March 12th 2014

Another wonderful blog post from one of Student Reps - Rebekah

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In the past week, I have been exposed to a different culture, have had less than more miscommunications, and have discussed various forms of "living in the moment", and what that means.

Some highlights/anecdotes of the week include:
-The sunshine, and how much nicer it's been to walk 
without a heavy coat.  
-The tapas tour of a few bars around Salamanca.
-All 50 students partaking in the "icebreakers" speed-friend-dating session.
-In general, the lattes at Don Quijote Cafe (a pretty cheap venue adjacent to the school).
-Figuring out how and what kind of medicine to buy at the farmacias for the cold all of us were swamped by.
-Exploring different areas of Salamanca.
-Feeling accomplished in the classes we are taking.
-Being inspired [by other students], [by surroundings].

This Thursday night around 11:30, 30 of us took an overnight bus to Algeciras. I opened my eyes between sleeping, just as the sun was rising over green hills and backlit trees. It was one of the most beautiful things I can remember seeing. I was amazed to find that on the ride back in full daylight, Southern Spain is largely agricultural. People here prefer to live in cities, so a large part of the country has yet to be planed and done over by the industry. It's pretty refreshing. 

We caught a ferry to Ceuta around 8AM, and spent Friday in Chefchaouen. This city in the mountains is painted blue to fend off both evil spirits and mosquitos. People were very friendly, and it was awesome to feel the spacious expanse just outside of the compact city structure. We were brought to a rug and tapestry place where many students bought items hand-woven and hand-dyed with saffron, indiga, henna, mint, and other natural pigments.


The next day, the guide showed us around his home city of Tetouan. 
This Medina was founded in the 13th Century, with its strongest roots in Islam and Judaism, though a variety of religions have thrived and lived together peacefully for centuries. We went to this pharmacy that held every kind of herb and oil imaginable for any ailment conceivable. There were glass jars lining the exquisitely shaped, tall painted walls. The men allowed us to try lots of perfumes, lotions, and even some medicines. Argon oil and saffron for all. We continued to walk through the tiny, crowded streets alive with vendors, besieged with smells foreign and familiar. 

Tangier was similar, though more modern. After using an alien monetary system to haggle prices, I enjoyed a moment with some dried fruits beside a fountain. I had never been so culture-shocked in my life, although a majority of those whose native language was Arabic, also spoke English and Spanish. Our tour guide used Spanglish. 

The food was fantastic, full of many flavors and spices. The meat was high quality, served with fresh vegetables. We also enjoyed the trademark Moroccan tea served with lots of honey after every meal. The restaurants had these incredibly decorative and inviting pillows everywhere. And I was delighted to find that this patriarchal society follows a lunar calendar. 

The Spanish Sahara was full and bright, and the sand collected was lost on the plane ride over. 

Ciao until the Next Time.