Spain's Toilet Paper Crisis

This will be a short post, but an important one if you're ever thinking about traveling to Europe--especially Spain.

Toilet paper is a rarity in public bathrooms. Sure, it makes a little bit of sense that they may run out at the bars and clubs, but not having it in the university bathrooms?! come on! Yes, it's a rarity for my school to have toilet paper in the stalls. Restaurants? Nope. If you are to ever walk into a stall and find toilet paper it's like finding the pot of gold at the end of a rainbow.

This past weekend we got to stay in a hotel in Morocco. Normally when I go to hotels I grab the mini shampoos and conditioners before I leave, but I never would have thought that I would be taking rolls of toilet paper home with me. It's always good to be prepared!

and soap is even more of a rarity, which is why I always carry my mini-hand sanitizer with me!

Paper towels? I don't think I may have seen these once. and hand dryers have about the strength of a 3 year old blowing out their birthday candles.

So us Americans are not usually happy campers when we come out of the bathroom..however on a day where there is 1,2 or if all is good in the world a trifecta of normal bathroom things, we feel on top of the world.

Sending Smiles From Sevilla,

Rebecca

And right next to my pens and pencils, you will find my spare roll of toilet paper.

MOROCCO

Checked another continent off the bucket list this past weekend as I visited the beautiful Africa.

This trip was organized through CIEE, which was wonderful because I would not want to try to organize my own trip to Africa! The trip started early Thursday morning as we had a long travel day ahead of us. We took a bus to Algercias then a boat to Ceuta where we crossed the boarder in a bus and then headed to our hotel in Tetuan. We were greeted at the hotel with Moroccan tea, which is green tea with spearmint leaves and absolutely delicious! After dropping our bags off in our room we headed back on the bus to begin our African adventures. 

Our guide's name was Abdul, also known in Tetuan as Michael Douglas, and he was absolutely hilarious. He knew Arabic, Spanish and English and could change between the languages so easily. He called us his family and taught us a lot about the Moroccan culture and even a few words in Arabic.

"Chokran" means Thank-you, "Salam Walacom" means Hello, and "Waha" means OK.

Our first stop in Tetuan was an artisan school where students go to learn skills such as ceramics, sewing, wood, sculpture, and much more. Abdul explained that if you are a good student you can finish in 4 years but it takes students anywhere between 4-8 years to finish their education. Each room in the school was dedicated to a different craft and we got to see the students in action-- carving wood, sewing blankets and painting bowls--it was so impressive to see the great detail that goes into all of the work. We also got to see the exposition room where all the best pieces are displayed. 

After the visit to the school we went to lunch at a typical Moroccan restaurant. There was an entertainer in the restaurant dancing with a plate on top of his head with candles on it! The food was all pretty good! We started with bread, then soup, then mystery meat kabobs, cous cous with chicken and veggies, oranges with cinnamon, cookies, and tea. HUGE MEALS. I tried EVERYTHIING. and enjoyed it all except for the meat kabobs which I later found out were lamb...where I almost puked. 

After lunch we went for a cultural tour of La Medina, which is the market in Tetuan. Tetuan is not a tourist city--it's a real view of Moroccan culture and daily life. The market was muddy, smelly, tightly cramped and filled with so much stuff. This was a struggle for me as there were dead fish everywhere and dead chickens hanging from the little tents in the market. I kept my head down and watched the persons feet in front of me and focused on breathing through my mouth. There were also live chickens in cages which also made me sad. Once we got out of the "food" section of the medina it wasn't as terrible-- there was still so much stuff though-- clothes, fake american brands, spices, henna color, artisan crafts, shoes, purses and more. Then we came to a horse stable where Abdul explained that the shop owners kept their horses when they are selling their stuff. Well, there were no horses in there but there was a lot of horse shit. 

So then Abdul gave each of us a stem with spearmint leaves, which I thought was to mask the scent of the horse shit, but turns out it was to mask a different smell. The Tenerife is where they process the animals' skin to make leather. SO this is the places where they bathe dead animals in little open tubs of water and then cut off the skin and rub it down until it's smooth as leather. GROSS. GROSS. GROSS. I could not contain myself. I tore the leaves off and stuck them in my scarf, wrapped my scarf around my face and didn't breath through my nose for a solid 7 minutes. 

After that wonderful experience we continued to walk around La medina and Abdul showed us a mosque where Muslims pray. He talked about the religion and explained that they pray 5 times a day and that when they enter the mosque they have to take their shoes off. Abdul also walked us through a residential area where people live and told us that it's very common for more than one family to live together.

Then we headed back to our hotel for dinner where I had rice, carrots, a potato , bread and a fruit cup.

Saturday morning we had breakfast at the hotel and then headed off for a day in Tanger. We started the day with a tour of a Coca Cola factory which was SO COOL. I was so impressed by how all of the machines worked at such a fast speed! We watched the production and assembly of cans of an apple fizzy drink-- saw the cans come out, get filled, capped, and if they weren't filled to the right level a machine detected that and tossed it out. We also watched the production of big plastic bottles of Hawai orange fizzy juice-- the bottle starts off in the shape of a test tube and then expands into a big bottle! Lastly, we saw the production of coca cola in glass bottles- we saw the huge machine that takes the dirty glass bottles and cleans them so they are ready to be refilled! We also saw the machines that package everything, it was so efficient! At the end of our tour they offered us a drink! I tried the Hawai drink and although I don't like carbonation, I thought it was pretty good!

We then went for lunch at a restaurant right off the water. We had salad (with tuna) so I didn't eat much of that. Then we had big puff balls filled with chicken..they were actually pretty tasty but the fact that I couldn't really tell what I was eating kind of freaked me out so I didn't eat much.

Then we got back on the bus and mid-route we pulled off on the side of the road and got off the bus. This is where we rode camels. and when I saw "rode camels" I mean get on a camel go on a little 2 minute loop, take pictures and get off. The camels were cool..because I love animals and all..but it was a bit anti-climatic. 

After all the selfies with the camels we went to St. Michaels Caves where there is a cut out of rocks in the shape of Africa--super cool. There is also a little pool of water in the caves and Abdul told us that if we wash our hands 3 times we will find a husband. So of course all the girls (including myself) lined up to find our chance at love!

Then we meet some Moroccan students for a discussion at a cafe. I talked to a Moroccan guy about life in Tanger and he taught me how to write my name in Arabic! It was cool to learn more about their culture and school life. After the discussion the Moroccan students lead us to the Medina, which is the market in Tanger. It was rainy but we made it there and had about 30 minutes to shop. 30 minutes is definitely not long enough because at these markets you have to barter! After many family vacations to Mexico I have learned that bartering is a process. Go in, look around, show interest in things you don't want, ask for prices for a lot of things, then ask for the price of something you want, say 40% of that price, they say no, walk away, they come to chase you, barter some more, get your product. I bought a blanket-- original price 450 Dirhams, I paid a final price of 200 Dirhams for it. 

We then went back to the hotel for dinner and headed to sleep after a long day!

Saturday we packed our bags, had lunch at the hotel and headed out early for our last day! We went to the city of Chefchaouene, which is the blue city..literally it's all BLUE! We toured the beautiful blue city and then had some time to shop in la medina before heading back on our bus, boat and bus adventure back to Sevilla. 

It was a great, cultural and beautiful weekend in Morocco. I learned a lot and will forever appreciate being able to drink tap water!! 

Sending Smiles From Sevilla,

Rebecca

The Artisan School

6 course meal

 The Tenerife-- Dead animals in pools of water

La Medina

 The Mosque and our guide Abdul 

The Coca Cola Factory-- that test tube becomes a big plastic bottle

 Chefcaouene 

 Riding Camels

Cave in the shape of Africa

Our Moroccan Friend!

Chefchaouene

    

The Power of Facebook

(Keep reading to find out about the power of Facebook)

Today was just a normal, great day in Sevilla. A wonderful workout, a little post-workout siesta, a post-siesta lunch.

After lunch I met one of my Spanish friends from my global discussion, Rafa, for a drink before class. To me it's so weird having a drink before class...but completely normal here (plus a tinto de verano has about 0% alcohol)! I really wanted to work on my Spanish so we chatted for an hour all in Spanish and it was so helpful!

After that I had a meeting with my photography teacher where we were going to work on my photo project together! My photo teacher is one of my favorites, he is so kind, enthusiastic and generous. He voluntarily meets with students outside of class time to help them with their projects. He was even so nice and gave me one of his cameras (like a really nice one) to use for my project and he told me to take it with on my travels to get some good shots! TOO NICE! So I had fun roaming around el centro taking pictures with him.

Now, the power of FACEBOOK. When I was 15 I went to the Dominican Republic with my family and during our stay at the hotel I met a bunch of people from all over. Well, I met one boy from the Netherlands and although I knew him for about 2 days of the trip we became friends on Facebook. Anyways, fastforward 6 YEARS and I'm on Facebook and something pops up on my newsfeed saying this guy is "checked in" at a place in Sevilla. What?? So, not having talked to this guy in 6 years of course I message him. Said something to the extent of "hey sorry if this is really random or you don't remember me..but I saw you're in Sevilla and I'm here this semester!" Anyways, crazy thing is he just moved here and is opening a business about teaching people how to create socially responsible businesses, or something to that extent! WHICH IS WHAT I WANT TO DO WITH MY LIFE!

Well, today my one class got canceled which worked out perfectly because today was the only day we would be able to meet up. (He's traveling for the next month) So, we met up! It's a small world after all. We walked around and he showed me where there is a GOURMET Cien Montaditos! It was pretty awesome! All in all, it's crazy how Facebook can connect you with people-- nice job Zuckerberg.

Oh yeah.. and I'm going to Africa tomorrow.

Sending Smiles From Sevilla,

Rebecca

Gourmet Cien Montaditos-- the good life

Una Visita

Today was a catch up on sleep and go to class kind of day. I had three classes today and took a nice long siesta in between. My finance class this evening was a visit to a business. It was actually pretty cool, besides for the fact that is was about a 45 minute walk! And all we did was sit in a room and listen to a presentation-- so it would have been more efficient for the guy to come to our classroom and talk to us about their company. But anyways, the company was actually pretty cool. It was called WPS- World Payment System. They make it more efficient for hotels and travel agencies to collect money (since they are collecting all different kids of currencies).

My attempt to go out of my comfort zone and make spanish friends: This evening I went out with a few spanish students to a beer tent, which was fun until they all started smoking. My goodness, I don't know why but it just really bothers me! After that we met up with some American students at a different bar. It was a chill night for me, as I wanted to relax a bit!

Sending Smiles From Sevilla,

Rebecca

BARCELONA

A weekend in Barcelona (which was basically Chicago mixed with Miami) with Kelly, Sara, Rachael, Maaren, Troy, and Zach!

The weekend started off with Kelly and I heading to the bus station dark and early at 4:50AM. On the corner right before the bus station we were approached by a woman who was asking us for a Euro for the bus. In a normal daytime situation I would have probably given her a Euro. but, the fact that no one was out, it was 5AM and she was being really persistent and then rude made me nervous. She was probably a gypsy that was going to steal something once we reached into our purses. So, we headed over to the bus stop, where we saw the bus which was actually LEAVING.. gahh. So Kelly and I grabbed a taxi and headed over to the airport.

I again forgot about the juice box going through security, so I chugged that down real quick. For some special reason I was placed in priority seating in the first row. Usually I'm in one of the last few rows but that day I was living the good life.

Upon arriving to Barcelona, I really did feel like I was in a different country. Signs were not in Spanish, but Catalan. Catalan is a mixture of Spanish and French, I could probably figure out the signs but when people spoke to me I struggled to understand what they were saying. Barcelona is a part of a region called Catalunya. It's VERY independent from Spain..or at least it's trying to be! There is a catalunya flag that many people hang from their balconies to show that they want to become a country independent from Spain. Also, we got to see a candle lighting thing in Plaza Catalunya where they were making some sort of design out of candles to protest and show they wanted their independence. Super interesting!

Anyways, we got to to our hostel fairly easily and settled there before heading out to explore (aka find FOOD.) I had a recommendation from a friend to try a great place called Brunch and Cake and it did not disappoint. There was a bit of a wait but while waiting outside the adorable hostess brought a blanket and placed it on Kelly. hahahaha. After having to wait about 30 minutes to be seated (delayed gratification) I had amazing french toast and then we tried a few different types of cake, I usually don't like cake but this was an exception! We also met up with one of our friends, Dzak, who is studying abroad in Barca. After brunch he showed us around the city. We walked down Las Ramblas, a famous pedestrian only shopping street (and location of one of the Cheetah Girls scenes from their movie). We walked over to the port and then headed back up las ramblas to the market. FRESH FRUIT AND VEGGIES AND FRUIT JUICE FOR DAYSSSS. and meat and fish which I tried to stay away form. I got so many fresh fruits and veggies and saved them for dinner so I could make an amazing fruit salad!

We then went a grabbed some other food for dinner at the grocery store and then put everything in the fridge at the hostel. Then we were off to see the Magic Fountain at Montjuc! It really was MAGICAL. There were so many fountains, there was a huge one lighting up with different colors, the water was going in different directions, music was playing... it was great! And there was a beautiful building and a great view of the city. Really cool thing to see!

We then went back to the hostel where I feasted on my fruit salad and amazzzinggg avocado. Our hostel organizes a nightly pub crawl so we all went out with everyone from the hostel and had a great night! We even met a Badger alumni-- such a small world!

Saturday morning we got up and went to Parque Guell. We met up with one of our friends from Madison, Jen, who was studying abroad in Rome with Kelly and also visiting Barcelona! The park was awesome and designed by Gaudi and it looked like something Dr. Seuss would have created in Whoville. I loved all the mosaic tiles and gorgeous architecture. (Also pretty cool that the Cheetah Girls were filmed there along with a photo shoot from Americas Next Top Model).

After the park the group split off a bit. Kelly and I went to get Mexican food (as I had been dying for some guacamole) at this cute restaurant that had great reviews! After a bit of a wait (delayed gratification) we feasted on some damn good chips and guac and I had some quesadillas with guac inside! We then went to La Sagrada Familia. A huge church designed by Gaudi (Yes, he basically designed the whole city.) It was under construction, has been for a long time and will be forever-- it represents Barcelona's modernism and the city's constant change to become more modern. (or at least that's what I learned in Madison). We went inside and let me tell you this has been my favorite church so far--and since being in Europe I have visited a TON! The stained glass and architecture was breathtaking. So unique and different from anything I had seen in Europe-- Gaudi was so ahead of his time.

We then met back up with the group at our hostel and headed over to a spa for a little self pampering. But this was not your ordinary Spa. Sara found this place online before coming to Barca and she really wanted to try it out. It was a fish pedicure--yes, you read that right, FISH! And if you know me, you know I hate fish so I really had to conquer my fears for this. You put your feet in a tub of water and little fishies eat away at the dead skin on your feet. For about the first 2 minutes I kept laughing because it tickled so much! But after that I was fine and it was actually kind of relaxing! 

After that we wandered around and that is where we saw the candle lighting for the independence of Catalunya. 

We then went to the supermarket to grab some food for dinner, I again went to town on the fruits and veggies. After dinner we joined the hostel crew for another fun night out!

Sunday everyone had an early flight except for me, Sara and Rachel (our flight was at 10PM). So, we took a day trip to Montserrat, a town on a mountain about an hour away from Bareclona. It was so cool! We took a cable car up to the town and then went in and saw the church--since it was Sunday there was an actual mass going on so that was pretty cool to see! When we walked out of the church we saw a bunch of teens playing some game that involved running and rock paper scissors, I was of course intrigued and stood there trying to understand the game. We then went up to the kids and asked them what they were doing/ who they were (because there was a huge group of them!) They explained to us that they were a part of an after-school program, they were all around 17 yrs old and they WALKED from Barcelona to Montserrat. Remember when I said we took an hour train? Well these kids walked for 32 hours straight after their class. CRAZYNESS. And to top it all off now they are playing this intense running version of rock paper scissors, which they explained to us and then had us join in for a round! It was fun!! (and my team won :) )

We then decided to do a little hiking. We took the tram a little farther up the mountain to where the trails were. Once up there we chilled on a cliff side for a little and then climbed to the top (or at least the "top" for people wearing TOMS and cheap shoes from H&M..aka us.) So we walked as high as we could and then it started to SNOW.. yes SNOW! It was so cool! I guess we brought some snow with us from the midwest! 

We then hiked down because we wanted to have enough time to catch our train! and boy did we cut it close. We got to the tram..had to wait toooo long. Got off the tram and Sprinted to the cable car where we had to wait a little more and the man was nice enough to try to speed along the process. Then once we got off the cable car we sprinted to the train where we literally jumped on and the doors closed! Barely made it!

Once back in Barca we went to eat at Bo De B where I got an awesome veggie sandwich for only 3 Euro! We then got some awesome gelato! After that we headed back to the hostel, then to the airport and back to Sevilla! NOTE: We used 7 different types of transportation that day: Walking, Sprinting, Cable Cars, Trams, Buses, a Train, and a Plane. 

Overall, I really liked Barcelona! I think I enjoyed the city and it's modernity! So different from any other city in Europe. I think I really liked it because I have learned so much about it in my Spanish culture and history classes back in Madison. Gaudi's work was super interesting and cool and one of my favorite sites so far! Also, something interesting about the city is the intersections. The building corners are all flat, so this creates room for extra parking, but it also creates longer walks for pedestrians. Oh well, it was so beautiful I didn't mind the longer walk!

Barcelona was was success! 

Sending Smiles From Sevilla,

Rebecca

Fruit at the market!

Montjuc--MAGIC FOUNTAIN!

Dinner of champions!

Parque Guell

Heaven

La Sagrada Familia

Fish Pedicure

Candle Lighting for Catalan Independence

Dinner of Champions round 2

Our Hostel

The church on the mountain--during Mass!

Monserrat 

 A great group for a great trip!