Morocco

Last weekend my friends and I traveled to Morocco, that’s right, AFRICA! The experience was incredible because none of us had ever been there before so it was a definite learning experience for everyone. We rented an apartment in the city of Tangier because we figured that it would be easier to do things ourselves and when we arrived to the apartment it was completely furnished and decorated in traditional Moroccan & Arabic style. Although this is not exactly what we were expecting we did enjoy it a lot because it was something that you don’t see every day. The first day we all had some major culture shock going on because there were so many thing that were different never mind the major language barrier! In Morocco the two main languages are Arabic and French, however many people in Tangier do have some knowledge of Spanish. Getting back to the trip, we went to the beach so that we could get a feel of where things were located and by the time we finally found it, it was getting dark outside so we decided that we should probably get some water and food for the morning. After we did that we took a taxi back to the apartment, which was also another experience because in Morocco the taxis do not have meters so you need to make sure that you and the taxi driver both agree on a price before you get in the taxi otherwise you might have to pay a lot. The next day we went back to the beach, because that is where the majority of the things were located, and while we were there we decided that we would like to ride a camel (as you can see in the picture) it only cost 50 Dirham which was about 5 Euro, so how could we pass that up? While walking around the beach on our camel you can look out towards the strait of Gibraltar and across the sea you are able to see Spain! Then we walked up some streets to get some touristic things, although we could not find that many, we were able to get some post cards and things like that. After all of the walking we were quite hungry so we decided to stop and get some pizza because we did not want to waste any time so that we could get back to the beach! Although the weather was not warm enough to go swimming, it was hot enough to be on the beach and try to get some sun, we even got burned a little! We walked all over the place looking at different parts of the city and were exhausted once again so we decided to call it a night. The final day we woke up and had to pack up everything and make sure that we cleaned the apartment a little bit. Then we went to the beach one more time to just take in the view one more time and then we had to get to the airport to travel back to Madrid. I thought the trip went very well and I cannot wait to go back and visit Africa again!

¡Hasta Luego!

Can Punyetes Taverna ~ Señora's Birthday!

Hi Guys, sorry it has been so long, I’ve just been caught up with traveling, classes and projects, but I did want to tell you that a few weeks ago I went out with my host señora and her family because she was celebrating her birthday! We went to a very nice restaurant near the Palacio Real called, Can Punyetes Taverna, which had amazing food! It was one of the best experiences that I have had here because I was truly able to be a part of a Spanish family and it was nice to learn some of the popular traditions amongst them. During the meal we all had a delicious piece of steak with potatoes on the side. For an appetizer or “tapas” we had some toasted bread with alioli sauce to spread over the top, it was homemade and tasted very good. After the meal we all enjoyed a nice piece of cake followed by coffee at one of the more famous coffee shops in Madrid, “Café del Oriente,” it was a very old, preserved building overlooking the Palacio Real so it was a beautiful view while drinking their delicious coffee. I have to say that it was nice to get to know my señora a little better and see what her family was like, as well as participate in her birthday celebration. You should definitely go check out that restaurant because the service was amazing!

¡Hasta Luego!