post-Ramadan updates

Much has happened since last I wrote. For one, Ramadan has finally ended and along with it, fasting. Hooray!! To celebrate, I went to Spain for a few days with some friends for a few days. School was closed for five days, coinciding with the holiday at the end of Ramadan, Eid al-Fitr.

We stayed at a couple of hostels in Madrid, a new experience for me. So, call me spoiled, but I'm in love with the idea of having an actual toilet within the confines of my hotel room and the concept of bunk beds for adults is not something I understand. These two things seem to be the entire reason for hostels to exist. Granted, at an average of 20 E a night, the price was good for a single traveler. I was with a bunch of much younger kids, and I don't think they caught onto the idea of pooling money to get a nice hotel room and sharing it (without strangers) for the same price we each paid at said bunk bed laden hostel. I, personally, would have gladly paid more not to share my bedroom with unknown wackos. I prefer sticking with the wackos I already know.

One example of unknown wacko behavior happened to my friend Tia, who awoke to one of our roommates, a guy from Iran, stroking her face. Um...creepy anyone? Seriously, if I woke up to some crazy dude STROKING my face as I slept, there would have been some serious explaining to do (probably by me, after being arrested for attacking said face stroker). Who knows, maybe he did stroke my face, but got no response since that was the night I tried absinthe and was pretty numb to the world. (For those of you who don't know, absinthe became illegal in the US and most of Europe in 1915 and has only recently been legalized.) Some recent bottlers of absinthe claim 82% alcohol content and I'm would not have been surprised if I sampled from one of those bottles. I think I might have done some permanent damage to my throat, as apparently absinthe is made up of some otherworldly ingredients that have the ability to change the chemical make-up of your body, turning your throat into actual fire. Not just a burning sensation, but it creates actual FIRE in your body. I don't have any idea how those crazy Romantic poets from the 1800s like William Blake used to down the stuff night after night, but I found nothing romantic about it and have no plans for repeat performances, believe me!
While there, in between face stroking and absinthe drinking, I did most of the usual touristy things like visiting the Prado (by the way, Goya is a shitty painter), eating lots of Manchego cheese, chorizo (as there's no pork in Morocco for the most part) and drinking lots of non-Moroccan red wine. Ah, heaven!

Tia, Halima and I went to Toledo for the day on a high speed train (220 km/hr) and walked around the historic town on cobblestone streets, people watching. We also got into the habit of ending all of our nights (or early mornings) in true Spanish fashion of "chocolate y churros", melted chocolate (not hot chocolate...but mugs of PURE chocolate) into which we dipped churros, basically unsweetened tube-shaped doughnuts. Or, basically, the best way ever to end an evening.

Now I'm back in Rabat, away from those crazy folks in Spain. I'm only here for one more month and it's beginning to hit me that I'll be back in the states soon. That means looking for a job, applying to grad school, seeing my family and friends, sleeping in my own bed! So, a mixed bag.

This year has been a great experience for me and I've no regrets at all for quitting my job and taking off on this adventure. All of these experiences have changed me in permanent ways and I'm definitely not the same person now than when I left. For some people this might be a good thing, for others, seemingly not. Some of my friendships have not withstood this time away and my need to explore myself and my life. However, I've gained other friendships and formed a much clearer picture of who I am in my own mind.