More-Occo Please

I know I haven't been so diligent with keeping up. Time is really flying here, I can't believe April is almost over!
I just returned from Morocco - maybe one of the best trips of my life (which is really saying something!) The 6 day trek was perfect, it included a lot of Moroccan cuisine, guided tours, and even a night in the Sahara desert. We had a woman from Fez on the tour that was able to answer questions and tell us some history of each place we visited. I still can't believe I was in Africa.

We took a ferry from Tarifa to Tanger, and immediately headed to Rabat. It is a pretty city on the west coast of Africa.
We first exchanged money - I look totally rich!

The restaurant we stopped at was probably my favorite of the whole trip. We had this pastry dish filled with chicken and topped with cinnamon and sugar. I need to learn how to make it. It was delicious.

After touring the small Medina, we headed to Fez for the night. Then early in the morning headed to the desert!

This is the monument for King Mohammad.

The trip into the desert was interesting. It will be all dead looking and then out of nowhere an Oasis of palm trees will pop up!

The last city with roads that you see on a map is Merzouga. After that it doesn't look like there are any roads...because there aren't. We hopped in to 4x4's and each driver took a separate route across the sand to the hotel we were staying at. A little scary at first because the road just ends. And each driver takes off differently because it is hard to follow someone when the sand is all being kicked up. It is a bumpy ride, and one of the cars even got a flat tire on the way! Such a contrast from the rocky desert to the sand dunes!

The rocky desert. Cattle in the background!

Our 4x4 group.

Picture of the sun...there was a dust storm that day!

I still couldn't believe I was in Africa. Such contrasting landscapes throughout the drive.

Until next time - I will be updating on the Dunes of the Sahara. Probably my favorite part of the trip!

Tori

Ice Cream in a Bag

So last Friday I was able to go to the Chemistry class of 4th eso (students are equivalent to being Sophomore's in High school).
I had been asked to come to the Chemistry class, so after racking my brain from my high school/middle school Chemistry classes, I finally decided that making ice cream in a bag was one of my favorites. It shows chemical changes with salt and it lowers the temperature of the ice when the Na is splitting from the Cl. I remember having to take the temperature of the ice in this process, and the detailed lab write up we had to do for this. Including the Scientific Method - which I hated then but now it makes sense that we had to do that...
The students in this class though - didn't have to do any of that. I basically told them step-by step what they needed to do AND I gave a description of what was happening with the chemical changes and WHY we were doing this experiment. 
We had most of the supplies we needed (finding Vanilla extract here is impossible - so we just had them make chocolate flavor instead) The professor bought the wrong kind of pint-sized bags - I was a little disappointed about that because the zip-lock works SO MUCH BETTER. He bought the ones you tie - which makes the experiment a LITTLE more challenging. Even without, the experiment worked just like I wanted, and the students really liked it.
They were too funny because the ice gets SUPER cold. I warned them of that, and told them to try and put their sleeves over their hands to do it. Some of them whined that the bag was too cold, I had to explain that they needed it be that cold for the liquid in the other bag to turn more solid - just like ice cream. haha. After about 7 minutes of rocking the bag of ice back and forth, I checked all of the students, and most of them did a great job and their liquid was cold and solid like ice cream.
It was really neat to be able to go to a class other than English and do an experiment. Another chemistry professor came in to watch the experiment and decided to do the lab with her class as well - it was a good feeling.
Glad it all worked out, maybe we can do it next year too!

Until Next time

Tori

Italia

I have been away from a computer for awhile.

We (Mike, Karlyn, and I) have moved to a new flat. It is awesome. It is located closer to the main square which gives me easier access to one of our favorite bars - Meson del Toro. It has been especially nice since the weather has been beautiful and it is easy to go and get a drink or some of their delicious food and sit outside in the nice weather with other Spaniards living the Spanish lifestyle. I could also be the demise to my bank account...
The new flat also allows us to all have our own rooms, which is really nice since Karlyn and I had different schedules. We spend more time in the Sala now, there is a huge balcony for us to do laundry, and a nice terrace. I am happy to say I am very happy and very content here. I welcome anyone that wants to come for a visit. :)

I left for Italy on the 18th and got home on the 23rd. It was the annual Italy trip for Sotomayor. There were 58 students and 4 professors (counting me). We hit 8 cities, and no one died. I was exhausted by the time I came home. It was an adventure from the start. We took a bus to Barcelona and then sailed the great Mediterranean sea on a huge boat. I had never been on a huge boat, much like a cruise ship before. So that was all new to me - especially the rocking back and forth, there were a few times I lost my balance and had to grab the wall for support! The boat ride was about 22 hours and we finally disembarked in Genova.
We spent a few hours in Genova. The souffle for dessert was amazing. If I ever see 'souffle' on a menu, I am getting it. We did some scenic walks and then left for Milan. 
I thought Milan was awesome, the Duomo (the cathedral) was so pretty. It was very white and gleaming. It was the day of Italian Unification so there were many flags flying, and choirs singing. Some of the group went to the top of the Duomo, and I thought I was going to die with how many stairs were there. I was at the front of the pack and almost threw up (haha @ my Dad and Brother). The cheered me to the top, it was rather humorous.
In the afternoon we left for Verona - the place of Romeo and Juliet. All I could think of is that scene in the modern version that has them in the opening at the gas station saying:  "Do you bite your thumb at me?". Always a good laugh. We didn't have too much time there so we went to a museum with Juliet's 'tomb' - semi funny since some of the students got in it and pretended to be dead. So silly. Then we went to Juliet's house where they have a statue of her and a balcony replication. There are many love messages written on the walls. I wrote one for my friend Dara and I. I probably should have written one for Prince Charming <3's Tori too...

In the night we left for Venice. Venice of course is beautiful and last time I went there I was exhausted, so it was nice to see it wide awake. We went to many plazas and churches - and even took a gondola ride to cross the grand canal (which turned out to be a bit scary because I thought I was going to fall out of the boat!). The food was good there, I had Risotto and of course some gelato.  I bought a few things including a new purse - it is gorgeous and leather.
In the afternoon we left for Pisa - we got there at night so some of my pictures didn't turn out, but it was neat to go and see. Then we left for Florence.
Florence - I do love Florence. It is a really pretty city and has many plazas. We went into the Accademia to see  the sculpture of David by Michelangelo. Plenty of people snuck pictures of that! I ate a ton of Gelato there, I remember last time I was there and the Gelato was the best out of any city in Italy. We then drove to a panoramic site and took a group picture before leaving. Then we left for Siena.
We weren't in Siena long, so I wasn't too impressed with it. It was also at night so all of the churches were closed. I would have liked to see it during the day to see what it had to offer. I hear it is a beautiful city.
Then we left for Rome! Our last stop on the trip! We got to the hotel after midnight and the students wanted to go to the beach, which was a 5-10 minute walk. Only problem is that the hotel owner would lock the door so if you went to the beach, you had to stay out until 6am. Plenty of them did it, and told me I "slept a lot" meaning I didn't go to the beach to stay out until 6am then walk all around Rome the next day!
I like Rome a lot, I love Roman art history, and the plazas, and the fountains everywhere. So it was nice to be there for 2 days. We went to the Vatican the second day and this time I was able to go and see the tombs of the past Pope's. which was really neat to do - especially seeing Peter's tomb.

All in all it was a great time and I was able to speak a lot of Spanish and get to know my students as well as the other professors more. We all laughed a lot, and one of my students asked me to marry him (which I said "No gracias" to.)

I'll have to post some pictures once I get them organized.

Until Next Time

Tori