Moroccan Adventures

First of all-sorry for the long post. A lot happened in Morocco and I want to be able to remember it all :) The past four days have been an absolute whirlwind and such a combination of emotions. I’m going to attempt to convey some of the experiences I’ve had in the past few days while participating in Morocco Exchange. I came into this experience excited to visit a new, exotic place and to try lots of new things. I also came into this experience with little understanding of the amazing beauty, culture and traditions that exist in Morocco.

Our entire study abroad program participated in this trip, but we were broken up into three small groups of about 15, each with a tour guide who speaks Arabic. My group was blessed with an amazing guide named Sarah, an American who teaches in Rabat, Morocco after having spent 2 years in the Peace Corps in Morocco.

We arrived in Tangier, Morocco on Saturday the 26^th by ferry and started our trip by being thrown right into the culture. There were a lot of things that surprised me and even shocked me on this trip, and I have to say one of the first was the horrific smell in the market we walked through. I didn’t know if I would make it out alive. It was certainly a learning experience! Other highlights from the first day included a visit to DARNA (a women’s center in Tangier), conversations with Moroccan students, visiting the town of Asilah and the beautiful blue and white medina, and an impromptu camel ride! 

The first day ended in the capital city of Rabat where we were introduced to our home stay families. Our family was a collection of relatives, but mainly Abdullah (14) and his cousin Sara (23) who were the only English-speakers in the house. Because I don’t speak any Arabic, I have no idea who most of the other people in the house were and I couldn’t really speak to any of them much. One aunt remembered a single word from her long-lost English lessons, and loved to repeat over and over “HI! Hi , hi, hi, hi...” It was entertaining to say the least. Abdullah and Sara tried to teach us some of their cool Moroccan dance moves too, which was only slightly humiliating for us.

On day two we had the opportunity to chat (and debate about politics, religion, etc) with some guys from an NGO in Salé called Hope for Salé where they provide classes and tutoring to anyone who wants an education. We also visited the Roman Ruins in Chellah and the Mausoleum of King Mohammed V, which were both absolutely breathtaking. We returned home for a meal with our host family. Let me take a moment to recap mealtime in Morocco; most meals are eaten out of communal bowls with your hands. It took some getting used to, but the dishes were all absolutely phenomenal, so it was hard to care that I was sharing my food with people I had just met. I quickly learned to guard my fork if I was given one because if you set it on the table, it is apparently up for grabs and Grandma seemed to always snatch up my fork when I set it down. Oops!

At the end of day two, I probably had one of the biggest cultural shocks of the trip. We all went to use the hammam, or Arab baths. I was nervous and had no idea what to expect, but I did know that it would be the first (and last) time I would bathe with countless strangers. The minute we all walked in to the hammam, it was as though a tourist attraction had come to town. I’m not exaggerating-literally ALL eyes were on the Americans who had no idea what they were doing. We looked like idiots, I’m sure and I can safely say that it will be the last time I use a public bath. I’m glad I tried it so I could better understand the culture, but I’d much prefer my own shower. Who would have thought I’d be excited to come back to Spain to take my 5-minute cold shower?

After final goodbyes to the host families, we left behind the big cities to visit some rural towns to see what kind of conditions the majority of the country lives in. We got to see the gorgeous Rif Mountains and have lunch and a conversation with a family in a tiny rural town. They were so kind to have us all at their house and answer our questions about life as a Moroccan and even took us on a pretty (although extremely muddy) walk up to the side of a mountain. Our final stop was in the old city of Chefchaouen, which is tucked away in the mountainside. It was originally populated by all Jews, so the city is completely painted in blue and white and it was gorgeous as well. We had time to shop in the market and our group all ate dinner together. I had a great Moroccan dish called pastilla, which is essentially dough stuffed with chicken and almonds and covered in cinnamon and powdered sugar. YUM. In the morning we got up to watch the sunrise and hiked up the mountain to see the view from an old mosque. It was completely surreal.

Leaving Morocco was really hard. I simply cannot believe I was only there for 4 days, because it feels like I already have such a connection to the culture and the people there. I have made multiple friends in Morocco that have all invited me back to their homes anytime I come back to Morocco. That is really just the way Moroccan people are-they are so warm, friendly, welcoming and hospitable. We see people of the Muslim faith as violent and aggressive and even dangerous and it’s hard not to think those things based on the media we see every day in the US. What I learned from this trip and from talking to many Moroccan students and my host family there is that family is everything. The daily life of a Moroccan is so drastically different from yours or mine, but in the end, the just want to spend time with their families and make time for their faith. I did not expect a short trip like this to have such an impact on me, but I guess that is what happens when you get to really know the people of a culture and interact with them and really, truly learn about why they do the things they do. When I told family and friends that I was going to Morocco this semester, nearly every one of them told me to make sure to “be safe” and to “watch my bag” and to “wear a money belt.” All solid pieces of advice, but they are so incredibly stereotypical at the same time. I apologize for the rant, but if there is one thing I can tell you about Morocco, it is that you really need to go and experience it for yourself. Feel the love that surrounds the people, feel the faith that completely encompasses the society, and learn how amazing the people are.

Doing "Big Girl" Things

Excuse me while I get a little excited for a minute. I'm so proud! Paige and I just planned our first weekend trip...ALL BY OURSELVES! Booked bus, plane, hostel, everything! I'm not going to lie, it was absolutely terrifying, but next Thursday we are all set to leave for 3 days in Geneva, Switzerland! I can't wait! Our entire trip including the roundtrip airfare, hostel and bus to Madrid cost us less than $300. If any of you have been there, we'd love suggestions as to what to do while in Geneva.
We only have 2 more days of orientation left, then we take our level tests on Friday (yikes! wish me luck!) and Friday afternoon we leave for Morocco! I'm sure I'll have lots of stories and adventures to share from that trip. A day after returning from Morocco, we will head out to Switzerland!

So while I'm busy being a big girl over here in Europe, I'm secretly still asking my mommy to help me out a bit. Don't judge. I really grossly underestimated how cold it would be in the houses here, as I said before. I didn't really pack enough sweaters and warm things, and when it takes about 5 days for your laundry to dry outside it can rough having enough things to wear. Cue mom. My mom was nice enough to get together an awesome care package for me, which I should hopefully be receiving in the next week to 10 days. Pray that it gets here safe and sound! As a special feature for this blog, I'm featuring a section about sending packages abroad, as written my my wonderful mom!

On sending packages abroad, as told by Carey Rysiewicz:
Just got home from my trip to the post office and I can’t stop the theme song in my head!! “I’m so excited! And I just can’t hide it!I’m about to lose control….” But I guess I better save the official happy dance until I find out IF Kira actually receives my skillfully packaged parcel in Spain (hopefully in 6-10 business days!) It’s a well- known fact that my generation of parents are referred to as ‘helicopters’ and although I generally TRY to back off and am proud of my self-sufficient children, there are times when its just plain hard to not butt in and offer some unsolicited advice! I had lots of words of wisdom for my soon-to-be-world-traveler college daughter, Kira, especially when it came to packing. Most of my suggestions were well accepted, but a few were not… and while I would NEVER be one to gloat or say “I told you so”… a week after her arrival in Granada, a care package is on the way! Seriously though, it is really difficult to be completely prepared no matter how many lists you make and those darn luggage weight limits are tough when packing for almost five months!! I don’t know a mom alive who wouldn’t want to help when their kiddo is a million miles away and is cold (no central heat). She didn’t bring her unfashionable fleece jacket, or a heavy sweater, or the dumb long sleeve thermal -shirts Mom kept trying to put in the suitcase! Not only is she cold, but WET! No towels provided by the host Spanish mom. Thank goodness we stuffed one towel in last minute! Too bad the towel is always wet; no clothes dryer or central heat, remember?!  Now I feel compelled to share my package- packing challenge with you! If any of you need something mailed to you when studying abroad, some of this information may be helpful. After I gathered all the things Kira needed (ok- all the things MOM thought she needed! I am, after all paying for this package!) I quickly did some on line research for the best way to ship a box abroad (not something I had ever needed to do before.) The Post Office will typically have a rack or kiosk area with all of these free flat rate boxes and labels. You use the exact same flat rate US boxes for shipping internationally. I looked at the size options on the website and decided to go with the medium size side open box for $47.95 with a 20lb limit and dimensions of 13 5/8 x 11 6/8 x 3 3/8.  I didn’t have one at home, so I measured it out on a piece of newspaper, drew the box size on a large sheet of newspaper, laid everything on the bed and then folded and refolded, and refolded until I made it work! I used a vacuum sealed space bag I purchased at the Dollar Store to compact my neatly folded stack and keep it all contained in the box and it worked PERFECTLY!! (after 4 tries!)This was truly amazing!! Did I mention I love this kind of thing??! I was smiling the whole time too, just knowing Kira would be warmer and drier and that even though she’s 21 and perfectly capable of solving this kind of little dilemma, it’s still nice to be needed!!   So keep your fingers crossed that Kira will get her box sometime in the next couple of weeks!! Here is what I managed to fit into this not-so-very-big space…(Drum roll please…) 1 fleece jacket, 1 long bulky cardigan sweater, 1 crew neck sweater, 1 dressy blouse, 2 thermal T-shirts, 2 thick pairs of fuzzy socks, 1 beach/bath towel, 2 micro fiber face towels, plus 20 bandaids stuffed into one sock and a small lock and key for her backpack. That’s a lot of stuff in a 12x12 space!!! I should have marked the front of the box with a huge WARNING sign: Caution! Contents under pressure! Open carefully!! Check back later to see if her care package arrives!  Xo  love, Mom

Churros, Chocolate, Señoras, and Amigas

Sundays are a bit slow here in Granada because we don't have class and there aren't any shops open. Paige and I didn't have homework, so we were pretty stumped as to what to do with all of our time! We used the internet at the science museum near our house for awhile and in the evening, we met a bunch of friends for churros and chocolate, a VERY popular dessert in Granada. Our señora Carmen is good friends with other host moms so the host moms and their students all met at a cafe for churros! Basically  you get a mug of delicious melted chocolate and a few plates of churros for the table. The churros here are huge and just deep-fried dough. Unlike churros in the US or Latin America, they aren't covered in cinnamon/sugar. They are amazing and extremely fattening. We were joking that the grease from the churros turned our napkins to wax paper. I don't feel too bad about the calories, though...I calculated on Google Maps that it's 1.5 miles from our house to school and I make that walk a minimum of 2 times per day. I figure if I'm walking at least 6 miles a day a few churros and crepes and gelato won't hurt!

La Alhambra

Today we went on our final excursion for the week, to visit Europe's #1 tourist destination...La Alhambra. La Alhambra is essentially a city with a military fortress and a palace within that dates back to the 800's. It is situated at the top of the hills of the city of Granada, and we can see the lights of it from down in the city when we walk to and from school! I have been really excited to visit La Alhambra all week and unfortunately, we were stuck with a really crappy weather day. It was freezing cold outside and absolutely pouring rain, with crazy wind! I was really not dressed for the weather...
Despite the cold and rain we took lots of pictures of the amazing fortress/castle/palace/whatever you want to call it and I am definitely making plans to go back on a warmer, sunnier day! We learned a lot from our tour guide, Aurelio, but for the most part I was too concerned with defrosting my hands to learn about 14th century stone carvings.
Once we left La Alhambra, we were on a mission to find a café that was open where we could get some hot drinks and warm up. We found a cute one, ordered hot chocolates, and were a little startled when we were served steaming cups of melted chocolate. Like literally, we ate this chocolate with spoons. I'm not complaining though-it was amazing!
Happy to report we found a café called Picaro that stays open till 2 am and has free wifi...it's 1:50 now and I finally got to Skype my parents and best friend at home. I think we'll probably be back here again. Adios for now!

xoxo
Kira

This is going to be life-changing

Have you ever seen something or met someone or done something in your life that you knew was going to change things forever? Whether it is good or bad, that feeling is incredibly liberating and scary. Yesterday was the best day in Granada so far, hands down. I know I will probably have a lot of other unbelievable days in the next 5 months or so, but I have to get this one down while it’s still fresh.

Yesterday started out as one of those days where it was cloudy, was supposed to rain, I had to pack two sack lunches and was planning to leave the house at 9 am and not return till almost 10 pm...extremely busy and exhausting.

It turns out that every exhausting minute of it was so worth it. It ended up being a beautiful and warm, sunny day-perfect for walking. After our morning meeting where we received information about our Morocco exchange program next week, we set out for a long hike up very steep alleys and streets to El Albaycín. I’ve seen some beautiful buildings and landscapes in my life and I didn’t think anything I saw would top the scenery in Ireland, but the view from El Albaycín was completely breathtaking. Our guide, Aurelio, gave us lots of information about the history of the city on our way up there and we stopped to visit Arab Baths on the way as well. We were all out of breath and exhausted but when we got to the top and saw the view of the Sierra Navadas, La Alhambra, and the view overlooking the city of Granada we all just stopped in our tracks. I snapped a lot of pictures, so I’ll put some up here so you can all semi-appreciate the beauty that is Granada. I was literally taken aback by the beauty of the mountains, the buildings, the landscape, everything.

We hiked back down in order to go to class (but only after stopping at an amazing gelato restaurant to counteract the calories burnt while hiking uphill). After class, my group had to stay at the CLM again for an activity called “intercambios” and I was NOT looking forward to it. I wanted to go home, eat, and fall into bed after all that walking and hiking.

Once again, I was completely wrong. Let me explain “intercambios” before I rant about how amazing it was. We do several intercambios activities throughout the semester and today was the first. We are split into groups of 4 American students and we are joined by one Spanish student from the University of Granada who is learning English. We normally will speak for half the time in Spanish and half in English and we get to do different activities with them like going to the Arab tea houses or visiting the University. Yesterday, for the first activity, we met in our groups (which are the same all semester) and had to introduce ourselves and just talk for a while. Our Spanish student is named Eva, and she is my new best friend.

It was a little awkward at first, but she wasn’t too difficult to understand, and after being in the classroom for a bit, we all went out for tapas together! Eva and I have a lot in common, and she was telling me all the best bars and discotecas in Granada. I’m so excited to have made my first real Spanish friend, and to have more “intercambios” this semester!

Hasta luego, mis amigos xoxo

Life with a Señora

¡Hola, amigos! When last we spoke, I was about to meet my host mom..it's now been almost 2 full days living with Carmen González, my Señora and it's certainly been an adjustment. Luckily, Paige and I are living together so we can struggle through our Spanish vocabulary and grammar together. Carmen is really sweet and she has the most adorable 3 year old grandson Juan Antonio, who comes over every morning for her to walk him to school and in the afternoon he comes back for lunch! He's pretty shy around us, but Paige and I are hoping that he'll warm up soon. After all, we did watch "Bob Esponja" (Spongebob) with him and let him show us his Mario Kart.
The food has been good so far, I've had paella, vegetable soup, croquettes and a few other foods at home so far. The best thing is the fruit! There are clementines to die for and orange trees everywhere! Tomorrow, I will get a bocadillo which is like a sandwich/sack lunch from my Señora since we are going on an excursion with our group to visit the city center. We have a few other excursions this week to the Albaycín and the Alhambra. I can't wait!
A few of the major adjustments of living with a host mom here are that I don't have wifi, which is really frustrating since there is almost nowhere to use the internet, especially at night when I actually have time to upload pictures, check Facebook, and Skype with family and friends. Tonight, Paige and I walked forever to finally find a restaurant that was open and had wifi...in exchange for a glass of wine, of course.
Another adjustment is the freezing cold house...people in Spain are very conscientious about using things like heat, electricity and water. Because of this, the heat is really low and we have to sleep with leggings, under armor, and in Paige's case, 5 pairs of socks. Sheesh. At least the table where we eat has a space heater underneath, so we hang out in there with our Señora a lot watching Spanish TV. We also try really hard to conserver water...as a result, we have to take showers and turn off the water every time we are shampooing or anything. Put that together with a house that is about 60 degrees and you do the math. Goosebumps galore.
Anyway, enough complaining! I'm having a great time and I can't wait to explore more of this beautiful city! We have to walk about 30 min to school every day and we have to come home for lunch with our Seõra, so that's a lot of walking, and a lot of time to see the city I'm living in for the next 5 months! Leave a comment if you would like to know anything I'm haven't posted about, or want more info.

Until the next time I can find internet,
Kira xoxo

I'm here! I'm here!

After 15+ hours of travel, I'm finally in Spain! Currently sitting in Melia Granada hotel and dying to take a shower and wash the grime of travel off me...nonetheless, I am THRILLED to be here! It has been truly exhausting but we were lucky everything with travel went well. Paige and I met a few people from our program on our initial flight to Madrid, and our group just kept getting bigger as the day went on! Everyone in our program has been so nice so far-I know we'll all have an amazing semester together. Some highlights from the trip so far: free wine on the flight to Madrid, amazing coffee in the Madrid airport, scoping out the eye candy that is Real Madrid fútbol team in the airport, seeing the Sierra Navadas from the air, no customs at the Granada airport (yay!) and a nice bus ride through the city to our hotel for the night, where a bus full of CCA students proceeded to block traffic as we all attempted to roll our massive suitcases through the cobblestone streets of the city.
It's about 3pm right now, and a shower and a quick nap sound absolutely amazing before we meet up with some new friends for dinner. I can't wait to meet my host family tomorrow and hopefully post again soon!
Hasta luego! xoxo

Packing...a Form of Torture.

The countdown till the day I leave for Spain is down to only 3 days! I can't believe it's almost here already...especially since I have been procrastinating packing like it's my job. I finally sat down a couple days ago to begin conquering the beast, but all I could make myself do was start a list of everything I needed. I was completely overwhelmed by the thought of fitting enough clothes/shoes/accessories for 5 months into one big suitcase and one small carry on bag. I am a notorious over-packer and the 50lb weight limit is so unforgiving.
Yesterday I forced myself to start the packing I had been dreading for weeks. I decided that packing is officially a form of torture. Looking into your closet and trying to decide what to bring and what not to bring is like a nasty little game of favorites. I love ALL of my clothes and shoes and jewelry! I don't want the ones left behind to think I don't love them! What if I come back and they are no longer in style?!
Once I got over that little emotional moment, I started to pull things from my closet and basically my bed turned into a heaping pile of clothing. The list I made the other day helped get my packing in order a lot. I found it was helpful to categorize the list into sections such as clothes, shoes, medical, travel documents, toiletries, etc. so it wasn't as overwhelming.

Here is a picture of the clothes I finally decided on, all piled into different categories on my bed. If you want a copy of my packing list for a trip you are going on, just email me at krysiewicz@mail.bradley.edu and I'll happily send it!

After a long afternoon of decisions, I finished my "dry run" of packing. In the past, I've found it's helpful to put everything you plan to pack in your suitcase a few days ahead of time to see how much can fit and weigh it with a luggage scale so you know if you have any extra room, and then take them out to hang up until the night before. I'm proud to say my suitcase (as of now) only weighs 35lbs! I'll probably try to leave some extra room for purchases too.

If you're interested, I'm adding a list of some packing tips I learned and things I've used this time and in the past to make packing easier and less like a form of torture.
1. Make a list! It helps to think of as many things ahead of time that you might need so you don't forget when packing.
2. Try to bring clothing items that you can wear with multiple outfits and with different scarves and accessories.
3. It's best to bring clothes that are low-maintenence: i.e. clothes that won't get really wrinkled or don't have difficult washing instructions.
4. Some clothes can be 'vaccuum-sealed' into gallon-sized ziploc bags, but for the most part, rolling your clothes makes them fit best.
5. Carry-on bags don't have weight limits like checked luggage does, so heavier things can be put in your carry on bag if you are worried about surpassing the weight limit.
6. Put your shoes in bags (or disposable shower caps!) to keep them from getting clothing dirty. Bring several extra bags as well. Plastic bags from the grocery store are perfect!
7. Stuff whatever you can inside shoes-socks, belts, snacks, whatever will fit.
8. Make sure to put at least 2 extra outfits and things you'll need to easily access in your carry on bag. If your luggage gets lost, at least you'll have some clothes with you!