My 21st Birthday and the surrounding week…

Well my “Spring Break” was this past week because in Spain the whole week (Semana Santa – Holy Week) before Easter is celebrated, so stores close, schools are out, etc. I flew down to Sevilla Spain Thursday, April 2^nd so that the next day at 4 AM I could get on a bus to go to Africa. I went along with other students from my study abroad program and with students from other ISA programs in Spain and Morocco.

 We arrived in Morocco, after a long bus ride and ferry ride across the Strait of Gibraltar,  and stayed in a 5-star hotel – not American 5-star, but still very very very nice!  (nice Spring break, huh?) and the next day we went on a tour of the city. The main part of the day we spent in the old part of the town – the Medina- where we went to an herbalist (which I had a great time in since I love learning about medicines of any type!), a rug co-op (where we got to look at SOOOOOOO many cool rugs, drink really good green tea, and, of course, buy the beautiful rugs), a leather tannery (they gave us mint leaves to smell to keep us from getting sick because the smell is so bad), and a weaving place (where they made the MOST beautiful fabrics!) In the Medina there are thousands of tiny streets – so small that cars can’t get in – the only method of transportation is mules and donkeys. That night we went to a traditional Moroccan show with music, belly dancing, and other stuff that I can’t remember –it was a long day!

:::The only mode of transport in the Medina:::

:::A really really REALLY old university:::

:::With the children when we stopped for a little while:::

:::Having a nervous breakdown after buying really expensive rugs:::

:::The tannery:::

We woke up the next morning and got back on the bus to go to the Sahara desert. After we arrived in Erfoud, we got in 4x4 vehicles to go to the desert since there weren’t roads that went out that far. We got there that night and just got settled into las haimas (the tents). It is crazy how cold it gets in the desert at night, so we all had to snuggle to keep warm!

:::On the way to the desert in the 4x4:::

The next morning watched the sun rise ---- BEAUTIFUL, AMAZING, SPECTACULAR----- the pictures cannot even begin to show what it looked like that morning, and it was probably just as spectacular that we were able to drag ourselves out of the tent into the cold air at 5:30 AM! We rode camels, crawled/ran/walked/sunk-into-the-sand up a huge sand dune, slid back down the down, rode camels to a village, played with the African children, relaxed around our tents, listened to some African drumming while dancing with African children, got henna tattoos, listened to an African band that played at dinner and danced a little afterwards until 12 AM – April 7^th – my birthday!

:::The first thing I saw when I woke up - other than the roof of my tent:::

:::Photo shoot in the desert:::

:::Absolutely stunning - it's hard to describe with pictures and words:::

:::The beautiful sunrise continues:::

:::The sun:::

:::Drawing in the sand:::

:::Riding on the camels:::

:::Letting the camels take a break:::

:::The huge sand dune that we climbed - doesn't look that big in the picture but it was HUGE:::

:::Moroccan child:::

:::Henna tattoos:::

:::African band:::

On my birthday... Woke up the next morning early to go sit in the sand… it was a little cloudy, so I couldn’t see the sunrise as well, but it was still beautiful. Then we had to travel back to Erfoud by 4x4, then to Meknes by bus. When we got to Meknes we went to the Medina to go shopping there. The next thing that happened was really funny because Meknes is not a very touristy city, but as I was walking into a little store in the Medina, I saw someone with a jacket on that said Paducah, heard the southern accent, and found out there was a group of 4 or 5 people there from Paducah and the surrounding area – one of which was the father of someone who used to go to my church, but when you are from Mayfield/Paducah/Murray you can usually always find a common friend!

:::My 21st birthday:::

:::Vanessa, Hannah, Michelle and I:::

We traveled back to Sevilla where we encountered huge parades since the biggest festival for Semana Santa is in Sevilla, but we were so tired that we went to sleep. The next day we watched parades for most of the day and night and early morning because it is the biggest festival day in Sevilla. The next morning I met Jami and Kelly from my school at home, and two of their friends from Valencia, and for that day and the next we explored Sevilla – went in the beautiful and huge Cathedral, watched Parades, went into the Alcazar – a big palace with huge gardens, Torre del oro, and the local bull-fighting plaza.

:::Los nazerenos - the guys with the tall white hats:::

:::Sevilla Catedral:::

:::Jami and me in front of the big fountain in Sevilla:::

:::Friends from home - Jami & Kelly:::

:::Gardens in the Alcazar:::

:::Torre del Oro:::

:::Plaza de Toros:::

Yesterday I flew back into Barcelona. BiBi is not here… and it was weird being away from home on Easter. I am used to being with all of my family in Mayfield or Lexington… but I guess being away just makes me appreciate everything at home even more! I hope that everyone had a very blessed Easter!

¡Hasta Luego!