Happy Halloween?

One holiday I won't really be missing too much here in Denmark... once the trick-or-treating was over it lost a lot of its appeal to me. I think it is slowly growing in Denmark but is definitely not that big. There main amusement park, Tivoli, did a "Halloween Week" during fall vacation but that was a good month too early. There are also a few parties but nothing too big, and it would be hard to attempt trick-or-treating here with mostly apartment buildings--"could you buzz me up, I want some candy?"

Otherwise things are going well. It was nice to come back from 10 full days of vacation and not really have any catching up to do as I planned it well over our break. I immediately bought gloves and a hat as soon as I got back as the chill has really settled in.

This past weekend I went to Århus, which is the 2^nd biggest city in Denmark which is located on Jutland, the mainland of Denmark, to visit my aunt and uncle. It was quite a relaxing weekend which was nice after my long trip. It’s just a three hour train ride away and I was able to bring my bike, although not get much use out of it as it rained a lot.

On another note: the bug bites have subsided and I don’t think I brought any back with me to Denmark so I am feeling much better in that regard.

On to Morocco:

On the plane flight down to Fes, my first town in Morocco which was the former capital and is now famous for its huge Medina, I met a nice Moroccan/German guy who gave me advice: Be careful! Everyone will try to make money off of you. He told me that even though he could speak French it wasn’t until his Moroccan Arabic improved (the two main languages spoken there) that he felt he wasn’t getting ripped off many times.

Customs wasn’t all too bad for 3 of the 4 lines. Unfortunately I was in the one with the woman that literally spent about 5 minutes per person. So my position in the middle of this line actually made me DEAD LAST of getting my passport checked as the other lines moved much faster and everyone behind me in my line slowly moved to other ones… By the time I got outside it was dark, probably aided by the fact that although on the same time zone as Spain for example, their time is actually two hours different (got dark around 6).

I grabbed a cab and when I reached for the seatbelt the guy said “No, No, No…” I understood why as after I attempted it anyway it was broken…a bit unnerving at the beginning and something I was to get used to later. After getting in the cab I looked for the meter, which my guide book told me to make sure they turned on, and the guy on the plane really emphasized, telling me that “forgetting” to reset it and just charging whatever was one way to make a buck. Unfortunately this cab was really beaten up and did not have one, I don’t really think it was an official cab. So much for that…

While driving through the streets of the Ville Niveau heading towards the Medina where I wanted to stay it appeared to be a huge party. There were people everywhere out in the streets. Eating, sitting at cafes, playing games, shopping, and just enjoying the night. I am still not sure whether this was special because it was Eid ul-Fitr (the first few days after the end of Ramadan) or just how it usually is. While stopped at a light my driver started yelling at this guy at the window and he came over and handed him something-similar to sunflower seeds, and my driver gave a handful to me as well.

After being dropped off I was immediately approached by a kid asking me if I needed a place to stay. No thanks I said. Where are you from? Have you been here before? Sure you don’t need a place? In hindsight this kid was not much of a hassle at all. Ironically I found the spot from my book—the same place the kid was working for… They spoke English and I was satisfied with my tiny room and bathroom down the hall.

I then headed out to explore the Medina experiencing a sensory overload. As a general description the Medina is a walled part of the city. In Fes there are absolutely no cars inside the Medina (at least the parts I explored) as the streets are much to small and packed. Lining the streets are stalls selling everything imaginable to locals and also tons of tourist places. There are also tons of people just sitting on the street selling a bunch of random things (socks/watches/gum), or one thing like cigarettes (by the cigarette), on a little stool, cloth, or out of a suitcase.

I wasn’t too adventurous this night, the moment I tried to deviate from a main street I was immediately lost, it got darker, and I found two dead ends in a row…I walked around watching people get ready and heading over to the carnival a few hundred yards outside the Medina (hairdresser surprised me for some reason—dressing younger girls hair).

Armed with never used diarrhea pills from the Dominican Republic trip I stepped into a very local stall in which one man was cooking soup in a huge pot. I communicated with my hands and got my bowl of white bean soup with spices and a big round piece of bread. It turns out this is a very common meal in Morocco as they have little hole-in-the-wall places serving it everywhere and they are often full. I definitely enjoyed it although the cats coming in and out and flies/earwigs on the wall were a bit gross, although this place was dirtier than most.

I felt my stomach rumbling but after popping a pill nothing ever came of it. The main problem is that the water is not drinkable for me but non-restaurant places just rinse spoons and glasses in the local water. I must have got used to it after a while though because I only ate in a restaurant once.

I then went to go check out the bright lights of the party. They had some old carnival rides (merry go round) and games (water gun, shooting), mixed with vendors and a ton of people set up in an open area just outside the Medina. They contrasted very much with the old sandy walls of the Medina in the background. I sat around and people watched. Everyone seemed to be having a good time—greeting each other by 4 kisses alternating from cheek to cheek.

I bought water from a small stand feeling foolish that with my studies I forgot to hand over the money with my right hand (left hand is often seen as unclean) and was told to just set it on the counter. I then retired for the night when I think it was just beginning for many—I was a bit tired from the all-night bus ride from Copenhagen to Frankfurt the night before.

Below are a few pictures. I took over 600 on my trip! I will just be putting up the ones I like the most or want to comment on. I felt most of the time pictures didn’t really do justice to the whole picture/feeling of the situation, but they are fun nonetheless.

Frankfurt:

Fall Trip-Frankfurt

Fes:

Fall Trip-Fes

And Rabat:

Rabat

Hope everyone is doing well! As usual would love to hear from you.

Jeff

I'm Back!

Hey Everyone,

Just thought I would give a quick update letting everyone know that I made it back from Morocco. I left with just myself, a backpack, two guidebooks, and little plans. I wound up travelling very quickly, seeing a lot, getting worn out, and having a great time. A quick summary follows:

Took a 13 hour night bus from Copenhagen to Frankfurt on last friday. Spent the morning in Frankfurt, using my friends advice from class. I checked out a local food market, the old district, a flea market, got a pretzel before heading to off to the airport to fly to Fes.

Arrived in Fes to a party! People filling the streets in the new town, a big carnival outside the old town. The next day I explored the huge, famous Medina (old city), although many things were closed as it was the 2nd day of Eid Al-Fitr (the days after the end of Ramadan). Apparently I didn't time my trip too well, corresponding it right at the end of the holy month...

The next day I travelled to Rabat, the capital of Morocco. On the way I got my first experience of seeing the Moroccan countryside, which was a mix of beautiful rolling hills, sheperds herding their sheep, farms, shanty towns, garbage, and sheep eating the garbage... Once again I explored the bustling Medina full of people. Here I continued eating the delicious street food, enjoyed the city's more laid back atmosphere towards tourists, checked out the Kasbah with nice views of the water, and saw Le Tour Hassan, a large tower that was meant to be the largest in the world at the time accompanying a huge mosque--both of which were never completed--and the beautiful mausoleum of Mohammad V with amazing decoration

The next day I headed to Casablance where I was not too impressed with the city and kid who attempted to pick-pocket me, but was very much with the modern Hassan II Mosque--the 3rd biggest in the world featuring retractable roof, laser beam towards Mecca, and heated floors.

Then on to Marrakesh where I got to experience Djemaa el-Fna, an amazing square of snake charmers, dancers, and story tellers. I also got to try a hammam (Arab bathhouse) which may have been my favorite experience of the trip. Tried some new foods here as well (lamb's head stew, and snails/snail soup) and warded off tons of hasslers.

After Marrakesh I took the night train to Tangier and made my way to Cadiz, Spain to visit my friend Kristin who is studying abroad their. I enjoyed the "smaller" (100,000) town atmosphere, beach, and mostly the company before leaving the next day for Seville.

Seville was absolutely beautiful and my favorite city I have been to so far in Europe. It's buildings are amazing, its trees are amazing. It is filled with a mixture of both including small streets, large squares and parks, and an amazing cathedral housing the biggest altarpiece I have ever seen (over 1000 biblical figures on it...) and Christopher Columbus's grave. It also included the Alcazar, residence to many kings including beautiful gardens and castles.

Unfortunately Seville was packed and I could only stay one night. I headed to Granada for two nights. I ran into Kristin and a group from UW that was also doing a trip to Granada and we went out for a few tapas (in Granada when you order the drink the tapa comes for free!). The next day I visited the graves of Fernando and Isabelle to finish my Columbus Connection. The next day I fought of some stomach flu and horrible bug bites to reach the Alhambra in time to get a ticket. It was absolutely spectacular including emaculate gardens incorporating water and amazing work on the palaces.

I made it back to Copenhagen after spending a painful night of little sleep and constant itchiness in the airport. After discovering my literally hundreds of bites, and at Denise's suggestion, I went to the doctor today, to make sure it wasn't something more serious (with all these little red bumps who knows), but mainly to pick up some cream which will hopefully do the trick. Itching is probably the worst thing I can do right now although it feels like heaven...

Well that is a quick summary. Pictures to come soon. Hope to tell you some more interesting specific stories and the like later. Hope to hear from you and I hope everything is going well wherever you are!



Jeff

Update and Monaco

Things are still going well. The past week I played some badminton; tried out the Copenhagen Chess Club (I beat a master of rating 2000 or so!!), went to a classmate’s birthday party where I sang happy birthday in Hungarian (just because it’s a short song does not mean it is easy to sing…) and have been keep up with work.

I started my classes at studieskole which is a language school separate from the university. The class was too easy, but I missed the first day and after the 2^nd time they said it would probably be too late to switch to a higher level. So now I am stuck in the easier one until November when I can move up. I am hoping the teacher will just let me turn in homework and let me take the exam at the end so I do not have to sit in class for 6 hours a week when I know most of what she is talking about already.

I realized that through the library system here you can rent DVDs just like in the US. So the last two weeks I have seen almost all of Lars Von Trier’s films. He is considered the most famous Danish Director and you may have heard of him from Dogville with Nicole Kidman (good, but long movie). He does his work in trilogies. If you are interested in seeing any of them I recommend completely avoiding the first trilogy and trying Dogville and Breaking the Waves (both in English), or a miniseries in Danish called “Riget” (The Kingdom in English) which I think is available in the US with subtitles. His films are definitely all different and unpredictable.

As I mentioned last time I was going to the Opera. It was a really great evening. The opera was “La Boheme” sung in Italian with Danish subtitles—which I could thankfully follow. I went with my landlord Denise and my two Italian friends Giuseppe and Goffredo. The only one who had problems was Goffredo who did not know any Danish because they all agreed at many points it is impossible to understand the way it is sung. I didn’t really know how I would like it never having been to an Opera before but it was quite entertaining and it was nice to see the inside of the building.

I have also been talking to Denise a little bit more about her life and experience in Denmark. She is from Albania as I have mentioned but she lived in Italy before coming to Denmark. She has been living here for 10 years now and is now writing her masters in psychology.

Because she was living in Denmark before the large unrest in the region near, and in Albania she had learned Danish before many refugees from the region began arriving in Denmark. Because of this she worked as a translator for the Red Cross in Denmark and she was in very high demand. She has also worked as a translator when the government-royalty of Albania came to visit the Danish government/royalty allowing her to meet so high-ups on each side. I wish I knew two kind of obscure languages because if she ever needs money she can go back to that—they pay very well! In the end she decided to pursue her education instead. She says that she does not like translating that much because she always wants to but in with her own opinion.

Other than that update there is not much going on so here is a little more of my trip with Dad and Donnie:

Monaco

Leaving in the morning from Nice we left to Monaco and thankfully it is considered a part of France so our Euro rail passes worked transporting to and from, although apparently they don’t believe in lockers as we had to take our backpacks with us all day before our train later that night. Monaco is technically its own country and after checking Wikipedia the world’s 2^nd smallest country and most densely populated country.

The architecture of Monaco is very similar to Nice except much more hilly. The town/country is really cut into the hillside which gives it a very nice, unique look.

We went up to one highpoint in the town where the castle was along with an older church. It was a nice area with amazing views looking down towards the water and back up towards the Cliffside.

After this we checked out the famous Monte Carlo Casino (after getting off at the wrong bus stop because I fell for an imitation)! It was quite expensive to enter for what one actually gets to see, but it was OK. All of the tables for playing were high stakes but we found some cheap slot machines that kept us—particularly Donnie—entertained for a half hour or so.

We were then tired from walking around all day so we took the bus down to the beach and relaxed for a long while. Unlike in Nice this beach had smaller rocks so it was manageable.

Next we found a place for diner before our train ride. We found a nice place to eat and surprised the woman outside by telling her we wanted to eat (I think it was around 6pm or so). The meal proved quite entertaining.

In the beginning we were fighting off birds that literally wanted to jump onto our table. Next, a couple showed up that sat under the table with a tree above it. This was not a good idea as a few birds sat above them waiting to dive bomb and putting there food in danger by pooping on it… So they moved to another table. Then came the wasps… They were attracted to the woman—who apparently was very allergic to them—and she would freak out whenever they came close, jumping out of her seat. They switched tables again but she could not avoid it, and they ate quickly and left.

While we were sitting there relaxing as our meal was ending a German couple received their bill. They proceeded to argue with the owner/waitress of the restaurant. They said the food was good but they did not think it was worth 60 euros. I had no idea if there was merit to their argument but the owner went absolutely berserk. I think they had a language barrier issue but when the owner kept saying “I don’t understand” they would say “yes you do”. She slammed the plates she had taken away back onto their table asking saying “It’s all gone! Did you not like it?!? During the episode she also turned to our table, smiled, and winked like she was having fun with it all, despite clearly being pissed off. Nice entertainment during the meal…

After this little argument we got to witness another one in the train station between a man who seemed a bit loopy, or maybe drunk, and the train station staff. I watched the beginning unfold where he was trying to drink alcohol in the station and then went to brush my teeth after the argument went on for about 5 minutes. He was thrown out by the time I got back…

Now on the night train off to Florence…

Here are a few pictures of Monaco—although I think I must have lost a few as I have none of the castle or casino...

Euro Trip - Monaco

Hope all is going well at home,

Jeff