week twelve: seville, gibraltar, and morocco.

back to seville. reunited and it feels sooooo good. catching up on the bus with kendrea. tinto de veranos upon arrival. plaza de armas. the river. actually knowing where to go. sin mapa. the living roof hostel.walking aimlessly and eating. losing weight and gaining hair. considering standing in front of CLIC (what nerds!). "window" shopping. someone recognizing you (like being home). KENDREA. SAM. LAUREN. unplanned halloween costumes (katniss, little red, highlighter, angelina jolie). making it to our rooftop. fancy tapas. inappropriate waiter behavior. free wine (siiike). sweeping up salvador. buddha. wobbling. cupid shuffle. arguing about street cleaners. being real like j.lo and ja. oh seville. 

love love love seville. view from our rooftop. tapas. buddha. wandering the city.

gibraltar. wake up to shaggy. traveling with study abroaders (uhhhh). pit stop with feesh-squeezed oj. sleep. getting to gibraltar. europa point. awesome playgrounds. st. michael's cave. distinguishing between stalagtite and stalagmite. cave concert hall (echoooo). ape's den. monkeys. keeping distance. study abroader getting sandwich stolen. monkeys jumping on heads (feels like a pillow being thrown at you). fish&chips. euros, dollars, or pounds. comfy ferry ride. beginning of delirium. middle name: houston. planning to row in umbrellas. quoting that 70's show, friends, mean girls. sleepy babies. waiting at the border. best tour guide ever (amanda dealing with the study abroaders). music charades. loopiest dinner ever. clean plate club. dirty plate club (population: me). poopies (puppies). k.o. after day one.

europa point. st michael's cave. monkey friends. sleepy much?!

morocco. leave for chefchaouen. rain. super precious tour guide (couldn't understand a word he said except FILIPINA!!!). surrounded by blue (my kind of town). shopping. tag-team bartering like maniacs. getting THE pants. everyone owing everyone. being spoken to in japanese (?!?!). tetuan. prince ali-esque type of entrance to lunch. expressionless musicians. yummy delicious moroccan food (soup, kebabs, a crunchy-wrap looking dish, mint tea). pharmacy stop similar to the home shopping network. awkward massages. stress-relieving oils. color-changing lipstick. trying to stop shopping. taking myspace mirror pictures. dance party for two. WiFi break. walmart-type store in africa (spain needs one). converting dirham to euro to usd (struggling). getting left behind for dinner. dinner show. sweaty (but really rained on) boys. so much food. being the old table. moroccan family portrait. buying fezes (shot girl!). dancing next to the hotel. limbo with kendrea's scarf. the oldies bringing the party (of course). pants party. impromptu pool party (at 4am). freezing water. concierge and amanda yelling. janky bathtub (wonder why?!). impromptu sleep over with my girls.

blue city. my tour guide buddy. traditional moroccan restaurant. family portrait aka the oldies.

camel ride home? chocolate-filled breakfast. sam and lauren's adopted donkey and child. kendrea jumping on a donkey. baby camels. (solo) mean muggin with camels (thanks shea & dan). jumping pics. short camel ride (as promised). hands in the air. happy old lady riding a camel. cave of hercules. awesome viewpoint. being cave people. heading back to the ferry. (one of) the best (and most intense) conversations. soothing voices. "life is crazy". pistachio yogurt. fancy ferry. leather recliners. k.o. instantly. hugs all around. back to malaga. 

camels. mean muggin. cave of hercules. fancy ferry. awesome peole.

wouldn't have this weekend come out any other way.

week eleven: halloween in spain.

Halloween in Spain does not equal Halloween in America. Not even in the slightest. Spaniards have come to embrace the "trick" rather than the "treat", redefining October 31st.

For the entire week of Halloween all my lessons were devoted to teaching my students about the holiday as it is celebrated in America. I would read a story (Go Away Big Scary Green Monster for my younger students and The Little Old Lady Who Was Not Afraid of Anything for my older students) which was followed by a presentation of my Halloween (see Prezi below). Students participated (the shoes went CLOMP CLOMP and the shirt went WIGGLE WIGGLE). Some students even asked questions about my presentation. Their questions helped me gain some insight on their versions of Halloween.

Clarisse´s Halloween on Prezi

One student asked about our costume choices (trust, they were only given PG examples of costumes). They didn't understand why people were dressed as M&Ms or princesses or Rubik's cubes. I explained that Halloween allowed people to be anything they wanted. Then I learned that the only costumes worn by Spaniards dealt with blood and gore-regardless of age or gender. Curious.

school decorations.

Then another student asked if we threw eggs at homes or played other tricks on people. I said no then began a mini lesson on what was vandalism and destroying other's property. The same student explained how he and his brother bought 250 eggs the previous year and threw it all at one house. Curious.

Halloween day rolled around and sure enough 99% of the student body was dressed as something dying or dead. I only spotted one Spiderman and one pumpkin. All the teachers were dressed, the halls were decorated, and Halloween music replace the school's bell. This school took Halloween to a level higher than any of the schools I've been to in the states. They even had a food contest and a school-wide performance set to the Ghostbusters theme song. 

Definitely an interesting experience seeing another country's take on a holiday from your home country.