Wednesday, December 5, 2007

Travelling the world, but home is never far from my mind.

so, as you all know by now, I'm back and returning to normal life. I've worked yesterday evening, though I couldn't seem to get myself started *shrugs* I need to get back in my old rythm. before I start my big ass motha.. (as Jess put it so very nicely ^_~) first some normal updates. my granny is still in the hospital. she was due back home today, but the doctor doesn't think it's a good idea to let her go home yet. she's pretty upset about this, but I can see why the doc says so. I don't know when she's supposed to be let out of the hospital now, but I do know she's doing alright, considering the circumstances. I'm not fully back to visiting yet. I did go around to a few sites and read the posts, but I can't seem to get myself to comment. when I do want to comment, sometimes, the site doesn't want to cooperate *sigh* so sorry Kikyo-chan ^^" I really can't help it. thanks for the welcome home, by the way ^^ I updated the Pick of the Litter. I'm still not completely sure if I'll keep the format like this, but I'm pretty happy with the first feature ^^ if anyone has something they'd like featured, send it to me with some info through PM ^^ Christmas shopping is going well. just a few more adjustments and some cards and the packages are set to go ^^ I just hope I can get them send out in time ^^" Silver is coming over later today and since he's got the day off tomorrow, I'm headed home with him tonight ^^ we're going to visit his coworkers again tomorrow, to do some videogaming. it was pretty fun last time ^^ but this time, I want to seriously try to get the 'hind bumper loose from the car *shakes head* I don't know what they used to secure that thing, but no bumper can survive so many crashes in real life ^^' (this case, it's Need for Speed.. I think ^^") ok, on to my travel report ^^ but before I do that, let me say this: it's good to be back home in my own little world where they know me ^_~ I'll try to get a slideshow with highlights set up as soon as Photobucket is willing to cooperate.. anyone have any tips on that? until that time, you can view all my pics by following this link once they're posted, I'll try to get links to the pictures of my trip-mates ^^ alright, I hope you all had a bathroom break and have snacks and drinks nearby ^^ here goes nothing! day 1: sunday after an all nighter, since the plane left damn early, I was finally able to relax for about four hours. the flight was boring and lonely. I didn't really know anyone yet and most were either asleep or too drowsy to have a decent conversation with. when we landed, the temperature wasn't much higher than in the Netherlands, so it wasn't too hard to adjust. later that day, the weather cleared up and it was plain hot. after word had gotten out about the little room issue (me getting kicked out by the bimbos) a lot of shifting had taken place. so when we got to the hotel, first we had to completely re-do the rooms ^^" much to the chagrin of the hotel personel and some of the students, I might add.. some girls stated their disgust towards the bimbos for what they had done, which was pretty sweet to me ^^ after much ado about nothing, I ended up in a room with three other girls. actually, it were two two-person rooms which shared a bathroom and little hallway. a room with a view actually, we overlooked the pool ^^ we had to do a slight city tour by foot, which wasn't the best idea on the first day. heavy culture shock and getting lost a couple times didn't really work in our advantage and everyone returned to the hotel tired and cranky. after dinner everyone settled down a bit and we did a little 'getting to know each other game'. it was alright and funny at times, though we were all still feeling a bit awkward. then, a good night's sleep on a way too hard bed led us to: day 2! monday this was the day where we.. well, what did we do actually? let me think.. ah yes, we had to visit museums.. very interesting at times, but mostly nothing interesting happened. in the morning, after the first museum, some of us headed out into the souks. these are small streets, filled with little stores and markets. the people there sure have agressive selling strategies, but it can be fun at times too ^^ you always have to bargain for a lower price and it can turn into a real sport. in the end, you still pay way too much, but at least it feels like you tried your best ^^" I got cheated into a way too high price for a henna tattoo on my hand, which wasn't completely voluntarily either *shrugs* but then again, I wanted to get one done anyway, so I might as well let it happen. mine stands for good luck in marriage. either that or: "big dumb tourist who actually fell for this".. still not sure yet ^^" in the afternoon, we headed out to a garden which is owned by Yves Saint Lorent, the fashion designer (or so I've been told ^^") I got ditched by the teacher in a very unsubtle way.. I had to been walking around with the two teachers who were with us, so I had to find a new group. I got pushed together with two of the guys and two girls, who weren't too bad ^^ I still ended up in a taxi with the bimbos though.. oh well ^^ during the whole week, I mostly tagged along with several different groups and I had good fun, even though I never really belong to any group *shrugs* you guys were right though, I did get to know people better, open up to them and actually like them hehe ^^ yay for study trips ^^ for dinner, we went to a Berber dinner show. it was so much fun, with great food and music and dancers. too bad it's all staged authenticity, but I won't bother you guys with touristical jargon and details ^^" the food was good, but I didn't like the couscous.. I did enjoy the lamb, which tasted great but was left untouched by most of the people at my table. all in all, over the week I'm surprised about my tolerance for food I'm not familiar with ^^ I figured I didn't want to live on MaccieD's for a full week hehe ^^" after dinner there was a show with horseriders and a belly-dancer. damn, that's some sexy way to move ^^' wish I had the skills (and looks for that matter) to do it ^^" I'm sure Silver would enjoy it ^_~ during the busride home, I called Silver. I was pretty homesick and lonely, but I felt a lot better after talking with him for a while ^^ day 3: tuesday in the morning, we headed to a five star hotel/resort which was wonderful!! we got a tour through the different buildings and got to see some things behind the screens ^^ I know where I'd like to go for my honeymoon hehe ^_~ I didn't take any pictures though.. in the afternoon, we had some free hours and we went out to the souks again. what I wanted to be a shopping spree turned into an endless fight with annoyance.. the bimbos were with and stopped at practically every store.. they treat people like they're filth and are very arrogant and their english simply hurts my ears >_< but enough on that ^^" in the end, I don't think I really bought anything that day.. but we did get to go to a leather processing 'factory' which looked interesting ^^ in the evening we went to a bathhouse, or hammam, and got scrubbed down and had some nice time in a sauna. it was fun, felt refreshing and tired me pretty badly ^^' when we returned to the hotel, we had dinner and then I went to sleep. day 4: wednesday wednesday was an outing to Essaouira, a small city with a harbor. it was so pretty, much less busy and chaotic when compared to Marrakesh. all the buildings had a white and blue theme, which made a great look, especially since it's next to the ocean ^^ on the way there, we stopped at an argan oil cooperative, which didn't seem too interesting at first, but once we found out that they don't only make cooking oil, but also cosmetic oil, it suddenly became pretty cool ^^ a lot of people did some serious shopping in their little shop, they had lots of different soaps and cremes ^^ I had me some fun with yet another group of people and bought some nice souvenirs. we also got to see a little shop for woking on silver. they had so many pretty jewelery ^^ I saw a bracelet I completely fell in love with: two cobra's twisted together.. fully made of silver and heavy as hell! but it was too expensive for me *sobs* I did finally found a pinky ring ^^ the day went by without too many problems, but when it was time to head back, one of the guys was missing. we eventually found him though, luckily, and we were able to leave after just a bit of delay. back at the hotel it was time for dinner and then sleep ^^ day 5: thursday this was one of the days I had been looking forward to most ^^ the group split up in two, one of the groups went to a cooking course and the other, including me, went to camel ride ^^ it was so much fun and my camel, Jamila, was soooo sweet and cuddly ^^ I fell in love with camels due to their beautiful eyes and well, they just look cool! the guide with us was downright insane. still fun though. singing and suddenly jumping on the back of the camels ^^" we had tea in a berber village and learned the proper way to make Morocco's famous mint tea ^^ it's so yummy hehe when we had to leave the camels behind, I asked if I could take it with me.. but halas, it didn't fit into my bag T_T the afternoon we had some more free time. and I'm not actually sure what we did.. oh wait, we went into the city again to do some more shopping YAY ^^ in the evening, there was a little trip to the Jemaa el Fna, the big square, planned. since we were already close, we decided to stay in the city. unfortunately, I hadn't brought my jacket, so I got pretty damn cold in the evening ^^' thank goodness, I was with a group of girls who had loads of knowledge about scarfs, since they'd bought an awful lot of them already.. they helped me pick out two scarfs which helped me keep warm ^^ and they actually look pretty good on me too ^^ (Silver's scared that I'm actually preppy deep inside *laughs*) the guys in the city can get pretty damn scary in the evening.. the souks turn into somewhat of a flesh market for women.. it seems like some guy actually try to bargain for me with the two guys in our group. luckily, they scared him off eventually ^^ back at the hotel, is was time for dinner and after that, I went to sleep again ^^' the days were so tiring ^^' day 5: friday a trip to the Atlas mountains. it was fun, really beautiful and exhausting. while still suffering from the muscle aches the camel ride had brought, we had to climb up some pretty steep parts. especially in the village where we had lunch. we had to climb past snow and ice and it was pretty slippery ^^" on the way back, we went down in jeeps, which was scary as hell! the hairpin bends right next to deep dropoffs and nothing but slippery mud made the adrenalin flow ^^ in the evening, we went clubbin' ^^ it was so much fun, though I have to admit, I drank a bit much.. the bartender liked me though, so I managed to get some drinks for less than the ten bucks I was supposed to pay for them ^^" danced with quite some guys, but eventually, they started to tire me.. luckily, Danny came to the rescue by telling them I was his girlfriend hehe ^^ I headed back to the hotel with the last group and since my roommates had gone back earlier, I was afraid that they'd be asleep already. my fear turned out to be reality, so I crashed in Danny's room. he didn't mind and neither did his roommate ^^ we got in bed and... hehe, naw, just kidding ^^ don't worry (oh, how evil am I? I just really wanted to use that pic hehe ^^) he was knocked out pretty fast hehe ^^ day 6: saturday early in the morning, I snuck out of the room, went to get breakfast and then went back to my own room. the other girls had woken up by then and were glad to see I was ok ^^" I was shocked to find out I had lost the bracelet I'd gotten from Yensid-sensei! but I was sure it had to be somewhere in the room. so I planned to asked Danny as soon as he woke up. which turned out to be in the evening. the whole day was free and I headed out with some other girls to do some last minute souvenir shopping. I actually bought a knock-off Gucci bag, which is pretty cool for going out ^^ and I bought some gifts for friends ^^ but I won't tell what they are ^_~ in the evening, we had an ending dinner, which was fun and very filling. I didn't feel too good so I ended up not eating that much.. but it was still fun to have the whole group together. day 7: sunday an early morning. we had to check out of the hotel at 6.15 am, breakfast at 6.30 and we headed out for the airport at 7. when I asked Danny about my bracelet at breakfast (he hadn't found it the other day) he had found it YAY!! one of the girls kept teasing me, saying my bracelet was in Danny's bed.. but oh well ^^ the trip back home was boring again.. I kind of fell asleep again and at the transfer, I got pretty annoyed when a woman was in my seat.. when I told her she was, her husband or whatever asked me if I wanted to sit next to the window.. which was in fact my seat, but when I told them that, they started acting really immature and kinda mean.. they eventually did get up and let me in my chair. the rest of the way, they didn't really bother me, mostly thanks to my MP3 player ^^ back in Amsterdam, we had to wait forever for our luggage, but then it finally showed up and I could head out to see Silver. I didn't actually see him at first, but that's all ancient history since I posted about that last time ^_~ well, that's the story of my trip. if y'all will excuse me now, I'll finally go and clear away my suitcase and souvenirs ^^" I promised my mom I'd do it on monday.. MCL, I'm outti

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