Tangier

Tangier was our first destination in Morocco, and once we found our tour group in the port, we were off! We got on a bus for a little while, and toured around the city, and then we left all of our luggage on the bus while we got off and walked around.

First we had lunch at a cozy little restaurant where they played Moroccan music for us. I had been worried about Moroccan food (since I'm a bit of a picky eater!) but it ended up being pretty tasty. We were served a kind of tomato soup, couscous with chicken, meat kebabs, and a honey pastry for dessert, along with some very sweet mint tea.


After lunch, we went to a carpet shop, where the owner proceeded to show us many different rugs. I was pretty impressed, and if there was any way I could have afforded one, I would have been very tempted. Every rug was nicer and more unique than that last, and they were all entirely handmade. My favourite part was the bright, beautiful colours woven into every one. I don't think the pictures do them justice...


Afterwards we made our way to a typical Moroccan herbarium, where we had a presentation about the different spices, medicinal plants, and cosmetic products they had to offer us. There was everything from saffron and curry for cooking with, to natural remedies for snoring and insomnia, to "magic" lipstick that lasts 24 hours.

The last stop on our list before heading to our hotel room, was a field... where there were two camels that we got to take turns riding! This was my favourite part of the day, as I had been hoping to get the chance to ride a camel while in Morocco. Though I had pictured it happening in a desert or somewhere a little more exciting, it was still fun! They also had an adorable baby camel there, which we fed grass to while we were waiting.


We got back to our hotel, which wasn't anything too special, although we did have a nice view from our terrace. Later that night, we went out for dinner with some nice Spaniards that were in our tour group: Mari Carmen, Kiki, Gustavo, and Celestino. We ended up spending our whole trip with them and had tons of fun... plus we got to speak Spanish all weekend!

Going to Morocco

Since this past weekend was a puente (long weekend) in honour of the Dia de Andalucia, I went with a fellow language assistant named Eilidh to Morocco! We left last Wednesday to spend the night in Tarifa, a cute little town famous for its great wind and kite surfing beaches. We stayed at a really great, cheap hostel called "The Melting Pot" and got up early on Thursday morning to get to the port and catch the ferry to Tangiers, Morocco.

Our trip was booked through Viajes Iberia, a travel agent in Spain, so all we had to do when we got there was exchange our reservation information for ferry tickets. The agency had told us to be there by 10:00, which was good because although there weren't many people around at first, it was pretty busy by 10:30. Although the ferry was supposed to leave at 11:00am, there were so many people that had to go through customs and security before getting on the ferry, we didn't actually leave until just after noon.


Then we had to spend almost the entire ferry ride (about an hour) waiting in line to get our passports stamped to enter Morocco (apparently they do this on the boat to save time in the port). This meant that we didn't have time to change our Euros into Moroccan Dirham. We couldn't do this before the trip either, because you can only get Dirhams inside the country.

When we finally arrived in Tangiers, we were a little bit lost, as the port was somewhat chaotic. The signs everywhere were only in Arabic or French, so it was very helpful that we both speak French, but there seemed to be nothing around that was be meant for people with tour groups. Eventually we did find our group by listening to what was going on around us (in Spanish) and we all managed to make our way out of the port, through the lax Moroccan customs, and into Morocco!

My first bullfight

Yes, it's true. Today I finally went to my first Spanish bullfight. It took place in Jerez, about a half an hour away from Rota, and I enjoyed it much more than I had imagined. This is one of the first bullfights of the season, and although there were quite a few people there, the bullring was far from packed.

The biggest thing that I noticed about bullfighting that I hadn't known before going was the ceremony involved in it. The presentation of the fight is more important than the fight itself. There were 6 bulls killed in total, and although I had expected to be horrified by the bulls' deaths, it wasn't that bad. Each torrero (bullfighter) took their turn with a bull and they would try to get close enough to stab it in a vulnerable spot. The way they got close to the bulls, but darted out of the way was almost like a well-rehearsed dance.


During the fights, the banderilleros (flag-bearing helpers) often stepped in with their pink flags, which they would use to distract the bull whenever necessary. Each fight began with the woman bullfighter on horseback, armed with a lance. She must stab a mound of muscle on the bull's neck, leading to the animal's first loss of blood. In the next stage, the banderilleros attempt to plant two razor sharp barbed sticks on the bull's flanks, ideally as close as possible to the wound where blood was first drawn.

At the end, the bullfighter re-enters the ring alone with a small red cape and a sword. It is a common misconception that the color red is supposed to anger the bull, despite the fact bulls are colourblind (the real reason that a red colored cape is used is that any blood stains on it will be less noticeable). He uses his cape to attract the bull in a series of passes, both demonstrating his control over it and risking his life by getting especially close to it. When this happens, the crowd shouts "Ole!". Finally, the match comes to an end when the bullfighter makes a last stab at the bull. Then all the bandilleros come out and try to get the bull cornered, so that it gives up and lays down, and then they kill it with a single stab through its head.

When the bull is dead, the bullfighter may be awarded trophies, according to their skill in working with the bull, which can be one or two ears from the bull, the tail and the hoof. The crowd will often show its opinion of the fight by waving white handkerchiefs, and this waving continues after the trophies have been awarded in an attempt to get the bullfighter to throw their trophies into the crowd.

The most interesting part about this particular bull fight, was that the bullfighters were women , and some were even on horseback! I was very impressed by the way they carried themselves too... the show was all about showing confidence in the fact that they were the bull's master. Although this did backfire for one girl. She wasn't having very much luck to begin with (as in she couldn't a good shot at the bull) and at one point, she turned her back on the bull (which they do frequently) and the bull, who wasn't quite tired out yet, charged her. Then, to make matters worse, she fell down onto the ground and the bull trampled her a bit before she got up. But, in true bullfighter fashion, she stood up, and continued on with the show. Luckily she didn't seem to be hurt.

The other tradition that I found interesting (albeit a little disgusting) was that of cutting off parts of the bull and throwing them into the crowd. A couple of times Rachael and I had to back up to get out of the way of a flying ear, and one little boy sitting right in front of us managed to catch one (which apparently was a pretty big deal!) My only question is, what do you do with a bull's ear once you get it home?

Never-ending paperwork

As most non-tourists living in Spain quickly discover, the red tape that plagues this country can be very frustrating. Since I've already been here for more than 5 months, you would think I had everything all worked out. However, as Erin, another language assistant here in Rota, found out a few days ago, it's all very confusing!

The reason we were worried about our documentation in the first place is that everyone else that we know in the program (both Americans and Canadians) received a temporary Spanish identity card with their photos and fingerprints on them), as well as their NIE numbers (official identity number for foreigners)... and we have no such thing!

Since Erin is heading back to the States for a week at the end of February, she is especially worried about her paperwork, because it will affect whether or not she is allowed back into Spain when she returns. It's not as big of an issue for me, since most of my future travel plans don't involve leaving the European Union, but if I want to go to Morocco sometime, I want to be sure I'm able to come back to Spain.

So last week, Erin went to the police station to confirm that our paperwork was all valid and complete. Unfortunately, she talked to a different woman than we had been dealing with all along, and as this is Spain, that meant she got completely different information. The woman gave her all these instructions, and said that she had to request special permission to leave Spain. Little did she know, the woman heard her accent when she spoke Spanish, and assumed Erin was from somewhere in South America. A few days later when Erin returned to the police station, she spoke with the right woman, who told her she didn't have to do anything and that the documents we have are in fact valid. This just goes to show how a little misunderstanding can cause a lot of hassle.

Apparently the system is undergoing some changes with identity cards - they are modernizing them and installing microchips in them. So to avoid a little work, we were given papers instead of identity cards, but both work for our situation. The second woman told Erin that if we would have just asked for the cards at the beginning, we could have worked something out, but that they are really not necessary as long as we bring all of our paperwork with us when we travel!

More Carnaval

This weekend was the 2nd weekend of Carnaval in Cadiz, but unfortunately, we never even made it to Cadiz. Due to the combination of a bus strike, and horrible ferry schedules, we decided not to go to Cadiz because we would have been stuck there for 14 hours (all night long), or we would have had to take a very expensive cab ride. Our friends still ended up going to Cadiz, but Rachael and I decided to go out in Rota instead, as this weekend was our big Carnaval blowout.

It turned out to be a blast! Everyone was wearing costumes again, and I was very impressed with how original they were! My favourite group were some of Rachael's students who had each dressed up as a slice of pizza. When we saw them they were lying on the ground, trying to form a full pizza so that someone could take a picture.


To start off, the night, we each mixed a big 2 litre bottle of alcohol and juice to bring with us. We also brought plastic cups, so we could drink with everyone else in the street. We started off by watching some of the groups perform on one of the stages. Then later, we made our way to the big tent in the main square, where they were playing music. It was basically like a gigantic dance club. At times it was a little bit crowded, but we had so much fun we ended up staying until the early hours of the morning. We also headed over to check out some of the clubs by the port, but they were so packed we couldn't even breathe, let alone dance!

Since it was 5:30am by that time, we thought it was time to go home. All in all, it was a much better night that I had been expecting (since I was so excited to go to Cadiz) and I'm glad we didn't miss it!

Carnaval

As of Friday, Carnaval in Cadiz has officially begun! The city of Cadiz (which happens to be just across the bay from Rota) lives to celebrate Carnaval, which is a 10-period of costumes, plays, music, and much more! It is said to be the third-largest Carnaval in the world after
Rio de Janeiro and Trinidad and has been going on since the 17th century.

I had two friends come down to visit me this weekend and on Saturday night, I headed over to Cadiz on the ferry to meet them. The first thing that I noticed was how dressed up everyone on the ferry was. Everyone from the toddlers to the groups of 70-year old women had on some sort of costume. Unlike at home at Halloween, it seemed like instead of each person trying to find the most unique costume, the point was for everyone to dress up as a group.

When I stepped off the ferry at 7:30 pm, the area around the port was packed with people. In all the plazas, there were booths set up selling every kind of carnival candy imaginable, different last minute costumes, drinks, food, and of course - alcohol! Not that any of the students in the main square seemed to have any use for the alcohol. They had all brought their own bottles of liquor, mixers, and glasses and were having a gigantic botellon all over the city! One group of guys had really planned out their night in advance and were actually using a shopping cart to bring all their bottles with them wherever they went!

Some of the costumes were outrageous, and all of them were very creative! The party was only getting started when I arrived, and sometime later, after wandering around the streets for awhile, we joined in the big parade of people following the drums and singing typical Carnaval songs. We soon learned the words to one of the shortest chants, so we were even able to join in!

Then later on, there was a big ceremony where everyone gathered to see all of the Carnaval Muses (a group of about 10 girls dressed up) parade onto an outdoor stage. Then they brought out the previous year's Carnaval Queen and announced the Queen of the 2008 Carnaval.

All in all, it was a pretty exciting night and I can't wait to go back next weekend, when 9 of our language assistant friends are coming down to visit!

Finally some excitement!

Working as a language assistant in Spain, there are both good days and bad days, just like any job. Today, however, was a great day! I only work two hours on Wednesdays to begin with, and since I don't start until 10:30, I didn't even have to get up too early. When I first got to school, Sonia (our French teacher) introduced me to the new French language assistant from Belgium. Since we seemed to be busy talking, the teacher that I was supposed to have class with suggested that we skip class today, which is always fine by me!

Pretty soon, two other girls arrived and joined in the conversation (all in Spanish of course!) They are both Spanish and are doing their teaching practicum (to teach English) at our school for the next month. It's nice to finally have some people around that are closer to my age, since almost everyone we meet here is either a student (ie. under 18) or a teacher (ie. over 30).

Then for the next hour, since we have a new work schedule, I got to go to a different English class... with actual students. It was a welcome change from all of the one-on-one classes I have with the teachers. It was also nice as there were only about 7 students in the class, and it took place in the English department, which means they are all sat in a circle around a small table instead of in desks. So it was a very informal class and I really got to talk to the students.

Finally, as the perfect end to my day, I decided to finally talk to Cristina (the school secretary) to see if she could help me get some work translating. Here in Rota, the tourist industry is huge, and as a result there are tons of flyers and other materials floating around that are written in English. Well, someone tried to translate them into English anyways, they just didn't really succeed. Even though I am a native speaker of English, there are a lot of things I would rather read in Spanish because the English makes no sense at all, or is completely impossible to understand. So I thought that I could make myself useful and maybe get some translation experience by helping to fix these translations. Luckily, Cristina had a contact at the ayuntamiento (town hall) who she spoke to today, and in the next few days they are supposed to call me for an interview!

Visiting a Spanish friend

Today Erin, Rachael, and I we were invited to spend the afternoon at Sonia's house. Sonia is one of the teachers from my school that I teach English to. She lives in El Puerto, but had a friend that lives in Rota that was going to visit her, so we got a ride there and then back home as well. The five of us had coffee together at Sonia's and just hung out at her house for a few hours. It was a really good way to practice our Spanish as it was very informal and relaxing. I find it very difficult to speak and understand Spanish when there is a big group of people around, so it was really nice.

One interesting thing that I had already found out at school earlier, but Sonia brought up again, had to do with the coffee mug that I had brought to school today. Today at school every time a new teacher saw the mug, they felt the need to pick it up and try to figure out exactly what it was and what it was for! I brought it with me from home so that I could drink my coffee on the way to school in the mornings. Apparently this is NOT something Spaniards do. In fact, they never ever eat or drink while they are walking or driving. Sonia also brought up a bunch of stereotypes that Spaniards (and probably Europeans in general) have of Americans because of American media. She pointed out that in the movies and on television, teenagers are constantly leaving the house without eating breakfast at all, or they grab something to eat on the way as they run out of the house. To Spaniards this is a very strange thing to do. Yet another cultural learning experience here in Spain...

Back to school

Well, I didn't exactly go back to school yesterday... but I did get to go to Rachael's school, the other high school in Rota. They were having a presentation for the students about why it is important to learn other languages and they wanted me to be one of the speakers. I had to speak once in French, then once in English. Then after I got a tour of Rachael's school and met some of the teachers. It was an interesting presentation, and it was also nice not to have to go straight back to work my first day back in Spain.

Normally I would have had to go back to school Jan. 8, as the students here have pretty much the same Christmas holidays as back at home. Luckily, I was able to talk to the head of the bilingual program at our school and get a few extra days off to spend at home. They seemed pretty flexible, which was great. If only I would have thought of taking the days off BEFORE Christmas, maybe my flights home would have gone a lot more smoothly!

Christmas Holidays

Well, here I am back in Spain after a 2-week holiday in Canada (wow, saying it like that really makes me realize that I live in Spain.) As some of you might already know, it was a long and painful process just to get to Canada in the first place, but it was all worth it.

The trip started off well on Friday, December 21, as I managed to get to the airport in Jerez with plenty of time to spare to catch my flight. After that though, everything went downhill. Boarding for the flight from there to Madrid was delayed by about 45 minutes, which wasn't a big deal, since I wasn't actually supposed to fly out of Madrid until early the next morning. So although I was an hour late getting into Madrid, I just called my friend Princess (who I was going to hang out with in the city until I had to get back to the airport) and told her I would be a bit late. After finding the luggage storage (which is in a very inconvenient location outside the airport and across the road), and dragging my heavy bag over there, I hopped on the metro and met Princess. We did some shopping and just wandering, and just like in Rota, all the streets and many of the buildings were decorated with Christmas lights.

Afterwards we went for dinner and back to Princess' house, and then at half past midnight I left to catch the last train to the airport. Unfortunately, because my flight left at 6:30 am, that meant I had to spend the night in the Madrid airport. I managed to find some comfortable chairs to sleep on for about an hour, and soon enough it was time to get in the massive line up to check in for my next flight to Frankfurt, Germany. Supposedly as a result of this long line up, our flight was delayed for 2 hours. Since my connection time in Germany was less than 2 hours, I had to run to catch my next flight to London. And the only reason I caught that flight was that it too was delayed for about an hour leaving Frankfurt. Later it was also delayed as there was a lot of fog in London and we had to wait for another hour before we could land.

By the time I got to London, I was 4 hours later arriving than expected, and the flight to Calgary had already left without me an hour earlier! There were many other people who had missed flights due to the fog, so Air Canada started putting people on standby flights to Toronto. Since I had booked my flight with Aeroplan Miles though, they told me that my ticket was the lowest priority. I didn't catch the first flight, but they did manage to put me on the second flight to Toronto later that night. So I ended up spending another night in yet another airport... although at least I was in Canada. Especially since I heard later that the next day hundreds of flights out of London were not just delayed, but cancelled due to the fog! I flew to Calgary early the next morning, after spending the night with some people I had met in the London airport in the same situation as me.

All in all, the trip home took me 80 hours from start to finish and made me hate airports with a passion. I highly recommend NOT travelling on December 22 as it is one of the busiest travel days of the year.

My time at home was really great (though not long enough), as I got to spend time with friends and family, and I got the chance to bring back lots of things I'd been missing the last 3 months! The trip back to Spain was a lot less exciting, but still took about 17 hours, so I'm pretty tired. The best news about being back in Spain is that when I left Canada, it was -20 degrees Celsius, and here in Spain it is +15 degrees!