Morocco

This morning I was awoken at sunrise to the sounds of calls for prayer over loudspeakers. But, I did not praise Allah.
The city of Fes is pretty houses about 2.3 million people and has the largest urban car-free zone in the world supposedly.
We visited a rooftop tannery which I thought was fascinating.
Satellite dishes are in fashion and catch the sun beautifully at the onset of dusk.
Land of the setting sun.
Life in the medina.

Time changes

So by the time you read this I will probably be Morocco-bound. I am definitely excited to go because we have a pretty good itinerary planned: I expect to see both Mediterranean and Atlantic beaches, snow-covered mountains, white-walled buildings, and labyrinthine markets.

Just throwing this out there to get some feedback: when I get back to NC I am planning on inviting people over with the intent of serving them simple West African cuisine and perhaps showing some pictures from my travels. It would be a good way to share some stories, ideas, and unite people I haven't seen in a while. Chances are you are invited. Just an idea for now, more details to come.

Le correspondance

I am beginning my third night in Paris which is a welcomed change of pace from the hustle I had going on in Central/Eastern Europe. I am with my beloved mother so I am not so much on my own for meeting wayward persons in different countries.

Romania was a blast- especially the night I had in Cluj Napoca where I met up with some German and Austrian international students. Budapest was also fun, as I had a most excellent host and ended up joining forces with a fun crew representing Australia, New Zealand, and Florida of all places. The language in Hungary was incomprehensible but the sights were enjoyable.

Prague was surely the best time I have had so far. I spent every day hanging out with locals to some extent, which was my intent because European architecture all looks the same after a while. The first night we cut some rugs at an 80's dance party with an excellent crew at a famous music bar. In the next few days we went to a carnival, and a zoo (which I absolutely feel guilty about) among other great places. The city was beautiful, albeit full of a lot of tourists. But the people were what made it for me.

Everywhere I went people were so friendly, accommodating, and just genuinely interesting. I will try to stay in touch with most of them but chances are I will never see them again. But, you never know because I have an ability to make anything happen when I want to. Meeting so many cool people really brought my spirits up and gave me some confidence in society and the future of the world, especially after spending three months in Africa where it is simply impossible to get anything done and it the future looks bleak. At the same time I got burnt out on having to say goodbye to so many people that I got close to. Maybe I just got lucky and met exceptionally cool people on this trip, or maybe I have really low standards, I am not sure. But I did have a hell of a time and I will always have pleasant memories.

So I don't have much to say about Paris because its much the same as it was when I was here last year. We have been enjoying some extremely delicious food though, I have to admit. I probably eat about a pound of baguette everyday and another pound of cheese to go with it. But life is good as always, and I am at peace with the world. We head to Morocco in 3 days and I am sincerely excited about that, so expect some pictures after that happens.

Prague

Been living it up in Prague staying with a most excellent host. Don't have much time to talk so I posted these pictures. Ciao.

Budapest

All is well in the traveling life.

So I kicked off my Europe trip by coming to Bucharest. Well actually I wandered around Madrid for an afternoon before flying here, but that was relatively uneventful. I am not sure exactly why I chose to come here but I am rally happy that I did. The city is beautiful and has provided me with quite the adventure I have to admit seeing that I am by myself and I know literally 6 words of Romanian. As I have been telling people that I correspond with: the city is romantic, the architecture in mindblowing, the language is insane, and the money is literally made out of plastic. Let me share a bunch of pictures that I snapped while walking around the city yesterday:

I think this is a converted hotel now but I could be wrong.
A sample of the many really interesting buildings all over the city.
The boulevards and buildings are enormous, kind of like being in Washington DC.
The influence of American culture? Who would have thought...
Fountains abound.
The house of parliament or something like that. The second largest building in the world behind the pentagon.
The parks are gorgeous because all of the spring flowers are beginning to bloom. If you can't get enough of the flowers at the park, you can buy them on practically any street corner. I am pretty certain that the gypsies run the flower trade here.
Feast your eyes on these tulips.
I think this is a library of some sort. Either way it is stunning.

I love this city so far. It is very charming and unlike anything I have seen before. When I order food I have to point and hold up fingers usually. Sometimes I just write things down to communicate, like when I took a taxi last night.

Oh, then something kind of strange happened today. I was walking around and some guy spurts of in Romanian at me. I tell him I speak english, francais, & espanol and he insists that I wait on his friend who does speak english to come. I figured why not, this could be interesting- and it was. When his random friend appears from inside the house he asks me in the worst English possible if I wanted a woman for the night. I am not sure if he was running a brothel or trying to pimp out his daughter but it definitely caught me off guard. Not the first time I have been hassled about prostitution, but still.

So tomorrow morning I am heading to Cluj-Napoca, which is located in the mountains of Transylvania. I am really excited about that .