My Story: aFRica

Today began eeeearrrrlyyyyy. Had the alarm set for 4:45 am... well, actually I had three alarms set, just in case. We woke up and fussed with directions and details for parking. Mom & Dad attempted to go to the neighborhood market but its Spain and no one here wakes up before 11am. It was worth a try, though.

We made it to our destination perky, and on time which means for the Bormans 15 minutes early. The perkiness faded as the bus to pick us up was 5 minutes late, 10 minutes late, 20 minutes late, 45 minutes late. Wow!! They're here! We hopped in the very full greyhound-ish bus and headed off to Tarifa where the boat we were taking was leaving from. Well, or so we thought. Just as Pedro was 45 minutes late picking us up, we were also 45 minutes late to the dock and well, the Captain just wasn't interested in waiting for Pedro.

While the bus was waiting for a few minutes for action plan B I hustled quick inside the station to use the bathroom.... Would it kill em??

Pedro decided to take us to Algeciras - a place about 40 minutes back west to another ferry which PROMISED to wait for us! Off we were. The ferry was actually quite nice and customs was super easy with our tour sticker.

As we got into Africa it was pouring down rain. FR and I knew we had quite an adventure ahead of us. He stayed mostly in my bag this day. I copped the front seat on the travel/tour bus and was able to score a most gorgeous view of the sites. Since it was raining (and we were then an hour or more behind schedule) we really couldn't get out to see the sites so the tour guide spoke very good English in a very strong Fahrensche accenteh.

We stopped just outside the Casbah (don't judge me for potential bad spelling, I'm too tired to look it up!) and walked towards the city. We ate a very enjoyable traditional lunch with an egg noodle soup, lamb kebaps, a chicken cous cous dish, a honey bread and mint tea dessert. Musicians were playing in the back ground. We headed outside to walk to the traditional rug makers shop to hear the presentation.

This is when the shit broke loose. As we walked the streets there were beggars, and more beggars, and more beggars, and more and more. When I say beggars what I mean is people with amputated legs, eyeballs missing, fingers or yellow teeth missing, cut and torn lips and skin, staggering limps, bruised faces, rags on their bodies, a loss of hope in their eyes, their skin looked like leather. They all had something to sell, but it was the way they did it. It was so agressive. They would walk up to you, and shove something in your way. If you tried to keep walking they would walk with you and drop the price and continue to say the object item over and over shaking it around your hands. The more agressive the better they thought. It was just so much to handle and see. Kids no more than 5 years old with their eyebrows tightened begging you to buy gum from them, or a wood turtle. Not for only a minute this happened - this happened in and on and around all the streets. This happened for the rest of the day.

We went to the rug place, I hustled some cute sandals and a souvenir for my brother. I'm a good bargainer. We headed over to a oil and spice place, where it was the same thing. Demonstration and ability to buy. It was really nice and I spent quite a bit there but got a ton of really amazing things there.

At this point they told us we had 45 minutes to ourselves, but the beggars were just too much so we thought we'd grab a table and play it safe. This wasn't the scapegoat we thought it'd be. Still people coming up to us and begging. It was just exhausting.

We headed back to the bus, with the beggars literally walking us out of town and onto the bus. We headed to do some camel back riding!! Dad didn't ride but he did get a kiss!! :)

All in all, it was a great day. I made some new friends, and had a very fun time talking with them. There was a suprising number of people there from the Virginia area. I don't know if I would go again. My spirit was exhausted for almost anothe 24 hours, but I am glad I did it. I got some great souvenirs for some loved ones, a new appreciation for life and what a "real" ghetto is, and now I'm able to say I went to Africa.

Next, please.

Life is good, so much more than I ever realized until Africa.

mom and FR on the way to aFRica