New Family: Julia!!!

Although I was a little disappointed to be leaving Morocco, I was also very pleased that I would be spending the weekend in London with my cousin Sara, her husband Danilo, their new daughter Julia and my mom. It was a short trip but well worth it. Julia is an angel and absolutely adorable--almost makes me want to have kids :) Although I am no where as good with the wee ones as my mom, who with five kids worth have experience, has nicknamed herself "the baby whisperer." It was lovely to see the family again and I hope they make good on their promise for a visit in May.

Catching Up: Morocco

Sharon and I have just returned from our holiday in Morocco and I wish I was thesaurus but I can find no other way to describe it but AMAZING. It was my first venture out of western civilization and despite it being in North Africa with a lot of middle eastern/islamic influence, I think Morocco's somewhat progressive society was a good "gateway" if you will. Anyway, we leave for Paris tomorrow and I want to write as much as I can remember about Morocco now before it slips my mind--so be prepared this will be a long post. :) Or you can skip all the writing and go directly to my pics, most of which are at the end of my postas I'm sure that's what interests people most.

We started our travels to Marrakesh via London Luton airport on a Tuesday night, with the intention of staying the night in the airport as our flight to Morocco wasn't until 6:55 a.m. I knew Luton was a smaller airport but I didn't expect everything to shut down at 11 p.m., 10 minutes after we arrived....so we slept on the cold tile floor in our sleeping bags. That was fun-sort of.

Anyway our flight to Marrakesh went quickly and we were greeted with sunny skies--I almost forgot what that looked like. We headed to our riad in the old city, only accessible by foot down some random alley ways. I was here we were first made aware of Moroccan "friendliness" with many a "Bonjour les filles!" and "vous etes tres belles!" greetings coming our way. Our riad, Hotel Sherazade, was beautiful and very authentically Moroccan. Most of the buildings have open courtyards in the middle of buildings with either a lemon or orange tree growing in the middle and terraces on the roof. We left our luggage in our rooms and headed out for the main square. We were greeted by snake charmers, story tellers and women randomly grabbing your hands to apply henna for a ridiculous price...as Sharon soon found out. The sights and smells of the souqs were unreal but I have to say for all the spices we saw in the markets, we certainly didn't taste them in our food. Basically all the restaurants served the same three things: tajine (a stew type dish), couscous and brochettes (kabobs), but all of them seemed toned down in flavour for tourists, bordering on bland. We asked a few Moroccans "where can we get good, authentic Moroccan food?" and they all repled the same thing: "my house."

That was probably the most notable thing about Moroccan culture: everyone we met was extremely warm and friendly. I have never been in a society where people had such an easy going attitude and openness about them. We were constantly being invited for "berber whiskey" otherwise known as mint tea by people we met, where we would talk about eachother's cultures and interests. It really was heartwarming and I realized that my previous concerns about two young girls traveling alone in a muslim country were not well-founded.


After a few days in Marrakesh, we signed up for a Saharan expedition. This basically entailed getting in a range rover with a guide and four other people and driving for two days, but it was a great way to see Moroccan landscape when we were tight for time. Luckily we also had a really great group of people traveling with us, Lilian and Adam from Poland, Suzuki from Japan (whom I affectionately call Kawasaki) and our token australian traveller, Marc. They were all really lovely. The first day was spent driving through the High Atlas Mountains, where Mohammed our driver, would occasionally pull over for breathtaking views. We also stopped to visit a few kasbahs including Aït Benhaddou which was the setting for many films, including "Gladiator." We rounded up our trip with a stay in the Dades Valley Gorge which was very impressive. The next day we made our way to Merzouga, stopping along the way at various locations. We also visited a nomad brother and sister, who run a woman's co-op making rugs. We had tea with them and the brother (Mohammed again), told us about the various symbollism the women use in making the rug. Each rug tells a story and a few of us bought one to remember our time with them--and because they were beautiful of course. We arrived at the gateway to the Sahara at dusk and took a camel ride through the sand dunes to our campsite for the night. Unfortunately our pictures didn't turn out so well and they certainly do not do the view justice. The colours were phenomenal and even though I knew we were there, looking out over the sand dunes at sunset seemed as though it was a post card--unreal. We settled in our campsite and had the best tajine of the whole trip. Then our two guides (you guessed it) Mohammed and Hassan played some traditional Berber music and then taught Sharon and I how to play the Bongo drums. Mohammed spoke 9 languages, all self-taught, by virtue of his contact with tourists. So impressive...

Although it was dark already we decided to hike up the dunes to look at the stars...they were deceptively high. I thought it would be a short jaunt up the hill but 45 mins later at the top I thought I would have a heart attack. The stars were beautiful so we decided to cuddle up under blankets and sleep the night outside the tent--why not, I doubt I'll ever get to sleep in the Saharan desert again. The next day we headed back in the morning to our car but rather than return with the group to Marrakesh, we headed south to Fez. Fez is one of the oldest midieval cities in the world and its gorgeous! Its built kind of going down into a valley, Sharon said it reminded her a lot of Jerusalem. The next day we took a guide through the medina as it's extremely confusing with 9000 small streets/alleys in it. The guide wasn't that great, he basically took us to all his friend's shops and we had no self-control and shopped anyway knowing we were likely getting ripped off.

We returned to Marrakesh via train and met a bunch of really nice people, all exchanging email addresses and invitations for us to stay with them next time we were in Fez. I cannot say enough how nice the people were in Morocco, men and women, we were constantly greeted with smiles and openness. I think that will be what will stick with me most about this country.

Mosquitoes On Crack

I have recently been bitten (again) by a mosquito. It was a few nights ago and I could hear the little bugger in my ear and I hoped if I hid under the covers, I would wake up unscathed. Unfortunately, that is never the case. I woke up with three bites. Normally, this would not be a big deal. However, the mosquitoes in Holland must be on steroids because these three mosquito bites developed into golf ball lumps on my hands. It was brutal, at one point I was worried my arm would have to be amputated at my elbow, but thanks to a few doses of anti-histimine, most of the swelling and burning itch has subsided. The point of this story is well...I'm not entirely sure. But my mom yelled at me to have anti-histimines on me at all times and after this occurence, I'd say that's some sage advice.

Yet another eventful weekend in Amsterdam is almost over, except this will be my last one here for quite some time. On Tuesday Sharon and I will be flying to London Luton airport, where we will spend a glorious eight hours, only to be eventually whisked away to sunny Marrakesh, Morocco!!! I'm starting to get very excited about the trip, but also a little nervous given that I will pretty much spend the next month or so travelling...although I'm supposed to fit school in at some point or another.

Anyway, we went to a few different clubs/lounges this weekend, somehow riding our bikes in the freezing rain to get there no longer deters us. Last night a bunch of us went to Club 11 (on Nov. 11-how apt)--its a very cool club set a little bit outside the city centre so you get a really nice view of Amsterdam as its on, you guessed it, the eleventh floor of a building. It was nice because it was separated into two sections so it had a huge dance floor in one room and more of a lounge in the other--this was key as the music, which I enjoyed, is admittedly an acquired taste, particularly for dancing. So it was nice that we could all hang out for a few hours before the electronic music lovers hit the dance floor and the others went home.


We have attempted to get some work done during the day time but I'm not going to lie, some things never change and my ability to procrastinate is one of them. Although, in my defense, today's shopping expedition was a worthy excuse. Mostly because I needed to go to the pharmacy to stock up on travel drugs, ie, immodium. Of course there was no immodium on the shelf so I had a lovely time trying to explain what I was looking for to (possibly) the only person under the of 40 in Holland who does not speak english. She got it eventually and in broken English exclaimed loudly "OH YOU WANT DIARRHEA PILLS." Right.

Ok so I'm out for the next two weeks in Morocco and then a short stint in London to meet my cousin Sara's new daughter Julia. I hope everyone is safe and happy. Take care.

P oxox

To Do: Everything (check) Make a New To Do List (check)

So in my infinite wisdom I have realized that I have about two months left in the Netherlands, approximately one of which will be spent travelling in Morocco, England, France and Poland. This is not good. I have anxiety. There is too much to see and do and less time to do it. So what do I do (other than use the word "do" excessively)-- What every rationale human being overwhelmed by what needs to be done does--a TO DO list. I have discovered I have tremendous ability to make lists, endless lists with the most minute of tasks and this brings me great comfort. At the end of the day, there are only two check marks on my page to signify accomplishment, but I don't let it bother me that much as I can always take comfort in making a new list the next day. I have procrastination down to an art. Thankfully, Sharon, who is not nearly the procrastinator I am, has joined me in my to do listing and she actually gets the "do" done, so to speak. So we have made a "To Do" list for things to do in Amsterdam while we still have the chance. This past week we were quite productive-we managed to check a few things off our list: the Albert Cuyp Market and Jordaan Market (cute but all markets look the same at this point...cheese, more cheese and pickled herring), the Portuguese Synagogue and the Hague.

We ventured to the Hague last Wednesday with our roomate Paola.

As three eager law students we were anxious to go visit the International Court of Justice but the scheduled tours were cancelled that day, so we admired from afar. Actually Paola wanted a job, so she begged at the gate, but to no avail. Where's the justice in that? We also were privileged to bear witness to the flame of international peace...and I promise that's not me trying to blow it out....thankfully these clever international lawyers have thought of it all and encased it in glass--if only they could be that practical about international law in world politics. (Sorry Paola, cheap shot). Anyway Den Haag, as it's known here, is a very cute town. We wandered around a bit and managed to visit both the Mauritshuis, with Vermeer's "Girl with the Pearl Earring" and the Escher Museum entirely dedicated to the very cool graphic artist from the city.

Saturday night was also an interesting night. Every year Amsterdam museums have hosted "museumnacht" where all the different museums and galleries open their door to visitors at night. The number of venues have expanded and some have performances and other events, followed by afterparties at various clubs around the city. We went to a few, including the aquarium, planetarium and botanical gardens, which turned into a pseudo-club. The whole idea is a cool concept, its like a Halloween for adults, except instead of candy, you get culture!

While Saturday night was fun, Sunday was the highlight of my weekend. On Sunday night I bore witness to the comedic genius that is Sasha Baron Cohen as BORAT. While I was a little weary of this film, as I am anything like this that becomes main stream, I was not disappointed by any means. Granted, I think this film would have been much funnier to someone who had never seen Borat clips before, as some of the material was slightly recycled from previous shows, but, it was every bit offensive as I'd hoped and more. If you loathe political correctness and find amusement in childish things or ignorant people, this film is definitely worth watching.

Ok, I'm off to check write in blog off my to do list. Hope you're all well.