MOROCCO

so i guess this is my final blog. I would like to say thank you to everyone for making this semester awesome! thank you professor mills for educating me. thank you fellow student for being my friends.

...sniff sniff...

well im over it. right now im sitting in an interior garden of a Riad with a pool in the center and orange trees growing around it. Our room is upstairs with a patio looking into the garden and a roof terrace, where we get breakfast and tea. We also had free lunch here today. couscous and tajeb. it was delicious. I love morocco. I even like their system of goverment the King sounds like an awesome guy, everyone loves him. The people are incredibly nice but they will take your money in a heartbeat. Everyone is very willing to help you get whatever you need...but it doesn't come free. I had to pay to take a picture with a monkey (worth every durham) There are orange trees and roses everywhere! oranges are falling in the garden courtyard im sitting in right now. We saw a lot of old palaces and gardens today. More of that tomorrow. Most of them though have already been stripped of all their glory and are merely ruins. Still exciting though, i feel like indiana jones running around underneath an old palace. The food has all been delicious (we'll see what i think about it later...if you know what i mean) All the other tourists are french, and everyone here assumes you are french, but they usually speak spanish as well. They will address you in french, then spanish, then english...if you continue to ignore them. For the most part i tell people i am spanish. im not sure why. its not that they don't like americans...they do. It is just a whole lot easier to communicate in spanish than english, and i like being able to convince people that i am from spain (something i haven't been able to do in Barcelona)

Well...that's all folks.

I guess i will see most of you back in Clemson

O yea...the architecture here is really....good...and old...and there are arches and stuff.

Barca! Barca! Baaaarca!!!

So...these past couple of weeks have been HELL to say the least. After the grueling week of no sleep for the final review, we had one day of rest, then back to presentations and more work. This week was definitely interesting as far as the work load that we have had to/still have to endure. We had our final presentation for one class on Tuesday, a final exam and project due today (Wednesday), and another final exam and book due tomorrow. I can't wait until tomorrow night to finally be finished, at least for this week, because we still have a 15 page paper due on Monday. Tomorrow night, Mills is taking us to the final dinner of the semester. I cannot believe it has gone by this fast...where did the time go? Some people are leaving right after we are done tomorrow and some during this coming weekend. I can't believe that! I know they just want to get back and they miss home, but I really feel like this semester has flown by and I have missed out on so much. I spoke to my parents this week about missing my sister's graduation on May 14th, which is when I am supposed to go back, and stay an extra month. My dad said I was crazy for NOT staying and to consider going to a graduation instead of spending more time here and see what I want to see. So I am staying! That was probably the best news I have had all semester, even though it was probably the worst for my boyfriend. Carla was already staying that long, so we began planning our time that is left. We are going to Valencia on Monday, traveling through train, Southern Spain, maybe Morocco, then back to Barcelona. Then another trip to Italy to see Florence,Venice, and maybe go back to Rome. THEN, if my loan money lasts, try to go to Switzerland, drive to Ronchamp for the day (in France), go to Germany, and Prague. Again, this is all hoping, but would love to do. This past weekend began the festivities of travel or seeing some things I want to see...like FC Barcelona play!!! It was so amazing being in the stands of Nou Camp! I saw MESSI! And HENRY!!! Too bad Eto'o wasn't playing, but it was still amazing game. They played Recreativo and won 2-0. Advise to whoever reads this, if you come here to study, make sure you don't book your ticket to leave a week or two after classes end because you will not have time to travel during the semester and will want to travel when you are done. I love it here...I never want to go back...

Independent Travel...Oh the fun!

I knew planning this trip was going to be a fun experience, but I had no idea how amazing and spectacular it was going to be seeing everything in person that I had admired in books I read at Barnes and Noble. Arriving in Rome first, I was exhausted, had not slept the night before, and needed some food in my stomach. I met Carla and Josh there and they took me from the airport to the closest restaurant near our house. I ordered my first meal in Italian...Pizza! It was probably the best thing I had ever eaten, and it was so simple. My first cup of cappuccino warmed my throat as it sank and tasted like perfection in a cup. I fell in love with Rome before seeing a thing. The next morning, we went to the Vatican, and I had goosebumps as I entered the colonnade. Luckily, because Josh lives in Tuscania, he had friends that were staying in Rome (where we stayed), and their class that day was to tour the Vatican! How terrible for them! We tagged along and toured the Vatican, saw this magnificent structure, saw the PIETA!! It was magical and holy. We then went to the Vatican Museum, which was one of the most amazing museums I had ever visited, and saw some of the most beautiful art and architecture. I did not like the signs everywhere you walked that told you where the "Sistine Chapel" is. Of COURSE I wanted to see it, but give me a surprise for goodness sake! People were rushing by us, missing so much around them just to see it. It was magnificent though...no words. It felt insane to be there knowing who drew it and why, and what took place there. Having the audio guide definitely helped me understand the history that I had never known. Always get them! As Carla and I walked out of the Vatican City, we were completely silent in awe. At the same time, she asked me something. She asked me about my faith, about God, about the Church. Why would God and the Church want so much glamour and riches when there are so many homeless and poor people living right outside of the Vatican City. At first, I defended my faith and what I had known for so many years, bu then stood back and listened...and agreed. As beautiful as everything was, is it worth it? Is that what Christianity had become now?

We went to all the areas that we could possibly go to in Rome. I cannot possibly sit here and explain my entire trip because it would be a book long. We saw the Spanish steps, the Colleseum, the Trevi Fountain, the Roman ruins, the Pantheon, and so much more. We also saw modern architecture, like the Renzo Piano Theatre, which was GORGEOUS, and ended up buying a boy's ticket to a concert spontaneously, because he hates orchestras, even though his grandfather bought him amazing seats. Then we left for Milan. We knew going there, that there was a huge differentiation between Rome and Milan, due to the idea of "Relaxed Romans" versus "Workaholic Milanese." It was a completely different place, that I ended up hating. The only places that I loved were the Duomo Basilica, of course! Its BEAUTIFUL! The opera house (La Scala), and of course Leonardo Da Vinci's Last Supper. After seeing these, we hoped to shop a little and relax after our busy touring in Rome, but of course everything was super expensive and we felt very out of place. Most of the people were wearing their Prada, and Gucci, and Dior. It was sickening to see everyone have something and we couldnt dream of paying that much. Surprisingly though, our hostel was amazing. We met Egyptians that owned it and I spoke to them in Arabic, and we became good friends fast. Another surprise was seeing John Legend was coming that same night to Milan for a concert, so we had to go! We walked the streets and a guy sold us tickets for 25 euros (thanks to Carla's negotiation skills), when the tickets cost 35 for everyone else! He was right in front of us and it was a dream! We couldnt have been happier....until.....THERE HE WAS! BECKHAM!!! We were screaming louder and louder, Beckham was only 20 meters away from us in the VIP section! Milan ended up being a pretty good journey after all. For our final destination, which I will try to cut short, was Paris. We saw the Eiffel Tower from the plane, and our hearts dropped. We knew this was going to be amazing, and it was. Eventhough it was a very busy schedule, we had a blast. We saw the Eiffel Tower, the Louvre, Musee D'Orsay, Arc de Triomf, Quai Branly, Villa Savoye, and so much more! I dont think that I can ever be tired of Paris. That is the one place you will never be bored in. It is AMAZING and I will never be able to see everything, including the never-ending Louvre. I love that city! But one downside...too much crime, and wayyyy too expensive.

I can talk forever about my trip, but I don't think anyone will like that. I love to travel and meet new people. I love to explore new places and get lost just to find my way again. I love to talk to people, like the Egyptians or the two guys that we met in Rome, and talk about life, religion, everything. I love people. I love places. Life means so much more to me after this experience and after studying abroad. I see things deeper, I feel things deeper, and I learn deeper.

Final review was a bit of a let down. Even though there were seven people in the panel, it seemed they were telling us the same thing over and over, more or less. At least in Clemson, with a varied review panel you literally have professors arguing amongst themselves over issues on the project, leading to interesting discussion. Particularly in our groups case (Kevin, Kelly, Jeff), I really felt that their initial comments were a bit... unfair. I see what they meant, but starting with such a negative comment only started a chain reaction among the review panel and in the end we didn't receive any critique at all about the actual design museum, only to go back to general site layout issues. It's not even that I disagreed with them. Oh well, all reviews can't be perfect. In the end I still think our hard work was recognized, I suppose that's what really matters. This probably doesn't make any sense because it was so long ago now but I really need a blog entry.