So it has been quite some time since I last wrote. There is no way I can really recount everything that has happened since then but I will try to give a short synopsis to catch you up on my crazy life. Granada was an amazing city--recommend it to all! After Granada we headed to Sevilla where we hung out with some people we met in our hostel. We took a city tour bus thingy, walked around, saw the Cathedral, the parks and gardens, and also some Flamenco. We also ate probably one of the best ice creams/gelatos I have ever had in my life. I was Flanela Helado (Spanish for Gelato) and in a cafe across from the Cathedral.
After Sevilla we made our way back to Madrid to meet up with Juan, Bob and Elska at the airport to fly to Morocco. It was so cool when our plane landed in Marrakech. I stepped on to African soil for the first time in my life. It must have been the first time for a bunch of other people too because lots of people started taking pictures as we walked from the plane to the terminal. We stayed in a small Riad/Hotel in the medina area of Marrakech. We were basically smack dab in the middle of a maze-like assortment of streets, alleyways, markets, squares and who knows what else. We walked around, got lost a few times, visited the markets and ate traditional moroccan food, pretty good by the way. We also took a three day adventure trip to the Sahara--probably the highlight of everyone's trip. It was so amazing to ride camels among the sand dunes of the western Sahara. Merzouga is gorgeous and the sand and stars are breathtaking.
The low point of the trip immediately followed the highlight. We came back to our hotel in Marrakech to discover that my backpack (with laptop inside--with term paper on it and hundreds of amazing pictures) had been stolen. And 4 of the books I had been using for research from the university library had been stolen to boot. Needless to say I cried quite a bit and had to call the parents for some solace. Things turned out all right I guess. I never got the backpack, laptop or books back, but I realized I would survive and get through it--although I do think I am cursed. We did get a free night at the hotel though--wahoo! Anyways...
After Marrakech we headed back to Spain, Madrid and Barcelona. Both amazing cities and wonderful weather--Madrid has awesome art museums and Barcelona has the Mediterranean and good food and fun bars. If you really want to know I can go into detail later, but I am just trying to catch you up for now. After Barcelona I headed back to Göttingen for a week of relaxing and getting ready for my mission trip to Egypt. I did laundry, attempted (unsuccessfully) to get an extension on my paper--although the day I left for Egypt, my professor e-mailed me saying I could write my paper in English (score!) Oh my parents sent me my old laptop after they heard about the other one being stolen. So I got that while I was back in between trips as well. However, I did have to pay 200 euros in customs taxes to convince the guy to give it to me though. (Hopefully we can convince the government to return the money--since I am not planning on selling my used laptop to anyone here.)
I then packed and headed off for Egypt. That was also an amazing trip and I can only say that God taught me so many things, I suffered from the food, and I came back burden-free and happy. More details on Egypt to come later. After coming back from Egypt, I proceeded to spend the next 3 days writing my paper and then I turned it in on April 16th, the first day of the summer semester. I ended up getting an A, so I suppose everything turned out ok. My classes then started on the 17th and since then I have been attending lectures, seminars, tutoriums, going to parties, meeting more Germans and the new Californians and just enjoying being back in Göttingen. Although my internet has stopped working in the last 2 days, so now I have to go on campus or borrow a friend's computer--boy that sounds familiar.
Well that is pretty much it. If you want more details on anything in particular just e-mail me or leave a comment or something. As far as pictures go, I can't do that until the internet in my room is working again, sorry. It'll happen someday I promise. I will eventually put up some pictures. :-)
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