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. 

GRANADA!!

The most common piece of advice I got before coming to Spain was “Don’t fall in love.” Well, I did it. And to make it even more cliché, I fell in love on Valentine’s Day….with the city of Granada (I used that one on a Facebook status and it was well received so I thought I’d reuse it).

Granada is located east of Sevilla, also in the region of Andalucía, and it is WONDERFUL. I headed out with a group of eight Friday afternoon (two weekends ago) to explore this awesome city. I'd travelled to Granada before when I was on my previous study abroad trip to Spain, but this time I got more of a chance to get to the city. One of the sweetest parts of our weekend was our lodging, a hostel called Maktub Adventure Guesthouse (http://www.maktubgranada.com/). If anyone has travel plans to Granada and has a preference for good people and cool atmosphere over luxury, I would highly recommend it. Maktub has a great location in the heart of the city, close to everything we wanted to do during our short stay! The eight of us (and one new friend) slept in a nine person room, with three triple bunkbeds. Basically, giant sleepover for the weekend. The top floor of the hostel is a covered, open air terrace which was perfect for hanging out in the evenings as a group. The staff was awesome; shout out to Nicale, who had only been working there for about a week and a half to cover the cost of his stay, and was planning to continue his adventure in another city shortly after we left). Great experience at Maktub overall!

Blurry shot of the full moon welcoming us to Granada

terraza chillin

Dylan forgot to put away his laundry

bottom bunk status

We loved Maktub, creepy mannequin and all

By far the most beautiful, famous and incredible sight to see in Granada is the Alhambra, a huge fortress and palace that dates back (I think!) to about the 10th century. I'm not a history buff but I am a lover of exquisite architecture and breathtaking views. It's really difficult to put into words the experience of visiting la Alhambra. We were there for about three hours (which isn't nearly enough; you could spend an entire day wandering inside) and the whole time I felt pretty small and insignificant...but most of all I felt a deep sense of wonder. Wonder that something so old (although partially restored) could still be standing strong. Wonder at the miniscule details of incredibly large structures that had to take so much time, patience and skill. Wonder at the amazing views of the mountainous city, and how different it must look since the first people walked within the walls of the Alhambra. 1000 words can't do it justice, but here's some pictures:

We had absolutely gorgeous weather!

The detail work I'm talking about...this especially blows my mind. Simply beautiful.

A beautiful newly wed couple, after being married in the gardens of la Alhambra!

In addition to just being beautiful, mountainous city, Granada has a very cool, very Andalucian culture. An awesome part of being there is that Granada restaurants stick to the original tradition of tapas, which is that a small portion of food is served with every drink. It's rare to still find this practice in Spain but every tapas bar we went to gave us a free small plate of the chef's choosing with every cerveza and tinto de verano. This is such a great practice for many reasons. It makes a meal more of a social event, because you get small bits of food throughout the evening instead of everything at once. It allows you to enjoy everyone's company and talk and relax, instead of focusing on eating and leaving. It also ensures that you're pacing yourself with your drinks and not throwing them back on an empty stomach. It's a very economical way to eat, because you can make a meal out of having a few drinks. Finally, my favorite is that typically you don't choose the tapa that comes with your meal. It's a great surprise and a manner of showcasing the chef's favorite plates or perhaps experimentation with new ones. 

All this food came with the beer!

Absolutely love making a meal of tapas!

My host parents are from a small town in Granada and got married in the city in Plaza Nueva, which was a short walk from our hostel. It was so cool to see the church and feel a personal connection to the history of the couple that has invitied me into their home for the semester! Liz and I took a picture in front of the church to take back and show them.

roomies!

Iglesia Santa Ana

Another famous sight in Granada is Sacromonte, a barrio up on the mountain famous for its flamenco caves. On Sunday morning, we trekked up to Sacromonte, which is an absolutely gorgeous walk. There are incredible views of the mountains, the city and la Alhambra along the way. We stopped in at a restaurant with traditional flamenco caves (I actually saw a performance in one of them on my previous trip!) and ordered paella, a traditional and amazing Spanish dish, for lunch. They were preparing for an event that afternoon so expected the food to take awhile to prepare, giving us time to look around the caves and explore the city a bit more. After wandering, we came back and sat down to one of the most incredible meals of my life. We'd all spent a great weekend bonding and falling in love with Granada and lunch was one of our last moments in the city. We got a couple pitchers of sangria (served with tapas, of course) and basically soaked in our pure contentment and happiness. Then, the main event arrived. The eight of us shared a giant, exquisite paella that makes me salivate to remember. The flavor was perfect and I felt like I was nearly having a religious experience with this food. Maybe we were all on a high from the great weekend but we couldn't stop talking about how delicious it was. We had a long meal, stuffing in as much of the paella as was possible, recalled the highlights of the weekend, laughed a lot. Finally, we wandered back down the mountain in the general direction of the bus station to think about heading home. Granada is also famous for its many teterias (tea shops) so we stopped in one along the way as our final goodbye to the city. Relaxing in a sweet teteria sipping hot tea was the perfect way to end the weekend, before we had to haul our tired selves up and sprint to take a taxi and make our bus back to Sevilla!

#TEAMGRANADA

La Alhambra

una cueva de Sacromonte

Sacromonte

Sacromonte

the best paella in the world...

one of my favorite moments on this trip was this meal!

awesome vibe in the teteria

tea time!

Aside from some of Granada's better known attractions, we visited a beautiful cathedral, a few markets (fresh fruit, vegetables, meats...some people prefer not to have their products photographed so I didn't even pull out my camera in one of the markets, but wishing I had!) and did some awesome meandering. Our trip had the perfect balance of get-up-and-go-see-the-sights and sitting back to take in and fully appreciate it all. Granada is a city of beautiful nature, architecture, people, and culture! Here are a few more shots for our time there:

Thanks for reading :)