Not only was it our last weekend with the program, but it was also our friend Paige's 21st birthday! 7 of us packed up our bags and hopped on a bus to Tarifa for the weekend. Tarifa is a cute little town in southern Spain with an extremely 'hippie' vibe- nice people, great environment, and all around good vibes as Haley would say.
The three hour bus ride wasn't so bad after making friends with the British guy sitting behind us. He was probably one of the most interesting people I've ever met and somehow we never got his name. He was born in London but currently lives in Manchester. Last year, he took four months to travel the United States. He began in California and "bummed a car off a mexican for 500 dollars." He then proceeded to drive that car from Cali, to Texas, Louisiana, Florida, and then up the east coast with a "chick" he had met at some point along the way. He also backpacked through Africa and this summer he was simply traveling with a group of his friends with virtually no final destination. SO cool.
Once we got into Tarifa, the view of the beach was insane. For as far as you could see, the ocean was covered with windsurfers. No exaggeration- they were EVERYWHERE. It was so beautiful. We hopped off at the next bus stop and headed to our hostel. I won't lie...I was a little nervous about what it would look like after our not-so-great experience with the hostel in London. We were pleasantly surprised though when the hostel, Pink House, was adorable. The girls working the front desk were all Italians working in Tarifa for the summer and they were so cute and helpful. The hostel had a beautiful terrazaa with a bar and bean bag chairs to lounge in and that's where we began our nights. It also had a wonderful view of the ocean and just behind that, Morocco.
While we were heading out of the hostel, we met a friendly girl from the United States named Kendall. Just like the guy we had met on the bus, she was also incredibly interesting and inspiring. She had just returned from a 4 month stay as a teacher in Morocco and was looking to begin the next chapter of her journey. She offered us some beautiful Moroccan rings, a book, a card with suggestions about Morocco, AND she gave Paige a pair of pants for her birthday. So basically- she's the nicest human ever. We all hope that our paths cross with Kendall's again some day!
The rest of the day we just wandered around and did a little bit of shopping. We got a bite to eat at a joint on the main strip and enjoyed the view for a while. After that, we headed to see the beach and stumbled upon a bar with live music so of course we had to stop there for a while as well. It was such a good time with great friends.
SATURDAY:
We got up at the crack of dawn to get ready and head to the marina to leave for AFRICA! I honestly still can't believe we were able to just hop on a ferry and 45 minutes later arrive in Morocco. Wow. There were several other Americans in our tour group, including one couple from Peachtree City whose son currently lives in Woodstock (my hometown)...small world. Once we arrived in Morocco, we took a bus tour of the city and eventually got to my favorite part- riding camels! After the camels, we drove into the heart of the city and had a typical Moroccan lunch at a local restaurant. The food was delicious! We were served soup, cous cous, veggies, and mint tea while a 4 man band played Moroccan music.
After lunch, we headed to the markets to get hassled into buying as many things as possible. I stood my ground better than I thought I would though! There was one piece of tapestry that I just couldn't get over. It was so beautiful and I knew it would not only be a great souvenir I would have for the rest of my life, but I also knew how great it would look on my wall next year. The first few vendors were trying to sell it to me for 120 euros, but every time I said no and walked away they chased me further down the street lowering the price more and more. I couldn't get them as low as I wanted though, so I kept declining. Finally, as we were heading back to our van to leave for the marina, one of the vendors finally gave up and gave it to me for 30...and when I say gave it to me I mean he threw it at my face. Regardless, I was one happy camper.
After the markets, we stopped by a local pharmacy to learn about their medicinal practices. I was shocked to realize that medicine isn't really something they use there. Everything they use it raw- herbs, spices, oils, etc. It was so interesting to learn about some of the things they believe to have healing powers there. For example, he told us that if we were to buy one thing in the entire pharmacy, he would recommend it to be Nigella Seeds. Apparently, they are used for just about anything- external pain, internal illnesses, and the list goes on. He also mentioned that it's what they us on patients with HIV/AIDS. He recommended that we look into it once we got home and that's something I intend on doing.
Interesting Fact: Our tour guide Ali told us that ALL education is free. Anyone can go to elementary, Midde School, High School, AND College for absolutely no cost at all. Blows my mind.
Once we got back to Tarifa, we headed back to the hostel to meet up with the other two and got ready for a fun night out on the town for Paige's birthday. We met several people from Sevilla and other people from different parts of Europe as well. I would say that Tarifa was touristy but there were little to no tourists from the United States. Almost everyone we met was either from Spain, England, or Switzerland. Paige had a blast celebrating and so did we!
SUNDAY
I'm sad it's over but I'm also so glad to have met all the people we did along the way. They inspired all of us and I know for me personally, talking to them made me want to drop everything and travel the world! I know there is still so much to see- but I'm confident that someday I'll have the opportunity. I just really love people.
Buenas Ondas,
Alex
I can't believe you wrote about me! I wish I could have celebrated Paige's birthday on Saturday. I hope it was fantastic!
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