Monkey Business @ Gibraltar

What’s 2 square miles in size and sits at the tip of Spain, right where the Atlantic meets the Mediterranean? Gibraltar, of course! It is this giant monolith that sits high over the town. What makes Gibraltar unique is that it although it forms part of the Iberian Peninsula, it is owned and governed by Great Britain. So as we walked across the border, all we had to do was flash our passports to the border control officers. I had always learned about Gibralter in my Spanish history classes where we learned how the Spanish and British (and others) fought for this small territory. And I don’t blame them. It is not only beautiful, the view from the top of the rock is panoramic and you can see for miles away, even to the tip of Northern Africa.

Our main goal was to climb the rock. Once on the other side of the border we were greeted by a London-style double decker bus and we jumped on immediately to head to the heart of the town. To our surprise, this place was not just owned by Britain, it looked and felt as if you were there too! The streets were lined with typical English chains like Marks and Spencer, or Accessorize (I LOVE that store). Not to mention, there were tons of Irish pubs and lots of places to eat Fish n’ Chips. They even have their own British pounds! It was clear that we certainly were not in Spain anymore. One thing I found quite interesting was the fact that everyone there spoke not only English and Spanish, but this wierd kind of Spanglish, much different from what I've ever heared in the U.S. The words were different and it was just quite intriguing to hear and experience this linguistic fusion that exists as a result of this monolith’s prime peninsular location.

 

Ok, so it was time to go up to the top. We had planned on taking the (ski)lift up and then just walking around because we had all day. Then this guy with a badge who drove a taxi approached us trying to sell us on a tour deal. He said for 20€ we could not only get to the top in a taxi bus, we would be able to gain entry into all the sites and take pictures with the monkeys. Ok, at first we thought it was a scam, but he was legit. And with my negotiating skills, I talked him down to 15€ and we were on our way.

When we first crossed the border all we saw was the giant rock. Someone had mentioned to us that a population of about 7,000 people live there. At first I thought “how in the world do they fit 7,000 people on this rock.” That question was soon answered. Once we got to the top we could see the panoramic view of the entire place. All the people lived on the other side of the rock and you couldn’t see all the homes until you were up high.

Man, what a view! I stood there at the viewpoint in awe trying to give my brain a chance to process the absolute beauty that I was witnessing. Not only can you see lots of the tip of Spain, Africa was quite visible too. Spain meets Africa. Atlantic meets Mediterranean. It was all right there. After the viewpoint we headed to St. Michael’s cave, which is deep and full of stalagmites. There have been a series of speculations as to whether or not the caves lead to some underground passage to Africa, but I have no idea how true that is. There is also a concert hall down there, but I'm not sure how I would feel about sitting through a couple of musical sets while gigantic stalagmites are hanging over my head.

After the caves we went to see the monkeys! Gibraltar is famous for all the monkeys that live wild there in the nature reserve near the top part of the rock. Well, actually, they’re owned by the government, but allowed to run free. We let them to climb on us so we could take pictures, but there are strict rules about not feeding them. Ok, funny thing happened. I had forgotten a wrapper from a chocolate brownie in the front part of my backpack from when we came back from Morocco a few days earlier. One of the monkeys smelled the chocolate on me, then jumped on my back, grabbed the wrapper, ran to a nearby rock to start eating whatever chocolate residue was left. I was so scared. I maintained face, and tried to smile but the entire time he was on my back I was like “get this freakin' monkey off my back!" (Pun intended). It was hilarious.

Finally, we visited the Siege underground exhibit, caves from which the British soldiers would shoot their cannons while at war to protect Gibraltar. I guess it worked.

Gibraltar is surely a hidden treasure and I am glad I took the time to actually visit.

Mi Encuentro Marroquí (My Moroccan Encounter)

Guess what? I just got back from the "Motherland!" (Africa, that is). The girls from GSU and I just spent the last couple of days in Morocco and boy, do I have some stories to tell. Morocco always seemed like such an exotic place, so I was excited to go. After all, classes had not yet begun, so I wanted to take the opportunity to travel as much as I could. I admit, it was a last minute decision and honestly I did not know what to expect. 

Our trip started out with a 6-hour bus ride to Madrid. We arrived at the Madrid airport at almost midnight and since we had 6 am flights to Marrakech, we decided to spend the night at the airport. That was a fun night. We were so tired, we were laughing deliriously the entire night. We tried to sleep on the hard and cold airport floor, but after numerous failed attempts, we just decided to sleep on the plane. Once on the plane I was knocked out. I think I woke up to the sight of the beautiful Atlas mountain range that sat over Marrakech. It is one of the most beautiful scenes I have ever seen. 

However, we had a problem. The pilot couldn’t land the plane because of a thick fog that covered the city. We circled in the air for about 45 minutes or more. I was going in and out of sleep, interrupted intermittently by the pilot’s announcements about why he couldn’t land. Finally, he said that we were going to land in a nearby city to solve the fog problem. Ok, apparently the word “nearby” was relative. We landed in Algadir, which is a city on the Atlantic coast and about 155 miles away! Plus, it was not even the closest airport. Sheesh. At first I thought it was hilarious. Probably because I was not expecting what would come next. They then made us get off the plane without any further instructions at all. Somehow I assumed we were going to stay at the airport until the fog cleared and would be subsequently put on another flight to Marrakech. Nothing of the sort. We waited for about 2 hours at the Algadir airport until they put us on a bus that would take us to Marrakech. At first they told us it would take 3 hours to get there, but it ended up taking us about 5. We were originally supposed to arrive in Marrakech at 7am; we didn’t get there until 5 or 6pm. We lost an entire day.

When we finally arrived the bus dropped us off at some random spot from which we took a taxi to the main square, Djamaa El Fna. Man, there were A LOT of people. I was a little overwhelmed. And I guess I didn’t know exactly what to expect so I experienced some serious culture shock. Plus, I think after the rough travels and sleep deprivation my emotions were off kilter. That night we got something to eat and found us a nice hostal. It was pretty nice and the guy at the front desk (Aziz - super nice) gave us a good deal. We stayed practically on the main square, right in the middle of all the action and across the street from a nice park. That night we walked around for a bit and went to get some icecream. Even at night the plaza was full of life and excitement. Small groups were playing drums, there were kiosks with all kinds of fruits and spices, there were even snake charmers and people with trained monkeys. Before coming I was actually worried about how I should dress since Morocco is a muslim country and I didn’t want to wear anything that would be offensive. Also, it was just us three females so that first night I was a little on edge. I was actually surprised to see the women dressed in all different ways. Some wore tradition dress, some were covered completely, while others wore regular clothes without any head covering. After noticing that, I felt more at ease. 

 

The next day we decided to explore a little bit of the city. We decided to go to the Bahia Palace. To get there we walked through areas that were not as touristy. I enjoyed it because I got to see how locals really live. The palace was beautiful and very much like many of the  alcazares (palaces) that I have already seen in Spain. After coming to Morocco, I could really see how strong the arab architectural influence was (and still is) in Spain.

That next day was our big shopping day. Souks – here I come! The Souks has got to be the greatest place to find good bargains. It's this laberint of local venders where you can buy everything from leather purses to silver jewelry. I collect vases from different countries so I bargained my way to a good price on a beautiful ceramic vase with a cool camel bone design. But if you ever go there, be careful not to get lost because it is seriously a maze. We decided to stay on a straight path and I must say we were quite successful in finding our way back out.

On our final day there we visited the Koutoubia gardens. The Koutoubia is the most important mosque in Marrakech. We had the entire day to chill, so we walked alongside the ancient city walls to the Majorelle Gardens. It was a long walk, but once we saw the gardens it was well worth it. It was breathtaking and a great way to end our trip.

We also spent that last night in the Marrakech airport, since we had an early flight. LOL. It was so cold we had to huddle together to stay warm. And to top it off, when we got back to Madrid, we missed our bus back to Málaga :(

Overall, we had a fun and fantastic trip. Next time I would love to go to the Sahara. Most of our frustration on this trip was associated with the traveling itself. And really, it brought Kelley, Lizette and I closer together. I don't rememeber ever laughing so much in my life. Everywhere we went something funny happened that we still laugh about even after having come back.

Can't wait to share my next adventure. Until then...

El Carnaval de Málaga – Confetti Fever

This past weekend I had a cultural experience that absolutely blew my mind – the Málaga Carnival. I had seen a poster on a street corner one day last week while walking back home and from that moment my interest was piqued. Being from the Caribbean, I had a certain image in mind as to what Carnival looks, sounds, and feels like, so I was interested to know how they celebrate Carnival in Spain. For those of you who may not know, West Indian Carnivals have their roots in European carnival, so what we celebrate back home is a somewhat evolved version of European carnival (seasoned with African tradition, of course).

 The first thing on the itinerary was  the Pregón y Elección de los dioses (Opening and Selection of the gods). Ok, so I had no idea what that even meant or entailed, so I was intrigued. A friend and I caught the bus to the centro since that first night’s event was going to take place in the Plaza de la Constitución. While we were walking in the direction of the carnival we were met with crowds of people. All around us people were dressed in costumes of all kinds and everyone was walking the streets and just having a good time. On one corner we saw group of guys all dressed in costumes and playing musical instruments while people gathered around to join them in singing and to cheer them on. They looked like green aliens…or could they have been broccoli heads?? Who knows…but I just had to stop and take a picture with them (I never leave home without my camera). As we continued towards the plaza, the atmosphere was super charged. It was loud with the roar of the crowds of people. So this was the Málaga carnival. The crowd became thicker as we approached and we had to wiggle our way through some people, but it didn’t bother me one bit! I actually liked being in the center of all the action J. In the plaza they had set up a stage and a huge, long red carpet. We got there just before the Elección de los dioses began. Different groups or designers constructed these huge and elaborate costumes (that they called “dioses”) that were made of feathers, glitter, lights and sequins.  The “dioses” would come out and parade their costume on the red carpet for the crowd to enjoy and then at the end of the night they picked a winner. It was great - I felt like I was back home in St. Maarten! The only thing that was missing was the Calypso and Soca music. But, wow. It was more like West Indian carnival than I realized! Actually, back home we construct our costumes the exact same way and have shows like this too. Even though I knew that the concept of carnival in the West Indies and in Europe was the same, I didn’t realize that modern day Spanish carnival would be so similar. 

The next day the festivities continued. Sunday was the Gran Desfile (The grand parade). A group of friends and I took the bus down to the Avenida de Andalucia, where the parade was to pass through. That day was even more fun than the night before. Not only were more people dressed up, little kids had on their costumes too. I had so much fun taking pictures of them. The cutest costume I saw was this little girl (who was white) who was dressed up as the princess from the recent Disney movie “Princess and the Frog.” She wore the green princess dress and held a stuffed frog, but since the princess from the movie was black, her face was painted brown. It was cute, but I had to laugh. We enjoyed the parade, which basically consisted of the dioses we had seen the night before and the level of excitement was just as high. Besides the costumes, the thing I enjoyed most about the parade was all the confetti. As the groups passed by, lots of people had bags of confetti and were tossing handfuls into the crowd. Somehow we must have attracted a lot of attention with our enthusiasm because it seemed as if every handful of confetti was thrown directly at us. LOL. I was finding confetti for days afterwards. 

The carnival was such a great cultural experience. Everyone who participated seemed to have had such a great time. I did too. 

Honesty

Since one of my goals for this blog is to try to be transparent, I would like to share a personal struggle that I have dealt with in the past, but find myself also dealing with as I am now here in Spain.

One of my main goals in coming to Spain is to perfect my language skills, both oral and written. More specifically, I would like to improve my professional writing skills in Spanish as well as be able to better communicate verbally with more ease and less grammatical errors. Well, today I got really frustrated with myself because I didn’t feel that I was where I need to be nor where I want to be in relation to my Spanish language skills. That frustrates me. First, I am at the graduate level, and secondly, I am a Spanish instructor. I feel like I have a certain standard that I need to uphold for myself, so I cannot help but get upset with myself when I mess up or say something wrong.

It’s not simply making mistakes that frustrate me. Being completely honest, I still get nervous when speaking Spanish, especially to people who I think are going to judge me. I’m not referring to experiencing shyness or timidity, but rather fear. I mean real, stomach-churning, make-you-wanna-run-away type of fear. You know, the kind that manifests physiologically. This fear itself is counterintuitive because when I get nervous, I make even more mistakes. I know this may be hard for some to understand because you all think, “Teljer is not shy”. True. But that doesn’t mean that I’m fearless or that don’t struggle with fear of speaking. It is even hard for me to process because I want this so badly! People have many times told me “hablas muy bien español,” ("you speak Spanish really well") but sometimes that is not good enough. I want to speak like a native speaker and anything that falls just shy of that is not good enough for me. I want it so badly that sometimes it makes me want to cry.

But alas, reality keeps me in check. Really, I have only been in Spain for a little over a week. I know that I am a perfectionist, but I need to remind myself to take it in stride, setting realistic goals for myself. If I am not careful, my temporary frustration may make me forget or even disregard all the hard work that I have done to even get to the point where I’m at.

I got some great advice from one of my roommates tonight. She said “cuando tengas esas ideas, siempre mira hacia atras en tu camino y lo que has logrado, eso te motivará para lo que sigue.” ("Whenever you have those thoughts, always look back at the path from which you've come and what you've attained and that is what will motivate you for what's ahead"). Words of wisdom. I couldn’t have said it better myself.

So what is the resolution to this all? That I am not giving up! I am going to keep working at it. I know that I am hard on myself. But my ambition and hard work need to be seasoned with patience, positivity, and hope. Sigh. Indeed, I have a journey in front of me, but I am hopeful that it has a happy ending.

Ahora soy "Malagueña"

I survived my first week! So much has happened and I must say that I am starting to feel more like una malagueña. Two important things we needed to do this week were to go to a local bank to open accounts (since we're going to be here for so long) and to buy an unlimited monthly bus pass. It all made me feel so...official. The bus pass will be invaluable. It will save me a ton of money since we take the bus everywhere. The city is pretty spread out, but unlike Atlanta, the bus system here is pretty intricate and you can get around just fine without a car.


Meanwhile, I have been busy getting to know the city and taking some more pictures (I need to put that bus pass to use!). Some of you may not know this, but I'm a closet photographer - I LOVE taking pictures. I especially love taking pictures of things/places that have historical significance (nerdy, I know!). As I travel throughout Spain, I will be sure to share pictures of all the places that I visit.

As promised, I have pics of my new room. I moved in on Monday and when I entered the door it was a breath of fresh air (literally. Aquí no se puede fumar). And my roommates are all so awesome! One of them is, Liza, is from Argentina and the other three are from nearby areas. Only I would come all the way to Spain and make friends with someone from Latin America :) I think this move was great for me because eventhough my roommates are studying hard for finals, they still take time to knock on my door just to say hi, which I absolutely love. We often have our meals together downstairs in the dining room. I've also been busy giving my room the "Teljer Touch" so by popular demand, here are the before and after pictures. I feel relieved now that I've finally settled into my new room and have unpacked. I just hate that "I'm on vacation" feeling that you get when you're living out of a suitcase or when you haven't personalized your room. Moreover, since I am going to be here for 6 months I wanted to make it feel like home.

This study abroad trip is like a dream come true for me. I am in my zone, my happy place. I am surrounded by Spanish speakers, rich culture and endless possibilities for learning and growing, both intellectually and personally. Of course I don't expect for everything to be perfect at every single moment, but I have already made up my mind to enjoy this trip despite any possible mishaps. For those of you who have thought about studying abroad, I encourage you to jump at the opportunity. You will not regret it. And in reality, your experience is what you make of it and how much you take in is really up to the individual. As for me, I choose to savor every moment and to immerse myself in the cultura malagueña as much as I possibly can.

Girl's day out

Saturday was such a fun day! It was my first time going into the centro (downtown) and getting to see a bit of Málaga. I finally was able to shake the jetlag, so I was feeling pretty pumped. Just so you know, there are four of us here from GSU. Michelle, who has been here since September last year, took us out to show us the city. Man, it is beautiful! It feels cosmopolitan, but not in an overwhelming way. There is tons to see and do. Well...first things first - I brought the wrong adapter with me for plugging in stuff. By Sat. my battery on my laptop was dead, and that would keep me from updating this wonderful blog. We took the bus to the centro to El Corte Ingles (a dept. store) to find another one. We also grabbed a quick lunch since were going to miss lunch at the residencia. We chatted and walked around a bit soaking in the ambiente malagueño (the atmosphere in Málaga). We couldnt spend too much time in the centro today because we had plans to go to a fancy dinner that night to celebrate the start of our new journey here. I must mention we are all off to a great start. All the GSU girls and I get along so well! Each of them (Michelle, Lizette and Kelley) are unique and AMAZING in their own way. I know that even as I am learning and growing personally that I can learn from them as well. I could not have asked for a better group of students to spend my time in Spain with.

That evening we got ready for our fancy dinner. We arrived downtown and walked the scenic route to our restaurant. Actually we were sort of lost for a little bit, but we so intrigued by how beautiful it was that we really didnt care! We finally found our restaurant and sat down. Michelle had been to the restaurant before and knew the owner, who I must mention was quite guapo (handsome) :). He brought us some wine as we waited for our food. The four of us were there for 3 hours just talking, laughing and having a great time. Oh! I had my first Chupito! The owner gave us each a free shot of Tequila on the house (so sweet of him).

Overall, it was a fun and and laid back evening. If I were to reflect, I would say that I learned something that night - that I dont have to stress out about everything in life. I mean, we sat in that restaurant for over 3 hours just having a good time. There was no rush for us to leave on our part, nor on the owner's. There were people in there even longer than we were. These malagueños appeared to be much more tranquilo and laid back than I was or from what I observe in our American society. I mean, many people still have siesta (nap time) everyday. This Christmas break I realized that I need to find some balance in my life. I must confess that I am addicted to busyness, hardwork and academia. I work and study ALL THE TIME and I am very ambitious even to the point of biting off more than I can chew. I do not say this to say that I am throwing my work ethic out the window, but I am admiting that I need to find more balance in my life between work and rest. It was funny because I was at home for Christmas for 4 whole weeks. I did absolutely nothing. It was the best four weeks of my life. But I think my body went into shock because for the first time in about 2 years I actually slowed down. So that is going to be one of my goals during this trip - that I find that balance between hard work and being able to relax, breathe and just enjoy life.

I feel right at home

I'M HERE!! I never thought the day would come, but after 3 1/2 months of planning and preparation, I finally made it to Málaga! I dont know how I did it, but I managed to fit ALL my stuff I into my two bags. And I'm a girly girl, so I "need" all my stuff (including the 12 pairs of shoes I brought - a girl needs options). Well, after a 12hr journey, connecting through London, I landed in Málaga on Thursday afternoon. When I got off the plane I felt good. Being surrounded by Spanish speakers was music to my ears. Funny thing is, Spanish peninsular accents had always been "different" for me, but now it intrigues me. Michelle, one of the other students from GSU met me at the airport to help me with all my luggage. She asked me to bring an extra bag for her, so it was quite comical watching us push a cart with 170lbs of luggage out of the airport. I was doing some thinking during the taxi ride back to the residencia. Looking out the window and taking in what I saw I realized that I felt very comfortable here. Sure, Málaga felt and looked different to the other Spanish cities that I had visited on my last trip to Spain, but not in a bad way. Actually, I felt right at home. It was then I noticed that all my nervousness and anxiety had dissipated. All I felt was peace. I am going love this place!

So we got to the residence hall and its huge! Some 200 students live there. The office was expecting me and the lady at the front desk, Fernanda, came out to give me a kiss on both cheeks, which is the tradition here. I went up to my room and met my roommates, who are all from nearby cities. We chatted for a little while and they told me that they were all busy studying for finals, since their semester ends at the beginning of February, instead of in December as in the U.S. I actually LOVE my room -it's a good size. I have lots of closet space (phew!) and a huge desk for all the studying and reading I will be doing. My room is 1 of 5 in sort of a suite with 2 bathrooms. The great thing about this residence is that you get 3 meals a day and one snack. They also have someone come and clean your room AND your bathroom Mon-Fri...¡¡Mira que nice!! I only had one problem! Ok, that first day as I was standing in the hall of the suite, two of my roommates lit up a cigarrette...right in the suite!! I was like, heck no. I honestly have nothing against people that smoke, but it kinda does bother me when they smoke indoors...especially when its going to affect me. I decided to be diplomatic and just talk to Isabel (the residence director) about it the next day.

I must say that Isabel has got to be the coolest residence director ever! She brought me and the other new GSU students into her office to welcome us. I think she was just as excited for us to be here as we were. I mentioned the roommate/smoking issue to her and she was totally cool about the whole thing. Eventhough it is against the rules to smoke in your room, we just decided it was better for me to change rooms. So I get my new room on Monday :) I have all these plans to decorate and make it really cute and comfortable. And really, 6 months is a long time, so I want to make sure I can upack, unwind and make my room feel like home. I will post pics once I have it up to speed.