Saturday, March 14, 2009

Back from vacation...and full of stories

Sorry it's been so long since our last post! We've been super busy, so it's kind of hard to know where to start...so for now, I'll just tell you about our vacation, and what we've been up to for the last two weeks:


Two Thursdays ago, the North Africa team arrived here in Barcelona, for their vacation, to visit us, and to renew their visas. We were all very, very excited to see each other! There was time for lots of fun, laughter, talking, catching up, relaxing, and doing some touristy things.

The North Africa girls were here for a week. My wonderful host mom, who basically is the person here who coordinates what we do, gave us that whole week free. This was a real blessing, especially considering that the following week, we would also have off, as we would be on our vacation. This gave us a chance to show the girls some of the city. We took them to some tourist places that we know and have been to before.

We also had the chance to do 2 new things, that we've never done before. One of these was to go and visit a monastery that is still functioning, high in the mountains. We had to take a cable car to get to it. We walked around the monastery, and got to listen to a boys choir, who sang wonderfully. We also had the chance to do a little hiking on the mountain behind the monastery. The views were incredible, and it was nice to be out in the fresh air, away from city life. The other new thing that we did was to go to Parque Guell, which is full of architecture designed by Antonio Gaudi. It's pretty large, so we walked around for awhile. It was raining, so we didn't get to explore too much. However, it's free, so I'm sure we'll go back again.

After that week was over, we went back with the girls to North Africa for the Spain team's vacation. We flew in Thursday night. Friday morning, we left for our desert trip. We left in the morning, and it was about an 8 hour drive. It was raining when we left. I dozed a little, and woke up to a brilliant white all around us - it was the sun, shining off of several feet of snow. We got out to take pictures, and it was freezing - not quite the start that we had expected for a trip to the desert. However, the landscape changed very quickly, and before we knew it, we were in the hot sun again.

The drive, although long, was probably the best long car ride I've ever had. It was just the 9 of us girls, and we took a big bus-like van. The scenery was amazing. It was constantly changing. Somehow, the sky and the clouds seem so much better there and here in Spain than they do at home. Then again, there is the very distinct possibility that I just never take the time to look up when I'm at home.

The first night, we stayed in a nice hotel. The next day, we had a few hours to explore the surrounding area. Our driver took us to a fossil place, which is apparently a big industry for that area. Then we went to a little village, where we hired a guide to show us around. He took us to an ancient castle, and showed us around the area a little bit. The buildings were all made of mud. When they start to crumble, another layer of dirt is added. It was quite interesting. We also went into a carpet shop. It was a large room, and the walls were covered in carpets. The owner began to get some out to show to us, and before long, the entire floor was covered in carpet. It was amazing to look at all the hand-made carpets. The colors were brilliant, and no 2 carpets were the same. Each carpet was made by a different Berber tribe. The Berbers are the indigenous people in that area.

After that, we had the last part of our journey to the Sahara dunes, in 4x4 vehicles. We had about a 45 minute ride out to the start of the dunes. We rested at a hotel there for a few hours until it was time for us to get on the camels. We had about a 2 hour ride out to the camp of Berber tents where we would be staying the night.

The camel ride was amazing, and it was hard to believe that we were actually riding camels through the Sahara desert. We think that we made a very large half circle around a huge dune to get to the camp. Before long, all we could see in every direction was sand, and it was amazing. The desert seasons are just switching from winter to summer, so the weather was perfect, and the sun felt good.

Our camp consisted of a circle of Berber tents. In the middle and also on the inside of each tent, carpets covered the sand. We were served tea when we first arrived. We had a little time to relax, and later were served supper. It was the 9 of us girls, and then there was also a group of guys. Berbers served us, and later treated us to some drumming around a fire.

Most of us decided to climb the huge dune that was right behind our camp. It didn't look that big, until you began to climb it. It was quite steep, and we stopped to catch our breath often. We literally were on our hands and knees, crawling up the dune. We went straight up, although we realized too late that it would have been a lot easier to go up at an angle. I went up with 2 other girls, and we think it took about 45 minutes to get to the top. It was about 11 when we finally got up there - and it was absolutey amazing. The moon was almost full, and was providing so much light that we could actually see our shadows. It was really windy at the top (and from that and also climbing up, we later discovered tons of sand in our clothing). We could see lights from nearby towns or cities. We just sat there for awhile, amazed that we had climbed it (and seeing how far down and tiny our camp was). It then took less than 5 minutes to go down - and we could have run down a lot faster had we wanted too. They had made up beds for us in the tents, each with about 6 blankets. It gets pretty cold at night, but between the blankets and the fact that we were hot from the climb, we were quite warm.

We woke up the next morning in time to see the sun rise above the dunes. We were served breakfast, and before long, we were on our way again. Again, the 2 hour ride on the camels was amazing. Time seemed to almost stand still as we stared out over the miles and miles of dunes. At the same time, the ride flew by, and before we knew it, we were back at the hotel. Highlights from the ride would include 2 of the girls' camels coming untied (they were all tied together - and then the camel just stood there, until the guide came and retied its' rope), and one of the camels biting Sarah. It wasn't hard or too painful - the camel just wanted the rope out of its' mouth. Good times...

We had the same ride back - 45 minutes in the 4x4s, and another 8 hour drive - although this time, our eyes weren't glued to the window as much, and a lot of us napped.

For the rest of our vacation, we had some time to relax, and we were also able to see some of what the North Africa girls do. For me, and I'm sure for the other girls as well, it was awesome to get to see what another team is doing. It's very different from what we do, and of course, their culture, country, and language are also very different. We also had the chance to do a bunch of shopping. We haven't really bought a lot here in Spain, first of all because of the expensive exchange rate from dollars to euros, and secondly, because everything seems pretty much like it does back in the States - just with a European flair. So, we felt rich after going from dollars to euros to the money there. Another highlight from the trip was getting to try a camel burger. It was surprisingly very good, and I would eat it again.

Sorry this is so long, but I had so much I wanted to tell you from our recent adventures! We only have 8 weeks left from today, which is going to fly by. My host mom told us to relax this weekend - and she also said this may be the last chance we have to relax before we leave! We're going to be very busy ... and before we know it, we'll be on a plane again, this time headed back to the US!

Melanie for the team

2 comments:

Laurie M said...

So glad to hear the stories! Thanks for the post. Work hard this next couple of weeks, and we'll see you soon!

Laurie (Sarah's mom)

Anonymous said...

You guys have been busy. I am so proud of the team, although I don't know and met the other three of you.
I am so proud of what the 4 of you are doing over there in Spain. Thank you to the host Mom for everything.
God Bless you all. A special hug to my niece Audrey.

Love,
Patrick( Audrey's Uncle)