Surprises and Moroccan Vibes

The Blue City in Morocco

 "New month, new class, new professor, and NOW A NEW HOUSEMATE, OH NO !"  I have reached my halfway mark of being in Spain and finally  feeling acquainted with my host family and a curve ball thrown at me. (I don't know if it's my only child tendency kicking in), but I really enjoyed being the only student in the house and not having to share a bathroom with anyone. Unfortunately, my host mom informs me that we will be getting another female student who is from Japan. Honestly speaking, I started over thinking because I did not know what to expect or what her personality would be like etc. I sent my cousin Lynda a text message expressing my concerns and her response was for me to seize the day and be open to the possibilities of making new connections with another international student. After the conversation with my cousin, I realized maybe I was overreacting just a tad bit. Therefore,  I decided to give it a try and welcome the other student with open arms. The following evening she arrived.  Her name is Kaho, she speaks three languages Japanese, Spanish, and a little bit of English. To my surprise she was a blessing in disguise because she helped me become more comfortable speaking Spanish with my host family. There were times when I could not describe what I was trying to say in Spanish to my host family, so I would explain in Spanglish to Kaho and she would help me translate to my parents. Furthermore, she indirectly motivated me to get up earlier for school without having to run anymore to the tram station. In addition, I was always adamant that the tram was faster than the bus when going to school, but she was willingly to prove me wrong and now I arrive to campus 20 minutes earlier.

Through this lesson, I learned the cliché life quote "Never Judge A Book By Its Cover."

Enough about my home experience,  let's talk about the luxury of being able to visit another continent because Europe's location is ideal for traveling. For my 20th birthday, I decided to go to Morocco for the weekend to mainly ride camels and of course see the Moroccan culture. As a Nigerian-American the trip hit close to home as well because it was my first time traveling to Africa without my parents and seeing another African country other than Nigeria. Initially, I was a tad bit nervous but eventually became excited to embark on this opportunity with the friends I made in Spain. With the help of Discover Excursions, the Moroccan trip was INCREDIBLE. (Discover Excursions is a program made for study abroad students who want to visit different places in Europe (Portugal) or Africa (Morocco and Sahara Desert). While in Morocco, I practiced my bargaining skills, rode a camel, was mistaken for Malia Obama (I do not know how lol), received henna twice (first experience was great and the second one not so much), saw an awesome traditional Moroccan dance, and had great MOROCCAN TEA !

On the second to last day in Morocco, after the group finished eating at this Aladdin themed restaurant, some of us decided to go shopping and practice our bargaining skills. After an hour or so of shopping, we decided to take a break and just enjoy the scenery of the town, Assilah. A young gentleman was trying to have us buy some bracelets from him, but we were not interested . Afterwards, he said "Obama", we all thought he was saying this because  we were American. But then he pointed in my direction and said, "No, Obama. Malia Obama." I looked around thinking he was talking about someone behind, but he wasn't. We all laughed and I responded, "Gracias, pero no soy Malia Obama." He responded, "Si, si mismo cara." At that moment, I just left the situation alone and let him think what he did.

The first time
 getting henna 

Henna in Morocco was very beautiful and interesting it was cool seeing how the women memorized all the designs in the book . The first time I got my Henna it was red , very glittery  (which I loved), but it didn't last more than 12 hours and by the next morning it was completely gone. Afterwards, I was not interested in getting anymore henna. But when we arrived to Assilah , a friend and I were done shopping and these two Moroccan women were hassling us and basically grabbed us to get henna done. While all this was happening, I said, "Solamente, tengo dos euros." The lady who did mine said, "Okay no problem, just come , I know what design to do for you." But the lady who did my friend's said, "you can pay whatever amount you want." Five to ten minutes later, both of the women started doing intensive designs. My friend and I were in disbelief these hennas were only going to be two euros. Boy, were we wrong, the lady who did my friend's henna said, "20 euros." I spoke in disbelief, "UM no no no,  he dicho dos euros y has dicho sí no problema." Afterwards, I called my program chaperone  to come get us because the ladies would not let us go. Long story short, I paid 2 euros , the ladies were upset and we were able to head back to our group.

The next weekend after it was the oldest grandchild's birthday. She was turning 5, the party was awesome. It was hosted in an indoor ball park, a lot of her friends came with their parents. It was great seeing the family again. My favorite part of the party was the puppet show because it had a lot of activities such as a wack - the- robber segment for the birthday girl and story time. It was interesting to see a birthday in Spain because the birthday song is different compared to the way other Latin Americans sing happy birthday. For example in Spain it's, "¡Cumpleaños Felices!" but in other Spanish speaking countries it's "¡Felices Cumpleaños!"

As for classes , it's still going well and my Spanish is getting better each day.

Until next time ❗