Tarifa, Morocco!, Gibraltar

   Just recently I returned back from an interesting trip which included a couple nights in Tarifa, Spain, and followed by my first(maybe last) trip to Africa as well as a short stop in Gibraltar.  When I say that it was an interesting trip, that is just the tip of the iceberg. All in all, it was exciting, funny, and full of surprises!

   I will begin with my time in Tarifa. This was a small, chill beach town right on the Mediterranean. Down the main strip, you will find an infinite number of surf shops, with little cafés and shops between. The best part about this place would have to be the beach. Although surprisingly we had some great food there which was an added bonus. OK back to the beach. There we found that clear blue water of the Mediterranean, and some enormous waves! GNARLY BRAH! Of course we saw loads of surfers, so that was cool to watch. At one point a girl rode by on a horse! Yes, a horse on the beach! It felt like something out of a movie. All in all, that time hanging on the beach, was just perfect.

   As I mentioned, this trip also included stops in Morocco, and Gibraltar. Let me put my experience in Morocco into one word for you: Insane! Oh, and let me add this, Morocco is the shadiest country that I've ever been to. Yes, my time in Morocco was crazy. Now when I say crazy, it's both good, bad, and well, crazy. As I expected, things were different, but I had no idea just how different they would be. We took a paid tour for the first part of our stay, and it was alright, however, I wasn't happy about some things. For example, it was very obvious from early on that the tour and several local shops had a contract together, so basically the tour set us up trying to buy things. When we came out of the stores, we were mobbed by street people trying to sell us things, and they would follow you down the street all over.
The poverty level there is nothing I have ever seen before. With that said, almost every native that we came across spoke at least 3 or 4 languages fluently. This was incredible to me, yet sad at the same time, because all of that ability was going unused.
   So now a quick story of a shady event that took place. I stopped to buy a newspaper as a souvenir(Newspapers from other countries make cool souvenirs). Anyway, the guy who helped us then began to follow us, but in a non creepy way. In fact, now that I think about it, he was very sneak, he almost popped up out of nowhere. He basically offered to be our personal tour guide without really saying, but we knew that was what he wanted. Well, we knew it was shady, but we thought what the heck, lets do it. We only walk about 50 yards before police siren goes off. The "tour guide" freaked out. He ran to the cop car, trying to explain himself. I knew at that moment what was up, and the cops confirmed that thought. He was known as a shady local who tries to scam tourists. How dumb I felt at that moment I cannot describe. At the same time, I just felt lucky that the police actually did that for us. With all that said, I think I won't ever be back in Africa, well, at least not in Morocco, but I'm glad I went.
   Last but not least, Gibraltar. This was a short but fun experience. Of course the main reason to go there is to see the monkeys, and that we did. If you don't know already, English is the language spoken in Gibraltar, and it was cool for me going to another country where they speak the same language. The entire country basically consists of this big mountain, I mean that is what it is known for. So we spent most of our time there, chillin with the monkeys, and just enjoying it all.
   So that pretty much sums of the weekend. Like I said, lots of good, exciting things, all of which I won't forget. You begin to see it more with each time you travel, that it is truly an awesome thing. Sometimes things get a little crazy, or they don't work out the way you planned, but it's all part of the adventure, and that's what makes traveling so much fun.

Cultura en la Calle (Culture in the street)

   I'm a little bit late on this, but I had to write about an experience that I had two weeks ago. To catch you up on everything, while I was traveling in Málaga last November, I met a group of students from Hungary and Bulgaria at the hostel that we were staying in.  They were a cool group, and we exchanged contact info with the intention of staying in contact. This is something that I would say I do a lot, because I like meeting new people. With that said, most of the time these new contacts fade away over time. Yet this time it was different. We stayed in contact and some of that group was traveling to my city to see the sites, and we met up!
   The group was a little different than the first time we met. In all, this new group of friends consisted of an Italian, a Swiss, my three friends from Bulgaria whom I originally had met, and one more from I think Sweden, but he spoke French.  With that said, they all speak Spanish fluently, and they are all just awesome people, so we had no problem hanging out. One night we went out to get some tapas. This was a great time, just relaxed, sitting in a little restaurant eating delicious Spanish tapas with such a fun and diverse group.  It was so cool to be sitting there with these new friends, all from different countries, yet one common language, Spanish, binding us together. A little bit later the group became even more diverse when a Spanish friend of one of them came to join us, and we headed out to this underground Flamenco spot.

   So there we were, on a Wednesday around midnight, at this place that you probably can't even find with Google Maps, passing the time, a cold beer in hand, and some pure Spanish Flamenco, straight from the streets. At that time, I was standing there, just soaking it all in. I think for a second there, I wasn't thinking, I wasn't hearing the music, I was just feeling the moment. Standing in the dim light, watching such a raw, yet talented duo perform flamenco, with a diverse and fun group of new friends there to enjoy it with me, that is what I believe to be the perfect example of what it should be like to study abroad.
  Basically, I want to say with this post is that you can never meet too many people. You can't be afraid to try new things, to stay out a little bit longer, because you never know what can happen. I am so glad that I have met these new friends. Although we may live far away, and we may never see each other again, I will forever cherish such moments. Hopefully we can all stay in contact, hopefully we will remain friends, but either way, I know that we all had a great time that night, no matter where the road takes us.

I'm back!

Wow, it really has been a while. It wasn't my intention to go two months without updating, but life has been crazy. For those who are interested, I did of things since I last wrote on here. The month of December was a fun one. I went on a trip to Portugal, and it was so random, with so many funny things, that I can't even begin to describe them.  In all, Portugal was cool, I thought it was very different from Spain but I liked it and will probably make it back at least one more time.

Other than that I was back home for the holidays. I spent a good month there before coming back to España.  For me that was a perfect vacation. I got to see so many friends, and I think I accomplished more in that one month than I did in any other month. It would have been nice to see everybody a little bit longer, and I didn't get to see everybody or do everything that  I wanted to accomplish, but it was still a nice stay at home. I was ready to come back, and I couldn't be happier to be here again. It's gonna be another adventure and I only expect it to get better. I'll try to keep this updated more. Stay tuned!