March 18, 2008 We woke up this morning and went to breakfast before packing our things up to leave. Then we got on our favorite bus, and started our drive. We got a tour of Meknes, and stopped to see the city from the outside. We could see the walls enclosing the city and the numerous minarets. Then we went to the “best gate” in Meknes. The gate leads into a market, or medina. Then we got back into the bus to go to Tétouan. When we finally got here, Mohammad took us on a little tour of the important streets, [View Full Entry]

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March 17, 2008 Today started off much earlier than normal. We woke up for good at 4:45 so we could go watch the sun rise. As much as it wasn’t fun to get up so early, I was soo happy when it finally came, because I went from one of the best night’s sleep to the worst in a day. The mattress was very uncomfortable, the pillows were hard, we had to share a blanket and sheet, and it was FREEZING! Even with my jeans, 2 pairs of socks, cami, tank top, long sleeve shirt, and sweatshirt (over my head, too) [View Full Entry]

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March 16, 2008 We woke up and went to breakfast this morning. It was probably one of the best breakfasts in awhile. I ate a lot! We left the hotel to make our way to the Sahara in Toyota Land Cruisers. We first went to the Valle de los Fosiles, a museum of sorts. The guide showed us various rocks that have fossils in them. They make furniture and figurines out of these fossils. While I was there, one of the sales guys came up to me and said, “You are very nice. You are very pretty. You can live with [View Full Entry]

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March 15, 2008 After waking up this morning, we ate breakfast at the hotel. They had a lot of pastries and fresh orange juice. They were very good! We had a change of plans, and stayed in Fès for awhile. We went to the Royal Palace to see the walls outside, the gardens, and the guards. We drove a little more to a market area called la medina de Fès. There were a lot of little streets with people walking around selling things or at their stores. It is so different than anything I have seen before. It shows how lucky [View Full Entry]

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March 14, 2008 This morning came very quickly as Julie and I had to leave home at 5:00 am (4:30 wake-up for me!) to catch the bus around 5:45 for out 6:00 departure. Bus ride #1 was a little over 2 hours and took us to Algeciras, Spain, to catch the ferry across the Mediterranean Sea. That was the first time I have been on a ship that big, but due to the little sleep I had had, I slept most of the hour ride. We finally made it to AFRICA! We arrived in Ceuta which is still a Spanish territory. [View Full Entry]

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March 12, 2008 This morning we had our meeting for our trip to Morocco and the Sahara. I am so excited to go now that I know what we’ll be doing. Some of the things include: tours of Chefchaouen, Fes, and Midelt, 4x4 to Albergue Ali El Cojo, and a night in a tent in the Sahara. It is going to be a very interesting experience seeing how life is in Africa, especially the differences in the treatment of women. I finally was able to meet my new intercambio today. His name is Andres. He is 38, married, and works for [View Full Entry]

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March 8, 2008 Julie and I went to Ronda today. We had a very confusing start to the day because the bus we were supposed to take, and that we got on, ended up being the wrong bus. So about 5 minutes before we left, we switched buses. It was weird though because they were both the same company, and both had Ronda as their destination. We were so confused, but thankfully got on the right bus! The ride was about 2 ½ hours, and when we finally got there, we got a map and figured out where the Puente Nuevo [View Full Entry]

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March 2, 2008 After our typical Starbucks stop on Sundays, Julie and I decided to go walking through the Barrio Santa Cruz since we had never really been in that area before. We walked around, making our way to many tourist shops, until we found this really pretty park. We had no idea where we were until we turned a corner and recognized a monument we had seen before. Despite our trying to get lost, we had failed! We went a different route from the park to see another new area. We again had no idea where we were, so we [View Full Entry]

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March 1, 2008 Today was almost 80˚. I was outside in a tank top and flip-flops. It is March 1. I love Spain! [View Full Entry]

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February 29, 2008 Today Katie, Mary Ellen, Julie, and I went to Jerez de la Frontera. We took the bus there, and we had no idea what we were going to do, but we wanted to go to a Bodega (winery). Once we got there, and found a map, we eventually made our way to Alvaro Domecq, the bodega Mary Ellen read was one of the best. When we got there we had no idea what we were supposed to do for a tour, so we walked around looking lost. Finally an older man asked us if we were here for [View Full Entry]

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