I'm back!

And I am posting... because I don't want to start studying for my finance exam for tomorrow yet. Lets see, what has happened in the last 2-3 years.. hmm ALOT! I am no longer an Education major or a Spanish minor, I am now working towards my BBA with a Human Resources Major/Global Business minor/Business Law emphasis. My dreams are still to travel the world, and leave it just a little bit better than I found it.

My, how things have changed. I have had my heartbroken by some of the people I once thought were the most important people in my life. But in the end, it has made me a lot stronger. I am still my bubbly self, but a little more cautious about who I let in my life, or how I let them treat me. I studied abroad in England and Scotland this past summer. AMAZING. Toss up between England, Scotland, and Morocco as to which is my favorite. They are all so different. I love the rich culture of Morocco, and the colorful country in and of itself! But nothing beats a delicious lager beer at a pub in Edinburgh or Dalkeith, or being proposed to in Cambridge. ;) I will write more later.. maybe include a diary of my travels in England and Scotland, but now I have to study for finance, boo.

Day Three

This was by far the busiest day yet! First we went to the medina, which is a marketplace. This particular medina is one of the oldest in Morocco. As soon as we walked in I was in complete awe! Right away we walked past the fish market which had on display a swordfish that was probably 8 ft long and 5 feet around. IT WAS CRAZY! You dont exactly see that at the local Piggly Wiggly in Wisconsin! Then we went to the outside medina and looked at jewelry. I cant believe how cheap it is here. The same necklace that would be like 50 dollars in the US is like 4.50 here, and handmade. So of course- being the girls we are.... tried on some jewelry!
One thing very different here than the US is the fact that homes are protected on the outside with a high cement wall. This is to prevent theft of cars and break ins to homes. The driveway at the particular house I am at is marble and cleaned everyday which is a little different than my pavement driveway at home. The house here is really pretty. I will take pictures soon and post them on here. For now I only have this one which shows Youssef,Maria, Nada, her friend, and myself hanging out on the stairs.
Shortly after this, Amo Fouad arrived with his daughters Basma and Selma. They are both very sweet girls and actually speak pretty good english but are very shy about actually speaking it! Uncle/Amo Fouad had just ordered a marble fountain for outside of his house so we went to pick it up. Luckily for us-there were great stores everywhere and a green house and a statue place so we had lots of oppurtunities for cool pictures.
This is a picture of us at the Greenhouse. The plants here were like nothing I had ever seen before! We had lots of fun goofing off and taking in all the beautiful sights to be seen.
Then we went to the MegaMall it had lots of stores I had never seen before. Then we ate dinner there. This is a picture of Maria and Basma. They are also very close. What a great family I have here and didnt even know it!!

Day Two

I wake up in the morning and find out we are going to the farm. I am so excited! In my Uncle Azizs family there are 9 siblings. Seven brothers and two sisters. They have this farm which is absolutely beautiful. They have everything from lemons to eucalyptus. It is a peaceful lovely place. There is an older woman and a young boy there who maintain the land. This land is huge and well kept. We went and explored a little bit seeing all the various trees and plants. I picked some flowers on the way. They also have a baby donkey just born who wouldnt come near me...so I took a picture of the mom and the baby. Good enough! So as we were exploing we decided to take a ton of pictures for your viewing pleasure! It is obvious the sentimental value this farm has because Maria speaks very highly of it as if it is her sanctuary and her Baba, my Uncle Aziz is very proud of it as well. As he should be because it is a little piece of heaven! Its hard to believe that 25 years ago my mom helped plant the very trees I stood by!
When we are leaving the farm we hit something. It turned out my Uncle Aziz hit a cinderblock with his brand new Nissan X Trail whom he calls his beauty. Haha- I will never forget his face....but luckily his beauty was fine. We arrive home and Nada and Youssef are outside playing. In Arabic, cura means ball, so this is how I ask them to play with me since I dont speak Arabic and they speak very little English. We have lots of fun playing soccer which sometimes turns into basketball on its own. Not sure how this happens. Nada is Marias mini-me I swear! They are very close and its nice to see that in a family.
We played soooo much soccer that night. Its time for bed.

Day One

Getting on the plane was a total hassle. The woman in charge of our tickets completely deleted my flight somehow! And on Mothers Day. My poor mom and aunt, God bless them, took care of everything! And then you get my Aunt Kathy on the phone and she straightened things out. She had to reschedule EVERYTHING. We have some great women in our family. We took a later flight but we made it here safely after all! Our flight schedule was: Green Bay to Chicago, Chicago to Paris, Paris to Rabat. CHICAGO TO PARIS was the only challenging leg of the trip.Airplane seats already lack spaciousness and when you pair that with a couple of CHATA MATA German tourists you get a badddd situation! The woman in front of me sat with her seat reclined the entire 9 hours! I politely asked her to move her seat up a little bit and she yells at me! *NO, -swearing in german- *throws her seat back farther. I wanted to reach over that seat and slap her! HAHA. Okay enough complaining. Everything else was great. Just that damn woman. So we arrive in Paris and I am in a mix of zombielike-state and amazement that I am in Paris! I wanted so bad to go explore the city but of course I couldnt because we had to catch a flight soon. Maria and I stopped and got some Lunch which was weird since it was like 1 am my time. We ate baguettes and tarts that looked fake they were so perfect. Then I had some Coca Cola Light which is their version of Diet Coke I guess. When we finally boarded our last connection to Rabat we were so tired and out of it we laughed about the craziest dumbest things- I cant even tell you what it was. Looking out the window of the plane was interesting. The beginning of our flight, Paris was beneath us with pâtches of dark soil and green grass and many trees. As we approached Rabat the Green turned to masses of golden sands, red-orange soil, and a sparser assortment of trees. When we finally hit the ground, my zombie-state vanished and I was in disbelief, here I was in Africa! When we arrived Uncle Aziz, Aunt Kathy, and Uncle Fouad were there to greet us! It was so exciting to finally see them after all this time. My mother came to visit Morocco for three months when she was my age. All the people I would meet here had already met her and as far as I can tell ADORED her. I have some BIG shoes to fill here. They always tell me funny stories about how they tricked her and played jokes on her and overall loved her company. For those of you who have met my mom, you know she is far from unlikeable and is just a genuine person with a big warm heart. I am honored because they speak highly of her and call me * Little Tracy*! The remainder of this day we drove around Rabat and saw the sights--THERE ARE SO MANY TO SEE! The roads are lined with red and white cinderblock like things so it looks like you are in candyland. There are palm trees everywhere and a cloudless sky! It is very hot here but I love it because its dry heat with a breeze from the Atlantic Ocean. Unlike Wisconsin where its so humid with warm weather you could wring the moisture out of the air. People even dress different over here. There are many stray cats and dogs and even beggars which I am SO NOT used to. Its really sad sometimes. The beggars alot of times are children who have a towel soaked in glue and are sniffing it to get high. They are sent out by their parents or some adult who is too lazy to get a job. It really breaks your heart to see. Then you turn a corner and you are awestruck by a fantastic palace with intricate tile designs and guards surrounding every door.The social class distinction is much different than the US. There is pretty much rich, or poor. A large lack of middle class.
Once we got home I tried on Auntie Najats Gilleba.--spelling-- Which was beautiful but not entirely flattering on me! I was so relieved to be with my Uncle Aziz, Auntie Kathy, Tam and Maria. It was like I felt right at home. I also met Uncle Hakim and Aunt Nassera and their children Nada and Youssef. They are such sweet kids. I think they are a little intimidated or shy at this point. But I will grow on them I am sure.

HERE IT GOES

I am a total beginner to blogging. This may be boring until I become a little bit gutsy but bear with me for this introduction. My name is Alexandra and I am a junior at University of Wisconsin Oshkosh. I am a major in Elementary Education and contemplating a dual major including Special Education. I plan on minoring in Spanish. Language is and always has been very interesting to me. Now that I have been immersed in a culture where English is not a primary language, it is increasingly evident there is more than just my normal little bubble of an English speaking world. It is so frustrating to not understand what is going on and just smiling unknowingly on every unrecognized word. Mostly because I am normally such a chatterbox and will talk anyones ear off who will let me. However, this is an effort worth making and I have learned a few beginner words. My favorite being Chata Mata which means Bossy Cow technically. But is more referred to as a know-it-all and says-it-all woman. It is sometimes referred to as a term of endearment in a joking manner. I know from time to time I can be a Chata Mata myself but who cant? By the way--over here they have French keyboards so if you see an increasingly large amount of typos this is why! Wow I still cant believe I am in Africa. Seeing as a week has gone by and I have been so busy I am now starting the blog I may forget some details but I will try my best to recall.