My new home in København

It didn't quite feel real when I arrived in Copenhagen for the first time. For the few days between Morocco and Copenhagen, I had been staying with Philippe, Chiara, and Leo. I was able to explore Paris a bit with Chiara, with a highlight being our visit to the art gallery at 59 Rue de Rivoli. It was a building that gave spaces to a bunch of artists on each floor. People could watch them work, talk to them, and buy some artwork, and the walls were covered in incredible graffiti. We especially liked an artist named Francisco, who painted two small portraits of Chiara and I. I also was able to spend time with her cousin and some of her friends, but it was hard to communicate since not many of them were too keen on speaking English. It was still great seeing Chiara however, and it was cool to see Paris from her perspective.

Some of the graffiti at the art gallery in Paris

I left Philippe's at an ungodly hour in the morning, taking a taxi to the airport. My transition through security was anything but easy, as AirFrance had a heyday ripping me off and making me check all my luggage. I had to run to catch my plane, but I made it and was safely on my way to Copenhagen. When I arrived in Denmark, it was about 9am and still relatively dark outside. There were DIS (my program) representatives everywhere around the airport, and I was able to find the group very easily. We were bearded into the conference room, where they sent people off depending on where they were living. I boarded the bus with all my luggage and after a 20 minute ride we arrived at my new home.

I'm living in a DRC (Danish Residential Community) right in the heart of Copenhagen. I'm living with all American students, which is a bit of a bummer as it makes it much harder to meet the Danes. I live on a floor with 14 other people, and we all share a common kitchen. There is another group of 14 in the same building who also have their own kitchen, and we have 2 SRA's (Social and Residential Advisors) who are Danish students. I have a single room with a bed, desk, and sink. It's a cute little setup, and it feels like a dorm again.

My window overlooks a small courtyard at Kommunehospitalet

The location of my dorm is PERFECT. I'm technically on a part of the Health and Society campus at the University of Copenhagen called "Kommunehospitalet". It used to be a giant hospital, so it can still look very eery at night when I'm walking home. I feel very safe there, and I have access to everything I could need. We're a 15 minute walk (5 minute bus) from school, which is right next to Strøget, the main walking street. I'm also walking distance from most of the major sights and boroughs in Copenhagen, so I feel very lucky about where I am.


Also unfinished... sorry I promise I'll finish soon!!!

Talk about Amazing Race, activities with Gammel, etc.

MOROCCO

My semester abroad started out on an unbelievable note with a 10 day trip to Morocco.

The trip ended up being me, my mom, my friend Emma (from Middlebury), and Emma's friend Clair. It took us a while to get all the details hammered out and our departure date was fast approaching. Thankfully my mom is the most organized person I know and it all went off without a hitch.

JANUARY 7-8
We left Boston at 5:40pm on January 7th and after many hours of travel and a layover in freezing Montreal, we arrived in Paris at 8:45am on January 8th. As classic American tourists starting off our trip right, we accidentally got into an unregistered cab with a man from Cameroon who barely spoke English. It was one of the more stressful rides of my life, but we ended up arriving safely at Phillipe's house where we were staying the night. After catching up for a bit and getting some much-needed food my mom and I crashed and slept until dinner.

Seeing Phillipe, Chiara, and Leo again was amazing, and it was so shocking to see how grown up Chiara and Leo were. We had a delicious dinner with them and then hit the hay for another early wake-up.

JANUARY 9
We woke up at the crack of dawn to make it to the airport for our 7:50am flight to Fez. After having some issues at the EasyJet baggage area, we were finally off on our flight to Morocco. It was strange walking off of the plane in Fez because it finally hit me that we were in Morocco. A country I knew almost nothing about before coming. A country with a culture entirely different from mine. A country where things I might consider normal were completely unacceptable, and where things I might consider completely unacceptable were normal. It was a bit of a culture shock. I read a book on the plane there about what it was like for a girl to grow up in a harem, but I could have read an entire library on Morocco and still been surprised about the things I found once we were there.

We passed easily through the customs in Fez, and were picked up by a driver who brought us to our riad. We stayed in Riad al Bartal in Fez, and it was beautiful. When we walked inside, we were greeted by the sounds of running water and birdsong, and our host Abdul sat us down with traditional Moroccan mint tea and treats.

                                                                               our room on the top floor

                                                         enjoying the birdsong and delicious tea


It was nice to have a moment to sit and relax in the tranquil oasis before facing the bustling streets of the Medina. We couldn't stay long though, as we were meeting Emma and Clair at Bab Boujloud, one of the main gates of the medina. They had both been in Morocco for a few days already, so they were well versed in how to find their way around and interact with the locals.

One thing about Morocco that would have been important to know when first getting there was that none of the streets are marked, none of them are straight, and that Moroccans are really terrible with directions. When we say "straight ahead" it's pretty self explanatory. When they say "straight ahead" it means there are at least 20 turns and dead ends involved and there is no way to look at a map and figure out where you are. We learned this quickly, as we got lost in our first 5 minutes in the medina. We finally found Clair and Emma, and set off around 1pm to begin our explorations of the city.

We spent the day walking around the medina and exploring the shops. It was so easy to get lost in the streets; every turn we took looked exactly the same. It felt like something out of another world. There were baskets overflowing with spices, jewelry, oils, pottery, and other beautiful things. The air smelled of a combination of fresh spices, tanned leather, and sewage. We were surrounded by the sounds of people shouting to one another. We had to dodge the occasional donkey or motorbike that sped by us on the tiny streets.

UNFINISHED

Welcome to my Blog!

Hi all!

Since I'm so terrible at keeping up with emails, I thought I'd create a blog where I can post pictures and keep you all updated on my travels.

I'll try to update it as often as possible. Adventure is out there!

Leslie