Alex: Today was a Fairytale, I Wore a (Maxi) Dress

I was right. Morocco is the moment that I’ve been dreaming of for a very long time. I cannot love this country, this culture, or this population more. It’s everything I have prepared myself for while preparing to study abroad in Egypt. While the Arab population cannot be grouped into one bubble, what people say about this culture is true. It is so welcoming, friendly and warm (the weather and people’s personalities). Also everything is just so beautiful. I constantly look out of the bus windows and everything catches my eye. Not to say that it’s not dirty, there aren’t stray cats everywhere and the buildings aren’t slowly falling down but it’s an old African country with a fascinating history and all of the smells, cats and broken pieces have their place in a very special history.  It differs from Amsterdam 100%. A lot of students can’t wait to be back in Amsterdam and neither can I, but at the same time I want so much more time with this beautiful country and welcoming culture. It’s going to be very hard to say goodbye to Morocco.

Right now, I am on a bus heading from Rabat to Fes. It’s really hard to sum up what we did this last week in Rabat, but I’ll give you a little bit of an idea.

-There was a lot of bargaining at the Medina (I ROCK at the Medina. Expect some great Xmas presents!)

- We had lectures on Muslim women & veiling, Islam & Homosexuality, Women & the Arab Spring, Muslim Sexuality Education and much much more.

- We visited the third biggest Mosque in the world (that was actually in Casablanca)

- We sang ‘It Wasn’t Me’ by Shaggy with Ronald McDonald and a bunch of  French/ Arabic speaking 6 year olds (also in Casablanca)

-We visited a NGO that helped unwed mothers who were displaced from their homes (We did a lot in Casablanca)

- I saw Joy Finneran and got to speak with other SIT students who were studying abroad in Morocco! They gave me incredible insight on what it was like to study abroad in a country completely different from Amsterdam. I loved seeing you, Joy, and I hope the rest of your semester is absolutely incredible. You deserve it!

- We had lunch with a Moroccan family in their homes. I went with three other students from my program and we had a PERFECT time. The family was so welcoming and we ate a lot, danced, and fell in love with the Moroccan family. ALSO the host dad was wearing a George Washington University shirt and it was just a total coincidence!!! I freaked out and yelled that that was my university in Arabic! They had a host student from GW 3 years ago. While we were all a little hesitant to do the home stay lunch in the first place, we couldn’t have had a better experience if we dreamt it. **Pictures to come later. 

All of these experiences have me on cloud 9. I am so overwhelmed with happy emotions and I cannot stop smiling.  It’s been an incredible experience and I can’t help but feel completely blessed. I realized last night that I am so filled with gratitude I am about to burst. So here is my gratitude bursting.

To my family: Mom, Nana, Theresa, Tami, Sam, Louisa, Kimmie, Mama & Papa Smith and all of the Nash family who I know are following my adventures closely- I couldn’t have had this amazing experience without your love and your support. Please know that I think about all of you guys everyday and I feel the love all the way in Africa. This trip has shown me how much people love me back home and how much support I have to live out all of my dreams.  I wish more than anything I could share this experience with all of you. But I’ll do the best I can by taking lots of pictures and regularly updating my blog.  I love you all to Morocco, The Netherlands and back to the USA.

To Shawnee, Raphael, Sean, Angelina, Boy Alex, Leigh, Kellie, Vicky, Phil, Marissa and Ariel: thanks for checking in when you can. It’s good to know that you all are thinking about me as much as I am thinking about all of you. I miss you and I hope GW & WVU & NJ are treating you well. My heart is filled with so much love every time I get a Facebook message or a Gchat from someone back home. It makes being away a lot easier.

To SIT Netherlands (Including Yvette & Astrid): I actually don’t know how many of you read my blog, but if one of you decided to read it today know that I unconditionally, wholeheartedly love everyone on this trip. In short 6 weeks, you guys have changed my life in a truly incredible way. I have learned so much from every single one of you and I cannot wait for the next 6 weeks together. What an exceptionally brilliant & beautiful group of college students.  Thanks so much for going on this journey with me.

Last, but definitely not least, thank you Mandy for being you. It’s amazing that even when we’re on different continents, you are always there for me. I have no words to describe my gratitude.  I will love you forever.

Sorry for the cheesiness y’all, but I just could not have done any of this without the people in my life and sometimes one has to take time to recognize this.

To one more week in Morocco and 6 more incredible weeks in Amsterdam,

Alex

Mandy: Oh, I Have to Go to School Too??

Greetings from London! Today marks the end of my first week of classes! While all of my friends at home are starting midterms, I opened Word to do homework for the first time in months.

My classes are:

Museums of London: this is a study abroad Classics class where we study museums around the city. We will visit different exhibits with our professor during class and have discussions about how museums are designed, who “owns” the history within, etc.

Experiences of War: (lecture and seminar) this class is an intro class within King’s War Studies department. We have guest lectures each week to cover different aspects of war. This week was about the infantry pre-gunpowder. Yes, there was a clip from Braveheart involved.

Introduction to the Sociology of Religion: (lecture and seminar) I have extremely mixed feelings about this class. On one side, it is an interesting look at the effects of religion on society, culture, race, economics, and politics. But it is an extremely cynical approach at religion itself. The idea is to be “methodically agnostic”, or to remove your own beliefs out of the picture to study the human effects of religion. We are not debating the theology of religions, but are looking at the tangible effects that humans involved in religion have. Everyone is biased, and to be honest, it’s probably impossible for me to not be a bit defensive in this class, since my faith is so important to me…I’ll keep you posted with how this one goes.

The Evolution of Modern Business: (lecture and seminar) I have never taken a business class before, but after my internship this summer, I thought it was about time I did. This is a nice way to ease into Business, since it looks at the history and sociological aspects of business. Although the professor loves to hear himself talk for the sake of talking, which is a bit annoying, I feel like I will learn a lot in this class. 

Between all of that, I have succeeded in doing some touristy things: Free walking tour of London, the Museum of London (which is at the site of the original Roman wall around London), and had several meals of fish and chips around the area. Monday was also the end of the welcome freshmen events with the Gatsby themed Fresher’s Ball!

This week has had its ups and downs, but boy do I love this city: the history, the movement, the art, the people. I could take the Tube to class, but instead I walk over the Waterloo Bridge everyday. It’s a lengthy walk (30-40 min), but I can’t resist the view of the city (and saving money on Tube fare).

One morning this week, I just had to stop and look. And in that moment, standing above the water, with the wind blowing and the view of the London skyline before me, it was perfection. 

Alex: My Thoughts Pre- Morocco

At around 17:40, I will be in an airplane taking off to Morocco. I thought I would document my thoughts going into Morocco to compare them with my thoughts after this 2 week trip.

1. I can't help but think that this is the day I've been waiting for. Two years of Arabic study, falling in love with the Arab culture and immersing myself in learning more about Arab sexuality has led me to today. To finally see if everything I have been dreaming of is true. 

2. I still don't know if I am bringing appropriate clothes. All summer, I didn't buy clothes that I couldn't wear in Egypt. But after all of that I still don't know if I have enough/ if what I have is right. It's going to be a 'test and see the results' kind of thing I guess. Everyone in my program is kind of at a lost, so it feels good we are all on the same page.

3. I couldn't really imagine a better group to go on this adventure with. I know that we all have each other's back. It's gonna be a pretty intimate 2 weeks for us that includes 10 hour bus rides and hotel rooms, but I believe it's going to bring us closer together. Going from Amsterdam to Morocco is a whole other ball game. We'll need each other more than ever because 2 weeks is more than enough time to experience some serious culture shock. And while some people feel like this trip is going to bring some of us over the edge, I love this group. I cannot wait for the two weeks of sleepovers.

4. I do not actually know Arabic like people think I do. 4 semesters, 4 times a week, 4 hours a night of homework and I can really just say hello and tell you about my family. I hope people aren't expecting much from me, but I have my Arabic flashcards just in case.

5. Fun Fact: We're literally traveling all around Morocco. Some of the cities we'll be exploring include Casablanca, Rabat, Fes, Marrakech and a small village in Agadir.

5. And in this moment, I swear we are infinite. 

Alex & Mandy : Rose, Thorn & Bud

As you may or may not know, Alex & Mandy had the magical experience of getting to be together for 4 glorious days in wonderful Amsterdam. As much as seeing each other was a dream, this weekend has definitely has had it ups and downs. Because of these life altering experiences, we have collectively decided to share our Rose, Thorn and Bud of studying abroad thus far.

Rose (Alex): As you have seen from my past blog posts, I love Amsterdam. I do believe it is a magical place and the awe of it all has not worn off yet. I am really bonding with my host family and have come to love my homestay situation as well. Lastly, my peers in this program have really made a place for themselves in my heart. It feels like some of these people have been my best friends for a lifetime. So while everything was externally perfect I knew that something was missing and I couldn’t put my finger on it. Mandy & I have been roommates since Day 1 of knowing each other. We have never been apart for longer than 3 weeks since we have met. So week 5 of being apart, I knew that I was not homesick, but Mandysick. When Mandy sent me the impromptu message about visiting this past weekend, my heart skipped a beat. I was so ready to share the city & the people that I love with my roommate. It was not an easy experience for Mandy, but I am so so grateful she was here. It was exactly what I needed to finish this semester stronger than ever.

On Saturday, I had to go on a solo excursion to Haarlem (for homework) and Mandy accompanied me. I. LOVE. HAARLEM. I. LOVE. THE. NETHERLANDS. We had an exhausting day of shopping at the Grote Market,  antiquing and trying to find the museums on our self-guided walking tour (only for them to be closed when we finally got there). But Haarlem (which Mandy found out IS what NYC’s Harlem is named after) is a more modest version of Amsterdam. It’s old & beautiful & full of wonderful sites.  How lucky was I to have such a great excursion buddy?

Rose (Mandy): So for several months, everyone has been talking about how great it will be abroad, because then you can just take a spontaneous trip to a different country for the weekend. And so I did! I knew if I didn’t see Alex that weekend, it would be another month, and I just wasn’t ready to handle that thought... then realized I didn’t have to!

It was so amazing to be with Alex in Amsterdam. We kept saying, “This must be a dream”. We started our reunion as every reunion should be started - with a running embrace in a train station followed by Karaoke. And I can’t describe how full my heart was. I am so grateful that I got to meet the other students in Alex’s program. We had a great time and it made me happy to know that Alex is with such smart and fun people! I had the pleasure of meeting her host family as well and they were very welcoming. I am extremely thankful they let me stay with Alex. It was also amazing to see how different mine and Alex’s programs are!! We are both immersed, but in such different ways.

I LOVED Haarlam and Alex and I had the perfect day together there. We also visited the Anne Frank house the next day. Then while Alex was in class on Monday, I took a free walking tour of Amsterdam and learned so much about the city! So many fun facts!

Thorn- (Alex) I lost my Iphone. I didn’t realize how much I truly used my Iphone while abroad until I lost it. By losing my Iphone I lost my GPS map of Amsterdam, my easy communication back home and my Spotify. And oh how boring those long morning metro rides are without my Spotify. I’m still trying to figure out a way to fix this situation. Stay tuned. Update: I’ve been chatting with representatives on the Sprint website for the last 50 minutes. Still no progress. Final update: I was going to spend a lot of money buying a new phone, but I have decided I just can’t commit to that right now. I will decide post- Morocco if I really need the new phone right now. Spotify and I will just have to take a break.

Thorn- (Mandy) I had to learn a very tough lesson about booking spontaneous trips...in all of my excitement for the trip, I clicked the wrong dates for my flights without realizing until it was too late (the days of). So I made some pricey mistakes while planning everything, which led to a miserable day in the airport and a combination of missed flights, delayed flights, missed class, and a very lonely/embarrassed Mandy. Lesson learned, right?

Also, remember how Alex got sick with a cold a few weeks ago in Amsterdam? Yes, well she warned me to bring NyQuil and DayQuil to London, however I did not think I would need it for this weekend. So as my meds were safely in my London flat, I was in Amsterdam with one of the worst colds I’ve had in awhile. Good thing there is so much tea in the Netherlands

Bud- (Alex) TOMORROW WE LEAVE FOR MOROCCO FOR TWO WEEKS. I REPEAT, IN 36 HOURS I WILL BE IN RABAT. We have a packed schedule of traveling and lectures in Morocco that I will be sure to keep everybody updated on. I’m gonna start studying my Arabic flashcards and see if the 4 semesters of Arabic classes did me any good. GUYS. IM GOING TO MOROCCO. PLEASE PLEASE DONT WAKE ME UP FROM THIS DREAM PLEASE.

Bud: (Mandy) I had my first class (that I wasn’t stuck in an airport for) today! It was the Evolution of Modern Business. It seems tough, but interesting. Next week I’ll have my first full week of classes, and I am looking forward to having a routine. I also got to see my first London theater tonight - a show called Pride. This weekend I’m doing lots of touristy things, but tomorrow I am going to attempt to tackle the, now, mountain of laundry I have. And Monday night is the Fresher’s Ball to welcome all the freshmen at King’s (and study abroad students). It’s Great Gatsby themed, so I am headed to Camden Market tomorrow to find some fun accessories!

Side Note: (Alex) We do not have a dryer in my homestay (most homes in the Netherlands do not). Today, I have officially accepted the fact that not only will my underwear be hung up on display, but my host mom will also insist on helping me hang it all up.

Final thought: (Mandy) The weekend was a whirlwind: full of roses, thorns, and buds. But more than anything, I got to see Alex in her favorite city in the world, and that was worth any obstacles.

Marissa: Sweaters and PSLs and Senators, oh my!

Ah, it's that time of year again... when the weather starts to get a chill, Starbucks is serving Pumpkin Spice Lattes (THANK GOD), a weird virus as well as mono and strep is getting passed around friends, roommates, lovers and embarrassing one-night-stands.

Students are busy over-committing themselves to classes, student orgs, internships, jobs and parties, professors are already scaring them with talks of "mid-terms" and GWorld money is depleting at a surprisingly rapid pace.

Also- SIDE NOTE- our Fall shows are returning: New Girl, Hart of Dixie, HIMYM. Have you two figured out how to watch US TV online over there? 

This last week I have had some type of flu, so I've cleared (more like cleared somethings) out of my schedule. This has been a blessing in disguise. I've been sleeping, I've actually been doing (most) of my readings, I've been enjoying my soy PSLs on the beautiful roof of my building on E st while wearing cozy sweaters. Peaceful moments like these have made me think: maybe I don't want to "do great things" in life. Maybe I want to live a life of leisure. Sleep, read literature, take baths, drink tea while catching up with friends, take long walks around the city, go to events because I have the free time. Go be a yoga teacher in a small beach or mountain town.

But alas, I am brought back to reality when I see something that fires me up, pulls me to activism, parties and overcommitment. Yet, I will still never forget the beautiful moments of peacefulness that free time and getting enough sleep brings. Hopefully in my future I will always stake-out time for myself.

In other news,

• ALL of Generic's four shows for the semester are CAST! 
• I am going to be a judge for Shakespeare Smackdown this weekend. 
• I am FINALLY going to make it to the National Book Festival this weekend
• GW Animal Advocates is on a roll -- our first body meeting is next week and we already have several events lined up! (Notice all of the annoying facebook event invites ;)) I am teaming up with some orgs on campus like the Food Justice Alliance, Roots N Shoots and maybe others
• I am so excited for next weekend because I have the Walk the Moon concert, the Walk for Animals, Student Theatre Kickball and DC VegFest
• I am going to the Marine Corps Ball on November 2 with my parents and still debating who will be my date...

and now let me tell you about my internship with Senator Blumenthal:
So, as one of the seven interns, my primary responsibility is to sort emails. We read constituent emails, and snail mail, and have to figure out what it's about, then label it with a specific, pre-approved label and figure out with Legislative Assistant (LA/LC) it will go to. This is actually a little more interesting than it may sound. I try to take over all the emails with subjects that I find interesting, like animal welfare, environmentalism and women's issues. Other than that, we get to work the front desk/phones and do any other tasks that may be asked of us. We are encouraged to contact an LA/LC who specializes in a particular issue area we are interested in. There is a guy who is in charge of animal issues! So I've been talking to him about starting a project. He says he's new, which is perfect, because I have a lot of knowledge about animal legislation and can help him. SO stoked ;) And next week, I am getting trained to give tours of the capitol building. So send over your friends and family so I can tour them!!!

Oh! And I was a gorilla, during out prop closet cleanout and scared the shit out of FPP board ;) <3

watch video here: http://instagram.com/p/eQIsG0SWOy/ hehe 

Mandy: Has it really only been 3 days?

I am in London! What a crazy ride it’s been so far!

My flights were smooth, but I didn’t get much sleep, which has made the past few days exhausting. I landed and was greeted by the King’s College “Meet and Greet” team where they paired me with another American student who was catching a cab to my residence hall. It was an excellent deal to split a cab, so that worked out well.

My residence hall (Great Dover Street) is in the style of Flats, so I have my own room and tiny bathroom in a hallway with 5 other people. We all share a kitchen and living area. My flatmates are really great! One is an American girl on study abroad (from St. Augustine, what a small world!) and the others are all British guys. It doesn’t feel much different than normal dorms; my flatmates are pretty chill, extremely nice, and I like that we have our own space too.

I am very blessed to have a friend from GW living in the flat above me. He and his flatmates welcomed me with open arms, and it’s been great to get to know them! (Shoutout to Silvario for also setting up my British phone for me!)

There was a welcome reception for the residence hall on the first night. It is primarily freshmen that live here and more specifically, they are science and health majors. The British school system is so different! These freshmen aren’t just doing pre-med, they are diving right into med-school here, since they chose their focus in high school. Most students are fascinated by the fact that I have to take gen-ed classes and that my major (Human Services) is such a mix of fields. It’s a bit intimidating that most students know exactly what they want to do, because the school requires them to choose.

The next day I braved the buses and the Underground all by myself and didn’t get lost! I went to a welcome picnic that the Christian Union held. It was encouraging to talk to Christians from all over the world! The Christian Union has lots of upcoming events, so I’m planning on getting involved!

There are tons of freshmen welcome events that study abroad students are also invited to. Last night was a dance night at London’s Ministry of Sound club. I had such a good time with my new friends! I felt like it was much different than American clubs, where so much of the culture is about “hooking up”, whereas last night, it was just about dancing to your favorite songs with your new friends.

Today was study abroad orientation, registration, enrollment and tomorrow (fingers crossed) I will have my class schedule.

It’s been a little difficult to wrap my head around the fact that I’m in London and not just another big city. It wasn’t until I saw this, that it truly sank in. 

I’m exhausted, excited, and overwhelmingly thankful for my experiences so far. I’ll keep you posted on everything!

Alex: Has it really only been 2 weeks?

Hallo from a Starbucks in Amsterdam!

Yes. I came to a Starbucks to blog in true Carrie Bradshaw fashion. And it's my mother's birthday and her one wish for me was to keep blogging (happy birthday & love you mom!). I have decided to do this blog post as an Amsterdam poem (dedicated to my mother of course).

I amsterdam

All of the rain. All of time.

Metropolitan girl figuring out her way. 

Sun is severely cherished.

Tall people surrounding me. 

Either be on a bike or be out of the way.

Red light district field trip (but seriously. It was a class sponsored field trip and we had a tour)

Dutch people do not take my attempt at Dutch very seriously.

And everyday I learn something new. 

Magical. Amsterdam does not feel like real life. It has only been two weeks and I know it's going to be so hard to return to the states. I love Amsterdam. 

So that poem is not all you're getting even though it was a masterpiece in it's own. I'm sitting here in Starbucks listening to music that makes you want to look at the clouds and have feelings. I've been thinking a lot about how this semester I was supposed to be in Egypt and how crushed I was when that didn't work out. I thought 'It's really true. Everything does happen for a reason. I love Amsterdam and I know it's about to change my life in a positive way.' ** Boy George just came on, but I'm gonna keep going with this mood for a couple more sentences* School is a different set up, but our lectures have been pretty thrilling. It's interesting to be in classes where every lecture is so captivating. Last week we our topics were Feminism in the Netherlands, Black Feminism and Prostitution. This week it's LGBT rights in the Netherlands (I can talk about Queer things for days and it's exhilarating to be around people who feel the same way.) I saw the most beautiful rainbow today and attempted to take a pic, shown above, and I definitely feel like it was a sign that this is gonna be the good life. 

Host Family Update: I HAVE BONDED WITH MY HOST BROTHER (17). I truly consider us friends now. He plays the guitar and he asked me if I sang so we can jam together. I told him I did just so we can be friends. I feel good about that little white lie. He'll figure out soon enough it was a lie and I'm sure he'll appreciate me trying. Did you know that the Netherlands is the world's tallest country? My host brother asked me how it felt being small. You don't really realize how small you are until you're in a bar in the Netherlands. My host sister (15) was at her boyfriend's this weekend so she missed out on the bonding, but I'm still trying.  I am really starting to feel comfortable with my host family and it's starting to feel like home.

I also found a trail right by my neighborhood! It's a really great escape from the crazy, busy life of Amsterdam Center, where I spend most of my time. It was wonderful to debrief and talk a walk along the waters. 

I honestly cannot believe that I have only been in The Netherlands for two weeks. I know I keep saying that, but it's true. I feel comfortable getting to where I'm going and I even gave directions to tourists multiple times! I'm interested in seeing what Amsterdam and fate has in store with me.



Keep dry & keep reading,

Alex