Well, it's been a while since I've written and much has happened since then. Two days ago, dad and I woke up bright and early for a day trip to Morocco (yayyyy Africa! 4 of 7 continents have been achieved...if you can even call seeing on city in the Northern tip seeing "Africa"). We took a two hour bus ride to Tarifa, where we took the ferry across to Tangier, Morocco. I was so tired that I fell asleep without knowing minutes after sitting down on the ferry and woke up when we got to the port on the other side.
The tour was really neat! It started off with a driving tour through various international neighborhoods (ie: Spanish, Italian, French, British and American). We then set off on foot through narrow alley ways which were made for two purposes: 1) They provide shade and a cool breeze to provide relief from the hot summer sun, and 2) The narrow, complex alley system provides protection from enemies, as only locals are able to navigate them. Our first stop was a Moroccan restaurant for lunch. It had gorgeous decorations and we had a four course meal of soup, kabobs, couscous and chicken, and baclava. This is when my taking a Portuguese course came in handy because I heard one girl explain to another outside of the bathroom that "Não há papel", or "there's no toilet paper". So, little old Katie went back to the table to grab some kleenex before venturing in. After lunch, we had many sales pitches from locals for rugs, oils, and aphrooodiiisiaccs. Joke of the day goes to the rug salesman: "We beat our rugs very well, because we can't beat our women anymore". We didn't buy anything, but the vendors follow you around EVERYWHERE trying to push you to buy things. When our Scottish friends didn't want to purchase anything, one of the guys said "Ok, that's fine. But I will keep talking to you guys because we're supposed to do that". One of the merchants in the first shop fell in love with my shoes (vibrams, 5 fingered toe shoes) and asked if he could take a picture of them to show to his daughter. He said he had never seen them before. Just think - Katie Odens, she who brought the stylin' vibrams to Morocco! After the shops, we piled back into the bus and drove along the coast. We stopped and I rode a Camel, which was kind-of-sort-of-absolutely terrifying because they are so tall and there's no strap and the hump goes up a ways above their back. It didn't help that the guy helping me was super grumpy and trying to handle three camels at a time.
We also stopped at a cave and then drove back to the ferry. It seems that dad and I have spent a majority of our time barely making it in our travels. When we got to the port, our tour guide couldn't get through the gate and then argued with the guard, hence getting locked by himself on the other side of the gate. Eventually, the rest of the tour was allowed through, but we were at the back of a large group of people and our tour guide was arguing with ever other possible human being around about who knows what. At one point, I heard him say "Si no caben, muevan los coches", which means "if they don't fit, move the cars". I'm guessing that meant that the ferry had been over booked, or something along those lines. Dad and I, along with the Scottish couple that we befriended, joked about having to swim back or just being stuck in Morocco if/when our tour guide got us all kicked off the platform for his rowdy behavior. Anyways, long story short, we got on the ferry, much to our relief.
The next day, we slept in until 11:30, which is super impressive for Padre, the king of the early birds. Maybe it was the lack of sleep from our excursion the day before ;). We spent the day lounging on the beach, where I almost completed reading my book (AKA more weight to send with dad and less for me to carry for 4 months!!)
(my view from the relaxing day on the beach)
This morning, the alarm was set for 5:10 a.m. to get ready for a 5:40 taxi to the Malaga airport, en route to Barcelona. Needless to say, dad and I both slept through the alarm, and as I lazily rolled over, I glimpsed at the clock and my eyes popped open in true alarm, and I said "DAD. It's 5:30!!!". We jumped out of bed, quickly packed and made our flight. Everything is A-ok and we have had a wonderful time exploring Barcelona on foot today.
One last food for thought: Being here has exposed me to so many different cultures, especially that day of the excursion to Morocco. There are so many different languages (the tour guide spoke 5) that speaking only three (two, comfortably, one still a little mediocrely) really humbles me, and I've decided that if I could have any super power in the world I would definitely choose the ability to read, write, speak and understand every language in the world. That way, that awkward moment trying to figure out how to communicate with someone who speaks no mutual languages with you wouldn't exist.
Anyways, off to siesta and then meet up with my grandma (who coincidentally is in Barcelona on a cruise - ¡Qué casualidad!) for dinner.
Un abrazo,
KO
No hay comentarios:
Publicar un comentario