Getting to Morocco and the CCS Home Base

The Paris Charles de Gaulle airport is a crazy place.  It's huge and spread out.  I decided to be adventurous and fly a discount European airline called EasyJet from Paris to Morocco.  I believe the reason that EasyJet has such cheap fares ($125 roundtrip Paris/Casablanca) is because they are advertisement whores - the back of every seat was plastered with an ad for some cell phone company and the flight attendants actually go through the cabin trying to sell you stuff, multiple times throughout the flight.  It was amusing.

Anyway, I arrived safely in Casablanca with gorgeous weather.  As I walked into the terminal they were playing some awesome Middle Eastern/Arabic tunes.  Then as I waited to go through immigration, the next song was a Muzak version Careless Whisper (George Michael) - ha!!  I muddled my way through immigration and security, got to the train station and managed to purchase a ticket to Rabat.  Score!

The first train from Casa airport was a confusing, hot, sweaty mess.  There was no AC, it was about 85 degrees outside, and for some reason the folks sitting next to windows did not feel the need to open them.  People (myself included) were sweating like crazy and it was completely packed.  I got  the lucky seat right next to the toilet, so that was a nice scent mixed in with all the sweat.  ;-)  I am so glad it was a quick 30 minute trip to my next stop!  And I am very thankful to the woman beside me who looked at my ticket and told me when to get off the train!!  I would have completely missed my stop, as the stations are not labeled in English or French.  Probably not in Arabic either, but I can't be sure about that one.

The second train was MUCH BETTER.  Air conditioning!  Lots of leg room! Fantastic views of Morocco on the way to Rabat!  Yay! 

And I saw the poverty very clearly - trash piled along the side of the roads, rows and rows of dilapidated multi-family housing, buildings that look like they are about to crumble, etc.  At the same time, there are some beautiful, lavish grounds that obviously belong to wealthy people.  It's funny, a friend I was talking to before this trip was really surprised when I said I was going to volunteer in Morocco.  She has a friend from Morocco who is from a wealthy family, so the only things she's heard about the country are how beautiful everything is and how much her friend loves living here.  Just like in many countries, there seems to be a sharp divide between the rich and the poor here.

After planes, trains and automobiles, I made it safely to the CCS home base in Rabat.  Yay!  The home base grounds are beautiful, in a very nice neighborhood/suburb of Rabat (the royal family lives down the street).  I met several of the volunteers as soon as I arrived, and was informed that it was the last night of a huge, free music festival.  During the prior week the volunteers had seen BB King, Santana, and Elton John - I got to see....STING!  Woot!!

The rest of Paris

Although I did not want to leave the Louvre, I felt that I couldn't call it a proper trip to Paris without seeing some of the other sights!  So I forced myself to leave, bought a ticket for the Batobus (which is a boat that runs a loop up and down the river Siene) and hit up Notre Dame Cathedral, the Champs Elysses, Arc de Triomphe, and Eiffel Tower.  I was WORN OUT by the end of the day but I faithfully executed my tourist duties.  :-)

First stop was Notre Dame cathedral, which looked like this from the Siene.  Once I got off the boat and approached ND, I heard some music and saw a big crowd gathered to watch these guys break-dancing.  Inside the cathedral was very dark, very Gothic, and very Catholic.  The stained glass windows were beautiful and these photos don't do them justice. 

After the crowds at ND I wandered around the famous Latin Quarter for a bit.  The most fragrant and lovely scent drew me into this garden - the roses were so amazing and I could smell them from the street!  Mom, you would have loved it!  It instantly reminded me of you and Goggi.  I was inspired to grab another crepe with Nutella so that I had an excuse to sit in the little park and enjoy. Here are a few more pics of some of the sights I saw....

J'arrive a Maroc

Made it to Morocco safely - we are in orientation all day today so I will make an update later.

Louvre Museum

Here I am, happy as a clam at my first spotting of the Louvre!  This is the back side of the museum, but I had to take a picture anyway.  My plan was to spend the morning in the Louvre then catch a free 3 hour walking tour of the city that started at 1 PM.  But the Louvre was so captivating that I just couldn't leave!!  It's something I've dreamed of seeing since I was a teenager, so I stayed for a few extra hours.  I know that I didn't even scratch the surface of all the Louvre holds, but it was AMAZING!!!

Buddy, next time you go hunting, I think you should do it in the nude like this guy: 

I'm just going to post a bunch of pictures - anything I have to say about this art would be an injustice.

After spending 6 hours in the Louvre, I finally decided to leave and look around at the rest of Paris.  When you exit the Louvre, it spits you out into this weird underground shopping mall (that's also where the inverted pyramid can be found).  I looked everywhere for a restroom, and actually walked by this place several times before I realized that it was, indeed, the toilet.  Had to pay 1 Euro to pee there, but it sure was fancy!  This is the "welcome wall." 

Montmartre District, Paris (FRANCE, baby!)

So, after about 9 hours of hanging out in Chicago O'Hare airport, the plane finally left...a mere 3 hours late. As soon as I got on the plane I popped a melatonin, put on my eye mask and tried to sleep. I was semi-successful at sleeping on the plane, and have managed to stay awake since my arrival in Paris except for one brief nod on the train. Good work.

I cannot believe that I'm in Paris!!! It is rather surreal to walk around hearing the language and seeing the things that I've only read about!  I also cannot believe how little I prepared/planned for my time here.  That is rather unlike me, but I wanted to just play it by ear and allow myself to wander wherever the wind blows me.  So far, so good!

Speaking of wandering, I managed to find my way to the train from the airport, get on the correct train, and get off at the correct train stop.  That's where my luck with directions ended, which also happened to coincide with a downpour.  Thus, my very first experience of Paris (outside of the train station) was schlepping my heavy luggage around the rainy streets for a good hour, lost and trying to find my hotel.  :-)  I found it eventually and spent a few minutes in my room drying off and trying to figure out what to do next.

I found out about a cheap walking tour of Montmartre and had a few hours to kill beforehand, so I decided to just start walking around.  I'm not sure exactly when I figured it out - could have been the Sexodrome or the Erotic Supermarket - but I somehow stumbled directly into the Red Light District.  There was some pretty funny stuff, including several gigantic signs that simply say "SEX."  I always appreciate directness.  I also saw a street vendor who had ASS-KEBAB on their menu, but I'm not sure if that was an erotic menu item or just a typo.



Oh yes, street vendors will make you an awesome fresh crepe for only a few bucks!  They have a hot, flat stone that they place the crepe batter on, then they thin it out evenly with something that looks like a flat wooden rake.  On the recommendation of my friends Ryan and Mary, I got one made for myself and had them add Nutella.  I must say that that was the most amazing dessert item I think I've ever consumed.  Warm liquid chocolate on a warm, fresh, thin crepe - DUDE!!!  It was amazing.

By the way, Michael Jackson is very much alive in Paris.  His music was blasting out of many of the shops and restaurants in Montmartre, including the Bistrot Chat Noir where I had my very first French meal (it was absolutely DELICIOUS!).

As I wandered around I happened upon the most beautiful cemetery - it was incredibly peaceful and ethereal.  I think some famous people are buried there, but I was just captivated by the monuments and crypts.

My walking tour began in front of the Moulin Rouge (back in the Red Light District) and included plenty of funny commentary by our tour guide.  We got to see Van Gogh's house, the Basilica de Sacre Coeur, lots of working artists in the squares, restaurants and homes where Picasso, Van Gogh, and Toulouse Lautrec all worked.  AWESOME!!!!

Here is something that cracked me up.  An artist named Misstic was angry when her boyfriend broke up with her, so she painted pictures all around Montmartre of herself having sex with various people in an attempt to make the boyfriend jealous.  I don't know if it was effective, but it's rather shocking to walk around the corner of a cozy Parisian street and see stuff like this on the side of a building.  :-)  That's art, people.

One last photo - this is a huge piece of art in one of the public gardens/parks.  It says "I love you" in every known language in the world.  Pretty cool, huh?

My plans for tomorrow are the Musee du Louvre (wooooo hooooo!!!!!) and another walking tour of all the "big stuff" in Paris - you know, the Eiffel Tower, Champs Elysees, Arc de Triomphe, Notre Dame Cathedral, the Latin Quarter.

Right now, it's time to catch up on some much needed beauty rest.

Made it to Paris

On my way

I'm writing to you from the Chicago O'Hare airport with very bloodshot eyes - I only got 2 1/2 hours of sleep last night, but I'm trying to stay awake until I board my flight to Paris in a few hours. I arrive in Paris around 8:45 AM, so sleeping on the plane will be ideal for warding off jet lag. As long as I don't pass out in the terminal, I think I'm good to go! :-)

I am super excited about this trip!!!! I will be spending 2 days in Paris, then three weeks in Morocco, then 9 days in Egypt before heading back to Paris and the U.S. What an amazing life I have!

Not sure if I will be able to charge my laptop while in France because I don't have the correct power adapter. But in Morocco I will have wireless access for at least the first two weeks and I'll be sure to update my blog often with pictures and stories.

Thanks to everyone for the encouragement and support - especially my dear husband who is staying home with our "kids." I love you, Buddy!

I'll be talking to you from across the pond....

My Volunteer Placement: Teaching English

I received my placement information for Morocco! This is going to be quite a different experience from Tanzania. For one, I will be staying in the city (in Tanzania we were in a rural area). Also, it looks like I will be working with adults who speak some English already. I am keeping an open mind and heart...

Here it is verbatim from CCS:

Teaching Conversational English at Mohammed V University in Rabat, Morocco

Mission and Needs of the Partner Program
Mohammed V University is a Moroccan university which was founded in 1957. It was split in 1997 to become 2 independent universities, Mohammed V University at Agdal and Mohammed V University at Soussi.

Volunteer Activities / Duties
• Support Masters and PhD students in improving their English speaking and comprehension skills
• Engage in discussion and exchange ideas on issues such as culture, music, movies, daily life in your home country, etc.
• Teach specific vocabulary and pronounciation – especially colloquial phrases and idioms
• Teach comprehension through reading articles and engaging in discussion to give them opportunities to speak English in the class
• Teach grammar points like prepositions, and verb tenses
• Correct articles written in English
• Answer questions about your home country and culture

Goals for the Volunteer from the Partner Program
Long-Term: Improve the English-speaking ability and comprehension of the students through discussion and cultural exchange.
Short-Term: The volunteers teach students from the Chemistry Department conversational English and help them improve their comprehension and English-speaking abilities, as well as learning grammar points to help them be
understood. There is a wonderful exchange of cross-cultural information and conversation.

Wake Up Widdle Weasel

This weekend was spent doing a lot of trip planning. On my way to Morocco I will be spending two days in Paris, France. Never been to France before, always wanted to go, took 4 years of French in high school and college but have never had the chance to use it, about to jump out of my skin with excitement! Yesterday I purchased my ticket to the Louvre, a place I've dreamed about visiting since the first time I heard about it. I know that two days won't even scratch the surface of Paris, but I am excited nonetheless.

I'm also planning my side trip to Egypt. A climb up Mount Sinai and a float down the river Nile sound like a good time, don't you think? More details to follow...

The Weasel Stirs

At the end of this month I will be traveling to Africa again! Morocco this time for another volunteer trip through Cross Cultural Solutions.

I won't find out about my volunteer placement for a couple more weeks, but I'll let you know when I do!