roommie every and two of my closest friend who I've met through the program. Thanks girls for an awesome last trip in Spain. I know I'll be telling my granddies about it. 

Being kids at a crepe restaurant in Valencia 

Sol decorated so pretty :)

Pre the infamous metro/really a light-rail ride in Valencia 

Girls being girls in Valencia 

Who said we had to act like we were 20? (Playground at night in Valencia)

Same location, different jump

Joan, Ashley, Helen, and Me take on the tower 

This is where our luggage was....hmm...

Ashley....don't leave Spain!!!!!!

Will I ever have another roommate like Joan :(

Okay, so why is this giant animal tooth thing behind me in an  Italian restaurant? All I want is my food.  (Valencia)

Watch out...you never know when Joan might snap a picture! (Valencia)

¡Marruecos!

I want to go back already! Okay, so for this amazing trip to Morocco I've included lots and lots of pictures for those of you out there who don't have facebook--for those who do, you should definitely go on and check out my Morocco Album where you'll see loads of pictures :). 

And now about Morocco itself: 

Morocco was everything I thought it was going to be, and everything I thought it wasn't going to be. Firstly, I was shocked at how tropical and beautiful it was. The citrus trees are lovely and scenery is amazing. Every mosque and mausoleum we saw were incredible (both old and new). 

Very old madrassa (school)

Although the first day was tiring, the weather was a bit warmer than Madrid and it was super exciting being in a whole different continent (and only an hour and a half plane ride away!!). It felt like a town on the Mediterranean instead of the Atlantic Ocean. As you can see in some of these pictures, the houses were beautifully white with blue splashes. There were adorable little kids playing soccer in the street as happy as could be, with no parents in sight!


All of the hotels we went to were great. Nothing overly fancy, but just what one would want after a long day of walking around etc. For lunch the first day I had my first Moroccan meal. Okay, I've obviously had couscous and vegetables before, but there's nothing like having it in the country that's known for it--it's like having pasta in Italy! It comes in a tagine (definitely had to go to google on the spelling of that one) which is a pyramid like ceramic structure. The most common dishes that come in tagine are chicken with veggies and lamb with veggies and of course couscous!

Beautiful (orange) trees I believe

Chellah in Rabat (what I imagine Greece might look like...)

Chellah

Helen, Ashley, and Me in Chellah overlooking the Atlantic Ocean 

Possibly the most eye-opening experience was visiting the Medina in Fez. Medina means city in Arabic, but here it refers to the old part of the city. It was like nothing I had ever seen before, ever. First off, no street names. Oh, and you know how New York is laid out in nice squares--this is the antithesis of that. I had no idea where we were the entire day. In fact, we weren't even allowed to walk around there alone during the day--not so much because it was dangerous (although I've heard it is at night) but because you will get lost, no questions asked. The poverty I saw there was overwhelming. And yet, the majority of the people were laughing and it was very hustle-bustle. Even still, some of those images (of donkeys in the streets, of the tiniest alleys I've ever seen) are indelible. 

I believe this is a guard outside the Mausoleo de Muhammad V y Hassan II

Ashley and Me

We also went to various artisan shops. One of those shops was a leather shop. The leather was of various different animals and was incredible, but the stench AH! We went upstairs to look out over where the leather was being prepped. Imagine the most awful smell in the world, and that is what it smelled like. So bad that they actually give you mint to sniff while you're up there! Basically what you see are dead animal skins and men standing knee deep in actual pigeon poop because that is what they use to clean the skins. I will not look at leather the same. 

The whole gang :) From left to right: Kate, Ellen, Anna, Chantal, Michelle, Violet, Barrie,  Ashley, Helen, Me

 I loved the ceramic store because we got to see the process basically from beginning to end--we saw a man molding the clay on a wheel, say the oven (although there was nothing being "fired" (is that what they say?) at that time, and a man painting the clay. Then, we of course saw the finished product. Happy to say this is the only place I bought something that wasn't included in the trip (that was another great thing about the trip--they said all inclusive with the price, and they meant it--I didn't pay for one additional meal, bus, nothing!) and only spend 20 euro total AH!

This is possibly some of the best bread I've ever had in my 20 years (almost 21!!! :) )

Amazing veggies!!!!

Yay Arabic :)/...French

Yes, that is indeed the skins of lambs...

Mucho pottery

I think this is the Palacio Real in Fez (Puerta Monumental) I'm forgetting already :(

Large plate...man doing...ok I forget what that's called...

Me plus scarf 

The majority of the girls + scarves
from left to right: Michelle, Ellen, Me, Kate (in the back with the blue scarf), I think that's Violet next to her, Barrie in the front in red and Ashley in the tan scarf (some of these names might be wrong because it's hard to tell who's who's!)

Fez in the background (I believe the Medina (old city))

Final Dinner
Michelle, Violet, Chantal, Barrie, Kate, Helen

Belly Dancer!

The final night we had dinner and saw a traditional belly dancing, Arabic and Berber singing, and a magician. All of a sudden during the meal, we noticed two of our classmates were gone! Then, they appeared again. One wearing a traditional Berber wedding outfit, the other traditional Arabic wedding garb and between them another customer at the restaurant who happened to be from Pamplona. Apparently, they were getting married haha. What ensued was a lot of singing and raising them up on chairs. Quite a site! 

Magician who magically took off Chantal's bra...poof!

Chantal in traditional Berber wedding garb (left), random man from Pamplona who was also at the restaurant, Kate in traditional Arabic wedding garb 

Outside Hassan II mosque 

Inside Hassan II mosque (Casablanca)

The last day we went back to Casablanca (guess I should have mentioned we went from Casablanca to Rabat to Fez and then back to Casablanca) to see the Hassan II mosque (third largest mosque in the world!) We were supposed to see it Friday when we were first in  Casablanca, however almost everything was closed. Why you ask? Fiesta del Cordero (Lamb) which is one of the biggest holidays in the Muslim religion and nearly everything closes. It marks the end of Ramadan (the month of fasting). How do they mark the end of the month of fasting. Well, by each family killing a lamb, of course. Hence, the picture of the skins of lambs in wagons...not joking. Imagine the sight...

Anyway, because the mosque was closed Friday (well, at least to non-Muslims, not sure about Muslims) we had to go back to see it  Sunday before our flight (super early, but totally worth it). I believe it is the only mosque in the world where non-Mulims are permitted to enter. It is incredible! The roof even opens! It has a legitimate "pool" well, Turkish bath, in the basement, and amazing architecture. Plus, it's right on the water!

Outside Hassan II mosque on the water 

After going to the mosque, we had our last lunch together. What was great was that we had a little bit of everything throughout the four days: we saw both modern and traditional sites, rich (in Casablanca, in particular, one neighborhood was unreal) and poor areas, and ate traditional and modern food. 

As you can tell, this was probably one of the best experience I have ever had. One of the best aspects of the trip was that it really pushed me to go outside of my comfort zone. To go where there might not be toilet paper (don't worry I brought some, but important tip if traveling to Morocco...) and to try the most amazing pastries and mint tea--because that's what traveling is about sometimes. Sometimes the unfamiliar is just what you need to make you feel at home :) 

Cautionary note for those planning on traveling to Morocco: 

a) bring TP

b) bring hand sanitizer

c) DO NOT DRINK THE WATER EVER 

d) You may be confused as to what language to speak. I believe there were moments when I said gracias, thank you, merci, and shookrun (Arabic for thank you, strangely I can spell this in Arabic and not english...) So, I tried a bit of everything and one of them usually sticks :)

e) You will love it so don't freak out!

This I believe is an old mosque in Chellah, but again I forget :(

PSPSPS