#adventuresinmorocco

[adventuresinmorocco]

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[adventuresinmorocco]

So it’s been another adventure filled week here in Morocco. We started the week off with some classes and a trip to my volunteer building. It was really interesting to meet the physical therapists I will be working with and learn a bit about some of the differences between the medical fields here and back home. My writing class this week also took me on a bit of an adventure where I met an elderly Jewish woman living here in the city who is a bit of a legend to locals and foreigners. My last class of the week was my first lab in Microbiology where we all got fitted for our own lab coats. I felt quite professional and sophisticated! 

Then came Thursday night when we had a matching party with a business university here in Tangier named AISEC. Every year, UNE Tangier has the tradition of coming together with Moroccan college students for a night of snacks, dancing, and making friends. The tradition also involves UNE hiring a company that provides every student with a caftan (a men’s version is provided for male students) to wear for the event. Caftans are traditional Moroccan dresses for women that range in styles from casual to formal to bridal. The school brought in some semiformal and formal caftans and let us all have our pick. After a full night of dancing and enjoying ourselves, the last piece of the tradition occurs. Each AISEC student was asked to draw 2 UNE students’ names out of a bowl and their job was to be a buddy to those students. Being a buddy basically involves teaching the UNE students more about the culture here in Morocco and hanging out with us. My buddy is a girl named Kawtar and I can’t wait to get to know her more and hang out with her!

Friday morning started off with a 2.5 hour bus ride to the beautiful village of Chefchaouen. In Chefchaouen, all the students were put together in groups of 2-9 people and placed with different host families for the weekend. Myself and 2 other girls named Taylor and Pam were placed with a very friendly and sweet family of 4. We had 2 host brothers, 1 named Mehdi who is 22 and his younger brother Wahlid who was 11. We also had a host mother, a host father, and a host cat named Simba! It was such an amazing experience from being served traditional Moroccan dishes (which tasted incredible) to spending a few nights in a Moroccan style home to exploring the city and the culture with our families and learning about life in Chefchaouen. 

Friday also included a tour of the city and a hike up to a mosque that overlooks the entire city. The hike up to the mosque was hot, but definitely worth the gorgeous views of the mountains and the city itself. While we overlooked the sights, we heard the call to prayer echoing across the entire city which was quite magnificent. After hiking back down from the mosque, we headed on a tour of Chefchaouen’s medina. Now, Tangier has a medina, as do most of the cities here in Morocco, but Chefchaouen’s is famous. Chefchaouen is known as the Blue City in Morocco. Why? Because their medina is almost entirely painted blue!

The history behind the blue colors in the medina dates all the way back to the Spanish Inquisition when Jewish people were fleeing Spain. They settled in Chefchaouen and were offered protection by the sultan. In return, they painted their houses blue and soon the majority of Chefchaouen was decorated in all shades of blue which can be seen from all around the city and is quite famous even to those who have heard very little about Morocco. After being taken on a tour of the medina, we then got some free time to shop around or visit some of the cafes before returning to our families for the night. 

Saturday, we were all up and heading to the nearby village of Akchour by 9 am for a day long hiking trip up the mountains. Akchour has a well known hiking trail that is dotted with cafes and ends in a gorgeous waterfall and natural spring. The hike was a tough, but very fun trip with a distance totaling roughly 10 miles (5 miles up, 5 miles down). It was worth every second once we reached the falls though. It was beautiful to just sit with my lunch and look at my surroundings. I was completely surrounded by gorgeous, towering mountains. In front of me was a tumbling waterfall that splashed into a pool at the bottom and continued on in a river all the way down the mountain to provide the locals with fresh drinking water. Many of us decided to brave the freezing water and jump in from all sorts of angles, including from behind the stream of the waterfall! Though there were a few injuries and falls among us, we all made it up and back in one piece and had a blast while doing it. 

So now we’re all back in Tangier after saying farewell to our families and driving the 2.5 hours back to campus. The week ahead has some exams and interesting classes in store, but we have this coming weekend off to take a break from all the traveling and have some time to explore more of Tangier or to just hang around campus and do some studying. It’s been almost a month of Africa and I can’t wait for the next 3! 

[adventuresinmorocco]

[adventuresinmorocco]

[adventuresinmorocco]

(If you click on the photos, you should see captions that explain what each photo is of!)

After traveling 3,500+ miles in cramped airplanes with a whole circus load of grumpy, exhausted college students, I have finally made it to Morocco. The journey here was long and tiring, but also insightful and an experience I won’t forget. 

Logan Airport in Boston is for sure the most confusing airport I’ve ever been in to date. I can’t tell you how many times my car and Hailey’s car circled the terminal drop off areas until we finally figured out where we were supposed to go and could check in our bags. Security, despite it being the most nerve-wracking idea for many of us, ended up being a breeze and we all were able to successfully board our flight to Madrid. 

Which ended up being pretty rough. 

Now, don’t get me wrong, you can’t complain about flying to Spain because that’s just an incredible thing, but this flight was the longest I’d ever been on and it certainly could’ve been better. It ended up being rough for all of us as we had very little room to sit or move and most of us got very little sleep. We were all hitting our limits as we arrived in Madrid and ahead of us was a 5 hour layover before our flight to Morocco.

You would think that maybe we would be able to catch up on our missed sleep during that span of time, but that definitely didn’t work out for most. By that point, a lot of us had given up on the idea of sleeping, except for Hailey who managed to lay herself out on the airport seats (which were completely metal) and sleep for 2 hours! 

After our layover, we were all quite ready to be getting on our last, short flight to Tangier and boy can I tell you that this flight was much, much better. I bet we all slept for at least half of the 1 hour plane trip and I know I felt much better despite it only adding up to about 2 hours of sleep total in almost 24 hours. 

And as we landed on the tarmac in our tiny Moroccan airplane, I can promise you that we all audibly sighed in relief at the idea of getting out of the airport and heading to where a nice bed was ready for us...

But wait! There’s more!

As we arrived at the Tangier campus, which is absolutely stunning, we discovered that despite our hopes that the staff would allow us to head straight to our rooms for a much needed nap, we were starting right off the bat with a tour and some lunch. 

Needless to say, most of us were not very happy with the prospect of our nap slipping away. But, in the end we all enjoyed our travels together and are really looking forward to spending the next 4 1/2 months together in this gorgeous country we now call home. 

[adventuresinmorocco]

So, it’s been another crazy and amazing week here in Tangier! The week was full of classes, homework, night time adventures, and exploring the city with friends. It was the first full week of classes for us here at UNE, although everyone is still dreading the start of our lab sections this coming week. So far, classes have been great, but I can tell it is going to be a semester of hard work! Volunteering is still a work in progress currently, but we have all gotten our final placements and I’m happy to announce that I will be volunteering at a local physical therapy clinic! I’m very excited to get started and to learn more about the medical system here in Morocco and how it affects the people that live here. 

On Friday afternoon, we were all asked to gather and answer a Skype call coming all the way from the global studies office back on the Biddeford campus. For about 1 hour, 2 students who had studied abroad in Morocco chatted with us about their experiences and gave us advice on things we had concerns or questions about. Hearing their thoughts and words of wisdom was really informative and relaxed many of the anxieties that people were experiencing. 

Then came Friday evening when practically the entirety of UNE Tangier decided to gather at a local night club and experience the night life in Morocco, which I can tell you is even more vibrant and exciting than Tangier in the daytime. It was a night filled with dancing, meeting new friends, and making memories together at a place that has a lot of history in Tangier as well as being a bit of a UNE tradition. 

Saturday was an early day as we headed off to the Atlantic for a well deserved and well received beach day! The sun was blazing and the salty ocean water refreshed us as we splashed in the waves. It was such a nice feeling to get a taste of home 3,500 miles away just by being by the sea. After we returned from the beach, many sunburnt and all quite tired, we gathered in the school’s auditorium to watch the livestream of UNE’s new president being inaugurated. Although most of us weren’t very interested in watching it, we all ended up enjoying cracking jokes and being together to fight off the boredom. The day ended with a huge birthday party in the cafeteria for several of the students and the most important birthday boy, Mohammad (Mourad’s, the campus coordinator, son). 

Finally, we reach today, Sunday, when we took our first excursion to Tetouan. After driving through the mountains, we finally reached the beautiful city of Tetouan (just look at those photos!) and met up with our tour guide. We were taken all through the streets, past the royal palace, and through the marketplace before we reached a small carpet shop. There, we were treated to a show of all the gorgeous, handwoven carpets for sale in the shop. We were shown several different types and patterns before we had the option to bargain and purchase these rugs for our very own (yes, I did indeed purchase a handwoven carpet that was made by the Berber people living in the mountains of North Africa). 

After the first stretch of our tour, we were treated to a delicious Moroccan lunch as we were entertained by musicians and a man who could balance a tray of tea and candles while dancing and spinning like no other. The final leg of our tour took us to a local Tetouan pharmacy where we were given samples of all natural argan oils and creams, oils to help destress your body, and several other products (I personally went for the argan cream). As we all piled back onto the bus, we were taken on a long ride through the mountains and along the coast where we glimpsed amazing views of the city, swatches of green mountainsides, and, in the distance, the continent of Spain. 

All in all, this week, especially after this eventful weekend, has been a really fun one and I know it just gets better from here on out. 

[adventuresinmorocco]

So as I said in my previous post, there was a really amazing experience this past weekend that I and my classmates were able to be a part of here in Tangier and that was the celebration of Eid al-Adha. 

Eid al-Adha is an Islamic holiday that those of the faith celebrate every year in accordance with the annual pilgrimage to Mecca in Jerusalem. It’s the Islamic version of Christmas where those of the Islamic faith gather with their families and celebrate with a sacrificial feast. 

The origins of Eid al-Adha begins with the prophet Abraham. The story explains that God commanded Abraham to sacrifice his son in order to show his loyalty and faith to God. Because of Abraham’s obedience and faith in God, rather than taking his son’s life, God sacrificed a ram in the child’s place. Now, to honor Abraham’s sacrifice and to show their faith, the Islamic people sacrifice an animal (usually a sheep or goat) during Eid al-Adha. The meat from the animal is then divided into 3 parts. 1/3 is kept by the family, another 1/3 is given to close friends or relatives, and the final third (the most important part) is given to the poor, those who cannot afford to feed themselves. This sacrificial feast not only shows the Islamic people’s faith in God but allows them to provide charity and kindness to others and prove that aspect of their faith to God as well.  

While Eid al-Adha is being celebrated by Muslim people all across the world, another very important piece of their religion is being celebrated and that is the pilgrimage. In Islam, one of the requirements is to make at least 1 trip to Mecca in your lifetime in a pilgrimage known as Hajj. During Hajj, the practicing Muslim travels to Mecca in Jerusalem during Eid al-Adha and achieves their pilgrimage alongside millions of other Muslims. When this part of the Islamic faith was being described to us, it was explained as a feeling of being completely reborn. It is described as an experience like no other for someone of Islamic faith, everything they do and experience after their pilgrimage is completely through a new perspective. 

This year, Eid al-Adha was celebrated mostly on September 1st (Friday) and September 2nd (Saturday). On Friday, all the students were asked to attend a reception party at one of our professor’s apartments in the evening, right in the middle of the Eid celebration. After spending a wonderful evening with my professor and his wife, we were able to witness something that most people will never see in their lifetime if they aren’t of Islamic faith - the Eid al-Adha celebrations. Our drive back to the school took a detour that took us right through the heart of the city where people were celebrating the holiday all up and down the streets for miles. Many people had large fires built up to cook the sacrificial meat and many others were cleaning the horns and other sacred pieces to the sheep. 

Although I know many people were a bit put off by the thought of them killing the sheep and goats, I was fascinated. It was a privilege to witness what we did. It was a privilege to be around such open and welcoming people who were willing to let us take photos and learn about their religion and culture so easily. I’m so thankful to have been a witness to such a celebration and I’m grateful to all those here in Tangier who shared every part of their beautiful celebration, religion, and culture with us this past weekend. 

[adventuresinmorocco]

[adventuresinmorocco]

[adventuresinmorocco]

[adventuresinmorocco]

Hey friends!

So, believe it or not, in a mere 18 hours this girl is going to be on a flight across the Atlantic to Morocco! Yes, my adventure of a lifetime is finally here. I’ll be spending the next 4 1/2 months abroad in Tangier where I will not only be continuing my university studies, but also exploring new places, learning about different cultures, and making new friends. 

I decided to make this blog in order to document my travels from start to finish not only for my family and friends back home to keep up with, but also for myself as something to treasure and look back on in my future. This is an opportunity that I couldn’t and wouldn’t dream of ever giving up and I can’t wait for it to finally begin. 

The week has been full of last minute get togethers, fun summer days, and some tough goodbyes, but everyone is just as excited for me to be heading off as I am! My hope is to post at least once a day on this blog, even if it’s just a photo or 2, and to post a longer, more detailed account of my experiences at least once a week for all to enjoy as they please (including me!). 

For those of you who wish to get in touch with me, whether it be to ask a question or just to say hi, you’re welcome to message me on here or on my Facebook, both of which I will have access to while I’m abroad. I am also going to be utilizing What’s App and Skype for those who wish to and are able to contact me through those. 

Until the next time, just remember this... adventure is out there for those who are willing to seek it. xx

[adventuresinmorocco]

It's been 4 months since I first came to live in the city of Tangier and in just one day, this adventure will come to its end. I can't even begin to put how much this experience has impacted me into words, but let me try to tell you the best things. I've been welcomed into an entirely different world since coming to Morocco both literally in the physical sense and mentally in the sense that it's changed me as a person. The people I've been living with and come to know through my experiences have become a second family to me, one that I will never forget for the rest of my life. To all of my new second family, I love you all and appreciate every moment that we've shared in the past months. To @badr.debbach I have to say a special thank you to you and your family for sharing your home and friendship with me, giving me my own Moroccan family. To @mourad.benkirane and @douaben thank you for all you've done to keep us all safe, happy, and loved. Finally, to @haileyfragerthank you for being the best room mate and friend a girl could ask for. You helped make this trip even more of a crazy, exciting adventure everyday. Morocco, thank you for the adventure. It's time to say goodbye. 🇲🇦Delete Commentbadr.debbachIt s been a giant pleasure to know you @emmarichard13 we ll miss u here, thank you for writing this, it means a lot, i hope to see u again soon, and it is not really a goodbye , just a goodbye for now hopefully, much love ❤❤Well everybody, it’s been just about a week since I left my adventures in Morocco behind and returned to the states. Let me tell you, I did not miss the cold, snowy weather while I was away! I thought I would do one last post and tell you about my final days in Tangier, my travels home, and the overall impact this experience has had on me, just to wrap everything up. 

So the first thing that happened in the week leading up to our departure from Morocco was a trip to my good friend Badr’s house. Now, my friend Badr lives in Tangier and a fellow student and I met him through past study abroad students and immediately became friends. He not only welcomed us into his home many times throughout the semester, but he also took care of my friend’s dog which she found in Tangier and ended up bringing home (it’s a long story, but everything worked out in the end and her dog, Kenzia, is now back in the states in a happy, loving home). Anyway, on this day, my friend, Erynn, and I headed to Badr’s house for a home made lunch and movie day with each other and all the dogs. This time around, there was not only Kenzia and Sammy, Badr’s dog, but also a new little addition to the family. Erynn and Badr had taken a little puppy off the street and brought it to a vet to be vaccinated and cared for before it was able to find a home. Badr was caring for the dog while we searched for it’s home and that’s why little Emmett joined in on our movie day. It’s always so fun to hang out with my friends and of course some loving dogs and I’m so grateful to Badr and his family for being so wonderful and giving me my own Moroccan family. 

Something else that happened during the last week was a soccer game! As a treat after final exams, the school set up a trip to one of the Tangier soccer team’s games. Because of the recent political issues that are happening around Jerusalem and the United States, the school had to take extra precautions and provide a police escort and private box for the game, but putting all of that aside, it was so much fun to watch the game and cheer on the Tangier team. What was even more exciting was that we were also watching one of the players who is on the Moroccan national team, the team that is attending the FIFA World Cup in Russia. 

The next thing to happen was an amazing opportunity that was provided to me by my room mate and good friend, Hailey. For one of her papers, she interviewed a Moroccan musician named Younes Fakhar who is most known for his skill with an instrument known as the oud. Younes has a project he is working on where he combines traditional, cultural music pieces with more modern pieces or with pieces that pertain to countries where he travels. He and Hailey had worked for several weeks on a piece that combined traditional arabic music with the well known song Hotel California to create a new and exciting piece to perform in front of the students. Because this particular piece needed a few background singers for the chorus parts, she asked if myself and a couple of other students would join in on the performance. By the end, it was such an amazing time and it was wonderful to get to know and work with Younes. 

By this point, the final week was drawing to a close and we had official come to the last night in Tangier. To our surprise, the night became quite eventful as our campus cat who we lovingly came to call Stick went into labor and had her 2 little kittens, Twig and Branch. Everyone had been waiting for quite a while for Stick to give birth and by that point we were all feeling the disappointment at the thought that we’d miss it. Low and behold, she had them just before it was too late for us to see the babies! 

But the next morning, it was time to say our goodbyes. As we started to leave and make our way towards the gate for our flights, we said our final goodbyes to our Moroccan friends and family and said a more temporary goodbye to our fellow students. Despite the fact that we will see each other again in the future, we had all formed a family while abroad and it was hard to say goodbye knowing that it would never be quite the same again. We soon boarded our first flight from Tangier to Madrid. The flight went smoothly and soon enough, we were landing and Hailey, another friend named Kayla, and myself were making our way to our hotel for the night as we had a 22 hour layover ahead of us. We spent the evening exploring a bit of Madrid and relaxing before our long overseas flight the following day. By a stroke of fate, we ended up switching hotels for no extra cost and going to a much fancier hotel. We took full advantage of the amazing accommodations getting a good rest before the next day. When we were boarding the flight from Madrid to Boston, we were dreading the thought of the next 8 hours cramped on a flight. However, we were pleasantly surprised when over half of the plane was completely empty and we were each able to move to completely empty rows and lay down comfortably for the whole time. After 8 hours of movies and mediocre plane food, we touched down in Boston, made our way through the airport, and reunited with our families after 4 long months. 

And that’s it. That’s the end of this particular adventure, but I can promise that more adventures will come in the future. Now that I’ve traveled far and wide on my own and with friends, I can feel the urge to continue traveling becoming stronger and stronger. I can't even begin to put how much this experience has impacted me into words, but let me try to tell you the best things. I've been welcomed into an entirely different world since coming to Morocco both literally in the physical sense and mentally in the sense that it's changed me as a person. The people I've been living with and come to know through my experiences have become a second family to me, one that I will never forget for the rest of my life. This whole experience is something I would do again in a heartbeat. The amount of empathy and understanding you gain of the world around you just from traveling and getting to know people in different places and different cultures is vast and unimaginable to those who have not experienced it first hand. I urge everyone to take any and every opportunity they get to travel and see the world. Go talk to people, get to know them and their stories. You can meet some of the most amazing and interesting people just by starting a conversation with them. 

Adventure is out there. Seize the day and never let it go. 

[adventuresinmorocco]

So the big trip has officially come and gone. I actually went to Ireland! This is going to be a pretty lengthy chat, so I’ll get right into the adventures!

It all began Tuesday morning at 11:30 am when my friends Abby and Nicole joined me in a taxi ride to Tangier’s Ibn Battuta airport for our flight from Tangier to Amsterdam. Everything was going smoothly. We checked in for the flight, went through security and passport control, and were sat waiting for our boarding to be called. Of course, this is when problems began to arise. When you live in Tangier for a little while, you notice that things run on Moroccan time which is the same as saying everything runs late. We finally boarded though, getting settled onto the plane 40 minutes after we were supposed to have left the tarmac. We weren’t worried though; our layover gave us plenty of time to make up for those 40 minutes. Boy were we wrong! It was at that moment that the pilot announced over the intercom that due to air traffic control problems at Amsterdam airport, our flight would not be taking off for another hour! So we were left to nervously await the departure time and hope with all our hearts that we would make our connecting flight to Dublin or that it would be delayed. When we finally made it to Amsterdam, the sprint began. Abby and I raced through the airport, separated from Nicole who had to go get her checked bag since the flight was a self-transfer. Our connection hadn’t been delayed at all! We made it to the gate, panting and sweaty, begging the flight attendants at the desk to let us on the plane that was still standing at the gate. Unfortunately, because it was a self-transfer and we had missed boarding, they were unable to put us on the flight. Luckily, they put us on one for the next morning, but they were unable to get us a place to stay in Amsterdam so we were stuck for 12 hours in Amsterdam airport rather than being in our hotel in Dublin. 

We spent an uncomfortable night trying to sleep in the airport before we finally got up and went to wait for our flight Wednesday morning. But in the end, the important thing was that we made it to Dublin eventually and we headed straight for the taxi line after landing to head to our hotel. We got in the taxi and were on our way... or so we thought. About 5 minutes into our drive, the taxi driver was forced to pull over because of a flat tire! Just our luck, huh? Thank goodness he had a spare in the trunk and was able to fix it up quickly and get us to our hotel. Once we had checked in and settled, we immediately headed off into the city for our first destination: the Guinness Storehouse. 

After a lengthy walk through the pouring rain, we finally made it to our destination. The storehouse was really neat. Each room took you through a different step in the process of making Guinness from the individual ingredients to the roasting to the bottling and advertising. We had such a fun time going through each floor and learning about how this internationally famous beer is created. We then took advantage of the amazing restaurants within the storehouse and our vouchers for a free beer and headed to get some lunch which was delicious. 

Our plan after the factory was to get a ride to the train station to purchase our tickets for our train to Waterford the following day, but we got lucky and our friendly cab driver informed us that it was easier to book online, taking us to an internet cafe near our hotel where we could get internet to check out the prices (our hotel wifi took a while to figure out). Once that was done, it was starting to get late so we did some brief shopping on our walk back before we headed into our hotel room, passing out way earlier than we expected. We obviously were super tired after the whole airport fiasco and then exploring Dublin. The next morning, though, we were up early to check out and on a train to Waterford. 

The moment we set foot in Waterford’s beautiful, riverside city, I was hooked. This place is seriously one of the most amazing places I’ve been. Sitting proudly along a beautiful river, the oldest city in Ireland is a sight to behold. There’s nothing super fancy or special about it in a factual sense, but to me it felt like I was right at home and I loved every second of being in that city. We checked into our hotel and immediately began to explore. Our first stop was the famous Waterford Crystal factory where we had a tour booked. This tour was one of the coolest things I’ve ever experienced. I got to walk through each section of the factory and watch the men and women work right up close. Every stage from molding the crystal to cutting it was right there for me to watch live. After the tour, we were able to take a look around their sales floor and their Christmas ornaments definitely caught both our eyes. 

After that first plan had been completed, it was time to finish up one other plan I had in store while we were in Waterford: getting my hair cut. Now, I know what you’re thinking... “Why couldn’t you just wait for when you came home?” I could’ve for sure, but to be honest, I was getting really, really sick of having my hair long and I found a walk in salon so I thought, “why not?” So now my hair is short again and I can actually say I’ve gotten a haircut in Ireland of all places!

After this, we headed back to the hostel for what was supposed to be a quick stop, but ended up being pretty stressful in the end. Our original plans involved heading to the Cliffs of Moher from Waterford on Friday so we were working on the hostel’s desktop to figure out the travel plans and make sure we were set for the next day. Unfortunately, that’s when things began to fall apart again. We both realized that the cost was going to be much much more than we thought and we began to second guess our choice. After a tear-filled conversation with my aunt and some more debating about buses, trains, and taxi rides, we made the final decision to stay another day in Waterford and skip the Cliffs. We immediately felt a huge weight lift off our shoulders. Although we had both really wanted to go to the Cliffs, we ended up being very happy with our choice to stay in Waterford, especially because we were enjoying it so much already. 

The rest of our Thanksgiving day was spent wandering the streets of Waterford, experiencing the churches and other sights along the way and stopping at several of the little shops. That night, we were ready to head out to a pub for dinner, hoping to treat ourselves to a Thanksgiving type dinner. I’ll tell you right now, the pub around the corner from our hotel that was recommended by our hostel hosts did not disappoint. When we walked in, it was still fairly early for a pub so not many people were there, but I can tell you now that the owner was tickled to death that he had two Americans in his pub. While he took our orders, he happily chatted with us about our visit and study abroad experience. On top of his cheerful friendliness, he served us some amazing food. I personally had some vegetable soup with Irish soda bread to start, followed by the classic bangers and mash, ending with a scrumptious sticky toffee pudding with hot custard. Everything tasted so delicious and I got to check off several of the foods I had hoped to try in Ireland off my list! After our meal, we bid the owners a fond farewell before heading back to the hostel where we both separated to chat with our families and spend some time with them on the holiday, both of us needing the family time to get over the homesickness of missing Thanksgiving. 

The next morning, we woke to a freshly cooked full Irish breakfast, another thing I had hoped to try, made by our hostel hosts and had the dining room to ourselves to enjoy the yummy food. We then headed out into the town, spending the whole day exploring more of the tourist sights, stopping into almost every little shop we passed to see what they had to offer, and chatting to some of the locals. We were quite amused by the amount of signs exclaiming huge Black Friday sales when we were in a country that doesn’t celebrate Thanksgiving, but we weren’t complaining about some of the sales we managed to get! By the time we stopped for lunch, our ankles ached and our bellies rumbled. I was very excited to try this lunch, though, because back when I first started researching this trip, I discovered something Waterford is known for called the Burzza. Now, the Burzza is a pepperoni pizza calzone that is stuffed with a hamburger. Abby and I happily ordered one of these to share, along with a glass of Prosecco which I enjoyed, and were blown away by how good it tasted. After our late lunch, it was getting dark outside but the people in Waterford were just getting started. 

By chance, we had arrived in Waterford just as their Winterval (winter festival) was starting. The streets were filled with thousands of Christmas lights, tons of food stands cooking up delicious smelling and tasting treats, and rides for all the kids to enjoy. They had music playing from a DJ stand, a host calling out for people to win prizes by competing in a dance off, and tons of people just enjoying the atmosphere. We joined in on all the festivities as we headed towards Waterford’s ferris wheel. The night time view of the city was gorgeous from the top of this ferris wheel and a perfect way to end our walk before dinner. That night for dinner, we wanted to be sure to go to another Irish pub and ended up at one that was fairly modern, filled with colorful lights and the best Christmas music. We both ordered huge plates of fish n chips to go with our drinks, beer for Abby, wine for me. I enjoyed the wine and fish n chips, but found myself not enjoying the taste of the dark Guinness beer that Abby gave me. We spent the evening laughing and enjoying the atmosphere of the bar before heading back through the festive streets to our hotel. 

We were both sad to be leaving Waterford on Saturday morning, but we had plans to attend to in Dublin for our last day in Ireland. After the quick train ride Saturday morning, our first stop was Dublin’s National Botanic Gardens. The gardens are free and open to the public. We headed in and took our time walking around the expansive outdoor gardens and the indoor greenhouses. After the gardens, we headed to the Museum of Natural History which is also fondly known as the Dead Zoo. Filled with skeletons and stuffed animals, the museum gave us a lot of information about different animals, their evolution paths throughout history, and even their significance to Ireland/other parts of the world. After we had finished the last few stops we wanted to make, we walked the streets and went into different shops. We eventually stopped for a late lunch at a well known and busy restaurant called Gotham Cafe where I feasted on a prosciutto and goat cheese calzone paired with a bottle of Irish apple cider. Once we had finished eating, we finished up the last of our shopping, including a quick self-indulging trip to the Disney store on Grafton Street. Since it was getting late and our hotel was close to the airport, aka far from the city center, we decided to head to a grocery store and grab some dinner and other snacks before we called it a day and headed to the hotel. On our way, we happened to come across a huge crowd in front of a hotel where bagpipes were playing patriotically into the cold air. As we got closer, we realized that everyone was clustered to try to catch a glimpse of the Irish National Rugby team! How cool is that? 

Soon after, though, we headed back to our hotel for the night, getting ready for our flights back to Tangier the following day. The flights home went smoothly, thank goodness, and we met up with some other UNE students on our way. Although I never wanted to say goodbye to Ireland and its beautiful landscapes and kind people, it was time to head back for, get this, my last three weeks abroad! Now all that’s left is the last 2 weeks of classes and final exams before I’m back home in Maine. It doesn’t feel real and I find myself never wanting to leave and wanting to be back home with all my family and friends at the same time. It’s weird how the travel bug works in your system, making you want to go everywhere at once while another part of you wants to stay in one place and be with your loved ones. Anyway, thank you so much to everyone who has kept up with all my posts and adventures these past few months. This will be one of my last posts. I may post once more about these last weeks in Tangier if anything more exciting than exams occurs and I will definitely post one last time about my trip home, but for the most part, my adventures in Morocco are coming to an end. 

For anyone out there reading this who is on the edge of an adventure, go for it. Don’t wait. I can tell you from experience that you will regret it if you don’t and you will never regret it once you’ve gone. 

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