KRISTINA BELL
Wow. I have been abroad for over three weeks and have had so many experiences that I don’t know where to start. Here is an outline of what has been going on in Granada, Spain:
The first two weeks here—Jan. 17 to Jan. 29—the Central College Abroad program I am here with held an extensive orientation along with a trip to Morocco, Africa. Orientation consisted of classes every day to refresh our Spanish and prepare students for the test to decide which level of Spanish class each would take. I was in the lowest class—yay for me, since I have had no Spanish since high school.
My class consisted of six other girls and Jose, our professor (yes, all girls, with Jose). Jose was a great professor and I always had fun in class. He was obsessed with Diana Ross and made many references to her (mainly to show how our mistakes when speaking or writing in Spanish can have a whole different meaning). He is fluent in English, but had trouble with mistaking vowel sounds. A lot of words came out as swear words. For example, “focus”…replace the “o” with a “u”. Got it?
Jose also helped out when we needed to know what to tell our Senoras. In Spain, I have a roommate and live in an older lady’s house. She prepares our food, does our laundry and more. She only speaks Spanish and has a very strong personality, but we will get to her later. On the first day with my Senora, I hardly knew how to say anything. It was challenging, to say the least, when trying to communicate. Also, I had to tell her I did not eat meat and Jose helped out with that.
Besides having classes with Jose, I was also able to visit the Alhambra and the Albaicín as well as getting to know the whereabouts of the city. At the end of orientation, I was able to go to Morocco through an exchange program that the Central College Abroad works with.
Right before starting classes, I spent some time in Africa. No big deal; it’s just Africa.
Morocco, for those of you who don’t have a handy dandy map readily available or a link to Google Maps bookmarked, is in Northern Africa along the Atlantic coast and part of the Mediterranean Sea. It is just a bus/ferry ride away from southern Spain. The ferry was the first time I have ever had motion sickness. Luckily I had my Dramamine—thanks, Mom. Going through the border was easy on the way there since we’re American, or at least that is the reason we were told.
We started off our visit in Tangier. There, I was able to visit a women’s center that helps those who have had little education and are able to learn a trade skill to work. Morocco is a Muslim country and many of these women have left their husbands or have been abused and need to make do with just themselves or need to support their family.
At this women’s center, there were three post-graduate women fluent in English. They talked with us about their lives as Moroccans and what their faith is all about. It was very interesting to hear their viewpoints. I can’t recall them exactly; I should have been a nerd and taken notes, but didn’t start that till later in the trip. They all followed the Quran’s rules of the Islamic faith. Each of them wore headscarves and explained that they chose to do so. The three women had viewpoints that varied from being very traditional to a little bit more modern, like thinking that dating is acceptable. This was just the start to an eye-opening experience of what the Muslim communities in Moroccan cities were like. After this we traveled to Rabat, the capital city southeast of Tangier.
This trip was all about seeing what Morocco is like from an insider’s view, not just touring it. While in Rabat, I stayed with a family with two other students on the trip. We were able to see what life was like in the home of a Muslim family as well as try some homemade Moroccan food. One night we had “pizza” and I asked what it was; and the family laughed at us. I am sure they were thinking silly Americans; they don’t even know what pizza is. But this dish was in a small pie-like shell filled with mushrooms and spinach among spices and topped with cheese. It was very good—all the food was.
On the trip, similar discussions to that at the women’s center were held with male Moroccans who also went to school for English. It was very common in Morocco for people to know multiple languages, with the most common being Arabic and French. These men held some valid viewpoints on politics and religion—this was when I pulled out my notes.
One night, some students took us around town to the markets and out for coffee. It was awesome to be able to discuss their viewpoints about their life in Morocco. I was challenged to a movie quiz. American movies are very popular there, and one of the students thought he may know more than I. Luckily, I won, but not without a challenge.
After spending two nights in Rabat, we headed up to the Riff Mountains and hiked to a village. I was able to experience life in rural Morocco. It was an eye-opening experience. These people lived off the land, did not have much, yet were happy, healthy and held good family relations. I feel that in the U.S., these basic things get overlooked.
After visiting the family, we went to Chefchaouen to spend the last night. There, we were able to barter at a Moroccan market. That was intense. The prices were marked up and in order to get a good deal, you had to ask down the price. I didn’t really like this too much and it stopped me from buying a lot. It was fine at first, but then after a while it just got annoying. I’d rather wait till things go on sale at stores. However, I am definitely glad I had this experience. I got some great deals on sandals—only 7 euros and made with leather.
The hostel in Chefchaouen was freezing—still up in the mountains—and no one had central heating. My sheets were also dirty, so I wore all my warm clothes and wrapped my zebra-print Snuggie around me—if you don’t have one yet, you should get one. Also, in Chefchaouen I was able to get henna, which is a traditional temporary tattoo common during holidays.
Morocco was such an experience; I know I didn’t write everything. It was a great experience and most of the time I felt very uncomfortable being foreign, female and young in a male-dominated Muslim society.
The day after Morocco, I started classes. I am in my second week of classes already and they are going well. I have four hours of Spanish a day. This past weekend I went to the city of Costa del Sur, Malaga. I was able to sit on a beach on the Mediterranean coast and take in some sun. Also, I was able to go to the Picasso Museum and see actual sketching and paintings done by him. It was amazing. Malaga was a nice, clean, palm-tree lined city; perfect for a weekend. Now, I am getting ready for the Carnival in Cadiz.
Bell is a sophomore marketing and international marketing major and can be contacted at kristina.bell@drake.edu.
