Emails once more....

Ever since the beginning of my study abroad experience, I had sent a series of emails recounting all of my trips for family and friends. I'll be in the process of posting these emails in order from the most recent to first email I ever sent out. Enjoy.


The last email recounted my trip home and the final few weeks in Morocco. Sadly, this email contained no pictures unlike the previous emails do to technical problems with my laptop.
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Well, I’m back. Back in Montana that is. I can’t say that it’s not strange, because, well, it is. I’m both happy and sad to be back. I miss all the experiences and people I met while in Morocco. But, I’m happy to be back to my old life. Studying in Morocco was the best decision I’ve ever made and I highly suggest studying and traveling abroad to everyone because it changes how you perceive and interact with the world.

Anyway, I haven’t updated since the middle of November. A lot has happened since then, during the “Thanksgiving Break”, we traveled to Amsterdam, Luxembourg, Brussels and Brugge. It was an amazing trip. Sadly, I don’t have any pictures because my computer is currently being repaired, it decided to start freezing and have other problems. Anyway, back to the update…Amsterdam is a beautiful city; I imagine it’s even better during the summer months. We visited museums and the Anne Frank House on the first day. As well, we enjoyed the beauty and food of Amsterdam. Moreover, we stayed in a boat youth hostel; it was probably one of the most memorable places to stay and highly suggested. Luxembourg is beautiful. Even though we were only there for a day, we visited a beautiful cathedral and spent most of our time in Christmas Markets eating Fondue and drinking Gluhwein (hot spiced wine). The following day we boarded the train again and went to Brussels, Brussels is a huge city; I wish we had more time to visit everything; however, we tried our best to visit as much as possible. One of my friends is a huge fan of the European Union, so we visited a multitude of EU buildings all over the city. I never thought I’d see so much of the European Union in one day. Later that evening, we visited the Brussels Christmas Market and were able to take a ride on the Ferris wheel and have an excellent view of the expanse of the city. The following day, we took a daytrip to Brugge. Brugge is like something out of a fairytale, I’m not sure if anyone actually lives there because it’s so perfect. The buildings are all hundreds of years old and so quaint. There are a multitude of Belgian chocolate shops and Cathedrals and Christmas Markets, all of which we visited. Europe was fun, but by the end, we were all wanting to go back to Morocco.

Our final 2 weeks in Morocco were dominated by finals and papers. It seemed the school plans to assign all of its work within those final 2 weeks. Thus, we didn’t travel very far. We went to Fez on the weekends and Azrou during the week to buy our final gifts and other things. After finals, I left Al Akhawayn and went to the nearby city of Meknes to visit my roommate and her family. It was nice to stay with a Moroccan family and see how they live.

I left Morocco on the 19^th and flew to Paris; I slept in the airport that night and awoke to find that the flight I was supposed to take back to Montana was cancelled. I went to the desk to reschedule and the only flight they could place me on was on the 22^nd. At this point, all I wanted to do was to fly home. So, I left the desk in hysterics because they refused to help me anymore. I called my mom on my phone in confusion and she was able to help me find a hotel. Finally, on the 22^nd I was able to fly from Paris – London – Seattle. When I reached Seattle, I discovered that they had failed to complete my booking to Montana in Paris. Luckily, they were able to find room on the plane for me and I was able to fly home.

And now I’m back.

The unofficial hit and miss list of 2009/ Morocco

I haven't written anything since the camel trek.



Am I bad blogger? Or maybe I'm having too much fun.



I've recently made it back state-side. It's quite nice. Everyone speaks English and I'm no longer a minority. Is that a bad thing to say? Either way, it's the truth. I can once again eavesdrop and understand what people are saying. Oops. There I go again, spilling my internal thoughts and actions. So, can I go back to Morocco now?



Anyway, back to the subject....



Hit/Miss of 2009



I think I'll start with the Hit list (not that sort of hit list....even though, I should start one of those...just for fun)



Hit List (The Positives of 2009 - Mostly from Morocco)



-Morocco - By far the biggest and bestest thing that happened in 2009. It was amazing, I can't put words into amazing-ness. So, I won't...But, I do know that stuff about/from Morocco will appear on this list...a lot.



-I turned 22 in style with a chocolate cake made by John Blake. Another year older....another year wiser? Perhaps.



-Traveling to France for the second time. It was incredible, as always, and very relaxing. While in France, I was finally able to visit a discotheque, drink wine at lunchtime, take a tour of a French village on a 4-wheeler and eat a lot of cheese.



-(Cue Arabian Nights-esque music) Ride a Camel into the Sahara and camp for the night. Does this really need an explanation of the awesomeness? Have I mentioned how much I love camels?



- Beneluxxxxx. Belgium, Netherlands and Luxembourg. All in one extended weekend. A 6 day tour of Chocolatiers, Museums and Christmas Markets. Excuse me, but do you have a puzzle book?



- In fact, I can't really remember much of 2009 except for Morocco.



-Fez (Fes), Morocco- I love Fez, regardless what others say (Anass...). I love the Medina and Muhammed's cafe, disappearing into the other-worldness of Cafe Clock, the stinky Tanneries, getting lost in the Medina, Jus De Banane, rooftops and the Bab.



-MASI- Montana Arabic Summer Institute. Otherwise known as; the craziest and busiest few weeks of my life, as well as, the funnest and best job ever. I loved working with all the various personalities that incorporated this years MASI program including the students. We had so much fun traveling and teaching/learning Arabic together. Another round of pictionary please.



-Chefchaouen, Morocco- (Also known as, the place that I cannot spell except after 4 attempts) The entire trip north, excluding Tangier (it wasn't that exciting), was something out of Alice in Wonderland, it was so strange, so bizarre, yet, so wonderful. Any place that is painted all blue cannot be ordinary.



-The Desert, I know I brought up the camels, but the desert is one of the most incredibly beautiful places and so sandy.



-The people I met in 2009. I can't list them all because I know I'll exclude someone. The people that I met in Morocco are the some of the best people I've ever met in my life thus far. We traveled together, lived together (sort of), we were sick together, we went through Ramadan together, spent so much time together that if it were anywhere else, we would probably hate each other, but by the end of the semester we remained so close to one another.



-Essaouira, Morocco. A crazy trip of fresh fish markets, fording rivers, Gnawa music, bargaining, rooftops, really long and sauna-esque bus rides and KFC. One of the best cities in Morocco.



- Buying a Macbook and an iPod. I love my Apple products, when they work.



- Crocheting more hats than....than...what I know what to do with.



- Azrou sunsets with Jus De Banane and Cheap Sandwhiches.



-Highland Dancing at First Night..... solo.

-Saturday Nights watching Babar and playing Rock Band II in Madeleine Street house.

- Couscous and Tajine. NoosNoos and Mint Tea. Food is good in Morocco.

-Polychronic. The very concept of being polychronic is so much more relaxing, however, sometimes it's a bit annoying because nothing gets done in a efficient manner. It just takes longer.



Miss List (Things that I missed out on)



-Not spending more time in Morocco. Heck, it's a great place, full of culture and history. I wish I was spending more time there. But, I'm planning to go back in the near future, so, round 2 of Liz in Morocco will soon happen. Inshallah.



-In relation to the previous, miss item, not spending enough time in Marrakesh, Casablanca and Rabat. Apparently, those are great places or something, because everyone across the pond here in the states keeps asking me if I went to those places. Um. Okay.



-Breath mints for dogs. Only because my dog is panting next to me and her breath stinks. Ew.



- Not Dropping Advanced-Intesive Arabic. Why didn't I drop the class like I wanted to. I should have taken that Sociology class instead.



- Not going Skiing. Maybe next year.



- Not singing Africa by Toto enough when it rained.



- Not buying a teapot or a jilaba in Morocco. Sad Camel.



- Jet Lag. I really could have done without it.

-Not skipping class more and traveling.

-Bargaining/Bartering. I have a love/hate relationship with it. Sometimes it's fun, other times I just want to scream in frustration. Please, I don't care if it's democratic price or you'll be giving me a good price. I don't believe youuuuu.

Miss lists are harder to write...because I generally don't have that many regrets to count for....Oh well.......

This is it. The unofficial hit/miss list of 2009. I'm sure there is more...and they will be added in time.

Well. I'm back. And now I want to go back.