Perspectives

So after another longer hiatus I find the time again for an entry into the blog(actually since I am currently not traveling, there also isn't that much of interest to write about. Of course I should take the time to continue my account of the things that happened in Morocco..).
I have been gone from Germany for almost a full year now, and I still don't plan on going back. However being gone for so long takes its tolls. I tried my German SIM card yesterday and lo and behold the provider has illegally "let it expire", as there was some money left and at least a while ago it was deemed illegal practice to just expire SIM cards like that(well maybe it was legal if they gave you back your money). Also my year long travel health insurance is nearing its end and other things will call for their yearly renewal. So there are quite a few bureaucratic things to take care of..
It also is starting to get cold in Madrid, together with not taking any suitable winter clothing with me(as I was planning to stay in warm areas all the time) and the badly isolated walls (actually isolated is not a befitting term..), windows and doors, this would have become a problem. Luckily though I had three awesome guests last weekend (Julia, Eleni and Julia, in order of appearance) which helped me overcome the clothing problem.

Of course the heating costs will explode anyways during the winter I presume.. I am thinking of options to soften this a bit, but currently it seems I can't really do anything. Everything that would help would probably not be worth it (the kitchen wall for example is a pure joke. So when it hits -5°C here in Madrid, the kitchen will be basically a way to burn money.
I have pondered this a few month ago already and I presume the only solution is to move somewhere else. Which is a pity since the flat actually is nice, at least in the summer and not considering my flatmates..
The difficult thing is, that it is probably rather difficult right now to find something else. Anyways I don't want to move for the time being. I'll stay at least until Dec. 23rd I think. Then it'll depend on several things, the main factor is work. If I won't get another contract extension/new contract the likelihood that I stay in Madrid is pretty low. ;) After all rent is pretty steep here. ;) 

Any ideas for quick and dirty isolation tricks that help even with paper thin walls with holes in them and 1 layered glass doors in crude metal frames are very welcome. ;)

Let's go fuck!

So my new CSer was to arrive soon, and I was in danger of being without a roof. I had to go work the next day though and so again would only have the evening. My idea was just to take the next acceptable room where I could host someone and thus went out that evening, with the intention of finding a place sometime during the night.

I had pre-picked 3 rooms (from images and descriptions I received via mail). The first one was for 280 €uros, everything included, close to the center. The only downside was, that it would only be free 15 days later. In the mail I was told, if I wanted to move in earlier, that may be possible too. Well when I was visiting the flat, the current inhabitant was visiting his parents or something. Thus this option fell flat.
For the second flat a call revealed, that the landlord was currently unable to show me the flat.
Thus I had only one option left( being a bit expensive). At first it seemed visiting that flat wouldn't work out either, as the then inhabitant was just going to see a movie in the cinema. However in the end, we decided to meet up 15 minutes after midnight and she would show me the room and I could move in the next day.
That meant I had quite a bit of time to kill. So, I decided to go eat something. I ended up in a Döner Restaurant, (with the Döners being rather expensive, even though the area looked cheap) eating a Döner (of course). When I was just about to leave, I saw two travelers coming in and I remembered I had received a request from two CSers some time before and wondered whether they were the ones. They were CSers, but not the ones who had sent me the request, still my suspicion was correct, they were stranded without a place to sleep. I talked with them for a bit, but then they went on looking for a place. I had killed enough time I thought and was planing to go for the meeting place (not too far away) and wait there. Heading the direction of the meeting place I saw many women who were apparently prostitutes. When I reached the bulk , suddenly I had one rubbing her breasts against my arm. She said something on Spanish to me, which I didn't understand. I thought the shortest route to getting rid of her was English: " I don't understand a word of what you are saying!" I was wrong though. Quite enthusiastically she replied: "Let's go fuck!" So I was tempted to ask her (jokingly) how much she would want to pay, but then I wasn't sure of her level of English and whether she would misunderstand that as me negotiating over a price. As such I just told her that I wasn't interested. That worked, but then I had others - though not as bold (they were out of touching distance) - trying to convince me. Denying their pleads, I got a :" Why not ?" Sounding like a five year old whose parents just didn't want to buy the object of desire. I really wondered if that works on people, I didn't bother to answer however and had finally passed the bulk of women. (It really was kind of a strange view, the street almost deserted but hordes of prostitutes hanging around.) I was relieved, to have left them behind, as I had heard of prostitutes(and gangs of children) robbing people in Madrid (and I was carrying around something like 350€uro that night).
So on I went passing quite a few scantily clad guys and thinking: "Well they surely are 'open minded' here!" (Later I found out that night was gay pride, maybe an explanation for the deserted prostitutes too ?)
Then there was free live music on a square and I thought; "Hey maybe Madrid is cool, if there always is this festival like atmosphere!" Well the square was directly adjacent to the meeting place and so I could listen to the music while waiting.

Then my 'date' showed up. She and her boyfriend had a car and drove me to their place. She seemed a joyous and friendly person and I almost thought everything could work out fine, even after she told me that the others now had said they had found someone, but since I was the 'first' I had the prerogative. I was alarmed though and I was right to be, as what followed was a farce of a night with 2 hours of sleep or something similar.
We arrived, I was showed around by her boyfriend and then the fighting began. The girls who were remaining there apparently wanted a girls only flat. Whatever it was, they went completely nuts, shouting hysterically at my would be predecessor. After a while of fighting and after the police had been called by them, noting my and her boyfriends ID card numbers. (although they were rather reluctant to do so, after all the whole thing was completely ridiculous) The girls left and there was silence for a while. Unfortunately I had been convinced by my would be predecessor to sleep in the flat( I had offered to just sleep in the car for the night). So after finally finding a bit of sleep, I was woken up by hysterical fights again. They had returned.
There was no reasoning possible and the fighting continued seemingly forever. The next morning I discussed with my would be predecessor and she found me a possibility for a room with one of her friends and I had one room option left. I sent an SMS there and said I'd take the room if it was still available.
I got an answer quickly. Thus I would visit that room in the evening, although I was sure I'd take it, just to end this madness.
Then I went to work very early and found out, that my security clearance didn't allow me to enter the building yet. I then almost fell asleep at work, but somehow managed to get through the whole day. The evening came and I went to the flat with all my stuff and stayed there.
Then the best thing was that my CSer didn't show up, so the whole ordeal was for nothing. I could have just stayed at a hostel and searched for a room! (Although I think in the end it was better, because we met a while later in Madrid and apparently there is something going on with artists, that many of them think the world is there to admire them)

Moving to Madrid

Yes it has been a long time, since I have last written anything here. When you are working all day there is just not that much happening to write about. However since some time has passed there are a few things I can tell. Let's start with .. moving to Madrid!
So I moved to a flat very close to work. I was even able to walk there. All very nice... I had two CouchSurfers planning to come. A french girl was supposed to come on the day I moved in.. and an American guy sometime after.
The french CSer ended up somewhere else, because of communication problems(I tried to reach her on her french number, and it seems there often is a problem with french numbers and when she called me, she left a message on Spanish! ..with a lot of background noise, and so on..).
Then my landlord turned out to be a lunatic. She was/is in another country. Since I moved in 10 days before the end of the month, I asked if it was possible to wait until the end of the month and then pay, because I wouldn't have to transfer money from Germany but could use my first salary here in Spain. Additionaly the amount of money she asked for was higher, than what she had advertised (by 60€uros!) and there was no indication that there may be more cost in the ad. I told her that.
Then she just went nuts. She accused me of not wanting to pay(and she actually made it impossible for me to pay, because she never supplied me with the necessary banking details, even though I repeatedly asked for them!). Well after a few email volleys I got tired of her lies and attempts to threaten me, so I warned her, that I would get an attorney on the case. This definitely had an effect and she offered me, to pay less, if I'd move out. I happily accepted that offer, knowing how easy it is to find a flat in Madrid during the summertime (if you are not picky) and that I would be rid of her...
I also had the American CS guy with me during that time and had accepted a Russian artist (sometime before my landlord went nuts) who wanted to come in July to stay with me.
Originally I wanted to look for a flat during the night as time was short and I was working during the day. So on one evening I went out to look for a flat, only to return 1 minute later... I asked someone on the street about night buses and they said there wouldn't be any going. (I checked later and I think that was incorrect information..)
To be continued!

The missionary position

A while ago I was approached by a few missionaries of the church of Jesus Christ. Two "elders" and one of them was just an ordinary member of the church. Of course they were Americans.
So I thought how hilarious, they want to try to convince me of their beliefs, or rather 'knowledge'. They told me they knew god exists. At that point I thought they are definitely lunatics, as it is logically impossible to know if a god exists(or not) if you argue that a god cannot be detected by scientific methods. On the other hand, if you argue that this god could be detected, than you have no case as this hasn't happened. So I thought well usually these church people are well connected, maybe they could be of use in finding me a room and it would be interesting to see what they would try. I have had many boring/frustrating discussions with Muslims all following the same flawed path of reasoning and I know two people who took part in a "Jugendfreizeit" (I think youth camp might be a workable translation..) by some christian sect. From what they told me it seemed, that they mixed some drugs into the food.
Well anyways I gave them my phone number and after I don't know a week or two I get an SMS that we could meet, if I had time the next days. Of course now that I am moving to Madrid I neither have time nor interest. At least that is how it would have been, if I had gone to Madrid today (I haven't). Then they send me a message that I could come today to a conference about social integration and the role of religion and government. Well since I didn't go to Madrid today already, I could have gone, but I have better things to do than to listen to a speech on how they plan to achieve more power. That's what this is about, the method of a sect to gain power. Draw in people who are in need, by offering them help. Earn their trust and strengthen ties with the government. Draw in the young, for they can be molded to become proper followers or sheeple as some say.
Funny though how young their "elders" were. :)

Well tomorrow I will definitely leave for Madrid!

bureaucracy

It is raining again.. well this will hopefully be the last night in the tent! If I am lucky, I will be moving to a room in Madrid, Hortaleza tomorrow .. or on Sunday. (If that doesn't work out, I'll be sleeping in a Hostel for a while.)
It is far from an ideal place to live(the room), but I will be ok for a while.
I was expecting a bit more enthusiasm from prospective future flat mates. I was shown the room by someone not even living there(I think she was the landlord or something), even though everyone was there. Two of my flatmates didn't even come out of their rooms at first until I said: "Hi!" Well one of them will leave towards the end of August. So cards will be mixed anew.

Then I had been in Madrid two times without too much success. The reason I went there was to apply for a NIE(an identification number for foreigners), although after reading many contradictory things I am not sure I actually need one. On the other hand it is asked for by the employer and will probably make many things easier.
So I went to the police station in Madrid, after searching for the right street for some time. There I waited in a line for some more time and then was told to go to another police station... okay so buy another metro ticket and go there. Then at that police station I was told... to go to another one ..again.. So another ticket and .. too late, because they are only open from 9-14 o'clock .. There were others sitting there (definitely not native Spaniards, so the chance was high they would speak English) and I asked them. They said the station would open again at 16 o'clock. "Strange!", I thought, "Probably just for people with appointment" . After all the opening times on the wall clearly read 9-14 o'clock. I decided to wait and eat a Döner, Moroccan style (with Olives) and in Dürüm instead of bread. So far I have learned one thing, all the 'normal' Döners here in Spain are too small!
Then at 16 o'clock I went to the police station again and they were open, but told me to come between 9-14 o'clock another day. Of course on all the police stations the persons that mattered only spoke Spanish. The police officer at the door speaks a bit of English .. but the persons responsible for foreigners just speak Spanish. One could think there is a policy behind this..
The next time I came with the pictures for the document, but they also want two copies of the passport, as if they can't do the copies themselves..
Whatever, they gave me a form to fill out. The thing is this form is not the simple form for the NIE, but one for a tarjeta de residencia. This is standard for Europeans. We don't need the NIE instead they have us apply for this tarjeta, which we wouldn't need either (afaik). Well the good thing is, I think this means I will have to pay less tax and a few things will be cheaper for me. So it's not bad, but still cheating! Or maybe I just didn't understand enough of what they said ?

Whatever. Then yesterday I read the information I got from my employer again and noticed that I would get information on these things at my HR Induction. Well so much for trying to get this done before work starts..
After that I decided to stop my fight with the form (I am not sure exactly what I have to fill out) for now and since the visit to another flat I planned for today didn't come to be, because after one mail I didn't get a reply anymore and I didn't find the contact data again, I have a 'free' day today ... with lots of rain (Oh it stopped!). I think I'll eat another Döner today. The last one in Alcalá de Henares or something like that, or maybe a Döner plate would be better...

Rain

I always thought of Spain more as a dry and hot place.. Well I am going to have problems with wetness around here! Just after I left the tent today it started to rain and it hasn't stopped for hours! Good that I tried to fix the tent a bit yesterday. I just hope I won't come back to a swimming pool later on!
I am absolutely not equipped for this situation. The biggest problem are the shoes. I am walking around with sandals.. The other pair of shoes is also totally unsuitable for this weather. This would be less of a problem if I would be in the city, but walking through wet meadows with sandals is just not advisable. There are also far too many thistles around!

Looking for rooms around here also seems is a minefield. Many of the pages are just meant to solicit money from you. How bad is it, if a service that is meant to help you find a room, offers 6 month memberships ..
Of course you have to become a "premium member" to actually be able to use the site!

Oh btw. Hello Sergio! I am a bit surprised that you managed to find this blog, or did I tell you of it ? As you can see I am still around, so if you still want to do the intercambio, you know how to contact me.

First time at the office building

Now there is still some time left until I actually start working (21st of June), but I went to the office building today to fill out some forms. On my way there I got a bit lost in Madrid and wandered around for about 3 hours before finally finding the building. :)

They take security rather seriously there. I was given a card to be able to enter through the main entrance. Then I got a visitor clearance ( I was allowed to walk around with someone else) and I think you only get clearance for the level you work in. Oh and I was not allowed to take any recording device with me. I only read that when I was in there (so I had my mobile with me..).
I was only there for about 15 minutes, filling out the forms and then I walked back to the train station which took about 1 1/2 hours. Yep I definitely should get a flat nearby, otherwise I will pay a lot in bus/metro tickets..

For some completely unrelated thing, to the female world out there:
Please stop applying Makeup while driving! If I had not been careful I probably would have been killed twice here already by women who don't look onto the street..! (Of course, guys should not apply Makeup while driving either. ;) )

The tent will be history soon!

So I have been staying in the tent for the last few days and I am already starting to look really wild again! Why did I stay however ? Well I applied for a job on saturday. I then checked my mails on monday and had a reply, that they were interested. So I had to fill out a Questionnaire and the next day an Email test and then I had an interview by phone. Finally I have a job! That certainly happened rather quick all of a sudden.

Now I just have to find a room!

As for the tent it is currently a rather nasty place to stay at, because it is raining all the time and nothing really dries if it got wet. I think I will move to a hostel a day before I start to work or so, if I can't find a flat by then. So that I can take a shower at least. :)

Luggage, money and disorientation

So tomorrow I will leave aimlessly for an unknown place. The parents of a friend of the students here are going to sleep here. I thought I would have another place to stay, as I had gotten a reply from someone on CS a few days earlier that he had a room etc.. But then I got a mail today, that he currently can't host me. I should should make a decision on what to do, but somehow I am a bit aimless now. Well there is one profile left on CS, so I could write a request and I probably will, but I was told it's unlikely that they have room now ( my host here knows that person and then it is for tomorrow...).

I really would need to earn a bit of money before actually continuing my travels. I was told that it's practically hopeless for me though, because you need to have a working level of Spanish for almost all jobs. The others would be long term jobs.
I am tempted to try just hitchhiking around without a plan for a bit, but my luggage is too heavy for that and if I end up in the middle of nowhere I would be in serious trouble without food etc.. This is the problem of property..

There is rain predicted for tomorrow..
Mmm will certainly be interesting and it may then be a very long time before I will be online again.

Under a roof again

I left the remains of a tent on Saturday. Since then I have been staying with 3 Serbian students, but nothing has really changed. Neither did I find a room nor any work around here. I think I should learn more Spanish first, but somehow little opportunity arises.

I also didn't manage to sleep at all tonight so am really tired now. I have to see where I can go now though. Nothing really seems to work out in Spain.

I think Spain hates me!

I have been looking for a 'piso' here for almost a month now without success. The tent was attacked by 'wild natives' and then yesterday it rained, even though they predicted rain for Wednesday as the soonest!
I also found the friendliest people here in Spain are foreigners, or so it seems to me so far. Maybe this is just due to the fact, that most Spaniards don't speak anything but Spanish.

Perhaps I should flee Spain before it gets worse!

I have to admit though, I think most people I talked to around here are actually not Spanish. (Which is a bit weird, in itself)

It was a tent

So just the day after my last entry it happened. They threw stones at the tent. The result: 3 holes and a broken tent pole. The tent is still usable .. as long as it doesn't rain. Of course now I am not protected from nasty insects anymore. The first mosquito came by this morning took a bit of my blood and payed the ultimate price for it. *sigh*
I left 2 notes that to either pay 30 €uros or the stones with their fingerprints will go to the police.. Yesterday one of the notes was missing, so I presume they got the message. I'll see if this works out.
There are really many strange people around here. There is also a guy running around in underwear on the field every or almost every day.
Then yesterday I think I found the place where female prostitutes are. There was a strange woman. At first when I saw her, I thought she was just one of these slightly strange and extroverted people. She looked like Pippi Langstrumpf from the style of her clothing and she was walking around as if she was looking for something. Then she noticed me looking at her(I was walking behind her) and she stared at me. I just thought: "yeah, slightly weird" and passed her. Well after a while I noticed she was following me, that is to a certain point. When it became obvious that I was leaving the parking zone(without a car) and didn't wait for her, she turned around and continued to behave the way she was behaving when I first saw her. So, I suppose she was a prostitute looking for customers. Still, the style of clothing.. just strange.

.... Intermissions!

Maybe I'll just keep up with the intermissions for now - its just a bit difficult to write anything, living in a tent. :D I can't take the laptop to the tent either and it has proven to be a smart move that I didn't.. not just because of the humidity. Last Saturday someone, or more likely a few someones broke into my tent, while I was not around. Luckily they didn't steal anything, but they really searched through all my things .. well all my things that were in the tent. The most valuable thing in the tent was my sleeping bag. Everything else I had either with me or is stored in a secure location. Well I am going to use a lock now. Hopefully that won't inspire the next fool to use a knife..

Well I am still alive and nothing is missing. There are a lot of strange things going on here and now I have mail order bride advertisements on my blog again. I wonder how Google got the idea that this has anything to do with my blog! Maybe traveling to these locations indicates a high likelyhood of being interested in such things.

When I tried to walk to the mountains - it was on Friday I think - I took the road that is apparently frequented by male homosexuals looking for prostitutes. When walking there I had a few guys in car masturbating while watching me and one stalked me for a while.. I don't know, but since I am traveling it seems to me prostitution is everywhere. I guess it is not chance, that this is so close to university either.

Keeping up on the Intermissions

One more intermission .. or at least that's the plan currently. ;)
I am going to move to a tent now. I bought the tent already. I just haven't found a good spot to set it up yet.
Somehow most CS hosts around here are already 'booked out', so I'll live in the tent for a while until I find an affordable appartement or a job, or better even both.



On a side note I had two visitors from Spain today(to the blog!). Strange coincidence. I wonder how they ended up on my blog. They didn't come from Facebook and I don't think I told anyone of the blog who would show up as Spanish. Anyways Bienvenidos!

Another intermission

Another intermission before I continue with my travel report. Just a short one. I arrived in Madrid on the 29th of April and am staying with students in Alcala de Henares now. The funny thing is I had my luggage searched when I entered the airport in Tanger. Apparently they thought my soap were drugs or explosives or whatever. Luckily my things can be packed and unpacked rather easily and they also didn't take everything out. This makes me think I could probably smuggle easily.

I have not actually seen Madrid yet .. but there is plenty of time. Today is the first day that I managed to log in though, because usually Google is not working here..most of the time. It seems there is some kind of conspiracy against Google in the south. I had problems with Google services in Morocco and now here. Although I think here it is the University blocking Google most of the time. On the other hand a tracert shows a very long path to the Google servers. Maybe the Internet connections in Spain (and Morocco) are just set up in a very bad manner. Well I made a hosts entry now, maybe that will help. Time will tell.

A guide in Fes

After a bit Michael also woke up and we talked about what we would do. The problem was, we had only one key, so were dependent on each other. He was on a mission to buy and sell. He also had been to Morocco before, so I thought I could benefit from his experience. He didn't want to go with the girls as he thought they would slow him down, so he suggested we should go separate ways from them after breakfast. I was complacent to this. On the one hand I thought it would be great to go with the girls, since they planned to stay in Morocco for almost two weeks (I think the "Spanish girls" planned to stay for 9 days, whereas the polish girls planned for 12 days) and maybe I could travel together with them for a while, on the other hand, there was Michael's experience. I was also unsure of how communication would be with the girls since I didn't know about everyones language expertise yet.

In the end the whole group walked together and we ended up following a false guide, because some of the girls apparently thought it would be a good idea. So not aware of the fact, that we already were in the medina, a boy was leading us to the medina.

He lead us through small backstreets and to a few shops one of them was a shop of leather wares and we could see the tannery of Fes from its roof - and smell it too.

Someone explained the process of tanning and a few pictures were taken. After that we we continued our tour, although at some point parts of our group wanted to get away from the false guide, somehow we still kept following even into the carpet shop of our guide's father. I did not want to enter the shop and stayed at the entrance with An(n)a at first, but after everyone else settled down and have been invited repeatedly, we gave up the resistance and sat down with the others.
The father of the guide then explained the carpet weaving process and Moroccan tea was served. Then he displayed many carpets for us to buy.

Even though nobody in the group needed (or wanted) to buy a carpet some of the girls were talking about buying one of the small carpets to get it over with and asked for prices.
After sitting around for at least an hour in this shop, I decided that this was enough and said I don't want to buy a carpet and left for the entrance, waiting there for the others. After a while the others followed without buying anything too.
The guide then talked with someone who presumably was his brother and it seems they were not too happy. Yet still they said everything was fine and he insisted on guiding us further. However after a few metres I and Michael decided to get away and move around without the guide. Then the girls wanted to be rid of the guide too and they decided to pay him 20 MAD.

To be continued..

Student protests in Agadir, Morocco

Far too long since I have last written a blog entry here, and I'll only continue my travel report next time. I have been staying in Agadir with students for about a week now.

While staying here I have visited the university(Université Ibn Zohr) a few times and while visiting for the first time(on the 10th), I saw students standing in a circle and chanting something. I didn't think much of it, but took a picture. Asking what this was about I was told they were protesting for students rights. It seemed like the usual protests we had in Germany; a peaceful demonstration which will be ignored in the end, so I forgot about it.

Then on the 17th one of the students here told me he had just come back from a demonstration at the university and police was there. Not just the normal police, but police that looks like army to me. He had escaped an arrest attempt but they had caught his friend. He told me one of the students had been imprisoned(in the past) for a year, just for protesting. It seems protests are happening all the time and I hear police sirens and whistleing students almost every day now (I heard them again while I was writing this, yesterday and just now again).
I took some pictures of the police too, but you can't see much, since I took the pictures from far away (I figured since they don't like reporters here in Morocco, it would not be smart being seen taking pictures of the police..). If you look carefully, you can see the guys in green though (in the middle of the first picture, the cars are all police cars):

This shows that there is still a lot to do in Morocco in terms of human rights. Jailing students just for protesting seems ridiculous to me.

Arrival in Fes

Finally we had made our way through the hall and could get our luggage. There also was a money exchange office, so we took the opportunity and changed some money. Next to the exchange office, there was a phone. It was phone where you had to insert a card. Naturally I thought: "Awesome, a phone where I can just insert my debit card and call!" I tried that, but to no avail, the phone didn't accept the card. Then I tried the credit card .. didn't work either. I thought: "Hmm maybe that's the bug which forced banks to reissue a lot of cards in Germany." Meaning I couldn't call that guy. Thus we decided to just go to Fes and try our luck and left the building to look for the bus to Fes.
The first encounter with the Morocco of tourists awaited us just beyond the door. A bunch of taxi drivers was offering to take us to Fes. I don't remember the first price they asked for I think it was something like 100 MAD per person. That's about 10 €uro. Now before I came here I read the maximum you should pay was 20 MAD per person for a grand taxi. We wanted to wait for the bus, but they(the taxi drivers) told us, the last bus was already gone.
We weren't the only ones waiting, there was a group of girls from Spain and we, or rather Michael(he speaks Spanish), got into a discussion with them. (Actually only one of them was from Spain as it turned out later) Then one of the girls( Anna or Ana ) also spoke English and she translated a bit for us. In the end we took two taxis to the Medina of Fes. (We payed 25 MAD per person, the Spanish girls got a better price ifirc) Friends of the Spanish girls had booked a hotel online and we first tried there, but at first they said they were booked out or something. Then we tried the next closest hotel and upon entering a boy asked me: "Quanto Sombrero ?" which is broken Spanish for: "How much for the hat ?" I was confused and didn't understand the :"Quanto" at first so wondered what he wanted and went on. The hotel offered little more than small dirty rooms with beds and also asked too much for them. ( I think they asked something like 75MAD per night per person. )
Then suddenly that other hotel wasn't booked out anymore, but was pretty much the same as the other one. So on we went and tried a far better looking one - they even had a reception. After some bargaining (when we were about to leave) we got an offer of 120 MAD for a double room, so 60 MAD per person. The "Spanish" girls didn't want to take the offer at first but we where tired of searching and so in the end all of us stayed in the hotel. I shared a room with Michael, the Polish girls shared a room and the Spanish girls shared another (bigger) room. We even had a TV in the room and the others apparently had hot water. Unfortunately Internet wasn't working for the time being, they told us.
We went all went to eat something and later walked a bit through the streets but not for to long, being tired from the day. So we returned to our rooms and just for fun I turned my Laptop on - suprise the Internet was working fine. Being tired I didn't really do anything and just went to sleep. The night was a bit cold, (but still ok) since the windows were really thin (as everywhere in Morocco) and there was no isolation to speak of. The next morning I tried the Internet again - didn't work.

To be continued.

Long time no post.

Yes I am still alive and sort of well ( I have caught a cold).

A lot has happened since I arrived in Fes, Morocco. The most obvious thing is that I failed to post my plans before executing them. This was in a large part due to the fact, that I didn't plan anything, but also due to other circumstances. Well, I'll just start at the beginning I suppose. I just can't spice up things with fotos this time, because I haven't made any since arriving in Fes since there were so many with good Cameras around and I still have to ask for permission on whether I can post them.

So I took that flight on the 1st as mentioned in the last article and arrived on schedule in Madrid. Walking through endless corridors in the Madrid airport, denying offers for taxi transportation and waiting for the check-in for my next flight I arrived in the waiting hall for my flight to Fes. Unusually for Ryan Air the boarding started late. What's more, this time they actually carefully checked luggage to fit size requirements etc.. I think the flight was almost booked out. This all took quite some time and so we started late. I heard one of the guys responsible for the checking etc.. saying that this was the second longest boarding he had ever experienced. Lucky I wasn't around for the other one.. ;)

It was impossible to catch this up and so we arrived late. I don't remember, maybe it really was an hour too late ? On the flight I noticed a blonde girl with a green backpack and I wondered whether she was another couchsurfer, she definitely looked like a traveling student. But more on that in a few sentences.

Leaving the plane I felt a bit lost. Having booked no hotel or prepared anything I was wondering were I would end up. Well I had a contact from couchsurfing who would show me around in the city. So the first thing to do after getting my luggage would have been to call him. He also knew a few hotels he could show me.
Then there was an endless line in the reception hall of the airport and everyone had to fill out a form with information on job, place of departure and destination. The only problem was I had no pen and I wasn't the only person with that problem. The blonde girl and her friend (girl) also were looking for a pen. They asked a blonde guy who was filling out his form and I noticed on his form, that he came from Germany. I then asked him for a pen too, and learned that his name was Michael. We talked a bit and the girls(Hanusia and Paulina) joined in. It turned out nobody had booked a hotel yet, so we decided to look for one together and I told them I had a guy from Couchsurfing to call. As it turned out Hanusia and Paulina are both on Couchsurfing too and I thought: "Wow this seems far more common than I ever imagined!"

To be continued ... I am going to eat something now !

To africa I fly

Tomorrow(Monday) I'll fly to Morocco! It will definitely be interesting. I haven't booked a hotel or planned anything. So far I have always booked things beforehand... I'll be meeting a Moroccan student there, who'll show me around a bit.
I don't even have exchanged money beforehand...

As price politics go these days I am not flying the shortest route, because that wouldn't be the cheapest!
I'll be flying to Madrid first and 2 hours later fly to Fes from there. And then I'll be lost for the first time and see where my path leads me. :)

No time left. I'll write again, as soon as I find an internet connection over there. ;)

Traveling and equipment

If you go travel for longer periods, you have to carefully consider what to take along and what not. I thought I'd post every now and then what proved useful and what didn't, as it might be useful to others. ;)

I bought most of the things at http://www.globetrotter.de/ (you can also find the link in my link section) they basically offer everything a traveler needs and also deliver to other countries than Germany. ( I had them deliver things to Spain, that weren't on store when I was still in Germany)
However it didn't make sense to buy everything beforehand because I'd have to carry things around half a year before I put them to use eventually. ;)

Well let's start with something I didn't buy and why. Functional Clothing. The main reason was just price. The more affordable products all had mixed reviews. Then the wool products would have been a risk as I've never worn wool and don't know how my skin would have reacted (some people really can't wear wool clothing). Lastly also some South America travelers advised against it and said cotton products would make more sense. So I just stayed with cheap cotton products, which can be cheaply replaced on the road. ;) Downside more clothing is required and thus more weight, but so far I am still light enough on the weight side of things.. ;)

Dangerous Wildlife

For the most part Mallorca is not dangerous. Sure there are gangs robbing public busses and sometimes there is police armed with MGs patrolling the streets, but that's just humans.. !
So at first I thought that's it. But then I learned there is actual dangerous wildlife here.

The first, which I have not actually encountered yet, is the common snapping turtle. I never saw turtles as a source of danger until now. These ones are supposedly capable of biting off your hand and they are also fast moving!
Not the slow helpless thing I had in mind when I thought of tortoises. They even have claws, surely the only thing missing would be spikes on their shells.(Image is courtesy of Wikipedia)

Then there are Thaumetopoeidae caterpillars.. When I was a kid it was: "Look a caterpillar" not "Stay away from caterpillars! They are dangerous." How so ? Well it doesn't bite off anything it just has nasty bristles which easily break off to become airborne death threats. That is, if you breathe those bristles in. Just coming into contact with them isn't enjoyable either, resulting in rashes and pruritus.
You can see a nest, of which I have seen many today, on the image (which is also courtesy of Wikipedia).

So even turtles and caterpillars are dangerous!