98% excited, 2% scared....it could be 98% scared, 2% excited but that's what makes it so intense

No matter how many times I do this, I still get nervous. I’m leaving again, off on an entirely new adventure and hopefully the beginning of a very exciting career. On Sunday, I am flying to Houston, Texas to begin my 5 week training to become a flight attendant. This is a dream career for me. I will get to travel all the time. I will constantly be meeting new people and seeing new places.  Other bonuses are traveling to visit all the friends I made in Morocco at their various locations in the US and my family which is also pretty spread out. Free air fare is a pretty sweet thing for an avid traveler to get her hands on.

As excited as I am, that sick-to-your-stomach am-I-making-the right-choice feeling has finally presented itself. Luckily for me, the feeling only shows up a few days before checking in at the airport, after it is too late to back down and change my mind. But I know that for the next three days I will have trouble with general human functions such as eating, sleeping, thinking and talking. Even though I know this is not forever, that I will be back in Cleveland right after training for about a week, that as far as length of time goes this is pretty short compared to my other ventures, I still feel the need to see everybody one last time and to say my goodbyes, to go out and do fun things and to stay in and spend time with my family.

This last week has become a rush of activity. But it didn’t full hit me until last night while watching a movie with my boyfriend. I’m not leaving until Sunday but that was the last night of quality boyfriend time until I get back because of work and social schedules.  So then the list starts going down, tonight will be the last night of hanging out with one of my best friends just drinking and relaxing. Friday night will be the last dinner with my parents (I get to pick the restaurant; I’m thinking Outback, I’d do anything for a Bloomin’ Onion). Saturday is my last AFS meeting and my last party. And there are still so many people and things that have slipped through and will just have to wait until I get back because my days are now as full as they can get if I still want to be able to pack.

 I had a murder mystery party planned for Saturday night thinking I had until Feb. 19 before leaving, only to find out about a week ago that they wanted me to arrive early. Of course I said yes to the earlier training spot, but there was also no way I was canceling this party. I’ve wanted to do this for ages and I get to dress up as a 1920’s socialite/flapper. I would not miss this for anything. Needless to say, it is going to be a late night with very little sleep before my 8:30am flight the next day. But that’s fine, as I said earlier; I won’t be sleeping much anyways.

This trip is also different from others in one big way. I may not be coming back. At least not long term anyways. After training, I get about one week to go home and get ready to relocate to my base. Cleveland is one of three options and the least likely place that I will be based. So this 5 week trip for training is most likely going to be my moving out trip too. I have boxed up most of my things, thrown out and donated everything I possibly can (watching a couple episodes of hoarders makes that process a whole lot easier by the way) and I’m about as ready as I can be. I still have a few things left to pack up, but at this point they can wait until after training because I have other “lasts” to get done.

PS if you know what movie the title is from then kudos to you, its one of my favorites

Clothing in Morocco

Are you gonna have to wear a burka? Are you gonna have to wear a head scarf? Do they wear normal clothes there like jeans? What are you gonna do when it gets hot?

These are all questions I received before coming to Morocco along with questions about the actual location of Morocco and general safety. Just to clear the air once and for all, the answer to the first two questions is no and no. There are only a very few Middle Eastern countries that require the wearing of the hijab or the burka. The two main examples are Saudi Arabia(burka/abaya) and Iran(hijab).

I know I was entirely ignorant of the many different styles of veiling before I came to Morocco. I thought there were two kinds; a full head to toe burka with a mesh screen over the eyes and just the head scarf. I was wrong, way wrong.

First, there is the khimar. A khimar is a long head scarf that wraps around the head, covers the neck, shoulders, and chest to just above the waist, but leaves the face uncovered. Khimar is also one of the two words used in the Quran to describe the practice of veiling by the Prophet Mohammed's wives, the word literally means to cover something, there is much debate about what the Quran is referring to when this word is used. Some say it is the literal covering or veiling of women, others say it is a metaphor.

The chador is a large semi circle piece of fabric that is thrown over top a woman's clothing. It is worn over the head and it drops down to her feet. There are no ties, buttons, or arm holes so the woman must hold it closed the entire time while wearing it. Traditionally, this would be accompanied by a long white face veil that was tied over the nose and mouth and would go down to the waist. This style, without the face veil, is most popular in Iran.

Two Meknessi women wearing the Hijab

The al-amira style is a two piece set. The first piece is a very tight fitting under scarf.The second is a scarf that already has the head hole sewn in and it is slipped over the under scarf. Because the under scarf is tight fitting and the over scarf is sewn together, this model is the easiest to slip on and keep on. It requires very little adjusting through out the day.

The shayla is your basic Hollywood style head scarf. The ends are either left loose down the back or if it is a shorter scarf they are tied. In the US, this would be called the Grace Kelly style. Some people do not believe this counts as veiling because the hair is still visible and they refer to this as the non-Muslim hijab. I can somewhat attest to this, as this is my favorite style and I have worn it many times and plan to continue this in the United States. It makes me feel all "old Hollywood glamour." But I have also seen many Muslim women wear this style, because the verses in the Quran are very vague, they have been interpreted many ways and it comes down to each woman's (or husband's, father's, brother's) interpretation of the text.

The woman in the middle is wearing a Moroccan Djellaba

The niqab and the burka are the most controversial of the styles and are wrongly assumed to be the most common style by people in Europe and the United States. There is some debate about what style a niqab actually is, but from what I have seen it most often refers to a style very similar to the khimar. The difference is in the length and in the face. The niqab goes all the way to the thigh or even to the knees and a long voluminous skirt or dress is worn underneath. The niqab also has a face veil that is tied, or has an elastic band, underneath and covers the nose and mouth. "Half-niqab" is a term used to describe just the face veil which can be worn separately with a regular head scarf.

The burka is the full lentgh cloak that covers the body from head to toe and has a mesh screen over the eyes. The term burka is sometimes used to refer to just the eye screen and face scarf, as this can be worn separately with a niqab or other covering. The full cloak with the eye covering is also referred to as an abaya. Abayas are the dress code in Saudi Arabia.

The hijab is the most common style. It wraps around the head and tucks up under the chin, covering the head, neck, and chest. Girls wear this style with everything; sweatshirts, sweaters, traditional garments, modern styles, everything.

Two girls wearing hijabs that match their modern outfits

Women in Morocco wear a mixture of modern and traditional clothing. Most do not wear the full burka, niqab, or chador. Some do, but its mostly older, rural, underprivileged or uneducated women. There is no legal mandate for women in Morocco to veil or to not veil, but there are many social implications. A woman who veils is seen as traditional, modest, marriage material, and religious. She is also old-fashioned and less likely to get a job. Women who do not veil are modern, empowered, and more likely to get hired for a job. They are also considered to be sexually promiscuous, not suitable for marriage, and have no morals. All these things impact a girl's decision to veil or to not veil, as well as her family and her own religious views. While there is no legal enforcement of veiling, often women still do not have a choice because of social and familial pressures.

Tiffany and Alyssa in takshitas for the Amerocco fashion show

The traditional Moroccan clothing is beautiful. The two main styles for women are djellabas and caftans. The djellaba is a long cloak with a hood. It usually has decorative buttons down the front, but doesn't have to. A caftan is similar to a djellaba, the main difference being that it does not have a hood. Caftans and djellabas come in every possible color and pattern combinations you could think of. Most women have two djellabas that they wear over their regular clothes. It acts as a quick modesty fix when you need to run out to the grocery store or anywhere else. Caftans come in many styles and there is a recent trend in designers to make modern versions of the caftan. One version of the caftan, called a takshita, is what women wear to weddings and other big celebrations. A takshita usually has two layers, a wide belt, and maybe a pair of pants, all very ornate and beautiful.

Hannah, in her takshita for her host-brother's wedding

Clothing styles for men also vary from traditional to modern, but from my experience, the differences seem to come with age. The trend for young guys seems to be jeans, a t-shirt, and a fake leather jacket. Middle aged men wear nice suits, or slacks with a button down. Older men wear the traditional men's djellaba which is long and white or cream with vertical stripes.

P.S. my apologies, the original post was much better, blogger has some issues and somehow the post got deleted. 

The City of Pomegranates

Granada is a beautiful city in southern Spain. It has an amazing mix of cultures which gives it very cool architectural and design elements. There are lots of arabic elements found in the architecture; big arches, arabic script, mosaic tiles. These all blend together with the European facades and Spanish style roofs. 

I love the details around the windows and on the lamp in the picture to the left. Same with the picture above. The tiling around the arches and the pattern in the window pane is very interesting. 

I wish the front door of my house looked like this.

"In 1238, Ibn al-Ahmar rose up against Ibn Hud and conquered parts of the province of Granada. He established the kingdom of Granada, which extended from the mountains of Sierra Nevada to Gibraltar and which was originally made up of the province of Granada (where he set up his court), the provinces of Malaga and Almeria, and part of the provinces of Cordoba, Jaen, Sevilla, and Cadiz." http://granadamap.com/history.htm

Granada was ruled by the Moors (Berber and Arabic peoples from North Africa. They believed in Islam and conquered much of the Iberian peninsula, the term Moor was used by Europeans to describe the people, not one they used to describe themselves) beginning in the early 700s during the Ummayyid dynasty which was an important portion of Islamic history. The Moors had control of Granada until Ferdinand and Isabella took over in 1492, the same year that Isabella approved Christopher Columbus' adventure in the Americas. This was the height of Spanish power. Isabella and Ferdinand united all of Spain and moved to Granada. 

In order to conquer an area, the rulers had to convince the people that a new way of life was better than the old. They outlawed the old religions, in this case Islam and Judaism, and forced people to convert. The tore down old religious buildings and built new ones. Many of the churches in Granada were originally Mosques. 

This church in the Placeta de San Nicholaus was originally a Mosque. Converting these building was fairly easy. The minarets were used to give the call to prayer 5 times a day for Muslims. Since they were tall and already had good acoustics they were easily transformed into bell towers for Catholic churches.

There is currently only one Mosque in Granada and it has been built just recently. Change is very slow and it has only been about 500 years since the conquest. In United States history, 500 years is a very long time, but in Europe and the Middle East it is barely any time at all. 

When Isabella and Ferdinand took over, they tore down one of the main mosques and built a massive cathedral. Everything is personalized for the king and queen. Their initials can be seen on the pews and the columns and on adornmants outside the cathedral. The Cathedral has a very different design than most Catholic cathedrals. The building is shaped like a cross. The top of the cross, or the head, is a large circular shaped area that contains the alter on the inside. A large pathway goes around and is separated from the alter by a series of arches.  The center line of the cross makes up the congregational area. This was very innovative for its time because usually there was a separation for the nobles and the lower classes. There would be a wall dividing them so the lower classes were unable to see the alter. This cathedral has no separation so all were able to see. Along the sides are a series of small chapel areas that noble families could buy. They then filled them with expensive and ornate religious objects for all to see. They were able to bury their dead in these chapels and mostly show off their wealth. 

In this picture you can see the circular shape of the Cathedral.

This is one of the old entrances to the Cathedral. These doors are no longer used. 

Granda means pomegranate in Spanish and the city is covered in them. Pomegranates are featured in most of the architectural designs and patterns in the tiles and the sidewalks. It's become a game to spot the pomegranates.

Thunder Snow

So if things had gone according to plan, I would already be in Granada, Spain right now, a day early for orientation, catching up on sleep or hanging out with the two other girls scheduled to arrive early. Of course that would be too easy. Instead this happened:

Thunder Snow Yahoo News Article

Here's how the day went. My mom rushes in at 9:30am and wakes me up. I wasn't planning to get up until 10 because my flight wasn't scheduled to leave until 3:50. I thought I had plenty of time. Turns out I was wrong, my flight had been canceled due to bad weather conditions in Philadelphia. Because of the previous blog post, I was luckily already completely packed and ready to go, all I had to do was get dressed, which I did in like 5 seconds and then got on the phone with US Airways to schedule a new flight while simultaneously searching for one on their website. After searching online and being on hold I found a flight that was supposed to leave at 11:30 that had not yet been canceled. I was still on hold however, so my parents and I decided to just drive to the airport and talk to the US Airways people there. I was still on hold 45 minutes later when the guy at the desk switched my ticket. The 11:30 flight was scheduled to leave at 2:00pm...no that is not a typo. This would give me plenty of time to get to Philadelphia and make my connecting flight to Madrid. Ha

My parents and I went and got lunch at Bob Evans and then headed back to the airport. Said my goodbyes, took some pictures. Security was a breeze because I had everything ready. The woman in front of me did throw a fit about having to throw out her yogurt because it was over 3 ounces but that didn't hold things up too much. So I get to my gate and wait. and wait. and wait. My 11:30/2:00pm flight has been delayed further. But the 8am flight was getting ready to go. So at about 3, I was switched to the 8am flight and got right on to fly to Philly. There was maybe 10 people on this plane, I had my own little 2 seat section, it was very nice. 

Once in Philly, I think ok everything is smooth sailing from here. My Madrid flight is still listed as on time. We board at 5:30, set to go at 6:35. And then the plane never leaves boarding area. It starts to rain. The rain becomes ice. The pilot announces we have to wait for the plane to be de-iced. After an hour, he comes back on and says that the runways are slippery and the plane still needs to be de-iced. After 2 and 1/2 hours, he announces that the flight has been canceled and we have to get off. All flights out of Philly had been canceled. The US Airways woman told us that unfortunately we were one of the last planes to be deboarded and so all the hotels and motels in the area were already full.. We were allowed to keep our pillows and blankets from the plain though. They aren't much, but they were much better than nothing. We all had to call a special US Airways service line to get booked on the next flight to Madrid which isn't until 6pm today. I talked to Debbie from US Airways and she was extremely helpful. Not only did she book my US Airways flight to Madrid, she also called Iberia, the airline I was flying from Madrid to Granada and explained the whole situation and had them switch my flight as well. She was on and off the phone with them for about 30 minutes because they weren't very understanding. I am very grateful to Debbie because if they wouldn't cooperate with her, they sure weren't gonna listen to me. 

So here's the fun part. We all got to sleep in the airport. People were everywhere, it looked like a homeless shelter. The benches were not ideal for sleeping because of the arm rests, but people got pretty creative. 

using lugage as a leg prop

sleeping near the wall

some people got the heat blankets, I dunno what's better
the blue blankets were not very warm but they were soft
These are warm but plasticy and crinkly.

I am not very good at sleeping in public places. I started out here:

 

After about an hour of sitting on top with the uncomfortable arm rests, I moved to underneath the bench. This was alot better, it was darker and more secluded. I slept from 1am to about 2am under the bench. I was wide awake when I woke up at 2 so I packed up my stuff and wandered around a bit. I ended up like 20 gates down and I had seen a few people push two benches together and sleep on them that way. I managed to sleep like that from 4:30 to 6:30. After that I just went and got coffee. Everyone looked like zombies in the morning. People were just walking around with this dazed look like they didn't know where to go or what to do. Everyone was tired and looked like they had spent the night outside or something. 

There is not all that much to do in an airport. I've been wandering around, reading, doing puzzles in an activity book and facebooking all day and I am bored out of my mind. I have 2 and 1/2 hours left until I board my plane to Madrid. I have discovered some interesting things about the airport though. There is a lego replica of the Liberty Bell. There are 10 different Brookstone stores. There are very nice rocking chairs in wing B. I've spent quite a bit of time on one today. 

This is where I watched the sunrise.
Was not on my list of things to do, but since I was up I figured I might as well. 

I also found a fun little gift shop where I got Jerrie the coolest thing ever! 

Its a voodoo doll. There was like 50 different ones, it took me forever to choose which one I was gonna get. I absolutely love it. And no Jerrie, I will not be posting all your presents on here, just this one cuz its so awesome. :)

That's pretty much it. Hopefully the rest of the day goes smoothly and I'm in Granada by tomorrow afternoon. 

P.S. Some of you have been asking about leaving comments. If you click on the title of the post, it opens a new window that contains the post and at the very bottom a comment box :)

All my bags are packed

Exactly 24 hours from now I will be on board a plane heading to Morocco. Well technically Philadelphia but its on the way haha I am completely packed, all I have left to do is some picking up in my room and I am ready to go.

Part of the idea of this blog is to help other students who are traveling or planning to travel. I discussed earlier that I would explain everything I'm packing and then later on, have another post about what worked, what didn't, and what i never wore.

My things are divided among my one suitcase, my carry on and what I am wearing tomorrow. In total I will have 3 pairs of jeans, 1 pair of shorts,  14 shirts, 20 pairs of underwear, 20 pairs of socks, 4 bras (one sports bra) 2 casual skirts (one of which can be paired with a nice shirt to make up my dressy outfit), 2 casual dresses, 5 tank tops/camis for layering, 4 light weight sweaters, 3 scarves ( I wear one almost every day, but I plan to get new ones), a small amount of jewelry and make up, 3 ounce sized containers of lotion, shampoo, conditioner, and body soap, 1 package of razors, travel documents, copies of travel documents, 3 extra pairs of contact lenses, 1 pair of tennis shoes, 1 pair of black flats, 1 pair of flip flops, and 1 other pair of flats, pictures of my family and friends, Omari the Bear, 2 arabic textbooks, a book to read on the plane, a journal, an empty photo album, my laptop and power cord, camera and power cord, 3 bottles of nail polish, my glasses, bobby pins, hair bands, feminine supplies, batteries, power strip, address book, a rosary (I never travel without one), day planner, and my winter coat. I think thats everything haha.

Carry on

Suit Case

My carry on has an extra outfit with multiple pairs of socks and underwear in case airline workers go on strike or something and I can't get my checked bag. My actual travel documents are also in the carry on and the copies are in the suitcase. My carry on also has a book, the journal, the camera, 1 extra pair of contacts, my laptop, 1 bottle of nail polish, glasses, hair stuff, feminine supplies, batteries for the camera, address book, and the rosary. I will be wearing jeans, flats, a cami, a shirt, a sweater and my winter coat. The coat will be bulky to have on but it saves room in the suitcase to wear it. The flats are better than the tennis shoes because they slip on and off. This makes the security line alot easier.

Hopefully security goes smoothly. My carry on isn't a TSA approved laptop case, but all that means is I have to take my laptop out when I go through security. I'm going to have alot of airport time for the next two days.
Good bye for now :) but keep checking back, this might be last post until Morocco, but I might also post something in Spain.

Teddy Bears and Plane Tickets

Plane tickets have been bought! and I got a Morocco Bear! I'm so excited.

Dad and I bought my plane tickets last week. I am leaving on January 26 and will arrive in Granada, Spain on January 27. I'm meeting ISA in Granada where we will take a bus/train and then a boat to Morocco. Its supposed to be easier to fly into Spain than it is to fly into Morocco, but I'm not so sure. I will be flying from Cleveland to Philadelphia, from Philadelphia to Madrid, Spain and then from Madrid to Granada. That's 9 hours and 48 minutes of flight time and a total of 15 hours with layover and connection times. We bought the tickets through Expedia so we were able to get a pretty good deal. Expedia allows you to mix and match airlines so my first two flights are with US Airways and my last flight is with Iberia. Now, all i have left to do is to send copies of my flight itinerary to ISA so they know exactly when I will be arriving in Granada, which I will be doing this next week.

Last Thursday, I gave a small power point presentation to my parents, grandparents, and boyfriend about Morocco. My family has been very supportive of my interests in traveling, but that doesn't mean they aren't extremely worried about my safety. I wanted to help ease their minds a bit and give them an introduction to the basic history, culture, customs, and location of Morocco. I'm not going to explain it all in full detail here because those are topics I will address later in more detail. The presentation, however, was very helpful to my family. They enjoyed learning about the culture and while they are still nervous about me being so far away from home, I believe it helped them understand a little bit better. This is the second time I am studying abroad, but the location is a little out of the ordinary so I am trying to prepare them as best I can.

Now to the really fun part :)

Jerrie got me a Build-a-Bear for Christmas. I've been wanting one for a really long time and she got two for graduation so I was super jealous. I told her I wanted a Morocco Bear that I can take with me to Morocco. The box had been sitting under the tree all week and I could barely contain my excitement about it.

Meet Omari al'Dob:

عمرئ ال دب

He is wearing a Caftan which is a traditional piece of clothing in Morocco and other North African countries. He is also wearing sandals which are the shoe of choice in Morocco. His hat is not typically Moroccan but it came with the rest of the outfit which was listed as African. His name, Omari, is a form of the name Omar which means flourishing or long lived. "al'Dob" is "the Bear" in Arabic. 

We're already best friends.

Oh Happy Day

I am finally done with all my papers and my finals! Fall quarter is officially over and I can now be fully excited about going to Morocco! I can't wait.

So let me explain a little bit about what I'm doing.

I'm writing this blog for the Study Abroad office at the University of Cincinnati because they so generously gave me a grant to help pay for my study abroad in Morocco. Here is a link to their page: UC International Programs.  I will be writing about everything I do while I am in Morocco, as well as about getting ready to leave and getting used to being back in the United States when I return. I will be taking pictures of everything as well and I will try to add as much historical/factual information about every site as possible. The purpose of this blog is to help other students who are considering a study abroad, to educate anyone who wants to know about Morocco from a student's perspective, and to keep my friends and family updated on my whereabouts and activities.

I am studying abroad through an organization called International Studies Abroad (ISA). Here is a link to their site: ISA. I am going to Meknes, Morocco to study at the Moulay Ismail University. I will be taking a variety of classes about the Middle East and I will be studying Arabic. There are also a number of weekend excursions that involve traveling all around Morocco.

At the bottom of the blog, is a link to my Picasa Web Album, where you can see all the pictures I take, not just the ones I upload to the blog. You can also find me on Facebook by clicking the Facebook link on the right.

Family: You can follow the blog by clicking the follow button on the right or if you would like an email notification every time I add a new post, just let me know and I will add your email to the list. Mom, you are already on the list :)

That's all for now! Check back in a week or two, I plan on doing a post about buying my plane tickets, packing, and getting ready to go.