Oh the places I have already gone in 6 weeks being abroad… I have gone on several excursions through CEA. So far, I have visited a few places in Granada itself, traveled places outside of Granada like Malaga, Spain and Morocco, Africa and still coming up: Seville and Rhonda, Spain. The excursions seem to be endless, and I have loved every moment of it. I want to focus on my favorite trip thus far. Morocco, Africa.
This past weekend, I was fortunate enough to visit the three amazing cities of Tangier, Tetouan, and Chefchauoen. For one, I got to visit Africa with CEA. AFRICA. One of many reasons Morocco stole my heart was that it was the first time I felt a bit of a culture shock. This trip was such an eye-opening learning experience. I was able to see a bit of how the people of Morocco live, and I was taken aback by what I saw. The citizens of these cities are able to live off of so little; it really made me put things into comparison with how we live in the United States, or even here in Granada. This excursion really put the way I viewed my personal life into a different perspective.
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| Views from the hour long ferry ride to Morocco! |
Like I said, the people of these three cities were all able to live off of so little. What I had learned when I visited Tetouan was that they do not waste anything. When I say that, I mean it literally. There were people selling used remote controllers, old baby bottles, old shoes, just about anything. Absolutely nothing goes to waste, and this is how people make a living. Another interesting thing I learned in Morocco that was very different than the lifestyle of an American is that they start their day very late. A normal time to wake up and start the day is at 11AM. In the States, that is an early lunch for some. Not only was the architecture of every building absolutely breathtaking, the natural beauty was mind-blowing.
If there were a place I would recommend visiting out of the three cities, it would have to be Chefchauoen (also known as “The Blue City"). Everything in the city is painted blue, it lights up the whole city. It was absolutely astonishing.
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| Chefchauoen "The Blue City" :-) |
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| The beautiful city of Tetouan |
Another amazing part of this trip was the food. I don’t think I have ever eaten so much for every meal just because I did not want the taste of the food to ever go away. Okay, that may be a lie because I love food, but this was the real deal… you never knew so many different flavors and tastes could be in just one bite of food. There was not one thing that I tried and could have a single complaint about.
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| Even the tea was amazing. The best mint green tea! |
I was so shocked at how fast the weekend and my time in Morocco had gone. This weekend made me appreciate everything that I have in life so much more. I wish I was able to spend more time there, but it is now another excuse to visit again in the future. Shukraan (thank you) Morocco for a truly unforgettable weekend.
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| My ride for the weekend |
Esther Y. is the Fall 2016 CEA MOJO in Granada, Spain. She is currently a senior studying International Studies, Media Studies and Spanish at Virginia Commonwealth University