Carnaval de Cádiz

...AKA the biggest party I've ever attended! Last weekend most of our group travelled to Cádiz, another city in Andalucía located on the beach, for its annual famed festival, Los carnavales! While I found Cádiz to be beautiful, and I have several friends who have studied there in several programs and fallen in love, I must admit that I got to know the city itself very little in this weekend trip. Carnaval takes over the ENTIRE city and EVERYONE participates, so my time there was decided to immersing myself in the crowds and festivities. I definitely plan to return for the beaches, the history, and the city itself later in the semester :)

So, Carnaval. From what I understand, it was the only festival that Franco was not able to abolish during his dictatorial regime, which is a pretty strong reputation. Spain loves its festivals and its fiestas, and Carnaval is one of the biggest and the favorites. Los carnavales lasts about two weeks long and entails several singing group competitions, a great deal of political and satirical representations and humor, costumes, and drinking. The more formal competitions and such take place during the week to my understanding, but during the weekend the entire city is filled with ciudadanos and tourists alike taking to the streets in costume (picture a giant block party on Halloween...kind of?). One of the highlights of this fiesta is the chirigotas, singing groups that aren't competing but go around the city giving funny, lighthearted and satirical performances. Chirigotas have an iconic manner of singing. very animated and like telling a story,  that's so enjoyable to watch! I think I can put videos on this thing...let's see. 

Unless this ^ miraculously works (after telling me it failed) I suppose that I can't :( I'll post extra pictures but they won't be able to capture it!

A chirigota of high school aged guys

They kicked us off the steps we were sitting on to perform, but did a great job!

Although I didn't get to experience much of Cádiz in itself, I had the awesome opportunity to stay with a host family there and connect with them. Originally, several people in our MundoLengua group wanted to pursue staying with a host family in Cádiz because ML also has programs there, and housing (hotels, hostels, etc) was so expensive during Carnaval. Trying to save a few euros turned into touching new relationships with a beautiful family in Cádiz that made me feel welcome and as though I belonged from the moment I set foot inside their home. Encarna y Pepe hosted Devon and myself and made our stay in the city feel incredibly comfortable. Even though I was only there for two days and one night, I'm excited to go back and see them again. 

As for the actual festivities, we spent the majority of our time in Cádiz on the streets in costume, soaking everything in! The city was crawling with locals, Spaniards from other cities, and foreigners alike. I had a blast meeting new people, seeing all the costumes, listening to the chirigotas and exploring the city. Probably an experience better explained in photographs...enjoy!

The gang!

Spaniards love Despicable Me

Can't beat a sunset on the beach

On the steps of la catedral was the place to be

A sailor, princess, 80's chica, pirate, hula girl, and two chefs!

Another chirigota...all monkeys!

Morocco!

Finally, here is a little bit about our adventure to Morocco! Two weekends ago we travelled with our entire MundoLengua group to Morocco, Africa for the weekend and visited the cities of Chefchaouen, Tangier, and Tetouan. I knew beforehand that travelling to Morocco would be a very different and eye opening experience, so I made a conscious effort not to start the trip with any expectations or preconceptions, and to just observe and take everything in while there. It is a beautiful country and I had a wonderful experience on this trip, but it was eye opening to say the least.

I'd first like to say  how grateful I am to MundoLengua for giving us the opportunity to take this trip! The entire experience was included as part of our program. While we travelled with an outside company in a larger tourist group than I would have liked, we were able to navigate crossing the border, transportation via ferry and several busses, lodging, and informative tours with ease. I typically prefer travelling in smaller groups and avoiding tourist traps when possible to get a better feel of the actual culture,  but I do admit that I would have had uncomfortable experiences attempting to organize this trip outside of a company. There are some locations which are easily accessible and enjoyable for travellers, to which one can up and go on a whim.  Personally, I would not categorize Morocco as such. You should know a little bit of history and background before visiting. 

Adiós España! Vamos a Marruecos! 

Ferry ride to Africa!

The Rock of Gibraltar

My favorite part of the trip was definitely the time we spent in Chefchaouen. It is a beautiful, rural town set right against the mountain, with lovely buildings and people. We toured the town for awhile, learning about its cultural, historical and religious significances. Part of our time there was a typical Moroccan meal for lunch, which was absolutely incredible. I feel like I always focus on food in my experiences but the vegetables were so fresh, the bread was hot out of the oven, the main dish (eggs in some type of meat sauce) was amazing. I ate to the point of pain because it was all so good! 

City of blue!

Afterwards, there was free time to explore, which for most people meant taking advantage of the beautiful jewelry, crafts, tapestries, scarves, etc. sold on the streets. Morocco is one of those place where, unless you're buying food or a specifically priced item, you are expected to haggle. Our group had varying degrees of haggling proficiency, and there was also the fact that sales are how these people make a living, but in the end we provided a lot business and are bringing home some amazing souvenirs. 

CNU family photo :)

Once I made a few purchases, made friends with one of the merchants and sent a few friends his way, a few of us sat in a busy plaza with an incredible view of the mountain on a beautiful day to people watch and soak everything in. We ordered tea which is know as the 'Moroccan whiskey' and sipped and enjoyed. Having toured a wonderful town, made a personal connection with a local artisan, with  an amazing meal in my stomach, this was one of my favorite moments in Morocco! I think that travelling and experiencing other cultures is a great balance of going, doing, seeing and sitting, feeling, and watching. 

Moroccan whiskey

As I said, our trip involved a fair amount of guided touring and tourist attractions, but was still a great experience. Highlights of the weekend:

After several hours of travelling by bus, boat and bus again to arrive in El Rincon, Morroco, Liz and I committed to sacrificing precious hours of sleep to watch the sunrise the following morning over the sea as we stayed in a beach front hotel. We got up in the dark and an incredibly nice fellow who spoke no language we could readily identify (not English, Spanish, French, or Arabic, all the most likely ones in Morocco) let us out the hotel gate onto the beach. It was cold and the sunrise was not the most beautiful that I've seen...but watching it rise on the beach over the sea in Morocco definitely made it one of the coolest. Absolutely worth it. 

Starting in the dark

Pictures don't do it justice

We spent the night in Tangier and walked on the beach for awhile in the evening. Realizing that we were in AFRICA seeing the Atlantic Ocean, the same waters (kinda) that we know from Home Sweet Virginia, was pretty mindblowing. 

We stopped for a few moments on the side of the road to see and take pictures of where the Atlantic Ocean and Mediterranean Sea meet. There is no grand visible divide but it's a beautiful location and kind of a crazy idea to wrap your head around.

We stopped (again on the side of the road) for a typical Moroccan camel riding experience! AKA a 3 minute touristy pony riding experience atop dromedaries (with only one hump; two hump camels are native to Central Asia) that are tethered in a rope-line. I'm not saying that it wasn't cool to ride a 'camel', because it was. But it was far from authentic. What WAS really amazing was the beach lying just beyond our riding area. It was absolutely breathtaking, one of those moments when nature seems too beautiful to be real. Our bus went in waves of five to ride the camels, leaving us some solid time to walk along the beach, find shells, and simply enjoy the African wind blowing through our hair. 

Our last day in Morocco was spent in Tetouan, of which I unfortunately have no pictures! But one of my favorite parts of the city was walking through the street market PACKED with people as they shopped for everything from fruit and vegetables, clothing, fresh meat and fish, appliances, etc. Our guide told us that shopping occurs at least twice daily, and as everything is so fresh people will essentially buy solely what they need for that day's meal. Certainly takes more time than back at home, but an awesome concept. We also visited a typical Moroccan pharmacy, which was very cool. The pharmacist gave us a presentation and showed/explained the many different creams, oils, spices, etc. they have to offer. The country is famous for items like Moroccan oil (duh), saffron, tea leaves, etc. We got to try everything that he discussed and ended up smelling like a variety of lovely lotions and perfumes. 

Aside from the more bright and cheery experiences, I was exposed to a culture that holds different ideals about what I think most Americans take for granted as core societal values. Our country creates a great deal of controversy over religion and its role in daily life, government, etc. but whether you practice, believe, argue or are indifferent, I don't think we realize how much Christianity affects everyone in the States. In Morocco, the combination of differences in religion and social development provide a stark contrast to daily life in America, especially for a white woman. I experienced being highly objectified and disrespected more than I ever have before. I'm sure that a great deal of this was attributed to me being an outsider, as the Muslim faith means to respect women greatly and I don't wish to misrepresent the religion in sharing my experiences. I got the briefest glimpse of how it might feel to be in the reverse situation, even to appear Muslim in the US. The constant staring and yelling on the streets were on such a small scale yet discomforting; I cannot begin to fathom the experience of someone in our melting pot of a country who doesn't look 'American'. 

It's very difficult to represent a thought-provoking, not necessarily positive experience without making it seem negative. I thoroughly enjoyed and got a lot out of our trip to Morocco, none of which was impeded by the face that some parts weren't 'fun'. A beautiful country, a colorful history and culture, and a lot of perspective gained from a small taste of a world inherently different from my own. I hope you enjoy the thoughts and the pictures. Thank you for reading.