Spring Break in Morocco and Spain

This post will explain day by day what I did on my spring break

Saturday- Day 1- We arrived in Marrakesh around 4 p.m. Moroccan time. In the airport I changed my money to Durham which the exchange rate is really good like 12 Durham is 1 pound. All six of us got into a little taxi and the taxi driver took us to our place, once we got let out there was a man waiting to take our luggage and walk it to the place we needed to go, but we could do it on our own. Where the taxi driver dropped us off we still needed to walk a ways, but a man showed us the way to the hostel. Once we got to the hostel he came inside and demanded 20 Durham from each of us, it is a cultural thing, that was a little nerve racking and we were scared, but we paid him and he went away. After we walked to the market which was huge and beautiful, but none of us bought anything, which was fine. Then we went back to the hostel since we wanted to know a good place to go eat dinner was and the lady that ran the hostel called a guy and he showed us the way. The food was amazing I had chicken with vegetables and bread, which is always good no matter what. Then we walked around the market a little more, but it was getting late so we headed back to the hostel.

Sunday- Day 2- We took a taxi to the place we had to be picked us to go on our tour, then a van came and picked us up and brought us to the market, which we could of walked to, oh well. All 6 of us did not know how long the bus ride was going to be, but it took 8+ hours of driving to get to the place where the camels were, long time in a mini bus. We did stop along the way, once to get something for breakfast around 9 and then again just to stretch our legs, we stopped for lunch where I had eggs with tomatoes in them, with of course bread. After we walked across the street to a couple of little shops and I bought a pictures with camels on it, which was made out of tea and saffron. We drove through mountains and around them, sometimes I thought we were going to go off the cliff or hit a car when we were passing them. We finally made it to the camels around 730 p.m. and then it took about an hour and a half to get to the campsite, my legs were sore but it was well worth it! We had a tradition dinner which was chicken, veggies, bread and mint tea. After we listened and danced to music around a bonfire, which was a nice way to end the day.

Monday- Day 3- Woke up to the sound of the camels around 645 a.m. and we had bread with strawberry jam and I had coffee with milk and a cube of sugar it in. Then we got back on to the camels and rode 45 minutes to the mini van and then it was another 8+ hours back to Marrakesh, which we did not stop as much this time since we wanted to get back early. Once we got back to Marrakesh we had to find a different hostel since the one we were staying at before was booked for that night. We asked a police officer where to go and since none of us really spoke French it was difficult to understand the directions. We ended up going the wrong way too many times it took us over an hour when it should of taken 10 minutes from where we were. Finally we asked a man at a money exchange place and he took us to the hostel, I don't know what we would have done if he did not show us, we were thinking about just going to the airport and sleeping there for the night. We even tried calling the hostel but no one picked up! Anyways we got there and we were all so hungry, tired, smelly, so we decided that we should eat some food. We went to a nice restaurant and had more bread, chicken and veggies. There was a belly dancer and some people playing music, which was nice. After that we decided to do some shopping but by this time it was really late, I don't even know what time it was, but most of the stores were closed, but I did get some things. After we went back to the hostel and I took one of the best showers ever! By the time I went to bed I think it was like midnight and we had to wake up at 4 in order to get to the airport in time for our 705 flight to Madrid. Lets just say that I was really tired.

Tuesday- Day 4- Madrid here we come! As stated above getting up was rather difficult, but the four of us managed to do it. The night before the person that runs the hostel called us a cab, so we would not have to worry about trying to find one in the morning, which was great! Everything at both airports went fine and I even slept on the plane which was wonderful! We found a cab and they brought us right to the hostel. Once we were settled we walked around and got some food to eat, I got eggs with ham on top of French fries, it was so good especially since I did not have breakfast. We were all so tired that we came back to the hostel and took a nap, which was nice. After we asked where some good places to go around the city so we went to the palace, the gardens and the temple and decided to do other stuff the next day. We ended up walking for a long time and we even came across where Jennifer Aniston and Gerald Butler were going to be for there new movie, but we could not see anything and by that time it was already 830, so we went to dinner near our hostel and the food was good and cheap. I even got desert, which was a chocolate torte, yummy, you know me with chocolate deserts!!! We came back to the hostel and just hung out the rest of the night with people that were here.

Wednesday- Day 5- More of Madrid! I finally got to sleep in, which was so nice since this is supposed to be a vacation. We had a late start, but we all needed to get some sleep, we walked the opposite way of where we were on Tuesday and we went to the Prado museum which is so big, it was kind of overwhelming. After we went to the botanical gardens, where I took a lot of pictures of the flowers. We then walked towards a fountain which was beautiful and then since it was around 330 we decided to get some food, we all got Kebabs and they were so good and I got baklava, which I was craving. Then we came back to the hostel and I took a nap and then we did some walking around and had dinner with 5 other people from the program who just came into Madrid.

Thursday- Day 8- Barcelona! One of my flatmates and I just walked around the city and the Ramblas, which is one of the main streets with shops, hotels and restaurants on both sides of the street. We did not do a lot because we were waiting for another one of our flatmates to arrive and we didn't want to do anything without her. So it was a relaxing day, but we also explored!

Friday- Day 7- Woke up and had breakfast at the hostel for free which has not happened at any of the other hostels so far, we then went on the metro to a park which was beautiful it had a view of the whole city and on the benches there were mosaics that were beautiful also. After that we back on the metro to a cathedral, but the line was so long we decided not to go see it but we are going back the next day. After that we came back and walked around the Ramblas again and we tried to find Segways, but we could not find them so instead we took bikes out for about an hour and half, just riding around the city. After that I did some shopping, for myself and others. Then we went out to dinner and had Tepas and I tried fried Calamari and fried eggplant, yeah for trying new things!

Saturday- Day 8- We went to the cathedral and the outside is beautiful but I don't know if it was worth 10 euros to go inside of it since they are still building it, o well. Next we went to the Picasso Museum and then the chocolate museum, where they have sculptures made out of chocolate. After we went to a market where any food a person would need is sold there, the market is covered and if you wanted fruits or veggies all of the stands are in the same general area, which makes shopping easier. We came back to the hostel packed up our stuff and then went out for our last dinner in Barcelona, which was delicious.

Sunday- Day 9- Heading "home" to England. It was nice to be back in Bath where I was familiar with my surroundings, but I really did enjoy my spring break and it will be something that I will not forget.

Tonight I am heading to Scotland on an overnight train, which it will be the first time for me and I will be back Sunday night!

Love to all,

Monica

Oxford!

So I think that the title says it all, I was in Oxford before Spring break so two weeks ago now and it was amazing! When we first arrived at University College we were shown to our rooms and I had one of the biggest rooms with a piano in it, plus a double bed which I think few people had. After getting settled in our rooms we had a tour of Oxford, which was nice to know our bearings around the city. Then we had the afternoon to ourselves to do whatever we wanted, so five of us went to a sandwich place and got dinner, which was good. Then we went to a disco in the college's pub and it was great, we danced to some American music and the director of the program put on a wig and was dancing around, so funny.

On Sunday I went to Christ Church for a religious service and it was different than I was used to, but I did enjoy it. Later we went punting which is a flat boat with a long pole to push you along the river, luckily no one fell in, but I did get the metal pole dropped on my head, which hurt.

Monday I had two classes, but I did do some exploring of Oxford, which it is such a beautiful city. On Tuesday, I had a tour of Christ Church where they filmed part of Harry Potter, I am getting to see all these places where the movie was filmed. For dinner that night most of the program went to an Indian Restaurant, which I found out that I like Indian food, I hope I can find a place back in the states that will have good Indian food, that will be one of my missions when I come back in 2 months!!

On to Wednesday I had class in the morning and then I did more exploring of the city and this time I brought my camera to take some pictures, I also did some shopping for me and others, some great presents for people! Thursday I went to Saint Mary Tower and I got a view of the entire city which was breathtaking. As a group we went to the Museum of Natural History and the Pitt Rivers Museum, which had some interesting things inside of it like shrunken heads and those were in the Harry Potter movies too. We all came back and we were going to go to the Botanical Gardens but of course it started to rain!

So instead I decided to take a nap, however I spent until 725 p.m. Now that does not sound bad, but I had to be at a formal dinner at 730 and I wanted to take a shower, as you may guess I did not shower but I got ready in like 5 minutes and I was not even late to the dinner, now that is impressive I thought! The food was so good I ate goat cheese with roasted figs, then the main course was a rump of beef with rosti potatoes and leeks then for dessert was pear and frangipane tarte with vanilla clotted cream, it was so yummy. I did try everything however some things I liked more than others, but at least I tried it! So Thursday was our last night in Oxford some of us went out and I enjoyed myself, but I probably could of used the sleep however no regrets.

Friday we got up earlier and then drove to Blenheim Palace, however some people left early to start spring break, but my flight was not until Saturday morning. The Palace was built in 1704 and it had beautiful gardens and even a maze to go through, we got lost a little but eventually we made it out of the maze. The Palace is so big that it has a little train that will take you from the Palace to the gardens and maze, which was a lot of fun especially since the train pulled us backwards. We arrived back in Bath around 4 p.m. and I had to do laundry and get ready for Spring Break in Morocco and Spain!

To come soon...

I have started to write a post on Oxford since I was there last week, but I need to go pack for Spring Break so that post might not be up until after my spring break. I just think packing and sleeping is more important at this moment, but there will be posts on Oxford and my Spring Break which is Morocco and Spain. Plus, I get to ride a camel in Morocco through the desert, which I am just a little okay I mean very excited for. Time to finish packing and go to bed since it is 1100 p.m. here, don't you fret there will be post on Oxford and Spring Break soon.

Love to all,

Monica

Cardiff Wales and more

Here is my post that I promised and it is before the weekend even better! So Saturday I and a flatmate, Maggie, went to Cardiff, Wales for the day as noted below. It was a great day, not to cold and when the sun came out it was even nice enough to take our coats off. When we arrived in Cardiff we went to the tourist center, but it was no where near when the train or bus station was, which it would make sense to have it there. Any who we found out some things to do and then we were off to a National History museum of Cardiff, which was a little bit away from the city. The museum was an open air one (outside) which had buildings from long ago all in this one area, it was nice. I bought myself a present, fudge, it was so good, but I did actually buy myself something, a spoon for my collection, I hope to get a lot of spoons while I am traveling! After we left there we went back into the city and went to Cardiff Castle, but we did not want to pay 9 pounds to go on a tour, instead we walked around the outside of the castle. Then Maggie and I decided that we wanted to go shopping, which of course we did! By the time we were done shopping it was time for dinner, therefore we went to a pub and I got a steak which I have not had since leaving the states, lets just say I was in heaven while eating it! Then it was buy one dessert and get one free I bet you can guess that we got dessert. If anyone knows me well enough they would not be surprised that I got a 5 layer chocolate cake with vanilla ice cream, that was just as good as the steak. Enough talking about my yummy food, after that we went on a ghost tour in a Llandaff!

As soon as Maggie and I got there we latched arms and I said to her we were going to get to know each other very well tonight, which was true we did not let go the whole night! During the ghost tour I did not feel any ghost present, but in certain areas of the tour it got colder and we were not even near water one time, interesting! After the tour we headed back into the city and took the train back to Bath, by the time we got home, it is starting to feel like my home now, it was 1130 p.m., we were both so tired. I slept very well that night.

Cardiff Castle

On another note:

These past two weeks have been busy with school work, I have been writing papers, well two of them were English type papers for Jane Austen and Virginia Woolf and I have not written that kind of paper since high school so it was a little difficult, but I got through it and that is all that matters! I also had an education paper, but that was a little more interesting to me than the other two, but now that my papers are done I decided to treat myself, which only means that I went Shopping!!! I purchased some clothes, which now I have more of a variety in my limited wardrobe. Since I went shopping today I did not get a lot of work done, but I have this weekend since I only have one more class for the week!!

On the horizon for me: Oxford on Saturday, oh gosh I need to pack but laundry first, and then Spring Break thank goodness it is going to be a blast, plus all of my hostels are booked which is a relief to know that is done now. I can't wait to go to Morocco and Spain and of course do some shopping while there

Love to all,

Monica

Traveling!!!

Hello All, I am writing to inform you that I will be leaving England for the first time tomorrow, which I am so excited about. I am not going to far only about an hour train ride to Cardiff, Wales for the day. Some may say that I am not really leaving the country, but I say yes I am and that is all that matters. I am going with one of my flatmates and we are catching a 830 am train and then just traveling around Cardiff then at night we are going to go on a ghost tour, which I have heard was good (some flatmates went last Saturday) but they said it was cold, so I am going to bring layers.

Sometime this coming week I will inform you all about my trip to Wales and I will post pictures too, I promise it will be before the weekend. On the other hand, I am one week away from going to Oxford. The whole program goes to Oxford for almost a week. We live in the dorms and we have breakfast and lunch prepared for us, which will be a nice change from having to cook all the time. However, we have to eat out for dinner every night except for one, where we get dressed up and eat in the great room. Of course I will have a lot to post on this week too. Perhaps I will even get some presents for people at home since I have not bought anything for myself or anyone else since I have arrived, wait I bought a scarf for myself, but I swear that is it.

The week after Oxford, so two weeks and one day from today, I will be on a plane to MOROCCO!!!!! You might have guessed that I am extremely excited to go there and SPAIN! Which I hope to use some of the Spanish I have learned, I will let you know how that goes. A lot of pictures will be taken, but I will probably post all of them on facebook and I am planning on bringing a journal (thanks to my mom) with me so I can record what I did and how I felt so that I will be able to remember years later what I did.

Well I have one more paper to write for Monday that I need to start like now, so I am off to the library to start research and start writing. Don't worry I will not work to hard and if I do then the dinner that I have planned for tonight will be even better, Pizza and strawberry cheesecake and no I did not make either one of those, but it will still be great.

Love to all,

Monica

School Visit & so much more

This past week I had to go to my school placement twice, I usually only go once a week. Now you may be thinking why is Monica writing a post on her school placement visit, big deal. Well this week I was in the classroom on Tuesday which is my normal day to visit and Friday (today). However, I was only in classroom for part of the day today and then I went to another part of the school, the Margaret Coates Center, which is a place for Autism children to go to school. I have never really worked with special needs children or with children that have Autism, but I LOVED it!

The children are so kind and actually very smart. At the centre there are 14 children from 4 years to 10 years and the centre teaches the students like they were in a regular school. However, the centre teaches the students life skills like manners, how to care for their bodies, respect other people and a bunch of other things. Which I think is great because then once this children are not in school they will be able to care for themselves.

One of the students became attached to me early on in the day. He kept saying Monica Monica come with me and would come get me and hold my hand to bring me where he wanted to go outside. On Friday's at my school placement the entire school including the autism centre go for a run around the school property. This child said to me Monica I want you to run with me, so I did even though I was in my clogs. How could I say no to him? I couldn't. Once we ran for half a mile he let go off my hand and said he was going to run by himself, which was fine with me. These children just have so much heart and are so kind. I just wanted to have the day be longer so that I could spend more time with them. Unfortunately, today was the only day I was in the centre, but I may try to visit again before my school placement is over.I feel like I did not do a good job explaining what went on today and how I was feeling, but the experience opened my eyes to alternative education for students that may not fit into the mainstream school.

Since arriving in Bath a little over a month ago I can see that I have changed. Now you may think how much could a person change so much in one month? It is possible because I feel comfortable walking around a big city like Bath, which has 90,000 plus people, I feel comfortable taking the public bus to my school placement every week, plus I feel like I have learned a lot about myself. So don't think that when I come back to the states you are not going to recognize me because I have changed on the inside and become more confident with myself, but I am still going to look the same on the outside, white as ever!

When I arrive back home I hope that people will recognize me as Monica, but will understand that since being abroad I have changed due to my experiences. I guess I never really thought I would change when I went abroad, but it is happening and I am actually enjoying it. This experience has been good for me to figure out who I am and for me to become more independent. I know a lot of people say that they become more independent, but being abroad I have had to cook for myself, which then means I have to shop and buy my own food. I have also had to do my own laundry, which thanks to my mum I have not had to do ever even while I was at SMC. Thanks Mom!

I believe that my experience abroad will make me a better person and get me prepared for my life to come when I cannot always rely on other people to support me fully, especially financially. Yes I know if I ever needed something I would be able to get assistance from my loved ones, but it has been nice not to depend on that.

Well, I have two papers that I need to write this weekend, which I am not looking forward to, but I have to do it. So that is what my weekend is going to consist of, no traveling for this girl this weekend, Boo. However, if it is nice perhaps I will take a walk around Bath as a writing break, which I am keeping my figures crossed that it is nice!

Love to all,

Monica

Where does time go?

One month I have been across the pond, One month since I left home until June, One month since I said my goodbyes to my loved ones, ONE MONTH! Where has the time gone?

However, I also feel like the time has gone by so slowly too. Sometimes the days go by so slowly but the weeks go by fast.

So since my last post some things have changed in my life, well that is partly due to the fact that my post was over a week ago, a lot can happen in a week!

So I went to my first Rugby game, and Bath Rugby won, yeah!

Here I am with some of my flatmates and the programs student helper.

After the Rugby game, which by the way it was really cold. I had two pairs of pants on, a tank top, a long sleeve shirt, a sweatshirt and the jersey and I was still cold. Anyways, we went to an Italian pizzeria place for dinner and it was so good, then we went next door to an Italian Gelato place, where I had a Nutella and banana crepe with chocolate and hazelnut gelato on the side, so good. That is a place I will go be going to again! (Mom and Andrea perhaps we can go)

I also since my last post have booked my spring break trip and you will never guess where I am going, no it is not Ireland, even though that is on my list of places to go. I am going to Africa, well actually Morocco, I never thought that I would be going there for Spring Break but I am super excited. I will be in Morocco for 4 days and then I am going to Spain for 5 days. In Morocco I will be in Marrakesh, which I believe we, meaning 5 other people and I are going to do a one night, two day trip in the desert. The best part is we get to ride camels while watching the sunset and then ride the camels again when the sun rises! I CAN'T WAIT!

In Spain, we are visiting Madrid for two days and then Barcelona for 3 days, I am not sure what we are doing there, but I bet we will find something to do. One thing I want to do is go to a beach, which I don't think anyone will object to!! I was shocked on how much cheaper it is here to travel, the amount of money I spent on tickets for Spring Break I do not think I could get the same kind of deal in the states. Therefore, I can spend more money on things for myself, sounds great to me!

On Friday, I went on a trip that the program sponsored to the Cotswolds. We first went to Broadway tower, which has no purpose expect that from the top you can see fourteen counties, but since it was a cloudy day we did not see that many. Then we took a 45 min walk down into town, just to let you know if was not a clean walk, we walked through the countryside where it was really muddy and I only have my sneakers on, not a good idea! Once we got into town we got back on the bus and went to another town, I do not remember the name of it, sorry. Then we went to a garden, now you might think why would someone plan a trip to go to a garden in February, but the flowers we saw only are around in the winter they are called snow droplets, I took pictures but I have not uploaded them yet, yes I know bad me! Then we came home, it was a nice trip and I got to see areas that I would probably not see on my own, plus it was nice to just do a day trip.

Well, now that I have updated you on my life in the past week I think I should go write some papers since I have two of them due next week and I want to enjoy my weekend. I promise that I will write more often and I am feeling much better living in England now. I think it helped that I wrote how I was feeling down and also the loving support I have received from everyone. I do believe that this is a place I should be now in my life it just took me some time to realize that. Plus, now I know that I have to keep myself busy so that I do not fall into that cycle every time I am not doing something. This does not mean that I do not miss everyone and that I am going to hold back my tears because I now I will have my days when I just have to let it all out. Okay well this is not getting my papers done, but I would rather be writing on my blog then doing papers, hehe!

Love to all,

Monica