I have never been very consistent with blogging, but I thought I'd give it another go as I venture out for several months of traveling in Morocco, Spain, and France. Friends and colleagues either view this as the most amazing plan ever or as pure craziness... after finishing another year at the Smithsonian Folklife Festival and my Master's thesis in Arts Management in August (and due to a lack of full-time employment), I decided that I wanted to travel (again), learn a new language (French), spend some serious time with my boyfriend, Wadih (after seeing each other only 3 times in the past 2 years), and get some more "life experiences." As a result, I left the United States yesterday and will be abroad through the early part of 2012, depending on jobs and cash flow.
As I write, I am sitting in a hotel room in Madrid after a very long trip from Lancaster, PA to Dulles International Airport, to Copenhagen, and finally to Spain. Although we were all worried that Hurricane Irene would delay my flight, it didn't, and my trip was all-in-all rather uneventful. Denmark was interesting - not only was the airport filled with designer stores (Gucci, Luis Vuitton...), but it felt as if I had entered the land of white (and whiter) people. The homogeneity of the travelers was incredible!
Arriving in Madrid was like coming home in a way... hot, dry, and arid - every time I enter this country I fall in love with it all over again. Despite my frustrations with bureaucracy and inefficiency, Spain is a truly spectacular place.
Tomorrow I fly out of Madrid and arrive in Casablanca, where Wadih and I will begin three weeks of traveling so that I can get to know his country, his family, and his culture. Needless to say, I am incredibly excited! The itinerary looks something like this: Casablanca -> El Jadida -> Rabat -> Marrakesh -> Ifrane -> Fez -> Rabat -> Tetouan -> Tanger -> Madrid. That's a lot of traveling, but I am sure that it will be an unforgettable experience :)
So that's it for now... more posts to come once I truly begin my travels (and after I've had a good night's sleep!) Thank you for all of your well-wishes and for your help in making this possible... and a special thanks to my family for being so incredibly supportive of all of my crazy trips and travels. More soon...
