'Cause I'm Leaving on a Jet Plane, Don't Know When I'll be Back Again, oh I Hate to Go. . . '

Although you would think John Denver, I'm sitting here using The Beatles as my company for this post. :) Roger has quickly become a huge fan of The Beatles and just today we used their songs as our lesson plan; having him listen to the lyrics, write down what he hears and understands and discuss the vocabulary.  I asked him "Do you know what a submarine is?!" He said "yes! It is a boat, no it is LIKE a boat that goes to the sea. . . you know in the water." and I said "exactly! and disappears UNDER the water." He replied, "Yeah! UNDER the water." haha It took him an hour to eat lunch today because he was singing along to the songs.  Thought it was an hour well spent :)

Had to snap a pic of my beach stroll in Ibiza :)

Well here we are. April 19th and 11 days away from getting me back on US soil.  How have these past 6 months gone by so quickly? 180 days, 24 weeks, one half of a year. . . isn't soooooo long.  Time is just a weird thing, isn't it? 1 hour can feel like a lifetime, a week can go by leaving me thinking how did 7 days just pass by? and 6 months can just fly right past us! Won't stop for anything I suppose...not even to allow you sit on that ledge overlooking crystal blue waters for a little while longer (or forever).  Even more reason to figure out what it is you really want and go after it. . . Be happy and LIVE.  If I've learned anything from travel, it's that.  There's just really not enough time in this one life to let anything get in the way of living a life of happiness.

IBIZA!

May 1st is going to be incredibly bittersweet.  Leaving my circle of friends here who have become my Spanish family is going to be so difficult.  There are some that I see almost every single day and it's not going to be easy saying goodbye. *sigh*  Goodbye is always the WORST and I have the same feeling I had before leaving my Kavanagh family in Ireland.  Leaving Roger and Anna will also be difficult.  I'll miss the little ones, especially their laughs! Oh my goodness they have the best laughs that come straight from the gut and is more contagious than chicken pox. I'm so excited to see how they will keep advancing in their English as they make the move to Canada in August.  It's been an absolutely amazing 6 months and although it's going to be hard to leave, when I picture getting to see my incredible family, standing there waiting to pick me up at the airport in less than 2 weeks I could not be more excited!! and getting to have a summer FULL of family, the Arnold and Leroe babes! and my amazing friends is going to be oh so perfect! I'm ready to see 'What Comes Next' for me.  Ready for the next adventure, ready to see where the wind takes me :)  Such an exciting feeling..who knows what's ahead??

Back to a day in the life of an au pair! I'm trying to go outta here with a bang so over Easter break I headed to the South of Spain for a week of solo trekking to three cities; Cordova (pronounced Cordoba), Sevilla (Seville) and Granada.  Check out my photos! ----->   Where Trouble Melts Like Lemondrops... Hope you have some time if you're tuning in. . . this one's a bit lengthy  :)

Can you smell them!?

On Wednesday (April 4) afternoon I hopped on a train to Barcelona then hopped on a bus that would take me 15 hours through the night and through the south to reach my destination of Cordova.  Let the journey begin, right? haha I made it to the bus station at 6 am, slept for 2 hours until the city buses started running, hopped on a bus at 8 and headed to my hostel.  Strapped my backpack on, jumped off the bus and started searching Senses and Colors, wandering through the ENTIRELY empty city streets.  So quiet there wasn't even a dog barking or a car engine running.  I could hear my own footsteps on the cobblestone streets- felt like the whole place was just for me :)  What started as trying to find my hostel turned into exploring when I got excited about the fact that I had the place to myself.  Only a few minutes after getting off the bus I  caught the scent of an unbelievable delicious smell in the air...all I could think was, "what IS that?! I have to find whatever it is." So I started looking up, down, all around and finally realized that the city streets were lined with blooming orange trees.  I reached up and picked a bloom and sniffed. . . YEP that was IT! It was such a sweet smell! I can smell it now as I'm writing about it.  The whole entire city smelled of those blooms.   I only got lost once and knew I was on the wrong side of the city, so I found a man who was approximately 70, who spoke no English and I'm pretty sure was telling me that his name was Joe and he was from Germany? who took me under his wing and rather than just pointing or telling me the directions took my arm and escorted me all the way back to where I need to be! Twenty minutes to the Tendillas Plaza.  Not before stopping at the church (where he must be a member of?) so he could show me the beautiful Easter statues used in processions through the city.  When we got to the plaza my face hurt from smiling and he put his hands on my shoulders and said something that I'm pretty sure was 'Be careful and take care.' I said 'Muchas Gracias!' really wanting to just hug the guy, gave his arm a squeeze and walked to the Plaza. . . another angel in this world :) 

Deserted streets early in the morn

I eventually made it to what I thought was my hostel, I took about 30 minutes freshening up and notifying my brother that I had made it then left my bags so I could go explore and check in later. Well...after coming back in the middle of the day, I discovered that Senses and Colors Hostel actually had 2 locations in the city and I was at the wrong one.  Easy fix! The guy working at the desk showed me the way to the hostel and it was close by.  After checking in for my first EVER single bed room in a hostel I went up the stairs of the old Moroccan house, opened the door and saw, what I considered a heavenly sight.  A queen sized bed with a window overlooking the beer garden and my own sink and closet in my room.  It was about 3pm and I had gotten to see most of the city so I took about a 40 minute nap, falling asleep to the live acoustic music being played downstairs and woke up so refreshed.

I spent the night with an amazing Australian couple I met who were traveling the world for one year. . . obviously a dream of mine once replenishing the bank account :) The tales of their travels...I could have listened to all day and night.  They had seen so many amazing things and were only half way through!  Unfortunately because of unfortunate train delays and other travel FAILS, I only know that their names are James and Vanessa and was unable to get any other contact info from them. Maybe I'll meet them somewhere else in the world someday! haha I don't think they're stoppin anytime soon.  We went out into the city around 9 to try to sneak a peek at the Easter processions that were taking place throughout the city. . . something I didn't really want to see, being that the kkk got their inspiration from the dress of these men in the Easter processions, so it looks like the kkk walking through the streets.  But they're kind of a big deal in the South so I thought I should at least check them out.  . . yep! Not happening. I was just as freaked out as I assumed I would be. Such an eery site to see - even though they had different colored hoods, it was still the same image.  So we decided to take a night stroll around the city instead and saw the beautiful walled city and the river.  I was in bed pretty early, eager to have a huge bed to stretch out in, plus I knew that the next day was the travel to Sevilla! 

 Headed to the train station at noon after 10 beautiful hours of sleep, saw I had missed a train to Sevilla 10 minutes early and curled up to wait for 2 1/2 hours for the next one.  Was able to update my Flat Stanley journal and do my favorite thing, people watch :) haha Can't remember if I already mentioned this but I have my little cousin Addison's Flat Stanley that was sent to me from Coldwater, Ohio.  Flat Stanley is a book character that loves going on adventures and loves peanut butter sandwiches and milk :) A lot of schools  in America and England are beginning projects where Flat Stanleys are sent to relatives or friends who include him in their daily lives and take him on any adventures they might have.

View of Triana from across the water

 It's a really fun project! I think my friends enjoy it even more than I do haha So anyway, hopped on the train to Sevilla with two guys from California I had met in my hostel and made my way to the bus station to get to my hostel, then discovered that the next bus wasn't coming for 35 minutes. Luckily I was standing next to a group of Irish guys who were going to the same hostel so we shared a cab and made it there in no time. The next day was spent exploring! What a beautiful city.  Walking around you feel like you've gone back in time.  The streets were completely packed with chairs, making a trail throughout the entire city where the Easter processions would travel.  Where did the Easter processions go? You could figure it out by following the chairs or the trail of wax from the tall candles carried by those in the procession.   One of those days that only involves sitting down when you're eating or going to bed.  Wandering to every corner of the city and getting to see it all by foot was perfect.  It was a perfect warm, sunny day. There is a river that runs in the middle of Sevilla and the bridge that is across it leads to Triana which was one of my favorite parts of the city.  It's an adorable area. .  vibrant, colorful, relaxed.  I had the perfect spot sitting next to the river, drinking a beer.  Well almost perfect...I wanted a gooey deliciously sinful chocolate treat that looked amazing, but at this particular restaurant you couldn't order dessert if you didn't order a meal...so I had to settle for my Estrella but that wasn't too hard to handle :)

On the bridge to Triana

After my last sip I headed back across the bridge to go back to my hostel so I could make myself some pesto pasta.  On the way, I looked into a store and saw so MANY things that looked intriguing! I stood outside the window for a minute debating if I should go in, then after realizing the person working was looking at me like "are you coming in or not?" I went in.  Turns out, this store was an awesome little holistic store- - - products for the body, mind, and soul.  I was trying (very hardly) to figure out a toy I had picked up and after seeing my obviously confused face, the worker explained to me that it was a thunder toy.  It had a wire thing on the bottom of a cylinder and if you spun it then it sounded like thunder! Pretty cool.  He had a friend in the store who spoke wonderful English so we all started chatting and within 10 minutes I had learned his name was Marcus, her name was Helena (from Tuscany) and we were exchanging numbers to meet for dinner later that night at an Italian restaurant,  La Oca Giuliva.  Just the type of people that make ya smile even after you leave.

Marcus, Helena, Nick and me at La Oca Giuliva

So at happy hour in the hostel bar later that night I met up with Nick who I had met the previous night and we headed out into the crowd in search of the restaurant... and thank God I had him with me! because with the processions going on it was completely impossible to take a straight path to where you needed to go...and you know me and my directional sense. It fails me.  Almost always.  Armed with a tiny pocket compass and his good directional sense (that we decided is embedded in men by genetics) and his ability to speak Spanish, he was much more successful at getting us to our destination then I would have been.  I know it seems crazy to eat Italian while in Spain but I am SO glad we did! I had a veggie lasagna that blew me away, could easily come in 2nd to the veggie lasagna I had in Venice. Yum! It was a wonderful dinner.   The company was so refreshing and enjoyable!  After stuffing ourselves with pasta and cava, the 4 of us went on a night walk around the city. . . always a good thing to have someone who lives there show you around so that they can actually tell you what you're looking at :) The smell of the orange trees were all over Sevilla also so the air smelled wonderful and the streets where we were walking were quiet, except for our chatting and laughing.  Around midnight after walking by the Cathedral and hearing the bells chime, we headed to an Arabic Bath House (Baños Árabes) that Helena attended regularly and had some delicious tea then parted ways.

At the corner of LIFE and WATER :)

Sunday morning was spent finding my way to Granada....otherwise known as a transportation fail.  What I should have thought about before leaving was that travel in Spain is probably the most difficult out of any other European country for some reason.  Buses and trains are more expensive and always have odd times of departure. This of course was true on this particular day also. So over the next THREE hours I got one hell of a workout! haha Walked from my hostel to the train station which took about 40 minutes with my pack on, found out the train didn't leave until 6 pm that night so scoped out a bus station and headed there. Found out the bus didn't leave for about 2 1/2 hours so went to the other bus station that was on the entirely opposite side of the city, hoping they had a bus that left early.  My thoughts before starting to walk there "no point in paying for a bus ticket! it's a

Full DOUBLE rainbow over hostel in Sevilla 

beautiful day and it's a walk next to the river- perfect!"  Thoughts AFTER walking for another 45 minutes and getting stuck walking through 5 different groups of Asian tourists- "not your best decision you've ever made to save 2 Euro."  (oh PS, if I've never mentioned the Asian tourist groups...they travel in wolf packs with sunhats sticking out everywhere and they stop to take a photo every 20 feet making it nearly impossible to pass)  So then broke down and paid 1.50 for my 35 minute bus ride to the other side of the city, to get back to the first bus station. Thinking the entire time on the bus ride that I'm going to get there and all of the tickets would be sold- my lucky stars were shining though because luckily I got a ticket, hopped on the bus and demolished the book I was reading on the 4 hour bus ride to Granada.  Worth it? Absolutely! Just all part of it :)

Granada was the gem on my trip; with the almighty Alhambra and the Sierra Nevada mountains being the most beautiful backdrop for a city, cobblestone streets full of twists and turns leading to every corner that were lined with houses that had white-washed walls giving it a beautiful Greek feel, and a strong influence of Arabic and Gypsy cultures throughout the city.  It really has it all.  Walking into my hostel and seeing the tree house, the hammocks and being offered a welcome beer, I knew I was in the right place!  I unpacked and made myself the first meal I had had that day and sat down to enjoy the beautiful garden in the hostel and soon after met Danny and Becca, siblings from Minnesota traveling for a week together who were wonderful!  We went to one of my favorite spots in the city for sunset-San Nicolas Mirador which was an incredible view that just encompassed the entire city, the Alhambra, and the mountains in one (as you can see).  Just hanging out with the gypsies and the lovers that tended to be everywhere and the sky turning from orange to pink to purple overlooking the city....made for a pretty good end to the day.

 View of the Alhambra + Sierra Nevada Mtns. at San Nicolas Mirador

The next day was spent exploring the Alhambra (description in my photos on Picasa) which is the most influential place in the city, so much that they have a beer, which might possibly be only in Granada that I had called Alhambra.  Then 'followed' my map to find the street I was looking for.  A true work of art... and the type of art that impresses me the most.  Walls FULL of incredible graffiti with so much detail you felt like you were standing next to the people in the art.  I loved looking at it all and it went on for blocks, sporadically on the walls or sides of buildings that would never dream of being painted over or covered up.  That night I went with Kurt, a film-maker from Istanbul, to the caves at the bottom of the mountain.  Homes that have been built into the mountainside by the

gypsies who live without electric and have to find other sources for water.  Primitive living at it's best.   We walked through their village and saw some excellent views of the city and the mountains. Then rewarded ourselves with ice cream and stopped to enjoy the entertainment of instruments being played in the gypsy plaza.  That night I went with Danny and Becca to find Flamenco dancing! Fail. . . the club was full.  So we ventured around the city to find beer and free tapas and instead got beer, spilled a glass of wine, and had to pay 12 euro for coos coos. haha Not exactly what we were looking for! but then luckily went to an Arabic restaurant and had delicious tapas of humus and pitas with our beer.  I had to prepare myself to stay awake until 3 am when I had to go catch my bus to get back to Barcelona.  So I enjoyed the company of other hostel buddies until the hostel bar closed down and everyone went to sleep.  I went and caught a cab and got to the bus station around 2:30 then boarded the bus at 3 for my 16 hour bus ride back to Barcelona.  Luckily I was tired enough that I slept most of the time.
What a trip it was! Just what I needed.  A week well spent :)

The following weekend (alright, 2 days later) I was reunited with Meghann and Aaron!!!  They flew from England to fly to Ibiza Island with me for the weekend (YOLO!!!) and what an amazing weekend it was!  Although not warm enough to strip to suits and swim in the sea, we got to see the entire island and enjoy the perfectly serene beauty of the place.  We arrived Thursday night and along with experiencing the parenting methods, driving 'rules', and Tapas they got their first taste of Spain :) We were able to find a steal for car rentals the next day (2.5 days for 60 euro!) and it was conveniently across from our hotel we were staying in. . . got the keys, loaded up on junk food for the road trip, with complimentary Sangria in a box!.....and so began our driving adventure on the coast :) Just beautiful, is the only way to describe Ibiza.  The Mediterranean can be 4 different shades of blue at once and the rugged coastline creates one beautiful view.  You feel the breeze off the water, have the sun on your face and smell the salty ocean with some of your favorite people by your side and it's all over. You're never goin back to wherever it is you came from and have reached euphoria.  I don't know why I only discovered this land now before I'm leaving! It could have been my weekend spot- I mean 30 euro round-trip for a ticket is do-able! :) Our weekend was full of these same incredible views but all over the island, beautiful sunsets, YOLO!, the HIPPY MARKET! (I thought I had died and gone to heaven), getting lost only a couple 6 or 7 times, getting swept away by the wind, some good jam sessions on the road trips, and some scrumptious food.  One favorite in particular, an entirely Ecological restaurant that served the most amazing veg burgers, salad, bread, pure apple juice and oh yeah...that mouth watering home-made apple cinnamon cake :)

It really was a wonderful weekend spent catching up with the love bugs and getting to see a beautiful  place with them.  On the plane ride I told Meghann, "This is weird. I don't know if I've been on a plane with someone I knew in the past 2 years!" haha Doesn't happen too often anyway :) After these little adventures I believe I can head back across the pond with no regrets.  There is nothing that I am dying to see in this spot of the world that I didn't see.  An overall success I think! Full of new memories that I get to carry with me as I move forward.  Now these two weeks are going to feel like a waiting game.  I wake up most nights in the middle of the night, wide awake with the my blood pumping with anticipation at the thought of getting to see everyone  so soon!  Travel the world, see sites you could never have dreamed you'd see but oh there's truly nothing like home.

YIKES STRIPES!! I'll be there in 11 days! :)

Thanks for reading blog friends! :)
LOVE from Spain,

xxxxooo
M

Shadow trio with Meghann and Aaron 

 "May the road rise up to meet you.  May the wind always be at your back. May the sun shine warm upon your face, and rains fall soft upon your fields." 
 Quote sent to me from my brother that I love...pretty good advice that I'll take :)

"...and I Think to Myself, What a Wonderful World."

I promised myself I'd be better at updating this but that just hasn't happened :). . . . so here goes the update of March! (How is theeeee world is March almost over already?)
PICASA ALBUM! ----->SPAIN! Pt. TWO!

Time just seems to keep racing by and I have a mere 6 weeks left until I'm back State-side! It feels like yesterday I was saying my goodbyes to most of you at Mom and Pops' Fall party. . . so on that note, 'living it up' is always on the mind now and that's exactly what I've been doing :)  I've done some more exploring to surrounding areas and have loved it! Spain really is beautiful...and a lot bigger than you would think.  Still some time left to soak it all up :)

Standing in front of the Magic Fountain in Barcelona

This past weekend was amazing! My friend Caitlin visited me from Italy where she's studying.  She's a wonderful friend I met on my volunteer trip in Australia two years ago- and it has BEEN two years since I hugged her goodbye at the airport, so it was quite the sweet reunion!  and the best part was that it was like no time had passed, one of those rare friendships where you pick up right where you left off.  Her friend Vanessa also came and she even mentioned that it seemed like we had never spent anytime apart haha I guess working on an island rolling around in wallaby poo all day, having to sync our rowing efforts and smelling like trench water together forms a pretty tight bond :) Loads of reminiscing took place during the weekend (made we wish I could just teleport back to Tassie) and it was a good thing we had a lot to catch up on because our travels were pretty time consuming! We spent Friday night in Barcelona, exploring a bit, enjoying some brewskys on the beach, and eating at a MEXICAN restaurant!! I FINALLY found one!! Trust me, the efforts that took place to find this restaurant surpassed any sane amount of energy a person should exert to find food, but I was determined. and What did we find? Delicious guac and pitchers of Sangria :) yum. Although it was no El Cam. it hit the spot!  We got to witness the incredible and seriously fascinating Magic Fountain of Montjuic- a water spectacular synchronized to music with the back drop being more water falls coming off of a massive building- REALLY great architecture- and a row of giant pillars that also had a small fountain below them.  After the fountain's performance (and our dancing accompaniment haha) we strolled around the area then went back to find the Metro.

We headed back to Sant Jordi's Hostel..ahhhh a HOSTEL! I've missed them! This was seriously the best Hostel I've ever stayed at. . . they had magnetic card keys for the lockers and your own bed-side light! that's unheard of.  We called it a night knowing the next morning would be an early one, and yep 7 am came pretty quickly! HAPPY ST. PADDY'S DAY!! We headed out the door of the hostel around 8:00 only 10 minutes behind schedule, hopped on the metro to get to the train station and took off in a run to buy a ticket after seeing that the train to Valencia was leaving in 10 minutes.  However, when getting to the ticket machine found that it was all in  Espanol... and tooooo bad!!! Maria still hasn't learned a word of the language :) so to the ticket booth we went where we discovered that our 8:30 train was full. Uhh huh...Perfect.  So we got tickets for the 9:30 train and went to look for breakfast (donuts and chips) and tools to get the St. Paddy's Day festivities off on the right foot (liters of Sangria that tasted only a littttttle bit like nail polish remover) and went to the platform to wait. . . well little did we know the direction we were going was such a popular route! SWARMS of people hovering on the edge of the platform waiting to jump on the train.  Being my typical self, I sat down thinking "what's the rush?" and assuming there'd be enough seats on the train "why was everyone getting their panties in a bunch? Sheesh!" As soon as the train rolled up it was like Black Friday at ToysRUs! Shoooot! Everyone pushing and scrambling to get on the train.  Once we got on we saw why...it was completely packed- all the seats and aisles. We were starting to think our 3 1/2 hour train ride was going to be prettttty uncomfortable. . . After standing for 40 minutes I decided to sit. So I made myself comfortable in the aisle, eating my "breakfast" and being pretty un-enthusiastic about the view from down there. . . all I could see were knees, ankles, and shoes. Finally after an hour and a half we all got seats and the rest of the ride went pretty quickly.

Larger than life Ninots placed all over the city of Valencia

Our destination: VALENCIA! for Las Fallas (Festival of Fire) which is one of the largest festivals in Spain. Forget St. Paddy's Day! As soon as we stepped out of the train station it was obvious that they don't mess around throwing these fiestas. People were everywhere! You couldn't even see the streets, the only the masses of people.  It was a sight to take in! There were fire-crackers being lit off, the smell of sweet, delicious churros frying in the street booths, and giant Ninots (floats) towering over the people...making them look so small...at the end of every street. With our Sangria in hand, we tackled the crowd and started through, checking out the VERY impressive Ninots along the way and really just wandering around, taking it all in.  We found an Irish pub but it wasn't really hoppin' yet so we continued on to a park to sizzle in the sun a bit and relax.
Las Fallas is famous for the burning of the ninots that takes place on Monday night as the closing ceremony.  After all of the ninots have been judged, they pick one that goes into a museum and the rest get burned in the city center as a celebration. Wish I could have seen it, because apparently it looks like the city is on fire.  There goes all of that hard work, huh?
Later in the day we met up with some of Vanessa and Caitlin's friends and sat on the street at a cafe having a beer, with the constant pop of finger poppers and small fire-crackers.  We spent most of the rest of the evening enjoying the procession of people dressed in their medieval clothing....their very EXPENSIVE dresses (some over 20,000 Euros) to bring their bouquets of flowers to the Virgin Mary. . . this went on all day and night. There were thousands of them and they were beautiful.  Adults and children, even babies! were dressed in head to toe beauty to deliver their gift for the festival.   We discovered Flannigan's- an Irish Pub and made it our home for the night.  In an attempt to find the loo we ran into Niles, an Irish man himself and after drawing shamrocks on our cheeks and some crazy dancing we went and met his friends from England. Such a fun group! We had a few pints and went to see the amazing firework display at 1:30 that went on for 25 minutes and was beautiful! Great choice to go. . . except for losing Caitlin and Vanessa in the crowd by accident. I wasn't sure if I'd see them again but after the fireworks we were walking back to Flannigan's and all of a sudden I just hear a sad yell of "MARIAAAAAAAAAAAAAAA!!!!" and I heard it twice. I looked at Niles and was like you know who that is don't you??? We looked over and there Caitlin sat on the curb obviously upset by the fact that she thought I had lost them forever haha those pints weren't helping her judgement but the look on her face when she saw me was priceless. "No WAY! THERE you ARE! Right there you ARE!"  haha I instantly fell into a fit of giggles and had to sit down beside her to catch my breath.
So after our 2nd reunion in 2 days, we headed back to Flannigan's to enjoy the Live Irish Music!! that I've missed OH so much.  I was the happiest soul in that place, my face hurt from smiling.  I just loved it! Hearing that Irish whistle brought me right back. While we were enjoying the entertainment I spotted a guy with a Red Sox shirt on who I of course had to approach because there was no way he was a European with a baseball shirt on.....but he was Irish! Had lived in Boston for 5 years working and fell in love with the Sox, respectable team :) He ended up introducing us to his friends who play for a Gaelic Football club here in Spain and luck (of the Irish) has it that they have a tournament this weekend in Barcelona so that's where I'll be! My host brother in Ireland played Gaelic football and I loved going to his matches.  There's no way I'd miss this chance. Should be fun! Plus being surrounded by the Irish again will be a happy day :)

So after closing down the pub at 4 am, we made our trek back to the train station to head back to Barcelona...yes we had planned this. Sleep is overrated and I knew if we were in Spain we wouldn't be going to sleep before 6 am anyway.  Walking out onto the street you would think it was midnight! People were still everywhere. . . and trust me we were one of the few with our Guinness hats, smudged sweaty shamrock cheeks and green glasses on.  The festival was still going strong. After getting some fast food breakfast in our possession we went to the train station assuming there would be no issue getting onto the 5 am train. . .I mean there could be no way it would full like last time, right? WRONG.  It was full...as in COMPLETELY full and there were no more tickets available. Super.  The next train left at 8:30 and was at a station 15 minutes away so we headed that way but when arriving at the station we got   another fun surprise! Doors were locked.  Perrrrrfect.  It wasn't like it was freezing at 5:30 in the morning or anything.  So we snuggled in on our freezing, rock-hard slabs of cement and waited for 7 am to come...willing it to come as quickly as possible.  By the time 7 am came I couldn't feel my toes, hands or nose but we made it! Boarded the train and got back to Barcelona at 11:30 which of course meant there was no time to sleep because it was already past our time of check-out for the hostel.  I brought Vanessa and Caitlin to Gaudi's Park Guell and we hung out in Barcelona for the afternoon.  After some delicious ice cream treats I headed back to Terrassa around 7:00.  Tough goodbye! Who knows when I'll see that girl next...may be another 2 years.  Just glad we had a wonderful weekend that we'll be able to reminisce about two years down the road ! :)

Rosa and me waiting for the band to start!

Weekends other than last have been spent around here and have been great!  A few weeks ago I had a weekend of the Arts!  My friend Ana is in a band (Sense Sal) and they had a concert in Terrassa that we all went to.  I love their music and it was great being able to support Ana! The next night I went to see the Musical 13. My friend Estel is studying performance and is assisting with the musical.  The musical is about a Jewish teen who has to move from New York to...none other than..INDIANA! and of course it's the worst day of his life haha only corn fields and no friends to invite to his Bat Mitzvah.  They're a cast of middle school kids who did a really great job.  It was all in Catalan so I obviously couldn't understand much but I still enjoyed the music and watching a group of teens work that hard is just fun.  After the show Estel told us to find her because she wanted to introduce me to the director. Meeting the director lead to meeting the ENTIRE cast! haha Estel told them I was from Indiana and they were all pretty intrigued.  One even asked me "INDIANA?! That's a REAL place?"  Yes.. it sure is haha There's always something weird about meeting the people who you have just been watching on stage for the past 2 hours.  Oh those teens. . . all bouncing full of energy and not a care in the world :) with their roses from family and friends and high off their happy endorphins that buzz after opening night's performance.  Brought me back to high school when I would go to see my friends in their drama performances at the HS.

Two weeks ago Jadyn and I took the Sunday to go to Tibidabo, a mountain over looking Barcelona with a small amusement park on the top.  Can't remember if I mentioned her in the last blog, but Jadyn is the new au pair in Matadepera from Cali and she's so great!  We've been taking a lot of mini adventures together.  Good travel buddy no
doubt :)  Our transportation to the top of the mountain was an adorable trolley that went through the city and climbed the steep hills, giving us a great view of the city the entire way.
We were in the front standing next to the open door. They need more of these, they're a fun way to go! . . Trolley transport: Oldy but goody!   Tibidabo was really beautiful! It was a perfect Spring day and the view of course was wonderful.  To the East was the never-ending sea and the entirety of Barcelona and to the West were beautiful mountains and the sun-set :) A great day with some glorious views; having a picnic of chip sandwiches, mandarins and chocolate for dessert. yum yum!  After missing the last tram and trolley (after having already paid for them both), we hopped on a bus that brought us right to Placa de Catalunya where we needed to be to get the train back to Terrassa.  We stopped by Cafe Zurich for an End of the Weekend Beer and headed back to Terrassa, where I had my car at the train station, around 8.

View of Barcelona from the top of Tibidabo

Teaching English has been going so well! My class of 3 year olds I teach on Mondays seems to be enjoyable for the little guys and they're doing a good job of repeating words and short phrases.  I have a wander-er who really enjoys being in his own little world haha and one who always cries a lot at the beginning of the lesson which makes me always bring out the most fun activities at the beginning, unfortunately- but it works and that's the important thing!  There's usually about 3 or 4 times during the lesson where I lose them for a minute (I mean they don't understand a word I'm saying and I don't understand them much) but it only takes me about 30 seconds to get them back on track :) Lots of energy! I'm usually sweating by the end! haha we don't sit down much and there is always a LOT of instrument playing, dancing, singing, and 'Ring around the Rosie' happening. :) A fun group to teach!

As for every-day life with the Martinez family, teaching English has been a complete success.  Roger is speaking in sentences and even correcting me haha (might have mentioned that in the last blog, but he still does it all the time).  He really enjoys learning the language! Every teacher's dream come true, an enthusiastic student! and he's just a funny kid.  Luckily he goes along with the crazy shinannigans we get into.....There was one day we hopped in the car, drove to school...and couldn't get out of the car.  The door just wouldn't open.  I tried everything and unfortunately the other doors are child-locked so you can only open them from the outside.  Super.  Knowing I couldn't say "Open the door please" in Catalan to people passing by, I went with my only other option- making Roger climb out of the window to open the doors for us.  With a look of "really?!" and all smiles and some laughs, he unbuckled and climbed out the window.  Oh I can only imagine the chuckle people got from watching this unfold.  Operation escape: success!!! and we weren't even a minute late for school :) Anna is also improving her English and really enjoying it.  She gets upset when we can't do it and gives me the glare down for the day if she knows we're not doing English haha  She's definitely improving and is understanding much more than when I first arrived- although still unable to really talk I know that she understands some of what I'm saying.   She's still learning her native language and doesn't always speak in Catalan correctly so if she's able to understand something, I consider it a win :)
Anna is becoming a bit more independent and HAPPY! Oh my goodness has she been happy.  For those of you that don't know, this is a change from the normal attitude that comes from Anna.  I now get smiley wake up calls as she's been running in my room saying "Good morning Maria!!" and giving me a big hug and kiss every day- so precious, and really theeeee BEST way to wake up!  Reminds me of my absolute favorite mornings when Owen Shaw would sneak into my room every morning, giggling and say, "Goooooood morning Tamira! Ready to start your DAY?!" when I lived with the Leroes :)
I've had a lot of firsts with Anna in the past 2 weeks. . . the first day, after 5 months, that she has sat down for lunch and eaten her entire plate of food with no complaints- I VERY happily welcomed her into the Clean Plate Club!! Exciting day! I really couldn't believe it.  . .
The first time I've been able to get her hair into a pony-tail after a scissors accident right before I arrived.. .
The first time she's woken up in the morning AND from a nap without crying
and just today, the first time she has gone to the bathroom, flushed the toilet, put the toilet seat down, washed her hands, AND turned off the light without me asking! Truly blown away.
and have I mentioned she's been so happy?! :) I am LOVING it! Something has shifted in the universe  or something is in the air...I don't need to know- just so she stays like this :)

This past weekend (March 25th) I went on a 15 km bike ride with the family and a group of their friends near Manresa.  Was an absolutely gorgeous day!!! Riding through vineyards, meadows and woods and followed by lunch at a beautiful farm surrounded by hills and grazing cows where I was able to get my kicks on driving a 4-wheeler round the property, eating great food and taking a very relaxing snooze in the grass while getting lightly toasted by the Spanish sun :)  Everyone had a great time and although the kids, Jadyn and I were unsuccessful in our attempts at petting a cow, we had fun.

Saturday was spent in Barcelona watching my new Irish friends (made in Valencia at Flannigan's) play Gaelic Football - the Sport that my host brother Rory played in Ireland.  Love this Sport, as anyone who likes sports would and really brought me back to watching The Donegal team play :) A really great afternoon!  Jadyn and I went to Arc de Triomf for a picnic of kebabs and beer on a park bench while listening to an African music group playing then traveled to the magic fountain and were VERY surprised when getting to hear their Disney show!! :) All Disney songs- our favorite. Although all in Spanish, it didnt stop us from dancing and singing our hearts out in front of the fountain.  So good!

Beautiful pillars at the Magic Fountain

Friday was spent wearing my Cream and Crimson proudly, randomly singing the IU fight song and having butterflies in my stomach as tip-off for the IU v. KY game drew near. . . I had my game-plan ready to keep me up until 4 am to watch the game, but in the end didn't need a game-plan because I was so worried that night! I was babysitting and had put in Rio for the kids to watch when Nathan messaged me that I needed to call Mom and Pops right away. . . only the most feared message you could ever get.  Come to find out Mom had just gotten her appendix taken out! My goodness! I was so worried and of course tried calling via GooglePhone with no luck because the internet wasn't working and finally just used my cell phone here to get a hold of her.  She had just woken up  from surgery not too long before I called and was feeling okay.  Such good news and so so glad it wasn't anything more complicated than that. Luckily, she's a tough cookie! :)

12:20 am here and my bed time.  I'm going to sign off! Thanks for reading and I hope you all have a wonderful Easter! :) I miss you all!! Indiana, see you in 5 weeks baby!

xxx
Love from Spain

"Travelers aren't rich with physical possessions but have made an absolute fortune out of life and its opportunities."

I haven't really updated my "Spanish" sort of tale with any details of Spain since December so I'll try to get you all up to speed on what's been going on here!
Here's the link to my Picasa album for Photos!: SPAIN 2012

View of Barcelona and the Sea

While I was in Africa at the beginning of January, my village celebrated the coming of the 3 Kings and had a celebration for Saint Sebastian that lasted a week. The 3 kings (if you don't remember) is their really big celebration around Christmas, when all of the families get together and all of the big gifts are given to the kiddos. When I got home from the airport, we opened the door and Roger said "Maria!!" and he ran over and gave me the biggest hug.  Anna had told Rosa earlier that day that she had missed me but when I got there she kind of looked at me like "thanks for leaving us." haha but I got a hug out of her and got her giggling seconds after getting home. The kids were super excited to show me what they had got from the 3 Kings and were all smiles. Roger rushed me into my room to show me that I had a great present from the 3 Kings waiting on me! A Catalan-Spanish-English dictionary made by Roger and Rosa  :) I loved it! There was also a Yamaha keyboard sitting on my desk that is being lent to me from Susagna's dad while I'm here so that I can tickle the ivories a bit while I'm away from my piano at home.
That celebration of Saint Sebastian had begun the weekend before, on Jan 13th (or 14th?) and involved a party for the entire village.  The whole village has a dinner together and goes out to the nearby forest to have a bonfire and enjoy a great night together.  They go out to the forest so that they can chop down a giant tree and carry it back to the center of the village (no I'm not kidding) and that's exactly what they did! Chopped down a tree, got dozens of men together, put it on their shoulders, and carried it to the center of the village.  A few of my friends were helping to carry it and I saw photos later- it looks like quite the team effort!  So the week I arrived back here, they continued on celebrating Saint Sebastian.  On Thursday I went to the center of the village with Roger and his class and learned a traditional dance that they do around the tree for the celebration.   It was so adorable.
Saturday we all went to the center to stand around the tree and watch the annual tree-climbing event. Anyone who wants to, can attempt to shimmy their way up to the very top of the tree to touch a ham that is tied to the branches.  This is an impressive sport. They started with children (they lowered the ham and only had to climb half way up), went on the teenagers and had the adults go last. Whoever makes it up the tree in the fastest time wins the ham.  The man who won made it in less than 30 seconds I believe- crazy! This is a TALL tree. It was really fun to watch though :)  After the tree climbing everyone continued standing around the tree to do the traditional dance that the children were taught earlier in the week.  Children in the middle and adults on the outside. I was just going to watch but then got pulled in by some of the local women.  I decided it'd be best to attempt the kids' moves rather than the adults. Stumbled with the steps and probably looked like a fool but had fun anyway :)  After dancing, went to have a beer with friends then went back home to have lunch with the family. Susagna's sister Gemma came with her 4 kiddos so I got to give the newborn twins lots of cuddles :) They're growing so fast! but don't they all? :)

Since that weekend we haven't had too much going on and it's been cold! SO cold in fact that we had a SNOW DAYYYYY!!! that just happened to be the same day as Nic's birthday - Feb. 2nd :) SUCH a fun day! The night before, I was in the kitchen and Toni told me that it would snow the next day. The next thing I know, we look outside and it IS snowing! I was so excited I ran outside and watched for about 30 minutes as the beautiful giant, fluffy snowflakes fell to the ground thinking Shoot! this will all be gone in the morning.  Much to my surprise, I woke up to Roger saying "MARIA! SNOW!! Come look! Come look!" haha it felt like Christmas morning we were all so excited.  Instead of eating breakfast or playing before school, the kids just stood in their jammies looking out the window at it as it continued to snow.  Roger said "Wowwww. It is SO beautiful!" lol this kid loves the word beautiful and uses it all the time- super cute. I was wishing we would have enough to get bundled up to go play in it, but we didn't so I dropped them off at school then met with Nic (the birthday girl!), Rosa, Estel, and Puxa for a coffee and as we were sitting in the bar getting our caffeine fix and chatting like giddy kids, I got a phone call saying that the schools would be closed after lunch. There was not more than 1/2 inch of snow on the ground, this was comical to someone who lives in a place where if it DOESN'T snow it's pretty strange.  So we all immediately started planning for our Snowww DAY! I picked up the kids early before lunch, around 11:30 and we all went back to the house along with Nic and her kids she au pairs for- Pau and Martina. The snow was perfect for packing! so we had quite the snowball fight, had delicious spaghetti for Nic's birthday lunch, and had slideshows of my photos from Africa. After Toni got home and took back over the kiddos we baked cakes for the birthday girl as we sipped on our cheap beer and discussed the plan for the night.  Was such a great day with great friends! Best snow day I've had in years.

Last weekend I went to Barcelona and finally spent a few days exploring the beautiful city!  I was lucky enough to be welcomed into the flat of Susagna's brother Adria and his boyfriend Fran, best tour guides in the city as far as I'm concerned :) Had such a great weekend with them! I took the 42 minute train ride from Terrassa to Barcelona with Jadyn (the newest au pair here from California!) and met Adria on Para lel around 5:00.  We went back to their flat and not long after ventured out to see some sites.  Such a beautiful city! We took a walk past the Moulin Rouge, walked down the Rambla with a great view of the mountains in the distance with a huge church sitting on the tip.  Then we went by an incredible old building that used to be the hospital.  We walked into the garden area and found that part of the ancient hospital had been turned into a library so of course we had to go inside to check it out! Oldest library I've ever been in, and so incredibly cool.  We continued walking around to the major parts of the city; checking out the old Jewish district and traveling down the great mid-evil streets seeing the old and amazing cathedrals, the Music Palace and the awesome architecture so many of the buildings have. They wanted to surprise me by taking me to a great bar for a beer and a break from walking which I soon found out was my FAVORITE bar in the city that I had been to before! It was a great surprise anyway and I was happy to get to enjoy the environment. We did some wandering and found ourselves inside of a display of Giants and their animals that we later saw when getting caught in the parade with them haha We then wandered into a cathedral that had quite the show going on, involving a GIANT dancing bird as a band played traditional music in the front of the church.  Neither of us knew what was going on.  Fran works at a bar in the city on weekends as a type of sound technician for the bands and had to go to work so Adria and I continued on through the city and found an incredible light show happening on the side of one of the government buildings, synchronized to music and a lot of great animation. We walked down a few more allys and found ourselves at a large building with a giant countdown to zero.  When we got there the clock had 4 minutes left and as it got closer to zero we realized we were the only ones in the middle of the square.  There were about 40 seconds left and we had no idea what was happening but I was getting a little nervous! thinking what DOES happen when that gets to zero?! So I said, "uh- Adria, maybe we should move over THERE." haha we moved back and when the clock got to zero there was an instant loud boom of music and another light show started!  It was our lucky day :) After that  we ate at a delicious Pizzeria to stop our rumbling stomachs and kill time before going to the bar to watch the band.  Little did I know that by going to this bar I would get to learn about a whole different culture in Spain! The bar we went to was a Basque Bar that is popular for Basque people who, like the Catalans, have their own culture, language, traditions- their own identity- apart from the Spanish. Here's some more info about them if you want to check it out- History of Basque People  it's pretty interesting! They had a traditional band playing in the bar which happened in a room that was dome shaped with a roof made of stone and resembled a (non-creepy) cellar.  A really great setting for the performance. Of course I didn't understand a word especially since they were singing in yet another language I've never heard of before haha but I enjoyed it so much! Was really great entertainment. The bar was followed by a trip to a nearby Hookah (shisha) bar that has been in the area for years and years.  We got home around 3am and I was elated to know I could sleep in the next morning without waking at 7:00 to crying kids! :)

The next morning I woke up feeling totally refreshed. .  at 12 Noon :) haha Got out of bed and found fresh squeezed orange juice and homemade mini muffins waiting on me. Delicious! Adria had gone to the market and Fran had gone to work so I plugged my iPod into their speakers, jammed to music, showered and got ready for the day.  Adria still wasn't back when I was ready so I decided to take the opportunity to play the marvelous, beautiful, amazing piano that they own. This thing is perfect and I feel so great when playing it.
After a delicious lunch of pasta with homemade pesto and some fresh asparagus, we headed out to see some sites. How did we get around? By scooter baby! I strapped that helmet on, climbed on the back (held on for dear life) and felt so gosh darn European! We saw SO much! and so quickly. The absolute best way to travel through the city. Zip zip zoom! and you're there.  We went up to the top of the mountain (just a big hill really) next to their flat which is pretty high and had wonderful views of the city down below the whole way.  We went to the Olympic Stadium that was used in '92 and was absolutely awesome to be inside- can't wait for the Olympics in London to start! Then we went to a castle even farther up on the hill that overlooked the entire city with SOME views! We could see all the mountains in the distance hugging the outside of the city and the Mediterranean's vibrant blue water colliding with the other side of the city.  Really beautiful. Then we zipppped! down to the beach and walked around for awhile even though the winds were wicked and it was freezing.  After I couldn't feel my fingers anymore we went for a beer.  We headed back to their flat around 7 and inspired by the Moulin Rouge around the corner from us, watched the movie for the first time while Adria prepared a delicious dinner for me and a few of his friends that were on their way.  When they arrived we had a session of karaoke as I played the piano and they sang Beatles tunes.  We gobbled up our delicious dinner and enjoyed the beautiful chocolate dessert and around midnight left to go to a private club where every night..... is Flamenco dancing night! After buzzing the bell to be let in and wiggling our way through the crowd to find a place at the bar, we settled in for the night to watch the dancing couples.  Just so happened that Adria and one of his best friends takes classes and dances Flamenco so they danced all night.  Was such a great time and so much fun to see first-hand!

Park Guell created by the Catalan artist Gaudi 

Sunday afternoon we went to the Park Güell which was created by the very famous and incredible Catalan artist Gaudi. This place is like nothing you've ever seen.  So many different parts of the architecture moving and flowing together.  It took 14 years for Gaudi to complete it and overlooks the city on a hill. The majority of his work in the park is mosaic and just- WOW.  You could look at it for hours- there are so many details! I will be going back there again, no doubt.  After leaving the park we went to a Palestine restaurant and had a delicious lunch.  Then it was back to Matadepera for me. I got back to the house around 7 and was exhausted.  It was a perfect weekend with really wonderful people :) Can't wait to do it again.

Other exciting events?? My birthday came around! My day started with being woken up by the family carrying a cake that positively looked like it was on fire through my sleepy eyes and singing 'Happy Birthday' to me :)  Such a sweet surprise! and what a wonderful wake to wake up on your birthday! After having the kids help me blow out my forest fire they gave me the birthday cards they made me :) Drawings and colored pictures that they had done for me. I loved them!  Roger's drawing had the US flag on it, along with many other things haha too cute. I went on a walk through the woods on a really nice path with Jadyn and took care of the kiddos until 3 when I took them back to school.  Then later met friends for a birthday beer until dinner with the family.  They took me to a fabulous pizzeria in Sabadell (a city about 15 minutes away) where we enjoyed a delicious meal complete with fresh gelatto for dessert made in the restaurant. Would put Nathan Miller's ice cream to the test. Mmm mm! After leaving the restaurant I knew I was meeting a couple of friends in Terrassa so I was asking Rosa about our plans and the next thing I know she's taking a scarf and blind-folding me! She led me blind down through the streets to the car and drove me to our next destination, which I figured was in Terrassa but I had no idea where. Being blind in a car is a crazy feeling! I was laughing the whole time. When we got to where we were supposed to be, I got out of the car and was forced into another car with who, I didn't know and was driven to another place where I got out and was then led around outside, touching plants and other things I didn't know, being left on a park bench alone, going up escalators, into elevators, and up and down steps. haha it was more fun that you would think it could be.  No one was talking to me during this entire scene- all I could hear were people passing by talking and laughing haha I'm sure it was quite the image.  Finally i got led inside, sat down and was able to take the scarf off to discover that we were inside a Mexican restaurant with a margarita on the rocks sitting in front of me! (my FAVORITE!)  with Rosa, Nic and Puxa sitting there smiling haha after a couple of drinks we wandered outside and went into the bowling ally nearby to take our pictures in a photo booth and boogie to a few crazy rounds on the dancing machine.  Our last stop was at St. Paddy's an Irish pub where we enjoyed the great Strongbow cider.  A really wonderful birthday it was! :)

Everything else has been going pretty great, overall.  After getting back from Africa I finally got hired to teach a class with the English teaching company here- Parlem Cat. So I have a class of 4 boys who are 3 years old every Monday.  They're going to be a handful! but will be fun.  They have a lot of energy and can't speak a word of English, but hopefully I'm successful in getting some stuck in their mind haha I'm also a sub for the company whenever they need one and was asked to teach 4 different classes last week.  They were all with kids 13 years and older so that was new for me, but went really well! I actually really liked working with the older kids which surprised me entirely.

Flag of Catalonia waving proudly on top of the mountain flying over Barcelona. 

Roger and Anna are learning more and more English all the time! Roger is just brilliant- everything I teach him sticks like glue and he gets better all the time.  Now talking in complete sentences and reading entire books by himself and understanding 95% of the words!  He also understands just about everything that I say and doesn't have to ask "what?" as much.  We're able to have longer conversations and he's able to explain more to me.  One day recently we were sitting on the sofa reading a book and there was this constant thumping on the roof that would start and then stop again. The first few times I just ignored it but by the 3rd time I looked at Roger and asked "What in the world IS that Roger??" and he looks at me dead in the face and says, "Don't worry Maria! It isn't a monster." then went back to reading his book.  haha I couldn't help but laugh. I said "Perfect English Roger! Good job :)"  I then went outside to see what the heck was going on and as soon as I opened the door it stopped.  Still haven't discovered if it was a monster or not ;)  Anna is able to understand more and is able to ask me questions like, can I have more water please? and replies when I ask her how school was or how she is doing, often replying in Catalan, but with answers that make sense! She is always counting in English and answers me with yes or no when usually she would say 'Si' or 'no'.  She's repeating a LOT more and actually gets upset when I don't teach her English.  :) They have both started being funny funny. . . copying me to  'sound like me' and saying 'OH my GODDDD!' like apparently I do? haha Rosa pointed this out to them one day and they thought it was just absolutely hilarious and Roger would tell everyone that that's what I sound like.  Two days ago we were sitting at breakfast and out of nowhere Anna goes "Ohh my Goddddddd!" in clear, perfect English. I just looked at Roger with bug eyes and we both started dying laughing.  It was hilarious but I also couldn't believe how clear the words were. I instinctively said "oh my god! She just said that SO PERFECTLY!" which made us laugh even harder because I didn't even mean to say it.  Too funny!
Although adorable and obviously pretty funny at times, these kiddos can be quite the challenge! My patience has been tested to its extreme limits haha but we're working on listening more and not throwing a fit for every thing that doesn't go their way as well as some daily manners- Please and Thank yous and such.  I've put up a behavior chart for Roger that decreases time of watching TV if his listening isn't good and it's definitely working! (thank goodness) There were a lot of days where I just felt like a broken record repeating things 5+ times before he would listen, but it's getting better.  With Anna it's obviously just difficult because she doesn't understand, so it will always be hard but it's gotten somewhat better as we continue to learn about how to communicate with each other better.
The learning of Spanish for me is just crap and out of the works for the most part. Just frustrating - I expected to hear more Spanish. . . or at least hear a bit of it every day, but I never hear it.  I was just hoping to pick up on the language quickly by hearing it every day but since that's not the case I practically have to teach myself with books and the help of friends. . . so it's more of a studying process than actually being immersed in the language and learning it through communication, which is a bummer- but oh well! not everything goes according to plan. I obviously could be working super hard to study and learn it but don't have that desire so I'll just continue to learn at my snail pace and possibly use a source like Rosetta Stone to help me out when I get back home.  Not the end of the world :)

This week Spain has been celebrating Carnival which is a celebration similar to Mardi Gras- and most of the villages and cities had events this past weekend, so I traveled to Sitges, a nearby village with Jadyn and some other au pairs.  Sitges has one of the biggest parties of Carnival in Catalonia so it was fun! Whipped together a hippie costume, had a great time and got home at 10 am haha Typical Spain. . . :)


Thanks for checkin out the blog my trusty readers! :)  Peace and love!

xxxxx

A Wedding... X's TWO in the Gambia !

If you're tuning into this post I hope you have some time on your hands! I couldn't have done this incredible journey justice without filling you in with ALL the details :) which was easy and enjoyable to do! My friends in Spain created a journal so that I was able to write to them every day I was in Africa so I took those entries and put them into print.  Dive in and take a trip to the Gambia! :)

Here's the Picasa albums to photos with separate albums for the two weddings:  
The GAMBIA
Wedding at the Justice!
Village wedding in Sinchu Bamba!

Adama Njaay :) 

Just for reference, Amber was named Sainabou when in her village so that's who I'm referring to when saying Sainabou.  and if you want to jump to the wedding days they're labeled "2 Bumpsters and a Wedding" and "A Fula Groom and his American Bride."

The Gambia, Africa
"And the adventure begins!..."
As I write I am in the air flying from Casablanca to Banjul.  Have I mentioned I LOVE to travel? haha Everytime I go someplace new I am reminded of this.  I love every part of it- even the 'wearing a pack that weighs more than me and not fitting down the aisles on the plane' part.  You never know what's next.  The best sort of unexpected fun.  I enjoyed the airport tonight more than you could imagine.  As soon as we land in Casablanca for my lay over I'm taking everything in! This airport is different than any of the 20 others I've been in.  I instantly become the minority and am strangely comfortable with that.  The signs are in 2 languages - Arabic and English. There are designated rooms and a small mosque for prayer although some of them just pray in the hallway while waiting for a flight. I'm making up stories in my mind about each person's story, which is what I always do in airports, but this time it's because English isn't heard from where I'm sitting.  The majority of the clothing I see doesn't match my own and I love it. . . these styles are so so classy and just beautiful, bursting with color and  every one is different.  I was waiting in the security line with a man who looked positvely like a King- white satin robe laced with gold material and a walk that made him seem very important. . . I let him go in front of me.  After lugging my pack through security I went to find my gate and patiently wait for 2 hours.  The number of hours I have spent in airports is....a lot. so 2 hours goes by so quickly.
A moment after sitting down and getting comfortable, a woman and her cutie-pie baby sit down directly next to me- and luck had it that she spoke English! We began to chat about the usual- where we're from, where we're going, etc. and I discover she's from Lebanon and oh these Lebanese are so sweet! I've had previous encounters with them during my travels and if you've met a person from Lebanon I guarentee you will remember them- their kindness is hard to forget.  She began teaching me words and phrases in Arabic (which I obviously mutilated) and I'm severly struggling to repeat them correctly as I'm holding the babe and he's drooling on my hand and trying to eat my scarf. It was an instant friendship.  We continued talking and I mentioned how beautiful her necklace was.  She said "Yes! It's from Lebanon - there is a lot of beautiful jewelry there, you must come to see"  and the next thing I know she's taking it off and putting it around my neck!  She said "Here I want you to have this! So you can think of me and Lebanon everytime you wear it"  which I most certainly will do.  You would have thought she had just given me the stars in the sky. I couldn't stop saying thank you! How many of you would give a stranger your necklace just to be kind? A really special gift received, that's for sure!
I haven't stopped smiling since boarding my plane in Spain.  My heart beats a bit faster with excitement.  5 1/2 hours to go and I'm there! :)

04 January 2012

22:37

"Bananas DO WHAT???" 
I am here! After the long wait I am finally in THE GAMBIA!
I went to bed last night (okay this morning at 5 am) with the sounds of roosters crowing, the Mosque song being sung, and crickets chirping outside of my open window.  I loved this place as soon as got off the plane.  The first faces I saw in the airport were Amber and Sam's.  I couldn't have been more excited to meet Sambel Leigh! FINALLY.  I mean, you don't typically meet the the groom 5 days before the wedding.  I gave him a giant hug and told him how happy I was to meet him and he was all smiles.  He didn't say too much but I liked him right away.  So at 3:30 am, after paying D 1,050 (Dalasi) for a Visa, traveling down dirt roads with bumps the size of small hills and entering Adrian's house; I had reached The Gambia.
I woke this morning with only 4 hours of sleep and was surprisingly refreshed...okay, more like super excited to start the day.  Amber and Sam came to Adrian's around 11:00 to get me and we began the day and what would be one amazing trip in Africa.  The streets of Kombo are either paved (if it's a main road) or dirt roads in terrible condition where the compounds are located with homes closely side by side.  You could be inside the walls of a house that would resemble a Western house, but take a step outside and it's a different world made up of compounds built with cement houses with tin roofs.
We went to market where I bought sandals for the wedding for D 200, which is about 8 USD and met a friend of Amber's who gave me a beautiful bracelet that I haven't taken off.  The next 5 hours??? Spent hanging out at Sam's boss' house (I quickly learned that since Sam is a Customs officer, every other person I met was his boss)  but anyhow- we spent all day at the home of this particular boss.  I had consumed so much attia and domada that I could barely stand up straight by the time we left.  Attia is the tea that the men brew. ALL day. EVERY day. They put more sugar in it than a Lemon Shake up at the county fair. Goes straight to your head!
These men were hilarious and I felt right at home.  Such a relaxed atmosphere.  I probably would have no problem living that way every day haha Relaxing on the porch, brewing attia, chatting with great friends, eating great food, taking a snooze, reading  a book, listening to music.  Yeah- that wouldn't be so bad.  That was what our day consisted of.  We were dancing ridiculously to a few songs (okay maybe it was only me) but after 5 attias things start to happen!  I shared my seat with a precious girl named Mariama who shared a Coke with Amber and the men commented that she could be my namesake and my name should be Mariama. I soon learned that this really WAS what I would be called by everyone in The Gambia for the entire trip! :) We relaxed for a bit longer then headed to the airport to pick Kathy up.  A wonderful afternoon it was in Kombo!

...and oh what a day of firsts it was!!!....
My first full day in Africa!
My first time sleeping with a mosquito net surrounding me
The first time I've showered with a lizard on the wall
Enjoyed my first African beer. JulBrew Export mmMM!
First time I've been called beautiful 20 times in a day
Entered a Gambian market for the first time
Experienced Bumpsters! (and bumpster-etts). WOW.
First time wearing my fleece jacket as pants
Having the cash amount of 2,000 ANYTHING for 60 Euros exchanged
Seeing donkey carts in the street, women carrying HEAVY items on their heads with babies on their backs, and Gele Geles
Had my first drink of Baobab juice (such a treat!)

I'm sure I'll continue to have many firsts while here but this is the beauty of travel, isn't it? The joy of going someplace new and experiencing so many firsts that stick with you. What's even better is when you enjoy it for a long enough period that it doesn't feel new anymore and it just feels typical.
I am so happy to be here :)

05 January 2012

23:00

"There's a party in your pants?!"
Today began with a couple of games of Yahtzee followed by an amazing bread and bean sandwich with a soda pop for breakfast. Then it was off to search for the tailor to try on my bridesmaid dress.  Everything in Africa happens at a slower pace.  You can't imagine that being true when looking at the main roads which are pure chaos - loads of taxis blowing their horns, gele geles rushing to get from place to place, and so SO many animals and people walking beside the road, on the road, crossing the road.  The type of commotion that makes your blood pressure rise even though you're not in the driver's seat. As soon as leaving the main roads you will find the dirt roads with potholes and the bumps that are more like hills with much less traffic. The tailor was located off of the main road and it took a minute to find him, but after seeing my dress that turned out wonderfully, we began our journey up country! A four hour drive by car to the African bush.  This was a roadtrip like I've never had before- that began with a few pitstops alongside the road to exchange money, get petrol (foil as they call it) and food and water.  While sitting in the car waiting for Sam, I looked over and saw a baby who was sitting with it's mother beside the road selling fruit.  I looked at him, smiled and waved and he immediately started screaming and crying! I think my eyes popped out of my head.  This was  first. Amber- obviously not affected said "don't worry! totally normal.  Our white skin is scary to a lot of the kids." and it WAS.  The small children who weren't used to seeing white people would run away scared or just start to cry and those who weren't scared would just scream "TOUBAB!" which means white person, to get our attention.  The mom of this baby just covered his eyes and laughed as he continued to scraem. I wanted to cover MY face so the poor kid didn't have to look!

We continued to travel out of busy Kombo and began passing small villages that had many of their live stock running free which would often enter the middle of the road.  There were also a lot of police checkpoints where we had to stop and were continuously asked by the young girls in the villages along the way to buy their produce- Oranges, bananas, peanuts, water in a bag, etc.  The paved road (which has taken years to complete) eventually turned back into dirt.  This dirt is the color of orange clay and by the time we reached our destination we had a small layer of orange all over our bodies and our luggage.  The road we took was the only road to go up- country and it was a straight shot East so there was only one turn the entire 4 hours.
Once reaching Brikama Ba it was an awesome reunion between Amber and her friends. They were so excited to see SAINABOU! and I was very happy to meet them all.  She had gotten to know them well in her two years and it was obvious how much they had missed her.  After greeting them we continued up the road to meet Sambel's amazing family in Sinchu Bamba.  Hard not to love them as soon as you meet them! Welcomed with the wamest smiles and the best food.  We ate in the typical fashion- on the floor out of a community bowl, but in Ma's room (because we were guests) and this food was so so delicious!!!  After stuffing myself full I spent the rest of the night chatting and getting to know the family and snuggling with the babies.  I finally got to meet Sal!! Who is adorable and is  Amber's dad's Toma (or namesake) who was named after him.  So he is Gary Miller and Salifu :)  Towards the end of the night some of the guys in the compound started playing music on their phones and before I knew it I was being pulled from my seat to exchange some dance moves with one of the guys in the village, which was no doubt hilarious.  Him showing me how to dance to Gambian music; me showing him how to do the two-step for some Southern line dancing.  My stomach hurt from laughing.
I loved being there with Sam's family, sitting on a cement slab and looking at the moon that made the entire compound glow.  The night was a perfect temperature and the kids played in their barefeet until they were too exhausted.  Really, a perfect day.  I can't wait to see what tomorrow brings.

06 January 2012

12:23

"What's your horse's name? HORSE!"
  Today I got to experience LUMO! The huge market that has...well....anything you could want. Food, henna, shoes, material, clothes from white people, and gele geles! (you say this like Gellie Gellies).  These are full-sized vans decorated in quite creative ways - with flags, stickers, paint, anything really- and they take you to surrounding villages for a cheap fare.  The detail that makes these gele geles unique....is that they don't leave until it is completely full, and normally PACKED to the max with the top of the van resembling a thrift store on wheels, occasionally with a goat or two strapped to the top for transport.  You're just positive that something will fall off- but it never does.  We spent all day at market, checking out the stands and visiting friends of Amber and Sam which was great- then had the opportunity to ride in a gele gele, something I had been looking forward to all day. . . and I was so exhausted from the heat that I fell asleep during the trip! Possibly the only person to ever be able to fall asleep in a gele.  We rode to Sainabou's village- Sinchu Alagie where we got to meet her family in the compound and see where she lived.  It was so wonderful to see where she spent the two years in Peace Corps.  Her family is great. Full of beautiful people and of course more babies :)

We got shown the new chicken coop, the huts and the cows then we sat under the beautiful sky and chatted until supper where I ate with my hands out of the bowl for the first time! We had coos with peanut sauce called cere (prounouced cherreh) and an incredible omlet with a baguette . . .I know I will miss this food so so much when going back to Spain. and the truth is it's even more delicious because I know how hard the women work to make these feasts for the compound.  Incredible; that's what these women are.

Tonight we are having a sleep over in the compound! and I get my very own hut- the home that Sainabou had when living here.  I'm laying here listening to the (hilarious sounding) goats and the sound of the radio playing softly oustide.  The compound is quiet other than that.  The moonbeams are streaming through the holes in the tin roof and make a pattern on me and my bed and I replay the day in my head as the crickets are singing.  It's an African lullaby.

07 January 2012

23:42

"Baboon sighting!"
Today I woke to the sound of the women pounding the coos, the roosters crowing and the goats. . . these goats! They sound like children in distress. Why didn't I get a video of this while I was there???  Anyway, waking up feeling totally refreshed I changed into my wrap skirt, brushed my teeth and we went to greet the dad of the compound.  After greeting a few others we sat in the middle of the compound hanging out with the kiddos while the women prepared breakfast- rice porridge topped with sour milk.  After the men in the compound made me pet the cows because they thought I was scared of them (which I'm not haha) we ate breakfast and Sambel and Kathy came to pick us up soon after so we could travel back to Kombo.  Before we left we stopped to see the garden Sainabou worked on as one of her Peace Corps projects.  It's amazing! HUGE! and full of pepper plants, eggplant bushes, cashew plants and banana trees.  She was happy to see the women of the village had maintained the crops after she left.
After seeing the garden we started back towards Kombo.  As I'm writing we are still in the car about an hour from Kombo.  This has been another eventful adventure! With the sighting of a huge pack of baboons crossing the road and not long after seeing a group of monkeys cross the road.  I was pretty excited about it! Sam didn't get it haha We made it about half way and heard the noise of...a flat tire. We stopped to fix it and were quickly greeted by the children in the nearby village.  Came to see the Toubabs! Although they couldn't help they stood around us watching until we drove away.
Tonight we are having a Bachelorette party for Sainabou! Can't wait :) and we can't have too many JulBrews because tomorrow is the BIG DAY! Have to wake up bright and early for the marriage of Mr. and Mrs. Sambel Leigh!!!

08 Sunday, January 2012

14:17

"Some bumpsters & A WEDDING!"

 Monday was WEDDING DAY!!! Obviously the day we had been looking forward to for so long.  Our day began at 6:30. Bright and early! We even beat the African sun up.  Although early, we were in great moods and we got all of our things together and set off walking to Kelly's house to get ready, singing "Going to the chapel and we're gonna get married," the whole time.  When we got to Kelly's we started on hair and make-up.  Adrian, the other bridesmaid, began curling Amber's hair as Liz became our photographer and Kelly sent her son off to school.  When I finished getting ready Adrian had finished curling her hair so I put it into an up-do and placed the beautiful tiara on her head.  I got her into her dress and WOW. She looked beautiful! The perfect bride. :) and just like that we were ready to go get her married!  We took a few pictures then hopped into our ride- a vehicle with our very own driver! We made our way to the Justice to meet Sambel.  The bride was pretty composed throughout! I think I was more nervous than she was.  However she did get butterflies when getting into the vehicle and realizing that she was really going to meet her Groom.  We got to the justice and Sainabou and Sambel finally got to see each other! Very excited and looking OH so great! they waited for the lawyer to arrive so they could marry.  We were not the only ones at the justice that day. . . we were joined by 2 bumsters and a bumpster-ette with their lovers.  These 'men and women of their dreams' being white people who are never less than 20 years older than them and typically have money.  Oh boy-there were sequins and a random crowd and it was painfully obvious that they weren't getting married for love. I felt like I was in a the middle of a carnival show taking place inside of a Vegas chapel.  I didn't know we'd have a wedding AND entertainment at the Justice.

After two of these marriages it was time for the marriage of Mr. and Mrs. Sambel and Amber Leigh!  It was perfect.  Short and sweet with a lot of laughs and smiles.  The lawyer took the time to make it special.  She asked to hear about their story of how they fell in love, got engaged and ended up where they were and was legitimately happy for them.  I could not have been happier to be witness to their marriage!  The two of them were both just bursting.  You could see it on both of their faces how excited and happy they were to be marrying their other half.  There was a moment during it all where I said to myself, 'I don't think I've ever seen Amber as happy as she is in right now.'  As the lawyer said, I now pronounce you man and wife! we all cheered, I cried, and Sam kissed his bride.  Beautiful I tell ya :) Photos in the garden followed along with our delicious wedding brunch- bean sandwiches and cold soda in a bottle. My favorite! We went back to Kelly's with the wedding party and about 10 of Sam's buddies.  We danced to a little music while sipping wine and chatted until about 1:30 when we headed to Poco Loco for the after party on the beach.  Such an adorable place and the perfect beach bar.  We had a photo shoot on the beach then went and had delicious food and JulBrew. Everyone enjoyed themselves! I had a great time getting to know Sam and Amber's friends better.  Such wonderful people :) I was able to hook my iPod up to the speakers and give Sambel and Amber their first dance in the middle of the bar.  The sunset we saw was a great end to a great day.

 Around 7:00 Kathy and I headed back to our "palace" with a case of Jul Brew to play Yahtzee and cards with James, another Peace Corps volunteer.  The bride had fully passed out from exhaustion in her gown and her Groom was still chatting with friends throughout the night who had come back to the house with us.
Amber is MARRIED. This will take awhile to get used to :)  A beautiful day to remember!

09 January 2012

"Did that baboon just throw dirt at you?"

Tuesday we visited a Nature Reserve near the city.   It was beautiful! We walked a trail through the forest which was super shady and cool on the hot day.  There was a slight breeze blowing and the scenery around us was perfect- super relaxing.  Our walk lasted about 2 hours.  Along the way we saw SO many monkeys! and loads of baby monkeys! They were close enough to touch and the best part was that there was no cage to see them locked up in.  Completely adorable they were.  We walked to a nursery where they kept hyenas (they were huge!) and a family of baboons.  I had never really watched baboons but they're hilarious! They're so active and communicate so much with each other in obvious ways that makes it seem possible for us to understand.  There were a couple of tiny babies, one still black so probably a new born.  They were so entertaining to watch.  The king of the jungle - the daddy baboon- was up in the house when we got there but soon came outside in a fury! Quite the temper this baboon has. After standing there for awhile a man came up to try to sell us ground nuts (peanuts) to give to them.  We declined his offer and as we were saying no the big baboon become so angry! Screeching and pacing back and forth.  I was just saying 'listen buddy! we're not getting those peanuts' and I swear he was looking right at me while I was talking because as soon as I said it he starting throwing dirt at me! All the while screeching some terrible baboon profanity I'm sure. There was absolutely no question as to why I was having bits of rock thrown at my ankles. I was just thinking to myself that if there wasn't a cage between us he'd probably attack me until he had some nuts, when I turned around and just about stepped on a baboon! I jumped off the ground, probably higher than I've ever gotten, and screamed.  I thought for sure he was coming to do the dirty work for the boss man.  So after running in circles around Kathy and Amber I stopped when realizing that he didn't even show interest in the fact that I was there.  Took a minute for my heart rate to slow down!  I WILL be buying ground nuts the next time.

After distancing myself from the baboons we went over to a cage of monkeys that had been rescued and I fell in love with one little guy.  If you look at pictures, he's the little one who keeps trying to get my jewelry and my camera strap.  I really just wanted to take him home with me and hated seeing him in that cage.  Around 7:00 we met up with some of Amber's friends at a Morroccan restaurant.  The night began innocently enough with a couple of JulBrews. . . but then the JulBrews didn't stop coming and the conversation with Kelly and Carol was too good.  Everytime we got a beer for the road 2 more got placed in front of me.  Around 11:00 we made the move to a local bar in SeneGambia and that's where the story ends- Let's just say many a tequila shot was had . . . chased with more JulBrew and Gin&Tonics. Ouch.
Needless to say the next morning was rough, but absolutely worth it.
Today was a day of travel from Kombo back to the up-country. . .  This trip?? Took a cumulative SEVEN hours haha it was a warm trip!  Of course the trip couldn't have been a roadtrip up country without a few things.  1) Stopping approximately 15 times (probably more) to greet friends along the way  2) Creating karaoke performances in the car- there's no radio  3) Having my pants become completely soaked from butt sweat  4) Our skin turning orange from the dirt roads  and 5) a flat tire. . . that could luckily be chanegd with our 2nd spare.  and dancing in the middle of a dirt road in Africa singing Disney songs was actually a highlight, so really a pretty good trip!  I was happy to get back to the village to be with Sam's family. Have I mentioned how wonderful they really are?  Getting to be in the compound and enjoy their company has been the best part of the trip, no doubt.

10 January 2012

Some time in the day?

"You can search for constellations on my legs. . . . . and we MIGHT be in a time warp. . . ."
Time in Africa seems to just get lost.  With the glory of having no access to phones, computers, calendars, or internet time becomes less of an issue than ever imagined.  The time spent with friends- chatting and brewing attia is much more important than replying to emails.  Eating a meal in the company of your family and staying to hang out until 10:30 pm on any given night is more important than worrying about a strict bed routine or figuring out the schedule for the next day.  Their cultural values are very prominent in their daily schedules and this lifestyle is contagious.
As Kathy and I sat in our room before going to bed we begin talking about the events in the past week and are convinced we have lost a day somewhere because it is so difficult for us to remember exactly what day of the week it is! I don't know if I've ever not been able to look at SOMETHING to tell me the date.  It was too funny.  It's Thursday but we were going through our week and it just couldn't be Thursday! It had to be Friday. . . it is definitely Thursday though. . . but really, who cares what day it is?
This morning I got to have the best omlet Sandwich (ever) on the porch of the customs office.  Then I got to venture through more parts of the market as Sam and Sainabou searched for materials they still needed for the program tomorrow.  We stuffed ourselves silly (AGAIN) when going to visit another customs office in a nearby village later in the day - drinking attia and eating delicious rice.
When getting back to Sam's village I asked to borrow the moped from Sam's compound and took Sainabou on one hysterical motorbike ride through the village after ignoring Ahmadou and the others as they insisted that we get off of the moped so we wouldn't hurt ourselves.  They were pretty concerned haha Women do NOT drive motorbikes! I think Sainabou assumed she was going to die on the day before her wedding, but come on. . . I had everything under control the whole time. :) It just took about 3 tries to get OUT of the compound- but once we were somewhat balanced and out of the compound walls we were on our way and it was just fineeeee!
After returning to the compound we left to go on a beautiful walk through the bush- visiting rice fields and the River Gambia.  We had 1 of many incredible African suns setting for us on our entire walk home.  There is really nothing like those sunsets.  Wow.

Another day was gone and the night was cool. When arriving back in the compound I was entertained by the giggly girls even though we couldn't see each other that well.  . teaching them to play Zing Zing Zing and having tickle wars.  After they went to bed I curled up on the straw "sofa" to look at the stars. ALL THOSE STARS! They just suck you right in and you feel tiny. You have never seen this many.  Skies like this are only in Africa, I'm convinced.  I could be completely content just looking at these stars for well- my whole life.
I contributed to the wedding today which was nice! The women of the compound had me pound coos earlier in the day to prepare for the program- unbelievably hard work! They all got a kick out of it. . . . Don't quite have the technique down haha Then they had me stir the coos (of course with my hand) later in the evening.  They are preparing to feed hundreds of people! That's a lot of coos baby.
It was another perfect day in The Gambia! :)

12 January 2012

12:13

PS- I have roughly 30-40 mosquito bites that start at my hips and go down to my toes.  These ridiculous bugs have made designs on me.


"A day of preparation"
Today was the prepatory day for the traditional Fula wedding program that Sam and Sainabou will have tomorrow. . . and what a day it was! These programs are a BIG deal and this one especially.  They bring in women from different villages to help prepare the food.  The work starts in the morning and goes on all day and all night.  Pounding coos, cooking enough rice to feed an army, butchering chickens, fetching enough water from the well to get through the day, etc.  The men worked on putting up the tarps for a tent to shade from the scorching sun.  Sam and his friends worked on gathering things needed - chairs, canned pop, plates, and so on.  There were already SO many people there and the program isn't until tomorrow! but that's Africa for ya. Or at least the Gambia- a hand is needed? They will come.  They have a community like I've never seen before and a willingness to help that would inspire anyone.  Hearts of gold.
A couple women from the village went to work on the bride's Henna- a type of cultural tattoo that lasts about 3 weeks and is quite a form of art! They began taping Sainabou's feet around 2 pm.  They were still taping at 6 pm! She was almost finished so I got to sit and have them do mine which was much less intricate (thank goodness!) I didn't think I could sit there that long, but much to my surprise I did anyway.  After applying the henna, which is like a cold green mud, they wrapped our feet in plastic bags and then put socks over the bags.  Gambian style spa!  After that we sat. and sat. and sat. . . until 2 am! when it was ready to be taken off, but that wasn't the last step.  They still had to apply the ash from that fire that they mix with a chemical to turn the henna black and this must stay on all night.  Guess these black bags and green soccer socks on my feet are going to be an addition to my Pjs tonight! and I guess taking a shower is out of the question?? Walking with these on isn't the easiest task - the chemical and ash is also a bit like mud so with the plastic bags, it becomes slippery when walking.  Getting to the car when leaving the compound was a sight I'm sure. Just had to walk with a bit of a waddle. . . no big deal.
While we were waiting with the henna on we ate the most delicious garlic rice from the community bowl and listened to a traditional group who had come to the compound to play music. Twice!  They were really great and played in preparation for tomorrow's wedding.  The women and children danced- they're impressive! I can't wait to see them all tomorrow.  Now I'm laying in bed with my bags and my soccer socks.  My entire foot burns from the chemical that is over my mosquito bites.  Not comfortable.    Can't wait to see this tomorrow morning :)  Excited for wedding day #2!

13 January 2012

23:42

"A Fula Groom and his American Bride" 

Baobab tree - but the picture doesn't show you how
 great the tree really is

Today was the wedding in the compound! Wedding celebration Pt. 2 began with a much more relaxed morning compared to Monday's events.  That was the craziest thing about being part of team bride- we didn't have to do anything! They took care of it all and Sainabou just got to relax. We slept in, showered, ate bread and potatoes, and waited for Sambel and Ahmadou to come pick us up to bring us to the compound.  When we got there everyone was hard at work- chopping vegetables, still making rice, making sure last minute details were taken care of.  I started helping the women make baobab juice- which may just be one of the sweetest things I've ever tasted. . . but this process is sticky business! The baobab fruit comes from these incredible trees that are just impressive to look at.  To start making it we had to work to seperate the fruit from the seeds.  After completing that we chopped up bananas with our fingers, added sugar, some banana flavoring, and stirred! I was elbow deep in the sticky juice and loved every minute of it. The process took about an hour and a half and the result was so good.  Kay, the DJ came around 2 and started playing music after hooking up his generator.  We had lunch and I went back over to help the women chop veggies that were pounded into a powder with peppers, potatoes and fish then rolled into a pastry dough that they fried.  Around 4:00 we headed back to the place we were staying to get ready and were picked up again at 6:00.  Sainabou had stayed to bathe at the compound and after we got back the women began preparing her to meet her husband.  They wrapped her in a white sheet, put another white sheet over her head, sang songs, danced and gave her blessings.  I think all of the women of the Gambia were crammed into that house! There was a great vibe and you could tell they were all excited.  They led Sainabou outside to sit on a mat with everyone in a big circle around her.  With her face still covered they gave her more blessings then stood her up and led her through the crowd and removed the sheet where she found her husband waiting for her.  It was a great surprise because she had no idea he would be waiting for her there.  After their meeting they led her back inside to clothe her in a blue robe and give her gifts of jewelry.  They took her back outside, singing and fussing over her the whole time.  What a pampered bride she was! :) She saw Sambel again and after a few photos they were able to go put on their white wedding komplets.  I had already put mine on- which was beautiful! I loved how it turned out.  We got her all dolled up (and quick!) with a flashlight, a compact mirror and the moonlight.  The rest of the night was a party! Dancing, laughing, chatting, and eating.  The dancing was on-going all night and a constant dust cloud formed in the compound.  Everyone enjoyed themselves and the party ended around 2:30 am when the generator ran out of fuel (or foil as they say).
What a day! It was so wonderful getting to be a part of it all.  I can't believe we have to leave in 2 days, it's not something I even want to think about.

14 January 2012

3:13 am

"Can I just stay here forever?"
The next day we all slept in and headed to the compound to hang out on our last day there.  Really the day (for me at least) was spent playing with the kids in the compound.  God I'm going to miss them so much-  I already do.  My face literally hurts from smiling so much.  That's all I get done doing when around them!
It was a lazy day which is obviously typical after a full 2 days of party planning and party having.  We taught Ahms to play Yahtzee and ate excellent food.   I walked behind the compound at sunset to get some photos in the field.  There was a game of football being played further away and it was the perfect view.  The enormous sun setting making the players' bodies look like only moving shadows and the sky turning 100 different shades of pinks, oranges, blues, and purples.  The animals are called home at sunset so the cows ringing their cowbells were heard across the field as they came towards me to go into the village.  The donkeys and their babies stopped for a treat of trash lying in the field next to me.  The animals didn't seem to mind me being there at all.  I stayed a bit longer then went back inside the compound before it was so dark I couldn't see which would probably result in me falling in a hole or something.  After the sun goes down the compound goes completely dark and the only light you see is from the fire used for cooking and the stars.
The rest of my night was spent laying on what I consider the compound lounge :) The big cement slab attached to the house.  I was there all night looking at the stars, curled up next to little Sal (Gary Miller) as he fell asleep. I couldn't even begin to think about leaving this place without crying.  After dinner I went and layed back down not wanting the night to end.  One of the giggly girls came over to nestle up next to me and fall asleep.  She's such a sweet one.  Always saying "MARIAMAAAA!!!" across the compound and singing. I was known as Mariama everywhere we went and although I couldn't communicate verbally with most of the adults or the children, they always said my name with a big smile and a wave wherever I went.
Not much later Sam said it was time to go- which meant saying goodbye to Ma, Aba and Mawdo. . .  Something I was dreading.  Mawdo is Sambel's brother and Aba is his wife, the parents to Sal (Gary Miller).  We spent every day in the village with them and I am so SO happy I got to know them.  I can't wait until I see them again.
After Sainabou and Kathy had said goodbye I squeezed them all tight. Especially Ma.  I have such an enormous respect for that wonderful lady and I have the biggest smile just thinking about her.  Aba walked to the car with us and kept saying "don't cry Mariama" as she wrapped her arms around me and wiped the tears off my cheek.  There was no part of me that was ready to leave and seeing Amber leave them was heart breaking.  Such a hard goodbye.  After meeting that beautiful family it's not easy knowing you may not see them again for years.  I had become a member of their family and in getting to know them was continuously amazed by their kindness- the kind that makes you want to be better- and well. . . that's just not something you want to leave.
We climbed into the car as they all gathered around the vehicle to watch us go.  We said our last goodbyes and drove off, sadly making it feel a little more real... that this really was coming to an end.  I'll be ready to come back as soon as I get on the plane.  It's easy to say that this is one of my favorite places I have ever been.

15 January 2012

12:30

"Mm....yeah...I guess we should have left a bit earlier."
We woke up early Monday morning to start our 4th and final roadtrip as we headed back to Kombo. The trip was made without getting a flat! and went very quickly.  More baboons were seen! This time a GIANT pack of them.  We made it back to Kombo around 1:00.   It was a pretty somber day, knowing we were all leaving that night.  After going to the market for a bit, we all hung out and relaxed most of the day then headed to the airport at 8:30 to drop off Amber and Kathy.  With their VIP treatment (Sam as all the connections) and some enormous hugs, we sent them off.  Sam was able to go through security with them to say goodbye and the poor guy has been hanging his head ever since.  Pretty lost without his bride.  I went back to the palace with the guys to hang out until having to go back to drop me at the airport. We arrived back at the airport around 12:45. . . to find that the check-in desk had been closed! Holy shit. After a small freak-out (okay a large freak-out. . . I've never missed a plane!) we went to talk to the airlines and was told just to wait until morning to go to the office and book another ticket.  Probably should have left earlier :) Obviously nothing I could do so I just looked forward to having another day in the Gambia. I kept telling the guys I shouldn't have wished so hard to stay!

We spent the next day as if waiting for the blizzard to pass- 12 hours with no electric and nothing to do but snooze in our king sized beds, eat snacks, listen to music and read just to stay out of the heat.  I begged Sam and Ahms to take me to the beach at 5:30 for sunset where I almost got Sam to put his toes in the water. . . he's not one for the ocean, or any body of water.  It's Amber's job to teach him how to swim when getting to the States.  After the sun set we headed over to Musa's to drink attia and have dinner with his family. . . not without running out of gas first.  It was only a matter of time before that happened haha it seemed like we were running on fumes the entire last day in Kombo.  After getting to Musa's I got to cuddle with his precious 4 month old daughter most of the time and we had the delicious dinner his wife had made.
After eating we headed back to the house, relaxed for about an hour and left at midnight for the airport. . . this time getting there in plenty of time! On the flight to Casablanca I slept most of the time, got to the airport, slept for 6 hours and am now sitting on the plane drinking a diet coke as we pass over the ocean and beautiful Morrocco.  The view is crisp and clear and looks like it would be perfect if I could just parachute down there to see it.  I will definitely be exploring this place someday.
I wasn't ready to leave the Gambia.  At all- but I thought it best I didn't miss my flight twice.   I felt like I had just gotten there!  I hated saying goodbye to my new brother and great friend., but for some reason it really felt like I'd be seeing them again soon.  There is no doubt I will go back someday.  It's an addicting place! Nothing like it.  These past 2 weeks have been incredible and went much too quickly.  I knew that getting to be there to see Amber get married would be great, but I couldn't have imagined it being this fantastic.  It's in a league of it's own, really.  I have photos, loads of mosquito bites, a couple of souveniers and a pair of TOMS covered in Gambian dirt that I'm taking back with me, but these things will only make me hope even more that I can go back someday soon.  If I could, I would bring a piece of it back for each of you, so that it would be easier for you to really know the Gambia. . . but since that's not possible I suppose we'll have to make a trip out of it ;)   Thank you for following on my journey to Africa! I loved writing to you and look forward to sharing this with you.  Back to my book and that scenery below the clouds.  Life is one big adventure isn't it? :)

18 January 2012

15:33 

xoxoxox
Maria  "Mariama"