Couscous, Camels and Canadians - Morocco

The plane touches down and, after enjoying the unruly RyanAir arrival music, we walk out into the lovely afternoon sunshine in Morocco...
Wait, its December and yet I am talking about sunshine...How amazing! 

Yes, I managed to once again evade harsh and cold winters. Well... kinda... It turns out that Morocco isn’t quite the tropical paradise that I was expecting, as the dessert is nice and warm during the day, but then freezing cold at night.

Night time in the Medina

We arrived in Marrakech, and hopped on the bus to arrive in the main (and ancient) centre of the city, called Jemaa el-Fna (almost more difficult to pronounce as you would think!). By the time we got there it was dark out, and Morocco doesn’t really have streetlights, so it was a bit like entering the Cantina from the beginning of “A New Hope.” I say this because of the gloomy darkness and the only light coming from small fires and the large screen set up to accommodate the Marrakech film festival . This gave the entire surroundings (basically a small square overflowing with people) a glow that made what was already foreign almost overwhelming. I found myself speechless and stunned by the sheer novelty of my surroundings... Considering 3 hours before I had been in my now-comfortable Spain, it was quite a shock! 

Andrea (Canada), Helena (Finland), and I outside
of the hostel

Some flying Canadians! The Moroccans thought
we were nuts

Cayleigh and I doing some shopping in the Medina

 Morocco IS beautiful, the markets are positively fascinating with the mixture of colours, foods, smells, fabrics, and people causing a mosaic of sensory experience.  Our hostel was awesome, it was hidden down one of the tight streets in a maze of passageways that resembled an Indiana Jones movie set, with the ever-present danger of being hit by a passing donkey, horse, or motorcycle making the trip extra fun. 

Where are we?

Eating dinner on the first night!

That first night we went out and for dinner in the square by our hostel. This was quite the revealing experience because I, as the only boy, was bombarded by offers to eat, drink, and buy buy buy! The girls luckily made the decision for me as I was busy stammering out negations in every language while trying to figure out where the heck we were. The food was delicious and greasy, it hit the spot delightfully after the excitement our arrival. Of course, as soon as we stood up again people were on me to eat again, even if you said a hearty “Je viens de manger” they would counter with a quick “but you are so skinny!” – Even though this just brought surprised laughter from me, I wonder if this actually works on some people! Afterwards we headed back to the hostel and had a beer on the roof with some of the other residents, getting the down-low on tours...

Couscous, Chicken, and Pommes Frites

We work up early the next day and went up to grab the breakfast (pancakes!) and then went on the walking tour offered by the Lonely Planet book, which took us through the city to an ancient and beautiful palace that we toured. By the time we returned to the hostel we had decided to go ahead and pay for the dessert tour, which would take up the next three days. That night we went to the “Ville Nouvelle” and saw the profound contrast between the two worlds the Moroccan people live in. From women in burkas to girls in short skirts, from shops selling pig innards to La Senza, and most important from chaos to organization – it was shocking! 

Cayleigh, Helena and I freezing our butts
during a cold tour morning!

As we had decided to do the three day desert tour, we work up really early the 2^nd day and hopped on the van with some of what ended up being a very entertaining group of people. The mixture of young Europeans and 7 Brazilians (yay, got to speak some Portuguese!) brought the kind of enthusiasm that you really crave during a tour!

Spain, Finland, Chile & Canada with a beautiful valle
in the background

We drove and drove and drove. Stopping to see the sights whenever the driver deemed necessary (which was quite often, and always at really nice places!) We saw everything from ruined cities that have been used as the set of dozens of movies, to huge panoramic views of the beautiful Moroccan countryside -all the while laughing away with the fun tour group. That night we stayed in a cute little hostel, with the promise of a fun next day!

Giddyap!!

It was a rough morning heading out again (we did drink a bit the night before!) for another long day of driving and stopping in the hopes of reaching the Sahara by the mid afternoon. However, even with the sleepy butt, I knew as soon as my camel picked me up and took the first steps that it was totally worth it! The camels were really quite the amazing experience, as the padded along the 1.5 hour walk to reach our camp for the night!

 

We enjoyed a quick dinner of Couscous and then went out to enjoy the bonfire (doing the camel dance around it with the guides!) before being sent on a dune-hike! We zipped up the biggest dune around and enjoyed the vision of the dune-sea that surrounded us. This was one of those amazing surreal moments because one of the Brazilian guys decided to do a relaxation exercise with me and we sat there breathing softly in unison enjoying the feeling of being on top of the planet and seeing the shooting stars and marvelling at where we were and what we were doing.

 

Beautiful picture of the group and the Sahara - I still can't believe I was really there!

Frolicking through the valle!

That night was seriously freezing, but it was nothing 5 covers and keeping your clothes on couldn’t counter (maybe a snuggly camel to cuddle with would have helped!!) We got up early again and hopped back on the camels to get back to the van. This was probably one of the most awesome and most painful parts of the entire trip as my poor behind was just aching from the saddle... needless to say there are some photos where it looks more like a wince than a smile on my face! 

Rob of Arabia!              

 

Group photo - The Cliffs of Insanity!

The girls, ruins, and Me!
                                            

Helena and I playing with our soup
spoons before dinner :)

Smiling on the camel!
                                            

That day rushed by as we quickly left our group and hopped on a bus to reach the next city... The bus was an experience in itself. Between being stared at unrelentingly by the locals (like actually NEVER looking away!) and the novelty of seeing the pueblos we passed, it made for a wild day!

By the time we arrived in Fes and found our hostel we basically went out for a quick bite to eat and then came home to sleep. We were all pretty well exhausted after the tour and felt like a catch-up night would make the next day in Fes more tolerable.

In Fes, we did the more touristy things – seeing the leather cooperatives and going through the Medina (the marketplace area) to buy some souvenirs and Christmas presents. We had a fantastic time bartering with the locals and seeing the ancient streets that have remained the centre of the city for the last 1000 years. We eventually returned back to our hostel feeling tired from the pressure to buy buy buy and the sheer amount of the city that we had seen.

Beautiful sign, Arabic is
really starting to grow on me :)

Outside of our hostel in Fes

The next morning we woke up, wrapped everything up and hopped on a taxi to the airport and headed home.

My parting thoughts on Morocco you ask? Well... It was an amazing place to visit, and I am sure that the stories I have gained by going there will stay with me for quite a while to come; however, it was interesting to feel the inevitable culture shock from being in such a different country (maybe most characterized by the obvious difference in the role of women, or the offers to buy the girls off of me while we were there!) 

Finally, Merry Christmas to you all! There will be another post soon-ish that will hopefully encompas both Christmas and New Years here, cause I think they would be out of place on this post (just a bit!)

Love you all and am thinking of you,

Mucho Amor,

Rob

Here is an ass in two ways to say goodbye!

Sehr Lustig - A German Tale!

There is something so wonderful about having a local amigo guide you around a new place...

In this case, my German friend Diemo could not have been a better guide! From the time that he picked me up in the Frankfurt airport on Wednesday, until dropping me off again on Sunday morning, he zipped me around Germany showing me the sights, sounds, and most importantly TASTES of that amazing country!

Ahhhhhhh yes, German food! Is there anything better than the hearty meat and potatoes, delicious döner and perfect sweets! I think that if I were to have changed my exchange location to Germany I probably would have returned to Canada the size of a baby whale! There is something about German desserts that just works for me...I think it must be the more subtle sweetness that you just don’t find in Canada!

These cakes were actually better
tasting than they look!

Pretty pies!

German Döner! Seriously competed with
the lunchonete sandwiches in Brazil!
Take that, Subway!

Open wide!!

  

We spent most of our time in Diemo’s university town Marburg, hanging out around the ancient castle that acts as the university and overlooks the entire city! The first night once we got to Diemo’s house I was in need of using my legs for something productive so we wandered around Diemo’s neighbourhood and then up a small mountain to a gazebo that overlooks Marburg! It was gorgeous, not to mention a nice chance for us to chat and catch up.

Diemo and our yummy
breakfast!

The next day we got up and walked down to a supermarket (organized as astutely as one would hope from German’s) and bought the food for a ‘typical German breakfast.’ We did a couple of other loops around the neighbourhood, enjoying the charming German architecture that I hoped for!

After our delicious breakfast Diemo took me out for a hike through the castle that serves not only as the centre of Marburg but is also the university where he studies.

View from Marburg's castle and one very cold
Canadian boy!

"way of the dead"
Lord of the
Rings jokes surely ensued!

Diemo and I then did a little excursion into the German countryside!  We took a 5 hour trek through the emerald pastures around his city and up through the rolling hillsides, doing a huge loop that brought us back through the city’s cemetery (of which the majority of graves were older than Canada.)

Me enjoying the absinth drinking process! :)
Those fountains were pretty cool

 That night we met up with Diemo’s friends for a drink and then went out dancing in a cute little club! Most of Diemo’s friends were in the midst of finishing up their master’s theses and were in the mood to have some fun...In particular it was cool to go to an Absinth bar and drop a flaming sugar cube into my drink! Not to mention some of that delicious German beer!

Freezing my hiney off
In the winter room, it was -20
inside...Brrrrrr!

My new friend that we ran into in our Cologne
adventures! Those of you who know
me will understand how important this
Stormtrooper really was!

The next morning Diemo and I woke up a little hurtin’, but decided to hop in his car and head off to see Cologne. After a drive of an hour and a bit, we arrived and then headed out walking and metroing around the city. Seeing the Rhine river and the amazing properties that are constructed around there was pretty mindboggling!  The centre of the city is one of the coolest European cities I have seen! With one of the most diverse populations in Germany there was a plethora of people from all over the world living, travelling and working in the centre. Diemo took me to the famous Globetrotter store which is basically a Mountain Equipment Coop that has top brands and a “freezing room” and a “rain room” to test out coats! There is also a scuba tank in the middle of the store. We then wandered to the main cathedral of Cologne called Dom and wandered through the ancient gothic church.

After cologne we returned back to Marburg and enjoyed another little outing and walk before hitting the sack and preparing for me to leave the next morning! All in all this was a pretty awesome introduction to a country that I have wanted to see since a German exchange student was in my Spainish class in grade 9! I will be back to see more of you, Deutschland!

Mucho Amor,

Rob :)


 P.S. Just to wrap things up, after Germany came the two weeks of horror in terms of school! Between preparing for our thirty minute presentation in Spanish for our Spanish Economy class, and finishing up a monster research project for school back home, there hasn't be a lot of time to do much else! However, now that those are all done, its time to focus on having fun again! In fact, next friday we leave for a week in Morocco! So expect another post soon. Love you guys!

Talahalloween

Halloween is a weird time of year...

In Canada it’s such a well defined holliday... you get dressed up as whatever you feel like, be it funny...scary...stupid...etc. and you go out to parties or clubs, have fun, and eat chocolate.

Now in Spain, Halloween is a relatively new cultural phenomenon that has only emerged throughout the last 6 years and is definitely still quite the novelty! The idea of actually dressing in a scary costume is very much the craze here. I think that as the years go by, there will be more and more ubiquity throughout the western world. Maybe from American TV shows?

Here I am with my horrifying roomate Diana!
Note the crutch she is carrying... Motorcycle accident

Anyways, I digest... There were some amazing costumes at the party that I went to! My roommate’s were very nice and invited me to their 3^rd annual party in Talavera, aptly nicknamed Talahalloween. Talavera is a really puny city that gained its fame when it arose from the ashes of a fairly large battle fought 200 years ago between Spain and France. Unfortunately as I was in the city a total of 18 hours, not a lot of exploration was had; however, I did get a lovely hangover cafe from a coffee shop downtown before returning to Madrid.

My roommates and their friends went to a LOT of work to make the night really fun and special! On top of the amazing amount of time (and money) they invested in their costumes they had come up with a myriad of entertainment for the evening. There was seemingly never-ending food coming off of the homemade brick barbecue, a team based obstacle course, and a pasillo de pavor (passage of terror).

The guy on the left had done an exchange to Canada
and decided to make some scarrrrry Canadian zombies!

The night flashed by with the speed that only new friends and crazy events can bring about! However, I found myself reflecting a bit at the loss of a certain cultural aspect of Spain though. Just the Thursday before we watched a series of videos in my Spanish class that went into the solemn and traditional practice of visiting their ancestor’s graves to clean, pay respect and commemorate the lives of their loved ones. Although I love Halloween as much as the next guy, it was hard not to feel a little sad that the majority of Spaniards under the age of 30 don’t take part in the Día de Todos los Santos activities. I suppose that with an increasingly globalized culture, this shouldn’t be as unexpectedly sad as it seems.

Anyway, I definitely left Talavera with a bunch of new friends and memories. It was certainly a different way to spend Halloween!

Mucho Amor,

Rob

Here are the three roomates Diana, me and Marcos! This is the first picture of
the three of usI have ever been able to get and we look horrific... sigh!

Barcelonaaaaah!

A day before leaving for Barcelona, the girls and I were comparing airplane notes and laughing at the ridiculous RyanAir system...

...that is of course when I noticed that there was a minor discrepancy between what the girls had on their ticket and what was on mine! Apparently in my recently-awoken-from-a-siesta-and-ill stupor I had managed to buy a ticket for the plane that left the next morning at 7:45am not the afternoon one that left around 2:00pm.

Of course I was more than up to the task of being the proverbial guinea pig and getting to do some solo exploration of Barcelona for a couple hours before the girls got there (after a nice little delay for them too!)

How cool to arrive in such a beautiful and famous city and be able to just take it in. Things that are difficult to do in a group...like just standing under the Barcelones Arc d’Triomf just enjoying the colours for 20 minutes without making one’s travelling companions feel awkward.

My solo trek consisted primarily of twoish kilometre excursions from the bus stop. On the way in I had seen a big crane and what looked like a steeple in the distance and decided to go check it out! Knowing that halfway constructed temples are all the rage in Barcelona, I decided to go check it out! Turns out, that there is really only the one temple and I managed to stumble upon it! This came in quite handy as I was able to take the girls on a lovely walk to the Templo de la Sagrada Familia on our last day.

Here I am!!  I had just gotten my hair cut
and it It took 4 tries to get the mercat's name to fit
...you should see the "outtakes"

A few days before, Andrea had listened to me complain about my long hair and joked that I should get a nice Barcelones haircut while we were there. After encountering a really cute little barber shop on my way to the Sacrada Familia it was as if destiny had placed a large neon sign saying “get your hair cut Rob!” The man who cut my hair was probably the coolest Spaniard I had ever met, while snipping away he told me almost his entire life story, made me coffee and had shown amazing interest in where I was from. The entire process lasted almost 3 hours and was thoroughly enjoyable!

Afterwards, I had a siesta in park and read some Sociology before meeting up with Andrea and Cayleigh when their bus pulled in. We headed over to the apartment that we decided to rent for the weekend (it actually cost about the same as a hostel would have, but was almost directly downtown and much more secure.) 

That night we explored the area around our place, focusing on seeing the ocean! Ahhh yes, once again the Mediterranean...It made me miss Canada a bit to be honest, but I think that is normal. We wandered through the MareMagnum area, which is the port that houses the multitude of beautiful boats and yachts (I’m pretty sure I saw the ridiculous one that I’ll buy for you all to visit me on when I’m a quadrillionaire). After that we basically headed home and hit the sack so that we would be ready to do some rockin’ sightseeing.

¡Desayunando en nuestra habitación acogedora!

The next day, the girls and I woke up and made French toast in our little piso, which was a great way to start off the day! We then wandered down along the beach through La Barceloneta where there is the fountain that is supposed to be the meeting place for parties after the Barcelones soccer team wins a game. It also turns out that the water is magical and connects to your soul when you drink it, making it so you will someday return to Barcelona. There is a matching idea in Madrid for the Real Madrid team, but that one just so happens to be in the middle of a traffic circle down in the middle of the city...might be a dangerous (or fun???) place to start a postgame party and I hear the water is not magical at all in Madrid....

We wandered down to the white, sandy beach and popped off our shoes to dunk our feet into the ocean, splashing and enjoying the ridiculously warm October day. On the way home to meet Michelle (who had to come a day later than us cause of school) we meandered through the Barri Gotic where there are the coolest and more eclectic shops and callejones (tight lil’ alleys). This part of the city really made us aware of the antiquity of Barcelona; there definitely weren’t any plans to accommodate SUV’s when that city was planned!

Ready, Set *click* JUMP!

After that we ended up zipping home and picking up Michelle, who had just arrived since she had to attend class on Friday morning. That evening we went out for tapas, to the beach, down through “Las Ramblas” which is the main tourist strip of the city. One of Andrea’s friends had previously been on exchange in Barcelona so we had some great tips for where to go to get a beer and tapa that evening, definitely nice to know have a local opinion!

We retired early that evening as the next morning we had to get up early to get to the Parc Güell to enjoy some of Antoni Gaudí’s amazing new age modernistic architecture! We roamed about the park for a few hours in the morning among the masses of tourists (I’ve got to tell you, it was a little overwhelming for me after the tranquility and peace of Brazil.) But it is important to appreciate the sheer amount of work that Gaudí put into his masterpieces. Nothing like the artistic offspring of a man who was so bohemian that he stoically refused to be moved to a better hospital when he was hit by a trolley, he just wanted to stay with the poor folk.

Team Cañespaña out on the town!

The rest of that day we spent in the centre, exploring the city, filming a top-secret BCOM video, getting semi-pick pocketed, and watching a great street band that got the entire audience rolling with their awesome beats. We headed out on the town with some Barcelones amigos to have some drinks at the Oveja Negra (black sheep), a cute little college student pub that filled with the rumble of 60 separate mini-conversations and laughter. By the time we got back to our place it was nearly 4 in the morning (which is actually early for Spain remember...) and we had to hit the sack right away to ensure a full day of hungover touring the next morning before heading home for our flights.

The next day we got ourselves ready and took a couple other clips for the top-secret video, then zipped out on the town. I took the girls on the same walk that I had done my first day in Barcelona so that they could appreciate the Sagrada Familia as well, then we circled back around and wandered down a street to the Arc d’Triomf for a while before catching the bus to make our long journey home.

Conclusion on Barcelona you ask??? 

Well, I had a wonderful time! It was very interesting and sobering experience for me to see a city so alive and full of historical beauty. I still found myself happily satisfied as we boarded the plane going back to Madrid. I think that even though Barcelona takes it upon itself to fulfil every possible desire the average visitor might have...Madrid is where I am currently hanging my hat; therefore, the people and places that I have here are now my home.

Mucho amor,

Rob

We'll end on a classic lion photo.
We were considering the horizon while galloping away on Aslan!

Rain can be a real Beach!

This last weekend, my roommate Marcos invited me to go with him to visit his family in a little pueblo near Alicante in Valencia (state). It’s a little beach city with a population around 35 thousand, not including tourist times when it soars up to almost Victoria quantities. The drive from Madrid took about 5 hours in total, which turned out to be an awesome bonding experience for the two of us! But boy I’ll tell you my Spanish brain was pretty exhausted after 5 hours of boy-talk, I probably sounded like a Spanish newbie by the time we got out of the car!

Marcos and his cute little blue bullet!

Marcos’ family was really cool, his brother and sister are 18 and 19 respectively and came out with us on Friday. Unfortunately just as we arrived down by the water the rain started and it RAINED! We were soaked and had to hide under a balcony for about half an hour while it was pouring. There was thunder, lightning, and wind that actually made it seem to rain upwards into your face!
...of course that meant that a movie must be taken:

Don’t worry, I didn’t lose my sandal! :P

Of course, the most important thing to note about this night besides all of the fun playing darts, drinking, and dancing...

...is that I got to see the OCEAN! El mar, at last el mar, the mediterraneo was a beautiful sight for sore eyes (and sore tummy as I was still afflicted with some nasty 9 day long food poisoning).  I slipped out of my sandals and stuck my feet into the sand

I enjoyed the warmth of the sun-heated sand despite the falling rain and then rushed (much to the horrified dismay of Marcos’ family) knee-deep into the Mediterranean!

The next day we awoke feeling a little under the weather (pardon the pun, :P) and spent the morning in recovery. After Marcos’ mom whipped up a rockin’ paella, which I devoured despite my complaining stomach (yes...I am THAT dumb around paella) I was ready to head out for a little “Rob” time while the Spaniards hunkered down for an afternoon siesta.

I frolicked through the streets like a wanderlust bard, humming some Lady Gaga to myself and enjoying the sun that was shining happily down. By the time I reached the beach I was as excited as a Chilean miner being pulled out of a cave and found a lovely little piece of sand to have a small picnic and enjoy the weather...
...of course it started to rain approximately 30 seconds after I laid down and closed my eyes. Here is a lovely picture of my happiness about this:

But at least I got to hang out with the Mediterranean a little while longer before coming home:

We passed the next two days with Marcos’ family while it poured on and off outside. Little excursions to a chocolate factory and the town market were the major highlights (I know, Spanish chocolate isn’t really what you expect to hear, but this company has been around for longer than Canada...It was pretty interesting!) On Monday night we played board games for about 5 hours before going to bed and then Marcos and I had to hit the road early to make it back to Madrid and do some homework before school.

What an interesting weekend! Spending time with a Spanish family was definitely one of the checklist things to do while on exchange, and surprise surprise – every family around the world has some crazy stuff going on! This realization just makes you love your own family more, and appreciate the crazy stuff going on in your own life!

I hope you all are enjoying your October! It was 24 degrees out today here...but the cold is coming...I can feel it in my big toe!

Mucho amor,

Rob

P.S. I also managed to get myself a guitar! I am one happy boy!

Waka Waka

We are getting ready for a party in my house...

This has entailed Diana and Marcos, who are both VERY “tranquilo” roommates showing their nerves for the first time since I have been here! Clean this, move that, reorganize this. It seems like Spaniards take party planning quite seriously.

I decided to name this post “Waka Waka” after the song by Shakira. On one of my first days here one of my new acquaintances told me that this song has become “the new national anthem of Spain.” Hearing the rest of the story of Spain’s win of the World Cup this last summer from the Spaniards point of view really makes their win that much more special. Summed up from various conversations I have had over the last few weeks, the story is that since Franco’s dictatorship here in Spain there have been only the most sparingly placed Spanish flags, national anthems and nationalism in general due to the negative connotation gained throughout Franco’s reign. The world cup united Spain nationally, and flags were seen increasingly throughout the championship. It makes me happy to think that Spain has reignited its national pride, with a new anthem and flags now flying a bit freer!



Here is a photo of some of Marcos’ Spain goodies.

It’s hard to prepare oneself for the power of flamenco when you haven’t seen it before. The sheer ferocity, emotion, and power of the music is enough to yank your feelings out of your mind like a beautiful puppet master and steer you through the feelings of loss, love, and lust that is the very heart of Flamenco. Needless to say, it was an intense performance! I enjoyed every minute of it, from the masterful guitarrista (who made me miss my guitar profoundly!) to the sombre cantante to the powerful baila. We returned home very content with the quality of the performance (which, as recommended, was attended predominantly by native madrileños). Unfortunately photography was pretty strictly forbidden so I am photoless, but flamenco is more of an experience than something you can show anyways!

The girls and I found a real treat called El Templo de Debod, part of the Parque del Oeste, one of the multitude of parks that encircle the western side of Madrid to make the area around the royal palace beautiful. The Templo has an interesting story, being an (almost) exact replica of an Egyptian temple which started out as a lil’ side project of Adikhalamani the the Kushite king of Meroë (probably from his nagging harem) in 200ish BC. But as these things have a tendency to do, he ended up having to put a lot more work into it and left it for three other Egyptian rulers and the Romans to finish up. The Egyptians donated the temple to Spain in 1962 for their help saving another temple, which led to the reconstruction taking place in Madrid. The cool thing about the site of the temple is that you walk into the park and feel like you are transported away from Madrid because it is so quiet. There is a panoramic view in all directions of Madrid and a fountain with “okay” water to stick your feet in when you are overheating. After a cozy picnic and a semi-productive homework session, I have officially deemed this unique site “thumbs way up.”



Us having a picnic happily on the lush grass.



Part sun in my eyes, part sexy wink! ;)

School, the gym, cooking, and a lovely week-long bout of food poisoning have all taken up the majority of the rest of my time here over the last few weeks. It’s actually been really nice to just get into a bit of a routine for a while; I am feeling more at home in my neighbourhood, home, and school. This weekend is a holiday for Spain, so I am out of class until next Wednesday. My roommate Marcos was nice enough to invite me to go and visit his mother in their pueblo located around Valencia, so it should be a fun weekend (although it’s supposed to rain quite a bit, which is unfortunate since we are going to the beach! ) Ill make another post in a bit to let you know how it goes.

Hope everyone is really well and enjoying the start of October! I’m sure it’s nice and rainy there too!

Mucho Amor,
Rob

After a groggy awakening...

My roommates are snoring softly in the next room, enjoying their afternoon siesta on one of the more pleasant and warm afternoons we’ve had over the last few weeks. We have been bonding quite efficiently over the last couple days by playing Texas hold ‘em, which in true Spanish fashion begins at midnight and wraps up at 5:30am. Needless to say I am now exhausted, but content. We are getting along really well so far and almost all of their friends are from the architect program, which certainly is an interesting (and artistic) group to hang out with!




Here is my sometimes amiga, sometimes nemesis Najis. She is pretty sweet, but is desperate to sleep on my pillow!



This is the view from my bedroom window! It’s very quaint no?


After the rainstorm last week, the girls (Michelle, Cayleigh and Andrea) and I went to Toledo to pass the day wandering around the castle-like city that has seriously been owned by everyone from the Iberians to the Moors and Christians. It was such a wonderful day, we spent the majority of our time wandering around, snapping pictures like wide-eyed tourists, and enjoying the beautiful day!




This is a very planned, yet adorable picture of team Cañaespaña!



I love this picture! This river was so beautiful and the girls look so pensive!


The next day, my german amigo Julian and I met up at the metro station Príncipe Pío and explored a nearby park in the area which surrounds the amazing Palacio Real (Royal Palace). After about an hour we were hungry and decided to go to an all-you-can eat salad bar, I honestly ate more veggies in that hour than I have in the last three weeks here! We will definitely be going back to Salad & Co. :P




Us in the gardens! Some nice Spanish ladies took our photo!



Julian with his first portion of salad heaven!


I bought myself a TACO the other day!

No, no, not the Mexican food, silly! This taco is card at school that enables me to get 50% off any extracurricular programs and unlimited access to the gym. At only 70 Euros for the semester, I can’t really complain, I went for a nice workout right after buying it and now feel better than I have since my arrival. They also gave me a card that is worth 2 meals in the cafeteria per month! Phew, I’m going to eat like a king next week! :D

By the end of last week I finally sorted out my classes and was able to actually frequent the ones that I will be graded in this semester. It is really interesting (and sometimes taxing) to listen to business lingo and economic theory in Spanish knowing that I will be tested on it eventually, but I’m so relieved that there is no more bureaucracy to deal with that it sounds pretty sweet! I am in most of my classes with Andrea and Cayleigh which makes it so at least the stares from the Spaniards are split three ways when one of us speaks up!




The girls enjoying the grass and sun between classes



Us studying hard between classes! :D


This next week there is a strike on Wednesday, so we have been brainstorming to decide what to do. The amount of options for travel is truly overwhelming; we have seriously gone from flying to Malta, to taking a train to Barcelona, to renting a car and driving to Morocco (planes trains and automobiles anyone?) I think that we might save Morocco for a more appropriate time where we can take our time, and maybe hopscotch to Egypt and Turkey! Seriously, the OPTIONS!

Tonight we are going to a flamenco performance by one of Andrea’s friends. She is supposed to be super good; so, I am currently overflowing with excitement to see some true blue flamenco! I’m going with a bunch of Erasmus students from school and the Canadians, should be a blast!

Hope everyone is well!

Mucho amor,

Rob




My room and a messy boy waving from his computer (took this 5 mins ago, excuse the hangover!)

P.S. Photos of roommates to come!